FL - Woman Gives Birth - Winds Up Quadruple Amputee

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southcitymom

southcitymom

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Woman Becomes Quadruple Amputee After Giving Birth



POSTED: 5:59 pm EST January 19, 2006
UPDATED: 4:06 pm EST January 20, 2006


ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Sanford mother says she will never be able to hold her newborn because an Orlando hospital performed a life-altering surgery and, she claims, the hospital refuses to explain why they left her as a multiple amputee.

The woman filed a complaint against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, she said, because they won't tell her exactly what happened. The hospital maintains the woman wants to know information that would violate other patients' rights.

Claudia Mejia gave birth eight and a half months ago at Orlando Regional South Seminole. She was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando where her arms and legs were amputated. She was told she had streptococcus, a flesh eating bacteria, and toxic shock syndrome, but no further explanation was given.

http://www.wftv.com/news/6253589/detail.html

I don't understand the hospital telling her she would have to sue them to find out what happened. That sounds insane.
 
Don't you have to sign a consent form, for the doctor's to operate?
 
I have always thought people sue over the stupidest things but this time she needs to! Can anyone say MILLIONS!!!! :furious:


I feel so badly for this family. I can't imagine how confused and scared they must feel. Prayers for some emotional healing.
 
southcitymom said:
Maybe not if it's an emergency...I don't know. This story makes no sense to me.
Click to expand...

Her husband should have been asked to sign consent if she couldn't. If there is no one to give concent and two doctors sign off that her life is in danger then they can go ahead without it. But a staph infection can usually wait for an hour or so to get concent. This just makes no sense. Anyone who has ever worked in health care get staph infections, I have had several, but they can be treated with high dose antibiotics. Something is not right about this.
 
A theory, that this women was a victim of poor infection control, as in "another patient".

Flesh eatting disease is "something that gets bad, real quick and people can die from it.

I put money that somehow the hospital is responsible, had to act quick to save her life(because of their fault) and had to take off her limbs.

Flesh eatting disease can kill a person, and it "eats" the tissue and the tissue has to be removed.

That is why the hospital is "hiding" behind how they see the legislation, because it is their own best interest to do so.

I hope thiis women sues for millions of dollars.........
 
on the other hand....

I know of a boy who had the same flesh-eating disease, also became a quadruple amputee. There was no choice - amputate or die.

The alternative was death. Had the hospital not amputated, and she had died, there would have been a lawsuit against the hospital for NOT doing everything to save her, for not amputating. I'd hate to be a doctor -so many difficult, split second decisions to be made, all under the risk of lawsuits.

I hope this woman thanks them for saving her life so she can enjoy and love her new child.....

imho
 
How can giving her information about her own treatment violate her patient's rights under HIPA? Its HER treatment, not someone elses!!! This makes no sense.
 
I have always thought that a "strep" bacteria caused the flesh eating skin problem? I understand that any strain of strep or staph that has mutated can be antibiotic resistant but thought that staph was more curable than strep? Anyone out there know? From what I understand, we all have staph germs in our bodies... each home has it's own set of germs. BUT in a hospital there is a higher incidence of staph infection because each hospital has it's own type of staph bacteria. No matter which bacteria this woman suffered, I agree it is wonderful that she can at least be alive to be with her baby BUT I do believe that infectious control should be upped a notch. As a sideline, I delivered my babies by C-section and signed a release before the surgeries that allowed the doctor to perform any lifesaving measures during the procedures... one time he asked me if I wanted a blood transfusion and I told him "no" and he said had I not been able to answer, I would have been given one automatically... without my consent or the consent of my husband who was in the delivery room.

I hope this woman and her family are able to recover from the situation and love the baby that they were blessed with. May God bless them all!
 
Boyz_Mum said:
I have always thought that a "strep" bacteria caused the flesh eating skin problem? I understand that any strain of strep or staph that has mutated can be antibiotic resistant but thought that staph was more curable than strep? Anyone out there know? From what I understand, we all have staph germs in our bodies... each home has it's own set of germs. BUT in a hospital there is a higher incidence of staph infection because each hospital has it's own type of staph bacteria. No matter which bacteria this woman suffered, I agree it is wonderful that she can at least be alive to be with her baby BUT I do believe that infectious control should be upped a notch. As a sideline, I delivered my babies by C-section and signed a release before the surgeries that allowed the doctor to perform any lifesaving measures during the procedures... one time he asked me if I wanted a blood transfusion and I told him "no" and he said had I not been able to answer, I would have been given one automatically... without my consent or the consent of my husband who was in the delivery room.

I hope this woman and her family are able to recover from the situation and love the baby that they were blessed with. May God bless them all!
Click to expand...
The invasive staph strain that is antibiotic reistant is MRSA. It is usually picked up in the hospital, but it is now being found in the community. At least around here.
I know someone that has MRSA currently. While it has killed off some tissue and creating infected necrotic tissue, it is not the same as necrotizing faciitis(flesheating bacteria), which is a potent Strep bacteria.

Either which way it is all nasty stuff and usually picked up from a health care facility or hospital.
 
I agree. I think I would be thankful for saving my life. If she died, there may have been law suit to if they did nothing. I do think they need to explain why they did what they did.
Amy


sandraladeda said:
on the other hand....

I know of a boy who had the same flesh-eating disease, also became a quadruple amputee. There was no choice - amputate or die.

The alternative was death. Had the hospital not amputated, and she had died, there would have been a lawsuit against the hospital for NOT doing everything to save her, for not amputating. I'd hate to be a doctor -so many difficult, split second decisions to be made, all under the risk of lawsuits.

I hope this woman thanks them for saving her life so she can enjoy and love her new child.....

imho
Click to expand...
 
bykerladi said:
How can giving her information about her own treatment violate her patient's rights under HIPA? Its HER treatment, not someone elses!!! This makes no sense.
Click to expand...


This woman is entitled to her own health information, unless she would be a psych case. (And in that situation, it would only take her doctor's okay to get the records released to her). I don't know how releasing her own chart to her can violate others' right to privacy. There shouldn't be any identifying information in the chart about other patients. The hospital is definitely hiding something here. This woman and her family could own the place by the time this is all said and done.

Something is not right about the consent either. If she couldn't sign the consent, her husband or next of kin would be able to sign. They should have at least been notified of what was happening and been a chance to give verbal consent for the surgery. I can't imagine someone not coming out and explaining the situation to them, even if it was a dire emergency.

My bet is that the hospital operated on the wrong patient. If that is the case, they violated one of the big JCAHO standards of verifying the right patient, right procedure, correct extremity, etc. Also if that is what happened, JCAHO and the Florida State Board of Health will have their heads on a platter too!
 
I agree. I bet the hospital operated on the wrong patient.
But wouldn't an amputee patient be on a different floor than a OB-GYN patient?
I feel so bad for the mother.:sick:
 
First of all she's requesting info on other patients, which is a violation of HIPAA privacy law. ORMC said Mejia is requesting information on if there were other patients or someone on her floor with the streptococcus. They said, if they release that to her, that would be a violation of other patients' rights. I worked in medical malpractice for years, and there's ways to get that information, but she'll most likely never get 'names'.

Next, if she had the flesh eating strep, she likely had Strep A. Here is a really good site that gives a lot of good info, and cases.

http://www.nnff.org/nnff_what.htm

This strep makes you very ill very fast. We had a patient come in with this just a little over a week ago, after childbirth, and as of Friday was still in the units on a vent - she's already been to surgery multiple times.
 
So this women should be happy that a hospital messed up with infection control or whatever, had to "chop off" her limbs to save her life because they made a mistake.

Please, the point is, that the infected patient should have been in strict isolation, knowing how "bad" this infection is should have taken any and all precautions to protect other patients.

Not cover up their mistakes(I am sure there is more then one), chop off someone's limbs, then ask that person to "thank" them because she did not die.

I don't see the logic, if the hospital messed up, had to rectify that mistake by choping off a person limbs, well the fault lies with the hospital, period.
 
CyberLaw said:
So this women should be happy that a hospital messed up with infection control or whatever, had to "chop off" her limbs to save her life because they made a mistake.

Please, the point is, that the infected patient should have been in strict isolation, knowing how "bad" this infection is should have taken any and all precautions to protect other patients.

Not cover up their mistakes(I am sure there is more then one), chop off someone's limbs, then ask that person to "thank" them because she did not die.

I don't see the logic, if the hospital messed up, had to rectify that mistake by choping off a person limbs, well the fault lies with the hospital, period.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I am a long time L&D nurse and have never heard of such a thing. What I don't understand is how this procedure was completed and she nor her spouse signed a consent form. If her infection was that severe how could she not have been aware. I aree that there was probably some cross contamination. More than likely it is the case of improper hand washing. This is absolutely astonishing. I find it highly unlikely that they opperated on the wrong patient. I know that happens but that is too far reaching for me
 
sandraladeda said:
on the other hand....

I know of a boy who had the same flesh-eating disease, also became a quadruple amputee. There was no choice - amputate or die.

The alternative was death. Had the hospital not amputated, and she had died, there would have been a lawsuit against the hospital for NOT doing everything to save her, for not amputating. I'd hate to be a doctor -so many difficult, split second decisions to be made, all under the risk of lawsuits.

I hope this woman thanks them for saving her life so she can enjoy and love her new child.....

imho
Click to expand...
You may be absolutely right that there was no alternative - amputation or death. BUT, the hospital should be more forthcoming about what happened. Their refusal to talk to this woman about a major health crisis is what I think is terrible. To tell a patient to sue you to find out what happened is ludicrous.
 
When I gave birth, I had signed a form while being admitted that I would like my husband to have the power to yay or nay a surgical procedure unless it was deemed an immediate risk, where then the doctor had the power to decide. Maybe thats what happened.
 
Angels_Not_Forgotten said:
When I gave birth, I had signed a form while being admitted that I would like my husband to have the power to yay or nay a surgical procedure unless it was deemed an immediate risk, where then the doctor had the power to decide. Maybe thats what happened.
Click to expand...
That's my point. When you go into the hospital to give birth to a child and you come out with a child but missing all of your limbs, someone should tell you what happened. You shouldn't have to guess like this woman and her family seem to be having to do.
 
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