Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Ohio

Total embarrassment from misdiagnoses

I had a rash in June of 2005. I went to the emergency room and the doctor didn't even test me, (he looked at my rash from several feet away). He told me I had scabies. I was horified. I had to pay way to much for the meds to cure it. Only to find out several months later that all the rash was, was a reaction to nickel from my jeans! Since scabies is a sexually transmitted disease I confronted my boyfriend at the time about it. Not only did I lose my boyfriend, I now owe HUGE bills to the ER and am being contacted almost daily from collection agencys. Because of it being turned over to collection I now owe almost double the amt to begin with. Do I have to pay this bill even though it was the wrong diagnose? I have been humilliated by this. If the ER dr would have tested me instead of dianosing me from several feet away, this never would have happened. Thanks for your time.


Asked on 2/04/06, 10:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Howard Mishkind Mishkind Kuwlicki Law Co. L.P.A.

Re: Total embarrassment from misdiagnoses

If the misdiagnosis was due to substandard care by the emergency room doctor as compared to a judgment call on his part based upon your symptoms then you have a better chance of challenging the bill. Simply because the doctor made the wrong diagnosis does not mean he was negligent. Assuming, he was negligent, then you should notify the collection agency that you dispute the bill. You should notify the Hospital about the error by the doctor and if they do not do anythiny you should consider reporting his conduct to the Ohio State Medical Board and also seek advise from WWW.JCAHO.org concerning the hospitals prior problems, if any, with this doctor. Finally you may want to hire an attorney to represent you on the bill and the attorney can raise as a defense to the bill that the doctor's care was negligent. As far as recovering for emotional damages on this case, you are on far more shaking grounds and would likely not be successful but should talk directly to an attorney about that as well.

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Answered on 2/05/06, 9:21 am


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