Episode:
I had a terrible reaction to Ambien the other week and my daughter--not knowing I had taken it--thought I might have had a stroke. She brought me in to the emergency room, when I was given the works, until the blood tests returned, revealing the problem, and I was advised to go home, go to sleep.
Meanwhile, before the blood tests came back, I ran up services to the tune of $10K, which, currenty uninsured, I don't have the wherewithal to pay.
I was asked to sign patient authorization for a cat scan and based upon my signature--which I have no memory of signing, and which my daughter even questioned the legality of at the time with the nurse--they went ahead.
I guess I have two questions:
Is an authorization signed during complete mental absence--as in during a bad Ambien reaction--strictly speaking legal?
Also, should not an emergency room crew have a sequence of probable causes protocol to follow, i.e., blood tests, and *if* they show no cause, then x-rays, and *if* they show now cause, cat scan, etc.? Had they waited for the blood tests to come back, they would never have proceeded to x-rays and cat scan, saving me thousands.
I want to challenge at least the cat scan as being both unnecessary and done without my permission. Do I have a legal leg to stand on?
Thanks,
Ulf Wolf
Los Angeles
I had a terrible reaction to Ambien the other week and my daughter--not knowing I had taken it--thought I might have had a stroke. She brought me in to the emergency room, when I was given the works, until the blood tests returned, revealing the problem, and I was advised to go home, go to sleep.
Meanwhile, before the blood tests came back, I ran up services to the tune of $10K, which, currenty uninsured, I don't have the wherewithal to pay.
I was asked to sign patient authorization for a cat scan and based upon my signature--which I have no memory of signing, and which my daughter even questioned the legality of at the time with the nurse--they went ahead.
I guess I have two questions:
Is an authorization signed during complete mental absence--as in during a bad Ambien reaction--strictly speaking legal?
Also, should not an emergency room crew have a sequence of probable causes protocol to follow, i.e., blood tests, and *if* they show no cause, then x-rays, and *if* they show now cause, cat scan, etc.? Had they waited for the blood tests to come back, they would never have proceeded to x-rays and cat scan, saving me thousands.
I want to challenge at least the cat scan as being both unnecessary and done without my permission. Do I have a legal leg to stand on?
Thanks,
Ulf Wolf
Los Angeles
