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New Should I sue?
I am stuck with a consolidated football-sized hemtoma on my right thigh. It is very painful and incapacitating. Getting out of bed to piss is an adventure. The leg tends to freeze. The hematoma prevents normal walking, and in any case puts the onus on my already damaged left leg, which is not up to the extra stress. The swelling is persistent and does not seem to be subsiding. I am in a world of shit.

I went to the ER three times before being admitted. Prompt draining of the hematoma on my first visit would have prevented most of the sequelae. At the second admission, prompt treatment with corticosteroids would have checked the rapid swelling that seems to have rendered large areas of my skin insensitive due to the nerve endings being ripped out. The bleeding was still in progress and draining at that time was also a possible option.

I was careful to point out that I was on blood thinners at each visit, which should have dramatically impacted the course of treatment - that is, the bleeding was not going to stop on its own accord, so to prevent the formation of a huge hematoma, draining combined with blood transfusion was the correct thing to do. Too late at the third visit - a large mass of jelled blood had already formed. The loss of blood was sufficient to drop my red cell count to 20% of normal. That alone should never have happened - the risk of a large bleed should have been assessed on the very first visit, and corrective action taken.

I am not of a suing frame of mind, but this is clearly a case of bad practice. It will be months before I can get my interview pants on over the bulging right thigh. I am sick, feverish, no appetite, no energy. I may be permanenty disfigured and may never walk normally. Surgury may be the only option for removing the subcutaneous gelled blood - very dangerous for a person with genetic coagulation disorder. I have an enormous oozing pressure blister inside my knee that does not seem to be healing. What does one do in such a situation? Of course, like so many millions of Americans, I have no job and so no insurance.
-drl
New First things first

You should be getting proper medical care. What is your current coverage?

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Secondly: yes, you should sue the ER for inappropriate and insufficient treatment.

\r\n\r\n

Thirdly: you should be suing the managed health care industry which defeated real, meaningful health care reform leading to universal coverage, at a time at which we could have meaningfully contemplated this.

--\r\n
Karsten M. Self [link|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com|kmself@ix.netcom.com]\r\n
[link|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/]\r\n
What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?\r\n
[link|http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/|TWikIWETHEY] -- an experiment in collective intelligence. Stupidity. Whatever.\r\n
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New Coverage?
I am covered by the sky and fate. I cannot contact my erstwhile doctor, who is at the whim of the HMO she works for.

There are "clinics" - I can go to the "clinic".

Surgury is surely required - complicated surgury because of the nerves and vessels intermingled with the gelatinous mass of blood. This cannot be had at the "clinic". The prognosis otherwise is "chronic expanding hematoma", in which the mass develops a life of its own, with angiogenesis and calcification of associated musculature. Life with a hot new football as a permanent passenger. Nice source of killer clots.

Already it is getting difficult to straighten my leg. I can feel the breaking adhesions every morning - with attendant living fire coursing up and down the useless thing. This is America - go down slowly, go down low, go down down down until you crawl.
-drl
New Dunno about suit
An er is to stabilize and release. A better thing would be to apply for Medicaid as well as SS disability which will come with coverage. If you have less than 2k cash where people can see it and the bile is worth less than 2k you should be eligible.
Is there a teaching hospital close by? They might carve you for free if they handle your specialty there.
look :(
thanx,
bill
"You're just like me streak. You never left the free-fire zone.You think aspirins and meetings and cold showers are going to clean out your head. What you want is God's permission to paint the trees with the bad guys. That wont happen big mon." Clete
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
New Yes
Even if you're not a suing sort of person, the system in place is not going to change until people make it more costly for the institutions to not live up to their obligations (c.f. Hippocratic Oath) than it is to live up to them.

Be prepared for a long fight; if the AMA is anything like the CMA, you're going to find this dragging out for years. Finding the right lawyer is going to be a key part of this. There was a piece on CBC's Disclosure program about this not too long ago: [link|http://www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/030211_cmpa/cmpa.html|http://www.cbc.ca/di...11_cmpa/cmpa.html]. Take a look, esp. on page 2 of the web story; there's a lawyer on there named Thomas Harding who has taken on a case, and fought it for seven years. As he put it on the show "the one thing they didn't account for was the fact that I'm crazy. A sane lawyer would never have taken this as far as I have; it could well mean the end of my business and my career." You need to find a lawyer like that; contacting him to possibly find out if there's someone near you who will approach it as a matter of justice and not money might be a good idea.

One of the claims made by the CMPA (Canadian Medical Protection Association; member of the CMA that deals with malpractice issues against its members) in the case that Harding is fighting is that the patient in question "should have taken better care of herself". She was ten days old at the time, and a serious malpractice by the obstetrician in charge of her case left her with permanent brain damage. The malpractice? The case was properly diagnosed, but the doctor failed to administrate the treatment. Proper treatment would have prevented any damage at all.

For a chilling look at les idealisations des fonctionaires read the excerpts from the interview with the head counsel for the CMPA.
--\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\n* Jack Troughton                            jake at consultron.ca *\n* [link|http://consultron.ca|http://consultron.ca]                   [link|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] *\n* Kingston Ontario Canada               [link|news://news.consultron.ca|news://news.consultron.ca] *\n-------------------------------------------------------------------
New Get started..
I believe that any competent Nurse-Practitioner (if you have those in Mo) would immediately tag your condition as Serious if not Critical. Nurses are the backbone of this decaying system, as doubtless you are aware. And you know enough to immediately cultivate the good offices of the first one to actully SEE! you. It is they who will finally be giving you the attention which the modern MD rarely will provide. (Hollywood movies - still what many people think is Real)

None of us is competent to deal with the implications which, as you correctly assign - are endemic to the AMA-Sy$tem of Pharm-Chem substitutes for actual personal examination and treatment of a human being..

As example, I know a person on Medicare (MDs are fleeing from even seeing such) - with an MD who won't look you in the eye or Listen (!) Ever. A lengthy digression would not be useful here; suffice it to say I have observed this situation closely and that particular MD.. and this is ongoing. Much hearsay and some experience convinces me that 'endemic' (or epidemic) are not exaggerations.

Have a digital camera? What you can do is take meticulous, dated notes. You are preparing your Case, whether or not it ever proves feasible to pursue the legal-aspect of the Overall mess. Your command of language means you can augment the photos with much like your post: detailed self observation of 'condition', wise-enough awareness of certain implications. In brief, you are a person who could parry the inevitable ad-hominem and other ploys of cross-examination as to "your competence to describe the events" (IMO)

Meanwhile, and as Box and Jack have suggested - please inventory your confiscatable assets (you get to keep wheels - and I dunno what MO law is like as to details), get an appointment SAP with a Case Worker for whatever Medi-Cal (Medi-Mo) calls itself, emphasizing on first call - that yours is a life-threatening situation, and soon you may be immobile and unable even to receive incompetent 'emergency' treatment. <<<

(I'm sure you understand bears/honey/vinegar -- and that the minion you reach ain't got no Power either.)

Taking your description verbatim, please Do This!
- and if you can't manage part of it, I hope.. that a couple of the Locals might find a spare moment -??- to convey you to whichever: the Medi-Mo office or what passes for a different locale for medical treatment (from your past misadventures).

It can only be Good {for your Case} to have along an independent witness too, the more articulate (but restrained) the better.. but any supporting warm body beats, later-on, He said/She said.

S/He should take current notes as well, immediately after any interaction IMhO. Having a Witness.. can provoke second thoughts.. (or the first real ones) even amongst the desensitized bizness oriented droids who Run this facsimile of a system. Few people do this part right; your having done so.. will endear you to any attorney pondering whether to take on percentage. Or Principle. {it happens}
(ACLU ?? if StL stuff is Really Bad)

Alas, you're just too far away to imagine assisting in any minutia. But I've enough anecdotal experience of similar stuff to opine: your English usage is your sword - most folks are absurdly ignorant of their own bodies and how to describe sequences of events in any useful way; you can be brief and accurate - that's bound to be a real edge over the norm for this - IMO.

Lastly, you are possibly candidate for a CAT scan (re those thickenings), a full blood workup and no doubt a few other tests. Delay.. that is what you must fight, with the carefully implicit threat of (wrongful death suit, should you continue to be ignored). Don't know how to suggest the running of that dance, but I'm sure you see the delicacy.. so as not to be dubbed hypochondriac and other suitably dehumanizing labels that are often employed.

It's not Your Fault that we are a nasty litigious society -- and that antediluvian 'medicine' has created the law-$-attractor of Malpractice; but that is the milieu you are now in. You may need to swing that battle-axe, if all else fails, y'know? Swing it In Time!


Luck,

Ashton
New Sue
It's the American Way, after all.

Seriously, given that it's the only recourse you have in the Land Of The Brave and the Home Of The Free, you should sue their asses off.


Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
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New You should consider to talk to a lawyer
to see what your options are. But the main thing is to take care of yourself first. If you are dead or in bad medical health, a lawsuit won't help you much, just finacially.

First things first, apply for Disability and Medicare. You may be out for more than a few months if it is that serious. This requires your doctors to fill out papers on you. So you need to contact them ASAP. Only problem with Disability is that it takes six months before they start paying. But your Unemployment should cover things for now. See if you can get finacial help from relatives to handle medical bills. If you get rejected for disability, a lawyer can help you fight it. If you have to, you can get a loan to live on until the disability kicks in, and then pay it off. Figure about $1200USD a month on disability, can you live on that? If not, don't apply for it.

Are you covered under the COBRA plan from your former employer? If not, try to apply for medicare. You are going to need some sort of coverage, things being that serious.

I heard that St. John's has a good clinic, call them up and find out where it is. Tell them you are out of work, and in a serious condition. See what they can do for you.

Your priorities are as follows:

#1 Take care of your medical condition.

#2 Find a source of income.

#3 Find medical coverage.

Talking to a lawyer is not a priority right now, unless you feel you really need to. The main priorities are to get better and have a source of income to pay ther bills. Make sure that you document everything, get names, dates, take photos, keep the hospital paperwork and make copies of it. Not sure if you want to, but you may want to get the local news in on this, like Fox 2 KTVI, tell them your story and show them the leg. Maybe they can help you get the help you need.

Edit: Changed title, changed my mind as I wrote this post.



"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"

Expand Edited by orion Oct. 6, 2003, 05:30:09 PM EDT
New Re: You should consider to talk to a lawyer
Make sure that you document everything, get names, dates, take photos, keep the hospital paperwork and make copies of it. Not sure if you want to, but you may want to get the local news in on this, like Fox 2 KTVI, tell them your story and show them the leg. Maybe they can help you get the help you need.


Absolutely, paperwork is a big thing. KEEP a paper trail of the events, every single one. Detailed records are a key.

And Norman suggested what I was thinking, go to the news. Call Action 4, or one of those things, and get them involved. Then maybe someone will step in and deal with it differently.

Good luck!

Nightowl >8#


"I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"

Comment by Nightowl
New Avoid the ER....
You need to visit your Primary Care Physician ASAP. They should refer you to a hemotologist or internal medicine specialist, who should take the correct action.

The ER does not typically have the best doctors in the world. Their job is either to admit you or get you out of the hospital. Since the number of beds is limited, their bias is toward kicking people out. My wife says "treat 'em and street 'em. If you were really good, would you want to work in the ER?

Your condition is serious, but your PCP should know enough about your condition (or learn enough), to refer you to specialists.

Make those appointments first thing in the morning!

I'll pray for you, with NightOwl. Maybe you should think about some prayer, too.

Glen Austin
Expand Edited by gdaustin Oct. 8, 2003, 12:23:05 AM EDT
New Re: Avoid the ER....
Thanks, but that's not really an option - no insurance.

The football seems to have gone down a notch in the last two days. Here's hoping. Also some less duskiness, meaning the subcutaneous blood is being thinned out by plasma/lymph.

-drl
New Seeing a doctor is not such an expensive proposition
Even specialists charge under $200 per visit. As long as you don't need any tests.

May be you should consider applying for Medicaid. Some kind of community org may be able to help with paperwork. New York and CT at least have "Emergency Medicaid" that seems to fit your condition. I can't find much on Missouri, though.
--

OK, George W. is deceptive to be sure. Dissembling, too. And let's not forget deceitful. He is lacking veracity and frankness, and void of sooth, though seemingly sincere in his proclivity for pretense. But he did not lie.
[link|http://www.jointhebushwhackers.com/not_a_liar.cfm|Brian Wimer]
New Options
St. John's has a Clinic that is good and is either free or charges a sliding scale based on your income. Give them a call to locate it.

How much does the COBRA from your former employer cost? You need insurance badly. At least apply for Medicare, you have to have some coverage. This problem may not go away on its own.



"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"

New Primary Care Doctor...
Most office visits can be negotiated for about $50 - $60 cash. That's what we ended up doing when our insurance was really bad (no copay, just catastrophe).

The point is that the Primary Care Doctor's care is much better than the ER, and much cheaper, especially if you don't have insurance.

Another option that Orion pointed out was to find a "free" clinic. You can apply for Medicaid much easier than Medicare (Medicare requires that you sue the government to go on disability).

This St. John's place sounds like a start. You might get in touch with a church or synagogue who might have a member who's a doctor, who might see you for free? This happens once in a while.

The risk is that the platelets in such a hemotoma will start to bind together in your blood, which could form a clot, and then you have big trouble.

Glen Austin
     Should I sue? - (deSitter) - (13)
         First things first - (kmself) - (1)
             Coverage? - (deSitter)
         Dunno about suit - (boxley)
         Yes - (jake123)
         Get started.. - (Ashton)
         Sue - (pwhysall)
         You should consider to talk to a lawyer - (orion) - (1)
             Re: You should consider to talk to a lawyer - (Nightowl)
         Avoid the ER.... - (gdaustin) - (4)
             Re: Avoid the ER.... - (deSitter) - (3)
                 Seeing a doctor is not such an expensive proposition - (Arkadiy)
                 Options - (orion)
                 Primary Care Doctor... - (gdaustin)

Interesting recipe. I’ve always just used bananas.
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