<p>Are there really this many posts because of peoples opinions on this kids medical care? I still think the real issue here is that most of us want to believe this will never happen to us.</p>
<p>Chedva: Would it make your day if I said, “You win?” Okay, I won’t say it.</p>
<p>“Are there really this many posts because of peoples opinions on this kids medical care? I still think the real issue here is that most of us want to believe this will never happen to us.”</p>
<p>Shrinkrap: No, it is because we are afraid that it COULD happen to our child.</p>
<p>Of course it could. So could several other things that I think of more frequently than I care to admit. Followed by a recitation of all the “shoulds”, rules and laws that exist to keep them from happening. But then I realize it only goes but so far to reduce my anger, or bind my anxiety. But maybe that’s just me.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap: I’m not saying to worry about all of the bad things that can happen to your child. All I’m saying is that in this particular instance, I believe that the hospital staff dropped the ball, and as a result, many have suffered.</p>
<p>And you think that’s why people are posting their opinions here? So that the hospital can review how they handled the situation? I like the parents forum because parents empathize and share solutions that WE can implement. That’s not saying it’s not a place for anything else. It’s just the reason I read the thread.</p>
<p>This forum is read by many, many, people, and some of these people are in a position to “implement” changes. This is one way to be heard by these people.</p>
<p>I’m sure this thread is going to have a big impact on the medical community. (not…)</p>
<p>What scares me more than the possibility of my kid dying from this disease or getting improper medical care at one of the leading hospitals in the country is that people such as sonssecty actually believe initial propaganda from plaintiffs’ lawyers. And we wonder why there are outrageous jury verdicts and why malpractice insurance is so high for medical professionals.</p>
<p>And people also were in denial that Hitler was killing people.</p>
<p>
Um, wait a second… Did you just compare doctors, who may or may not have made all the right decisions but almost certainly had good intentions, to Hitler?</p>
<p>…I don’t really know where to go from that.</p>
<p>Of course not, corranged. I was being facetious, but trying to make a point that we must think about what we are hearing and take it seriously.</p>
<p>In even the finest hospitals mistakes can occur but it is wrong to jump to a conclusion that the medical professionals were in error in their assessment of this patient. As I had previously stated—tragic outcomes occur in medicine–babies are born with cerebral palsy with no birth trauma, xrays fail to uncover a small tumor when a later xray finds a large mass, patients with menigitis do not recover even when treated with antibiotics—these events are not bad medicine, but bad luck/bad outcomes.</p>
<p>sonssecty: That was a hugely exaggerated comparison, and I suspect that you realize that. It wasn’t even facetious, it was just useless.</p>
<p>I also find what you’re arguing amusing, in a kind of depressing way. Ignoring the posts of medical professionals pointing out that this sounds like an extremely atypical case, and ignoring the posts of lawyers who point out the spin that is present in the quotes given for the article, you fall back on the whole “someone died of something that can be prevented… somebody must have screwed up.” While it’s flattering to know that you think so highly of modern medicine, unfortunately it doesn’t catch everything. From all reports, this was one of those things that it didn’t catch.</p>
<p>I’m frankly more disturbed by the lawsuit that will inevitably follow… this is why doctors have to spend so much on malpractice insurance, and it’s a total waste of society’s resources. But as long as their are families of victims, they will be suing. My mother is a doctor, and has been involved in a 5 year long lawsuit, where a man’s son is suing. The man died, and it was clearly not a matter of malpractice, as he had huge health problems before he contracted the disease that killed him. But the son is suing anyways; for their family, it’s a form of closure. It’s not even really a serious suit; the son is representing himself. It’s just a waste of everyone’s time.</p>
<p>Momof2sons: I am well aware that “tragic outcomes occur in medicine.” The issue here is that Ms. Ryan presented with symptoms consistent with possible meningitis and was erroneously lead to believe that because of CURRENT negative findings that she had nothing more than a viral infection. Had she received the proper care, along with proper communication, that she so deserved and sought out, there is a good chance that she would have recovered. If she was treated with antibiotics (benefits outweighed the risk of death from meningitis), and she died anyway, then the staff would know that they did everything they could to save her.</p>
<p>As I stated before, 1of42, I could care less about the lawsuits. It is not my goal to have the family win a lawsuit;it is my goal to make hospitals/doctors help people in need. Too often, patients are brushed off.</p>
<p>Since a spinal tap was done, it doesn’t appear that she was “brushed off”. </p>
<p>This girl was one of my son’s CLASSMATES! I’m just as upset about it as anyone else. But to conclude that there was any improper medical treatment based on the information we have RIGHT NOW is simply ignorant.</p>
<p>1of42: I have something further to say to you:</p>
<p>You said, “Ignoring the posts of medical professionals pointing out that this sounds like an extremely atypical case, and ignoring the posts of lawyers who point out the spin that is present in the quotes given…”</p>
<p>1) Why do you think I ignored the posts of the medical professionals and lawyers? I didn’t. I listened and then drew my own conclusions.</p>
<p>You also said, “While it’s flattering to know that you think so highly of modern medicine…”</p>
<p>2) You are criticizing ME for thinking so highly of modern medicine, yet YOU think so highly about the opinions of people on this forum who state that they are medical professionals and lawyers. Isn’t that being hypocritical?</p>
<p>I understand that you are sensitive about lawsuits and malpractice what with your mom being sued and all.</p>
<p>It has been stated by others on this forum that an early negative spinal tap is not conclusive and she should have been observed/followed up. Sorry, MomofWildChild.</p>
<p>I think it would be appropriate, at this time, to look once again at a quote provided by the original poster:</p>
<p>"Bacterial meningitis, in contrast, is potentially deadly, and early treatment is crucial.</p>
<p>It “can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics,” says the CDC. “It is important, however, that treatment be started early in the course of the disease.”</p>
<p>With appropriate antibiotic treatment, the risk of dying is less than 15 percent, the CDC adds.</p>
<p>Tom Clark, a CDC epidemiologist and meningitis expert, said that when bacterial meningitis is suspected, antibiotics are typically started before a final diagnosis is made because rapid diagnostic tests of the spinal fluid are not definitive. Rapid analysis includes counting white blood cells, measuring glucose and protein levels, and staining the fluid to look for bacteria.</p>
<p>The best test, which involves culturing the fluid to try to grow the bacteria, takes about 48 hours, Clark said.</p>
<p>“The usual practice, certainly if you suspect bacterial meningitis, is to treat empirically. Don’t wait until the culture results are final,” Clark said."</p>
<p>I was really reluctant to chime in again, but this may help in understanding:</p>
<p>As I posted previously (post #12), I got my own dd treatment for meningitis as quickly as humanly possible. She was lucky because it turned out to be viral. In the ER, her spinal fluid showed the abnormal immediate results I referred to (cells, glucose levels, protein, etc.), and she got antibiotics immediately until cultures came back negative. However, even with this expedient management, under my mother/doctor watchful eye all day and all night, there was a 7-10% risk of mortality had it been bacterial.</p>
<p>Had my own d had NORMAL IMMEDIATE spinal fluid results in the ER, I would have ruled out meningitis, whether the non-life threatening viral type OR bacterial! I would have taken her home. I have treated many, many cases of meningitis in my 26 year career. The spinal fluid IS the diagnostic tool, and it is, by definition, abnormal in meningitis.</p>
<p>This is what is being misunderstood by some posters. WE DO NOT KNOW the answer to this from the news reports. If the spinal fluid was 100% normal in the ER, there was no negligence. If it was abnormal, that’s a different story.</p>