Went to ER based on bad test results at Urgent Care
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Went to ER based on bad test results at Urgent Care
My 10 months old son got sick recently, very high fever and no other symptoms. We take him to an urgent care facility. They did some tests, and drew blood nurse taking blood from finger clearly inexperienced with dealing with small children, took too little blood. The doctor review results of all test and says nothing is wrong with him sent us home and told us to give him fever medicine. Ok fine we go home. Later that evening after the baby was already sleeping, urgent care doctor calls us and says she took another look at his blood test results and she noticed his hemoglobin was very low to a point he might need blood transfusion and tells us to go to the ER ASAP. Needless to say we wake up the baby and rush to the hospital. At the hospital my poor baby goes through horrible experience with a bunch of needles being stuck in him i never heard him cry like this they put the useless IV in him, which we found later. Anyway, they draw blood from his vain and it goes to the lab. About an hour later doctor comes in and tells us his results are perfect, nothing wrong with his blood absolutely. We are releaved, we go home at 4 am. Now the hospital bills $4500 to my insurance which 2500 is my responsibility. I would have never gone to ER if it wasnt for bad test results that urgent care got from their machine due to nurse drawing too little blood. Do I have any type of recourse again the urgent care, they sent me to ER and now I’m stuck with the bills. Can they be held responsible for these bills?
Asked on September 5, 2017 under Malpractice Law, Kentucky
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You may be able to hold them responsible for the results/costs of their misdiagnosis, since it appears to have due to negligence or unreasonable carelessness (i.e. not drawing blood properly), but it's not clear that it is worth doing so. If they will not voluntarily cover some or all of the cost, you'd have to sue them for malpractice; to bring a malpractice suit, you *must* hire a doctor or similar medical expert to write a report and, if necessary, testify in court about how what they did was negligent or not up to current medical standards--only a medical expert can testify about this. You can't get the cost of the expert back in the lawsuit; you have to bear it. And such experts can costs nearl as much or as much as the $2,500 you hope to get back.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.