What constitutes malpractice?
I'd like the opinions of my cyber-friends here on what might constitute malpractice. I know that I can get legal advice and I might, but before I do that, I’d like your opinions on whether this constitutes true malpractice or just lousy medical care.
Hubby remains in the hospital, on a ventilator and and the intensive care unit after nearly a month. He had the flu, pneumonia and a plethora of infections including Septic Shock. We are taking it a day at a time.
Here on the forum, I’ve made suggestions a number of times for people looking for a doctor who makes house calls to use who we use, Visiting Physicians. I suppose it’s my fault that even though they dropped the ball so to speak, more than once with hubby, I continued to use them mostly because there was no one else.
At one point, the Nurse Practitioner called in the wrong prescription for a medication and if I hadn’t been suspicious of the way the pill looked, it could have had very bad consequences. A few weeks ago, hubby got the flu. He got worse and worse and I finally called VPA. (Twice in a week) Both times, I was told they had no one who could come out. The NP had no time and there was no one else. I explained he had the flu and was having trouble breathing. They suggested calling 911 which I did a day later. Without examining him, the NP prescribed two antibiotics and Mucinex. By the time he got to the ER, he required CPR for 20 minutes and was given a 20% chance of survival. He is still very compromised and we still aren’t certain he will come out of this. At the least, he will be on oxygen and need to go to Skilled Nursing Facility.
I feel that if VPA had the staff and true concern for their patients, this would not have happened. I do not have professional medical training and I guess I was in denial that he was that sick. I relied on this company to care for my husband medically and they didn’t. They are severely short-staffed. They quite frankly cannot be counted in for quality medical care.
What do you all think? I feel that if the NP had come out when I called, she would have 911-Ed him immediately and perhaps the outcome would have been a little better.
6 Answers
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I think you have a case for malpractice. Even if nothing comes of it, you should try filing a suit. This is nonsense about prescribing something over the phone for a patient who is having trouble breathing!
I am so sorry you are going through this Joy. Sending prayers your way along with a big hug. I hope DH has a full recovery from this nightmare.
I hope that your husband doesn't suffer and that you are granted strength and wisdom during this difficult time. Hugs!
Yes medication mistakes occur, but I do not believe they are grounds for a malpractice suit. You would have to sue the NP and the pharmacist who filled the Rx.
When the visiting physicians could not attend, they suggested you call 911, but you delayed doing so for a day. It would be very difficult to prove that your husband's health was not worsened due to the delay in calling 911.
Unless you have a contract with visiting physicians that states they are on call 24/7, I know my family doctor is not, then it is not unreasonable for them to have not had anyone available to come out when you called. They did the next best thing and suggested you call 911 to get him to the hospital.
Also wanted to point out that is is becoming VERY common to prescribe without seeing a person face to face, it's called Teladoc. On my insurance plan for $40 I can call, describe symptoms and pretty easily get a prescription by just knowing the right things to say. Good or bad, medical care is a whole different beast these days.
I've read your thread twice, so far, and think of something else each time. But for now, perhaps you might take a look at a thread in which I made some generic observations about suing for malpractice.
Items 3 and 4 are critical issues of evaluation.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/should-i-sue-nursing-home-for-allowing-bed-sore-453427.htm
There are differences in each case, but that post underlies the basic issues of suing for malpractice.
Offhand, though these issues concern me:
1. Your husband's underlying potential cardiac issues, how long he's been treated by either a cardiologist or the VPA. What meds, if any, was he taking, and what was his D/X? I'm assuming the VPA had all this medical data in their files?
2. This is not a criticism, but it might be an issue that EMS was called the following day instead of the previous day, as the VPA recommended. It could be argued that you didn't act quickly enough, notwithstanding the VPA's recommendation. That might mitigate against their potential liability.
Even so, that could be a wedge in which any potential defendant could argue against its liability.
(I do NOT intend to cause you distress; you're certainly not the only one who considered circumstances and more before calling EMS. And often that's better than going immediately - it all depends on so many factors.)
3. Is he on oxygen at home? If so, how long has he been using it, during the day or 24/7, and at what liter level?
4. What were the 2 antibiotics prescribed and what condition were they intended to treat? The flu?
Let me think about this more; with pneumonia, breathing difficulty and a long compromising flu, there might be other issues to consider.
As far as the medications the NP prescribed, the NP ordered those in good faith. The NP has access to your husbands electronic medical records to check for allergies & most likely did so. I don’t understand about the pill being “different” as you are savvy enough to have checked the names of the meds.
No grounds for malpractice here. They advised you to call EMS. Malpractice is from negligence. You were given sound advice to call 911.
I am so sorry this has happened to you and your husband. You take such good care of him. He sounds very ill this admission. I will send prayers your way.
It’s especially hard at times to make that 911 call as well because you know it means hours in an ER and waiting, waiting and waiting.
Focus on him getting well and you having a well deserved respite.
That creates a confusion for non medical people. I agree, 911 should have been called, but I may have waited a day since they were calling in scripts.
Obviously this company has had other issues in their past and they should be looked into.
I don't believe that they are not culpable when they provide confusing information and don't respond to a bed bound patient who can't breathe. I would have called 911 as the rep for the NP.