A trip to the ER and what happened next.
Shocking to see what is occuring in our health care system.
A few days before Christmas, a family member fell about 9 feet off a ladder, landing on concrete. A trip to the ER was first on the agenda to rule out a punctured lung or any serious internal injuries. The person landed on their side, so they were alert and oriented with left-side rib pain and difficulty breathing. They were able to walk on their own accord.
Everything That Went Wrong
Wrong Testing Determination in the Initial Assessment
After waiting in the waiting room, it was apparent that there was no internal bleeding (no nausea, vomiting, or dizziness, and breathing was improving). Still, we stayed to get a basic assessment.
The intake staff member noted that they would take an X-ray. An X-ray can identify complete rib fractures but would not indicate any other type of damage or hairline fractures.
I should have spoken up to question this, but I did not. This person needed a CT scan or MRI, in my opinion, but at that point, I have to admit, I was not thinking as clearly as I should have.
The Uninformed Consent Process
We went back to the waiting room after the brief intake process to go over why he was in the ED. At this point, I went to the main desk to “sign documents” for the injured person since he was in pain and walking and breathing were painful (and the person permitted me to sign for him).
The person behind the plexiglass told me the heading of each document I would sign electronically. For instance, she said (paraphrasing), “This signature is for the HIPAA form, the next one is for payment, and the last one is for the patient bill of rights.”
I signed these documents without seeing or reading them. Thus, I never read the content of each document before signing (more on this later).
Blood Draw Without Explanation
While signing during the uniformed consent process, I saw him being taken back into the hospital section, so I trotted over. However, the door was locked when I arrived, and I could not enter. I saw him sitting just beyond the door, now getting a blood draw.
I am thinking, at this point, why are they drawing blood?
He comes back out, and I ask him why did they draw blood. When in severe pain, it is difficult to think clearly (hence why you always need someone with you during a medical visit). He said he did not know why they did a blood draw, and the person taking the blood did not say why.
Wow.
They do not even explain why they are drawing blood.
When he thought about this, he was annoyed because only 6 weeks earlier, he had a complete and thorough blood panel done.
He is private pay, which means he will get a bill for this blood draw.
Now we are back in the waiting room, sitting there, and I am getting angry.
Then it hits me.
I willingly just took part in uninformed consent.
I returned to the counter and explained to the woman behind the plexiglass that I had signed documents but had no idea what they contained.
She looked at me perplexed with that confused head tilt and said, “But I told you what you were signing.”
I explained to her that this process was not informed consent, that she did not show me any documents, and that I was not given an opportunity to read them before signing. She looked befuddled and asked if I wanted to unsign. I told her I wanted to see and read the documents.
I was appalled at myself for signing willy-nilly, as I know better. More importantly, this process is being followed by every patient who walks into their ED. When I asked the front desk employee for paper copies to read, she said she had never been asked that before.
This means that everyone who walks into this ED has zero clue what they just signed.
I received 22 pages that would need to be read to have informed consent.
I cannot speak for the patient, but if the patient was me, here are a few things that stood out while reading 22 pages.
One
“I acknowledge, consent, and agree that after testing has been completed on my blood and tissue specimens, those specimens may be delivered to entities for use in medical research with all patient ID deleted from such specimens.”
Maybe you wouldn’t care about this, but I would.
Two
This hospital is a teaching hospital. The patient and caregiver should be aware of this in the documents.
“Students can participate in my care. I understand I have the right to refuse student participation in my care.”
How would you know this hospital is a teaching facility and that you can refuse student care if you did not read the document?
As a child who spent time in hospitals as a patient, I went to Children’s Hospital in NYC, a teaching facility. I had some negative experiences being treated by students, so this one in the document is important to me.
Three
Patient Rights
“You have the right to effective communication.”
When someone draws blood without explanation, or when you blindly sign documents, I do not see how this is effective communication.
“You have the right to participate in and make informed decisions about your plan of care.”
Again, how can you participate when the medical staff does not inform you or discuss their actions?
“You have the right to receive information such as the names and titles of those involved in your care.”
Not one person identified their role or name. They did wear ID badges, but as I said, I could not always see them, so I sometimes had no clue if the person was a nurse, technician, or medical doctor.
Contrast Dye When it Was Not Needed.
Finally, they called his name for what I thought would be the X-ray. As the technician (I assume that is who it was) walked with him, I heard her ask if they had put an IV in his arm as she looked at it.
I think to myself, this is getting weird: no informed consent, a blood draw without reason, and now an IV? What is going on?
I was behind them, collecting all my papers to read. I trotted up to her and asked why he needed an IV.
The technician replies, “For the contrast dye.”
Now, it makes sense. He will get a CT scan or MRI, not an X-ray since those tests use contrast dye. So I asked why they did blood work.
“They just needed to see that his kidneys function optimally for the contrast dye.”
Me: “Okay, they only drew blood to examine kidney biomarkers?”
Tech: “Yes.”
Me: “Does he need the contrast dye to see if there are rib fractures?”
She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “No.”
I responded, “We do not want the dye since there is no reason for it.”
(This also means the kidney biomarkers testing was a waste of money and could have been avoided if someone had explained WHY they were drawing blood).
But it gets worse
The lab did not run a kidney biomarker panel but did a complete blood chemistry and WBC panel without reason.
There is no reason or explanation yet for running an entire panel. According to the 22 pages I received, he will receive numerous separate bills, so he will have to wait for each and then dispute the blood test charges.
Lastly, the Diagnosis
After waiting for about 45 minutes for the test results, someone (I do not know who because no one introduced themselves and it isn’t always easy to see their ID badges) informed him that he had fractures to the 6th and 11th rib.
I asked her to explain the severity-complete fractures and hairline.
She looked at me, shrugged, and said, “I just know they are broken.”
Wow, that is a tremendous medical assessment from our allopathic healthcare system.
Only when he sent in an online request, did he find out days later that one broken rib was a complete fracture and the other a hairline fracture.
Summing it up. This Medical Experience
I am sharing this experience with you because you may end up in an ED. You need to look at the entire experience through an informed, watchful lens and not be afraid to ask questions or refuse specific protocols.
Do not sign documents (like I did) without reading them first. Who cares if you look like a bitch in the emergency room-you are there to protect yourself or somebody else. Look at it as a job, and someone’s life may depend on you speaking up!
We were in the emergency department for a little shy of 4 hours. Still, we went through an un-informed consent process (which I consider an illegal act), an unnecessary blood draw, little to no communication with the patient or person with them, no logic for the contrast dye, no one explaining what test they are performing on him, no one identifying themselves, and lastly a shrug when asked the type of fractures sustained.
Unbelievable!
I plan to write a letter of complaint to this hospital regarding the violation of informed consent. I assume this incident is not isolated from my experience or this hospital. I am sure uninformed consent occurs in many hospitals across the US.
Does this occur in other countries too?
This was a great reminder of why I want to be able to take care of myself as much as possible and avoid allopathic hospitals. But accidents can and do happen.
Upcoming: I will share the healing protocol I gave this person. By day two, he did some daily activities, including walking slower than usual. By day 8, he was doing some modified exercise and household tasks but no heavy, tasking jobs yet.
Show my posts some love, please!
It is just me writing, reading, researching, and seeing clients!
I do not use mainstream social media, so please share my posts so that more people can get informed on how to get and stay healthy.
This is NOT information allopathic practitioners will share with you.
What a shit show and a rrrrrrrreally important post! Thank you so much. I don't know if you're aware of this Substacker, but Dr. Margaret Aranda has a terrific stack devoted, in part, to hospital patients' rights/advocacy. Just FYI to you and your readers. Very Best and Happy New Year!
Just ONE of many of her articles begins: "A Guide to DNR Orders and Complaints on Hospital Neglect of Care: How a DNR Works, Emergency Help, the Tier of Supervisors, and the Regulating Commissions of Doctors and Hospitals Themselves
What can you do about illegal DNR orders that result in hospital neglect and patient death? Who do you complain to, while the patient is still in the hospital? And who can you turn to for LIVE HELP?"
And her post today is "Getting a Covid Shot While Under Anesthesia, Without Your Permission or Informed Consent."
She might be great to interview for a potential post. Regardless, thank you, Karen, for the great work you're doing. And whoever you accompanied to the ED, they are lucky to have you.
My 20 year old daughter is a bit on the fragile side. She usually comes home from college with at least one ailment. This time she came home with a horrible cough and a sore ribcage. My guess was she might have pulled a muscle from all the coughing. By morning she was having difficulty walking or even sitting comfortably. I first tried DMSO but she did not like the itching, stinging sensation. So then I took a raw organic potato, grated it and wrapped it in a soft kitchen towel and placed it on the sore area. We did it once a day for about an hour and by day three she had very little pain. Her friends said her mother is a witch doctor. Obviously a fall from a ladder does need a more thorough evaluation! But for the little things, it’s amazing how many home remedies are available.