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Parents sue St. Luke's over unwanted medical treatment
KTVB News ^ | Tuesday, August 9, 2005 | Associated Press

Posted on 08/10/2005 12:35:31 PM PDT by msjhall

BOISE --- Back in 2002, Corissa Mueller took her then five-week-old daughter Taige to St. Luke's hospital.

Corissa believed the little girl had a cold, but the doctor thought it was more.

He requested a spinal tap and antibiotics for what the hospital says was a five to ten percent chance the little girl had meningitis. Corissa refused treatment.

Police were called and her little girl was taken away.

Today, three years later, the Muellers were in federal court with a claim against Saint Luke’s, Child Protective Services, the doctor and three police officers.

(Excerpt) Read more at ktvb.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cpswatch; donutwatch; nannystate; parentalrights; parentsrights
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To: Polybius

Risks of lumbar puncture include:
Hypersensitivity (allergic) reaction to the anesthetic.
Discomfort during the test.
Headache after the test.
Bleeding into the spinal canal.
Brain herniation (if performed on a person with increased intracranial pressure), and resulting in brain damage or death.
Damage to the spinal cord (particularly if the person moves during the test).
Cisternal puncture or ventricular puncture carry additional risk of damage to the brainstem or brain tissue and risk of bleeding within the brain; resulting in incapacitation or death.


41 posted on 08/10/2005 1:35:27 PM PDT by vrwc0915
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To: vrwc0915

Not a problem. I may not have been very clear in typing it. I'm posting here now because I got a "no-show" in my clinic and found a couple of minutes.


42 posted on 08/10/2005 1:35:33 PM PDT by johniegrad
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To: Doctor Stochastic
And had the doctor not done the tests and the girl had meningitis, the doctor would have been sued for not doing enough.

This is why we need a federal law to override all the common law that currently precludes parents from effectively waiving liability on behalf of their child. Under the current state of the law, there is no way anyone can avoid liability for injury to a minor child -- whether you're a doctor, a sports coach, or anyone else who ever deals with other people's children. It doesn't matter what the parents sign; the courts always rule that the parent can't sign away the child's right to sue. And the suit "by" the child is often brought by a social services agency on the child's behalf, even if the parents don't want to sue. This is the basis for the cases where doctors go to court to force a pregnant woman to have a Caesarian delivery against her will -- even if the woman signs a form saying she has been advised by the doctors that attempting a natural delivery poses a severe risk of death or permanent injury to the baby, "the baby" can still sue the doctors for everything they're worth if the doctors didn't pursue every available legal avenue to force the mother into a Caesarian.

43 posted on 08/10/2005 1:35:59 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: nickcarraway

Actually it turned out to be herniated disc and a pinched nerve. Not a result of the twisted arm though ;)


44 posted on 08/10/2005 1:37:55 PM PDT by kx9088
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To: Polybius

What part of it is false? The viral meningitis cannot be treated part or the 7 days after the symptoms start bacterial meningitis would have killed her by that point?


45 posted on 08/10/2005 1:39:36 PM PDT by kx9088
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To: Polybius

Meningitis can move with frightening speed. A friend of mine had a sister die of meningococcal meningitis. The sister was at college, a couple of hours from home. First she thought she just had a cold, but it got worse so the next day she went to the college clinic. The clinic transferred her to a hospital immediately, thinking she had the flu but concerned that it was a bad case, since she had a high fever. The clinic called the parents right away to notify them that their daughter had been admitted to the hospital with flu symptoms. The parents jumped in their car and took off for the hospital. Their daughter was already dead by the time they got there.


46 posted on 08/10/2005 1:45:33 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: rumrunner

Interesting...I wonder what the other side has to say? And what is a naturist? Seems mom kept calling this other "doctor" to see if she agreed with the ER docs. What a mess.


47 posted on 08/10/2005 1:47:43 PM PDT by Jrabbit
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Keeping a mother from nursing her baby sure shows the concern of CPS and the hospital for the baby! How those parents kept calm enough to not attack the staff is amazing
48 posted on 08/10/2005 1:49:00 PM PDT by vrwc0915
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To: vrwc0915
I mean no offense to the doctors that respect their patients or their guardian's wishes, refusing a test that carries significant risk is a whole lot different than a parent refusing CPR for a child

The risk of untreated bacterial meningitis is a mortality rate of between 80% and 100%.

In comparison, the risk of a spinal tap is very small.

If you take your child to an ER and decide that forgoing a diagnostic procedure with a known low morbidity rate is reason enough to expose your child to a 5% to 10% chance of death, you are pretty likely to see Child Protective Services and the Police move in and take the matter out of your hands.

49 posted on 08/10/2005 1:49:03 PM PDT by Polybius
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To: Jrabbit; All

oooops....made a mistake.

Naturopath, Dr. Karen Erickson. The babys doctor, I guess. Why didn't she come to the hospital instead of giving advice over the phone?


50 posted on 08/10/2005 1:51:41 PM PDT by Jrabbit
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To: Polybius

So you support the course of action taken by the MD and CPS? Tell me what gives you the right to decide between risk of death from lumbar puncture or meningitis in place of the parents? The parents wanted to wait a reasonable time before authorizing more invasive and risky intervention.


51 posted on 08/10/2005 1:52:50 PM PDT by vrwc0915
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To: vrwc0915

I wonder if the naturopath advised taking the baby to the ER?


52 posted on 08/10/2005 1:55:59 PM PDT by Jrabbit
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To: Polybius
I agree that spinal taps are necessary under multiple circumstances. However, I think you misread his post....it was past the time (according to him) to test for bacterial meningitis. According to him, the spinal tap would confirm viral meningitis but would not be valuable in treatment.
53 posted on 08/10/2005 1:57:24 PM PDT by GummyIII (If you have the ability, it's your responsibility." Marine Sgt. John Place, Silver Star recipient)
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To: kx9088
What part of it is false? The viral meningitis cannot be treated part or the 7 days after the symptoms start bacterial meningitis would have killed her by that point?

The part where you said, "If it had been bacterial meningitis, she would've already been dead by that point."

Has it ever occurred to you that bacterial meningitis can complicate a previously present viral illness?

Do you belive that, if you have had a cold for the past 6 days, that you are magically protected from developing bacterial meningitis on the 7th day?

If you ASS/U/ME such things in the ER, you will end up with a lot of dead bodies.

54 posted on 08/10/2005 1:59:52 PM PDT by Polybius
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To: GovernmentShrinker

That happened to the daughter of one of our local coaches. May even be the same person.


55 posted on 08/10/2005 2:00:20 PM PDT by GummyIII (If you have the ability, it's your responsibility." Marine Sgt. John Place, Silver Star recipient)
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To: Brilliant

If the doctor had not ordered tests and the daughter had complications what do you guess the suit would be about?


56 posted on 08/10/2005 2:01:13 PM PDT by stocksthatgoup (Polls = Proof that when the MSM want your opinion they will give it to you.)
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To: msjhall
"a five to ten percent chance the little girl had meningitis".
57 posted on 08/10/2005 2:02:01 PM PDT by stocksthatgoup (Polls = Proof that when the MSM want your opinion they will give it to you.)
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To: stocksthatgoup

Exactly. The doctor should have ordered the tests. The question is whether he should have had the police seize the kid. I don't think you do that unless you know she's got the virus, and the parents simply aren't allowing treatment.


58 posted on 08/10/2005 2:04:43 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: stylin19a

after reading the complaint, according to the mother,
the child's sysptoms were lessening, the fever broke and the baby didn't appear to be in danger.

No mention of menningitis as a direct diagnosis. Most probably the flu.

I'm thinking the hosp/doctor/CPS screwed the pooch on this one.


59 posted on 08/10/2005 2:06:45 PM PDT by stylin19a (In golf, some are long, I'm "Lama Long")
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To: johniegrad
Wouldn't it also depend on if there had been other cases of meningitis in the area also? Isn't some forms of meningitis contagious?
60 posted on 08/10/2005 2:09:21 PM PDT by codercpc
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