My first thought: I’ll bet a doctor told them not to take their little boy to the hospital.
Sure enough, the article goes on to say that a doctor assured them those “symptoms were normal for the flu.” They trusted the doctor and took their little boy home, as he advised.
Some pediatricians seem to assume that most parents are overreacting.
Once, I called 911 for one of my children. When paramedics arrived, I said I’m sorry I panicked. My child is okay. Just a strange cough. They told me to call the pediatrician right there and then. The pediatrician told me that I overreacted and my little one didn’t need to go to a hospital. When I hung up and told the paramedics what he said, their eyes widened. They said, in my shoes, they’d take their child to the ER right now. So, I did what they said.
Oddly enough I have a story like that. 1982, Girlfriend has persistent pain in her right side abdomen. She goes to doctor, he says, basically, it’s nothing. Don’t recall what he may have prescribed. I didn’t know any of this. She called me the next morning still in pain, told me the story . I couldn’t believe my ears. I hung up and headed into Brooklyn. Picked her up and took her to Miamonidies hospital. The looked her over and told me they wanted to transfer her to Coney Island…but she was too far gone!
It’s hard to believe that some of these doctors don’t have a dead list a mile long.