Medical Malpractice Ectopic pregnancy....Negligence?

[spayne]

I have been seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist since 2005. In March I started injectable meds and had an intrauterine insemination done March 16. On March 19 I returned to his office because I was having abdominal pain. He did an ultrasound and concluded I had hyperstimulation. I was instructed to stay off my feet and take it easy. He said this would resolve itself in a few weeks unless I became pregnant in which it could get worse and take longer to resolve. He prescribed vicodin for the pain. He also said that as soon as I had my period if I wasn't pregnant the hyperstimulation would be gone. As instructed I had started progesterone suppositories on March 18. I was to also take a home pregnancy test 12 days after the insemination. On March 28 I had a negative home pregnancy test and began light bleeding later that evening into the next day. I called and was instructed to stop the suppositories and was asked if I wanted to try another cycle. I told the nurse with the pain I was having I wanted to hold off a cycle. On April 4, after having my period or so I thought, I was still having severe pain with increased pain when defecating so I went back to the doctor and again he did an ultrasound and said that I would just have to let this resolve on its own. He prescribed a stronger pain medicine vicoprofen and told me to continue as I had been doing. He did not suspect pregnancy?? I had already cycled and was still in alot of pain. No blood hcg test was ever done. On April 10 I passed a blood clot and continued spotting the next day so I called the doctors office. I was told by the nurse that consulted with the doctor there was nothing to worry about it was just hormones and I had a history of irregular cycles. To clarify I went months without having periods, not bleeding every two weeks. This was not normal for me. Feeling desperate to find out what was wrong with me I decided to have my husband get another home pregnancy test. When I took this one on April 12 it was positive immediately so although it was late afternoon I called the doctor. Since his office would be closed by the time we could make the hour trip, I was instructed to go to the lab at the hospital. There my hcg was 2741. I then went to his office after hours and he performed an ultrasound in which there was no uterine pregnancy detected. He told me that I needed laproscopic surgery right away. There was no mention as to the alternative treatment of methotrexate to avoid the possible complications of surgery. I expressed my concerns on the surgery and asked if there was a possibility this could be a normal pregnancy. He said there was a 5% chance and that if I wanted we could monitor the hcg levels the following day to see if there was a rise or fall. I told him I was concerned about surgery because when I had my first miscarriage in 1997 and had d & c I got a severe infection and was hospitalized for a week. I also was concerned that if there was a 5% chance this was a normal pregnancy I did not want to act too hastily. I have had multiple pregnancy losses and been through years of infertility. If there was any chance at all I did not want to risk it. The following day I went to his office for hcg level. He called me on cell and told me it had gone up but not doubled. I told him I would feel better if I could have ultrasound to make sure. He was unable to do it that morning and he told me if we could hang around until late afternoon he would try to work me in. We live an hour away so going home and coming back was not really an option. I decided to call my OBGyn that initially referred me to this doctor and let him know what was going on. He told me about the alternative methotrexate treatment and scheduled me for a follow up hcg and ultrasound to be done at the hospital the following day. I had lost confidence in the RE as I felt he neglected to explore the possibility of pregnancy weeks earlier in which my options would have been better. To sum up the ending, I ended up in the ER that evening because of increased pain and was later admitted. I had the methotrexate shot and was released to go home the following day. I was to have an hcg drawn the 4th day after injection unless I had increased pain in which I was instructed to go to the closest ER. On Monday April 16, late afternoon I was taken to the ER about 20 minutes from my house. There it was determined I had fluid in my abdomen and needed emergency surgery. I ultimately ended up losing my right tube and ovary because the bleeding could not be stopped. I do not want this to happen to someone else!! If the doctor acted inappropriately I think he should be called on it. Was I neglected or do I just feel as if I was?? Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[seniorjudge]

Cut this in half.

Use paragraphs.

Leave out editorial comments.

 

[spayne]

Umm, Yes Sir...

In March 2007, under the care of a Reproductive Endocrinologist I started injectable meds and had an intrauterine insemination done March 16. On March 19 I returned to his office with abdominal pain. He did an ultrasound and concluded I had hyperstimulation. I was instructed to stay off my feet and take it easy. He said this would resolve itself in a few weeks unless I became pregnant in which it could get worse and take longer to resolve. He prescribed vicodin for the pain. He also said that as soon as I had my period if I wasn't pregnant the hyperstimulation would be gone. As instructed I took a home pregnancy test 12 days after insemination and the result was negative. I called and was instructed to stop using progesterone and continue pain meds as needed.

On April 4, after having my period or so I thought, I was still having severe pain with increased pain when defecating so I went back to the doctor and again he did an ultrasound and said that I would just have to let this resolve on its own. He prescribed a stronger pain medicine vicoprofen and told me to continue as I had been doing.

On April 10 I passed a blood clot and continued spotting the next day so I called the doctors office. I was told by the nurse, per the doctor, there was nothing to worry about it was just hormones and I had a history of irregular cycles. To clarify I went months without having periods, not bleeding every two weeks. This was not normal for me.

April 12 I took another home pregnancy test that was positive immediately. I called the doctor and he instructed me to go for labwork at the hospital as his office would be closed. There my hcg was 2741 and they reported to him. I then went to his office after hours and he performed an ultrasound in which there was no uterine pregnancy detected. He told me that I needed laproscopic surgery right away. There was no mention as to the alternative treatment of methotrexate to avoid the possible complications of surgery. I expressed my concerns on the surgery and asked if there was a possibility this could be a normal pregnancy. He said there was a 5% chance and that if I wanted we could monitor the hcg levels the following day to see if there was a rise or fall. I told him I was concerned about surgery because when I had my first miscarriage in 1997 and had d & c I got a severe infection and was hospitalized for a week. I also was concerned that if there was a 5% chance this was a normal pregnancy I did not want to act too hastily. The following day I went to his office for hcg level. He called me on cell and told me it had gone up but not doubled. I told him I would feel better if I could have ultrasound to make sure. He was unable to do it at that time so I decided to call my OBGyn for a second opinion. He told me about the alternative methotrexate treatment and scheduled me for a follow up hcg and ultrasound to be done at the hospital the following day. I had lost confidence in the RE as I felt he neglected to explore the possibility of pregnancy weeks earlier in which my options would have been better.

To sum up the ending, I had the methotrexate shot and was released to go home the following day. On Monday April 16, late afternoon I was taken to the ER. There it was determined I had fluid in my abdomen and needed emergency surgery. I ultimately ended up losing my right tube and ovary because the bleeding could not be stopped. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[Duranie]

You need to see a medical malpractice attorney to see if you have any sort of case. I can tell you that in an ectopic pregnancy, about 50% of the time it results in the loss of a tube anyways. Whether or not the failure to diagnose the ectopic earlier that possibly could have saved the tube is up to an attorney to look into. Since you do have 1 tube it is possible you can get pregnant again. Even if you had no tubes you would have to do IVF. Iimagine since you have had so many infertility problems IVF would be the next logical step.

 

[spayne]

Thanks everyone...

To be honest, I am not sure I will ever be able to go through assisted reproduction again. I understand I still have one tube and ovary, but all the research I have done on this shows that it takes twice as long for a woman to get pregnant with just one side. I am 33 and it isn't like I have 20 more years to try. I realize that IVF could be an option, but now that I only have one ovary, lots of the eggs I was blessed with at birth are now gone, never to be babies again. I will just continue praying and in God's time we will become parents. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I do have an appointment with an attorney this week and he seems to think we have something to move forward with.

 

[seniorjudge]

Good luck.

Sometimes men don't realize how traumatic this can be.

Get a woman lawyer....:angel

 

[Duranie]

The sex of the attorney does not matter, its the fact whether you have a case or not.

 

[spayne]

Thanks yall

I appreciate the good luck and I do agree that men do not always understand how traumatic this is. However, the male attorney I am working with seems to care and even has been through the infertility journey with his wife.