“The case that occurred in 1970 with a minor child had sustained irreversible injuries due to the negligence of the hospital and the physician” . The physician who seen the boy the first time around has misdiagnosed him. It was apparent that he had severe head trauma, and was showing all the signs of having internal skull injuries. The physician should have seen the signs and rushed the boy for surgery.
The admissions office who had mixed up the orders for admitting the boy should have double checked the admissions policy, and never let the child leave the hospital. The boy should have been admitted and been prepared for surgery the first time he was in the hospital. His vitals were failing, and he was vomiting which is signs of internal injuries of head trauma. These signs should have been easy to see, and the boy should have been treated accordingly.
“The Director of Pediatrics who talked with the boy and his father should have reviewed his chart which listed the signs he was showing in regards to head trauma before making the call to have the father take the boy and monitor him” . The sheet that was handed to the father with the severe symptoms to look for was clearly noted of symptoms the boy was already experiencing. The head of Pediatrics would have seen this if he had looked at the boys chart, and examined him.
The father had learned the boy had skull injuries after reading a first aide book and had enough since to take him back to the hospital. If the father could figure this out with no medical degree then why did two doctors and a nurse not come to the same conclusion? The boy was delayed in surgery after returning to the hospital because the surgeon was stuck in traffic. The delay had cost the boy his use of his body for the rest of his life. The negligence of the doctors and nurse also caused the child to never have use of his body because they did not do their job properly. Due to the negligence of the Physician, nurse, surgeon, and Director of Pediatrics the boy almost died, and will be paralyzed for the rest of his life. If the Doctor would have seen something was wrong and acknowledged the boy had severe head trauma the first time the father took him to the Emergency Department he may have not been paralyzed.
Reference
Pozcar, G. (2013). Legal and Ethical Essentials of Health Care Administration. Jone and Barlett Learning.
Robinson, J. (2010). Niles v. City of San Rafael. United States Court of Appeals, 1-8.
