Go to Give Birth, Come Home With No Arms and Legs
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Thursday, April 27, 2006
I can't even fathom that I haven't seen this on the mainstream news...especially since it happened a few months ago. I did a little more digging and I've found quite a few news stories about the case...doesn't seem like things have moved beyond legal threats yet though.This is just so disturbing on so many levels...
http://www.wftv.com/news/6253589/detail.html
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.
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.
"I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this," Mejia said.
Mejia said after she gave birth to Mathew last spring, she was kept in the hospital with complications. Twelve days after giving birth at Orlando Regional South Seminole hospital, she was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center where she became a quadruple amputee. Now she can not care for or hold her baby.
Everything I can find says that they are going to file a lawsuit. Interestingly, they are not suing for money, they are suing for information to try and find out how she contracted the flesh eating bacteria. Though I'd imagine that if it's found the hospital is at fault through negligence, that there would be a lawsuit to cover ongoing care and such. (which makes sense to me)
Labels: Childbirth Issues
Living in Sanford, this was one of the scariest stories my wife and I have read in years. What scares us the most is the utter inhuman way the hospital dealt with the problem - they've refused to tell her anything about what happened, and they probably sent her a bill for it too. I hope she sues the ever living crayola out of them for destroying her life.
How in the hell could this have happened. I agree it's one of the scariest hospital/birth stories I have ever heard. Unbelievable.
Found an update:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12600294
accessamerica Says:
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:04 am
Well the hard part about suing any hospital in all of Florida is you need to have a third party doctor to sing off that we got that flesh eating bacteria in the hospital and that is the catch all,,, getting another doctor to sign off. ( an impossible feat)
The state of Florida law makers passed this garbage to protect doctors and hospitals, look it up, some attorneys are getting out of the medical malpractice practice all together.
Our law makers have turn the Florida hospitals into killing fields, and all well knowing they can at will be sloppy and careless almost with immunity from a lawsuit.
I think in Claudia case the hospital was not cooperating with her and therefore sued the hospital.
How it works is that within 30 days from a notice from an attorney for the records they have to produce a patients record, then after a review from an attorney and a doctors sign off that she or Me for that matter did in fact get the infection in that hospital, the attorney will then file a notice to file a lawsuit in 90 days..
In those 90 days the hospital/doctors can either make and offer or just pass it along their insurance company to fight it out..
The the Florida lawmakers has made so hard to sue that attorneys and the general public in Florida now have had there 7th SEVENTH AMENDMENT. CIVIL TRIALS. TRIAL BY JURY IN CIVIL CASES (taken Away by these low life law makers) or trample on..
Now if there are any Attorneys out there that would like to jump in here you are welcome.
Buy you can rest assure none will… there is nothing in it for them $$$$.
so we the people once again get screwed!!
and the Florida killing fields are open for business unscaved… and will be as sloppy as ever with these new laws in favor of them..
I only wish Mrs Mejia gets her day in court and prevails, I am afraid that the laws are not in her favor, and only hope she had a doctor sing off that the hospital was the place she got the infection.
What I can say for myself is I did not walk into that Sanford hospital with my infection, but you can rest assured I walk out with, and ending up at the ORMC were Mrs was treated… What does that tell Ya…a year later..I have not seen a hospital in years before that, and I did not go to a grocery store and buy a can of Flesh Eating Bacteria Soup.
So am I bitter? I am down right furious that our rights have been taken away and advise all Florida residents to be very careful in these hospitals.
Well I must go before I have a stroke over this injustice.
Another Victim….
I too sued against this hospital and been trying to sue the doctors there for med. malpractse they took my only 9yr old daughter's life away from her and us 9yrs ago. they told us that she was ready to go home one day after a fall which caused a hemmorage which we never knew about til reading her med. records and she never made it home and THEY (the doctors) shut her machine off without any written consent. now fighting for her for almost 9yrs our lawyers after almost 8yrs of fighting for her tell us we had/have a good case all these yrs decided to give up on the case and now tell us that we no longer had/have a case..think they were bought off? I do...now trying to find a good lawyer to take over any offers?
I am aghast. I'd never heard of this. I'm with Damien; I hope she sues the holy living crap out of that inhumane establishment.
What makes this extra scary for me is that I developed an infection, totally unrelated to the birth of my child, on my inner elbow during my hospital stay. It was totally the fault of the stupid paper tape used to hold down a cotton ball after a blood draw. The infection didn't go away for anything. It stuck around for weeks, despite using Bactine, Neosporin, alcohol, (OUCH!), peroxide, washing with antibacterial soap, iodine, etc. It seems like all that harsh stuff actually made it worse.
What finally made it go away was simply washing it with plain soap (not antibacterial) and water, air-drying it, and putting breastmilk on it. That cleared it up in about three days. Sounds like a hokey hippie story, but it really happened.
Streptococci can be carried on a woman's own skin or in vaginal flora and never cause a problem until it gets into an open wound, such as the large "open wound" that is the inside of the uterus immediately after childbirth. Gangrene of limbs is a known complication of streptococcal sepsis and toxic shock. It's very sad but I have seen it happen in spite of the best efforts of the best doctors. It may be absolutely impossible to tell where the infection came from or whether it was hospital-acquired. The hospital may have told her as much as they know and she is not satisfied.
I think that people need to take it to a more personal level and find out who the doctors where (and all other medical staffers) and sue them individually. Failing that, some violent retribution would go a long way to making a clear statement that such medical crime does not pay. It seems until some public violence happens there will be no response on the part of hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and the like.
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