Q: Child’s doctors office didn’t return calls, gave bad advice over phone about 4 week old baby.
I called my child’s doctor office multiple times trying to get a appointment for that day and wasn’t getting a response, I told them my child’s symptoms and his age multiple times only to get a call 30 minutes before they closed. The lady on the phone told me she would go ask a doctor and call me back about the baby’s symptoms. We should returned my call she said if he had the same ones in the morning to bring him in. We go as soon as they open and the baby’s oxygen levels were very low and we were transported via ambulance were my baby was put in icu for a week and diagnosed with rsv that caused multiple other issues including part of the lobe in the lung to collapse. My question is can I sue the doctors office for giving me bad advice over the phone?
A:
I'm sorry for the ordeal your baby and you, as a parent, went through. A med mal attorney would likely want to review the records with a medical professional to make a more meaningful assessment. In terms of the telephone exchanges, an attorney would have additional questions regarding what was said. Unfortunately, in hectic medical offices, communication can sometimes break down between the front desk, exam rooms, and post-it notes left for examining doctors. As a starting point, you could contact an Alabama med mal attorney. Many offer free initial consults and work on a contingency basis. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
A: Alabama's Medical Malpractice law requires you to prove that your doctor breached a standard of care, and to do that, you have to find a different doctor to testify that your doctor did something wrong. You have to hire that doctor to testify for you. You have to pay them to review the records and prepare an opinion prior to testifying. And you have to pay them the kind of money that doctors make for their time. For that reason, medical malpractice claims are generally expensive to pursue. To give you a more detailed answer, you'd need an attorney to review the records.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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