Do i have any basis to take legal action?

Question

Ok so my daughter was in the hospital for a UTI (urinary tract infection). She has reflux in her UT that sends urine to her kidney, so she is on a daily medication for that, and has been for almost 3 years now. So, at the hospital after they came to the conclusion it was a UTI, they just "upped" her dosage of her daily med, and said to take it twice a day. They collected her urine to do a urine culture, to see if the infection was "sensitive" to this medication. Upon leaving, they said they would call in 2 days if there was a problem with the medication.

Six days later (we were supposed to give the med for 10 days), she still had a constant fever, no appetite, sleepy, etc so i called her doctor, and they advised to take her to the hospital. I took her to a different hospital this time. They got the results faxed to them from the other hospital and guess what? The culture showed that the infection was NOT sensitive to that, or several other medications, meaning it would not get rid of the infection. Yet they never called me!

So, my daughter is ok now, and i had a check up with her today. Anyone who knows about UTI's knows that if they are not treated quickly, they can cause permanent damage, especially to a 3 year old who has reflux. She has fluid in her left kidney, but it could be from the reflux itself, there is no way to tell. My question is what do i do? Should the hospital be held accountable? Was it neglect on their part for not notifying me? What if i had waited the ten days as instructed? I planned on filing a law suit if there was serious damage, but since there does not appear to be, what should i do?

Answer 1

I don't know about legal action, but there are alot of states that have laws that say if a person gets sick from a hospital treatment, due to misdiagnosis, then they don't have to pay hospital bills.  

Answer 2

You have no damages, and therefore no basis for a lawsuit.  

These things are often very subjective.  Two doctors could look at the same test results and reach two different conclusions.  

Answer 3

well if you live in the states, all hospitals are scams. They are not out to help you, but to make money. If i were you i would give it a shot.

Answer 4

Hospitals make mistakes and they are not always considered negligence or medical negligence.  This is something for a personal injury attorney and there should be no charge in contacting one but you can ask when you call.  They want the cases. Make sure that it is on a contingency basis so nothing should come out of your pockets except expenses.  However, from what I understand, the chances of winning s uch a suit are not too good, especially if there is not permanent damage.  if  you do want to pursue it, check to see who is considered a good personal injury attorney (PI attorney) and see them about possibilityof lawsuit on contingency basis.  If he wins, he gets 1/3 of the case usually but find out about expenses as you would normally have to pay legal expenses.  If they won't take on contingency, then it means they don't think you have a good case but will take it forward if you pay their fee.  Could be expensive for court costs, etc. even if it is on contingency.