What can I do to help her at this point?!
Question: My mother who is only 56 just had her breasts removed and different one's put in because her BRAC Analysis test showed that she ran a high risk (80%) chance of getting breast cancer. She already had ovarian cancer, and has been considered cured for the past 4 years or so. She had the breast operation on Friday, and the doctor sent her home on Sunday, even though her oxygen level was low and she was having problems breathing. My sister and I argued with the doctor that they should keep her longer, but because her insurance didn't cover the extended stay, they sent my mother home with antibiotics and a couple of appointments. I called my mother earlier at home, and she was alone cold, coughing, and weezing. My sister then called me 2 hours later telling me that they were rushing my mother back to the hospital!!! Now the doctor is saying that they "may" have let her go home too early, and now they are keeping her for a couple of days. Should my mother sue? My sister says no.
Answers: My mother who is only 56 just had her breasts removed and different one's put in because her BRAC Analysis test showed that she ran a high risk (80%) chance of getting breast cancer. She already had ovarian cancer, and has been considered cured for the past 4 years or so. She had the breast operation on Friday, and the doctor sent her home on Sunday, even though her oxygen level was low and she was having problems breathing. My sister and I argued with the doctor that they should keep her longer, but because her insurance didn't cover the extended stay, they sent my mother home with antibiotics and a couple of appointments. I called my mother earlier at home, and she was alone cold, coughing, and weezing. My sister then called me 2 hours later telling me that they were rushing my mother back to the hospital!!! Now the doctor is saying that they "may" have let her go home too early, and now they are keeping her for a couple of days. Should my mother sue? My sister says no.
I would sue in this situation. I used to do billing for insurance.
If the Insurance company states that a person can only stay over night for ex: hysterectomy, if the patient tells her physician she doesn't feel she can go home the next day, the physician can take care of this problem.
You can't always blame the doctor in this situation. Get her medical records and see what it entails. It could be the hospital wanting her out.
Insurances will extend and pay for extra days even though they have a 1-2 day policy for a procedure.
If your mother dies, then yes, you probably have a good reason to sue. But, doctors are human too, and they do make mistakes. Granted he may have sent your mom home too early. But now that she is back in the hospital, she'll get to stay for the extended time that she needed before that her insurance wouldn't cover. She'll be able to stay now because it's a new admission. Maybe her doctor felt she needed to stay longer, but discharged her knowing that if she came back her stay would be covered.
You can sue, and may win.
But, look at it from this view.
Hospital only treat emergencies, and only provide stabalizing treatment without a means of payment. At the time they released her, she was infact stablized. If she is stable, they have NO obligation to keep her, especially if there is no means of payment.
Due to this, you may not win.
Plus, no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, even docs.