CA - $10 million for girl's amputations after ER delay

I don't think that's enough. She lost both feet, one hand, and part of the other hand.

(it's a short article so I can't quote hardly anything)

$10M for Girl's Amputations After ER Delay

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/28/10m-for-girls-amputations-after-er-delay/?test=latestnews

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WOW, what a sad story, also makes me very angry- this poor child had to wait over FIVE HOURS to be seen!! I can (somewhat) relate; in 1996 I had an accident and had a compound fracture to my right tibia. After surgery where the dr. put a rod in my leg, I felt constant, excruciating pain and no one believed me! Finally, about 2 mos. after the initial surgery, I was at work one day... started vomiting and had a fever, along with the most intense pain I had ever felt (including childbirth/labor!!). I drove, after work, to the nearest ER because my orthopedist's office was closed. I waited hours in the ER, sobbing and shaking with pain. Finally I was "seen" and they just gave me painkillers and said that I was merely experiencing post-surgery pain, but I knew something was horribly wrong. When I finally got home and fell asleep, I woke up in the a.m. to feel fluid running down my leg- as it turned out, I had a RAGING staph infection in my bone. The hospital from the night before had never even considered that I might have staph, despite all the classic signs. When I finally saw my ortho doctor the next day, he immediately had to lance my leg and begin to drain the pus, etc... within 2 hrs., I was back in the hospital and had 3 surgeries in 5 days to debride the bone/treat the infection... spent months on IV Vancomycin... an awful ordeal. I almost lost my leg because the sorry-azz ER doctor sent me home instead of operating that night. What a friggin nightmare, I really feel so sorry for this poor child and her family; when it comes to staph, every minute counts...

This child deserves more.

Awful. Worst doctors I've ever encountered have been ER. 5 trips in my life - 2 were absolutely a waste of money and time.

One time I my entire right side abdomen was swollen and visible to the naked eye and they just gave me pain killers and sent me home.

No amount of money will or can make up for what she has lost forever. GB she and her family!

Here's an article a little more in depth-- has her little picture too.


Family of Sacramento girl who needed amputations after ER delay is awarded $10 million

Quote: The girl spent more than three months at Stanford and then was admitted to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for further care. She continues to receive physical and occupational therapy. Insurance has paid for most of her care, but the family was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills, Jeffers said.

and

In recent months Malyia has learned to walk and run on her prosthetic legs, is mastering tasks with her arms and has regained her energy, her father said. She still suffers pain and unbearable itching of her limbs, especially at night, he said, and needs 24-hour care.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/28/4013150/family-of-sacramento-girl-who.html#ixzz1cQ1kwwJp


I'm impressed that the settlement amount was released, that tells me the hospital knows they could have paid much more. I hope it's enough to care for her all her life...

She had a "flesh eating" bacteremia. I have doubts (as an RN, nothing but general knowledge of the situation) she would have been "fine" if she'd been seen immediately. As fast as this kind of infection destroys tissue, perhaps she would have lost less than she did. If I were her mother, losing "part" of one hand instead of an entire hand and some of the other hand would have been "better" but there's no way to know FOR SURE if more timely attention would have prevented any damage The course of tissue destruction for flesh-eating bacteria has been much much WORSE in some cases, and not so destructive in others. Genetic factors as mentioned in the article -- beyond the "responsibility" of the medical staff -- are certainly a mitigating factor as well

I have mixed feelings about putting the blame on long ER wait times -- for THIS terrible incident. I have doubts this award is a positive precedent, unless it is simply given as a kindness to a person who will be quite disabled for the rest of her life.

If the cost of ongoing medical support were not so expensive, far beyond the ability of the average wage earner, maybe this kind of award would not be necessary?

That said, I am NOT a proponent of universal healthcare. I criticize the exorbitant cost of prosthetics and PT/OT and rehabilitation.

I don't have any answers In the end, I'm glad this little girl and her family will have the money to purchase the EXPENSIVE therapies that will ease her life and increase the quality. I just hate to see the medical profession "blamed" for the natural behavior of a hellish bacteria we barely know how to treat.

MRSA is not new-- a person coming into an ER with symptoms of it should be treated as though they may have it. It moves very quickly, so not a moment to lose, imo. I hope the reason they announced this settlement is so that hospitals take heed and do what's right from now on. MOO

Oh my goodness - I didn't realize she was only two years old - she's just a baby! A very sad story. Like others, I don't claim to know if the outcome would have been different if she'd been seen sooner, but you'd think that triage would have picked up the "skin discoloration" and realized this was something serious (my first thought would have been meningitis but this was strep A). I know that the doctors and nurses that took care of her feel horrible but did the best they could.

Quiche said:

MRSA is not new-- a person coming into an ER with symptoms of it should be treated as though they may have it. It moves very quickly, so not a moment to lose, imo. I hope the reason they announced this settlement is so that hospitals take heed and do what's right from now on. MOO

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I got MRSA once, can't tell you how I got it but the doctor said if I didn't come in and start getting treatment right away, I could have died within 24 hrs. My entire family ended up getting it. I can't remember what lead me to the doctors office, it looked like a pimple, I think I had a fever. My doctor knew what it was right away. We had to stay quarantined for a few days. It was scary.