Hospital Beats Man Misidentified For Surgery When He Tried To Leave

[Jumping John]

Nightmarish Hospital Visit Capped by Beating, Accident Victim Says
By RYAN ABBOTT

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (CN) - A man who was hurt in a car crash but was misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George's Hospital beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid chest surgery he didn't need - "to have a potentially cancerous mass removed from his chest." He adds that one guard repeatedly called him "bitch" as he roughed him up.

Wheeler says the nurse checked his identification bracelet and told him the surgery was "to have a potentially cancerous mass removed from his chest."

"At this point, Mr. Wheeler's wife, Felicia Ann Wheeler, came into the room to see her husband. Mr. Wheeler immediately told Mrs. Wheeler about what was taking place. The Wheelers decided that it was in their best interest to leave Prince George's Hospital Center and seek medical care for Mr. Wheeler elsewhere."

The Wheelers seek $3.2 million in compensatory damages and $9.5 million in punitive damages for assault and battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/08/25/29858.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is amazing. I wonder if the cancer patient made it? But it is quite q story.

[mike r]

1. Wow

But we know hospitals never operate on the wrong patient. :sarcasm:

[hedgehog]

2. I wonder how this will turn out.

[Boojatta]

3. On behalf of all right-thinking members of DU, I would like to say

that the Original Post of this thread is neither clever nor deep, but is merely ridiculous.

However, this thread does remind me of another thread, a rather old thread ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4357452

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. The cancer patient was released with minor bruises and contusions. nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. This is so sick. I hope they get more than they're asking for.

[Enrique]

6. "seek medical care elsewhere"

good move, imho.

The Wheelers decided that it was in their best interest to leave Prince George's Hospital Center and seek medical care for Mr. Wheeler elsewhere.

[Crunchy Frog]

7. There are alot of people on this board who think that once you're in a hospital

you have no right to refuse anything that they want to do to your body. After all, he did sign a general consent form didn't he?

[TBF]

21. Define "a lot". nt

[Crunchy Frog]

25. Well, a couple of years ago there was a thread

about a man who was suing the hospital because he went in to the ER to get stitches on his forehead and was subjected to a forced rectal examination. When he tried to refuse they actually knocked him out with general anesthetic and he woke up hours later with a breathing tube and handcuffed to a bed. Then they actually tried to press assault charges against him for attempting to resist.

I would say that a majority of people posting on that thread were on the side of the hospital and were arguing that once you walk into an ER, you basically have given an implied blanket consent to anything they might want to do to you, and you have no right to refuse. That was POV was very vigorously defended as I recall.

[uppityperson]

26. I remember that, they were concerned he had a concussion so did a rectal exam to check his

spinal nerves, see how they were. The hosp said he was acting irrationally and they were concerned that he would walk out and drop paralyzed. Once you walk into an ER, you can still refuse care but your insurance (if any) then won't pay. Unless they think you were injured enough to not be able to make an informed choice.

That's what I remember about it. Unless he was in a critical state, they should not have done that to him without consent.

[Dappleganger]

33. Unbelievable

broad sweeping statement based upon not a shred of evidence.

[Loudmxr]

8. No the cancer patient didn't make it. But his family got a BRAND NEW CHEVY CAMERO!!

As a consolation prize.

[Quantess]

20. LOL.

Dammit, I shouldn't laugh.

[pipi_k]

9. I wonder how much of this could have been avoided

merely by the guy and his wife showing the floor nurses his WRONG ID bracelet in the first place.

I don't see anywhere that this happened until they were in the security office.

And then they make the whole situation worse by refusing to turn over the wrong ID bracelet. WTF was that all about? If all they want to do is get out, then Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, turn the damned thing over and get the hell out. If the hospital personnel were such huge assholes, why do anything to make it worse?

Which is not to say they should have been treated the way they were if it's true, but geez...Show the stinking bracelet, ask if he looks like a woman with a totally different name than his own and a different birthdate. Give them the bracelet. Leave the hospital. No harm done.


People don't have to be victims, but they also shouldn't be stupid and make a situation worse.

[dgibby]

13. According to the article,

the nurse DID look at his ID before security was called.

As for relinquishing the wrong ID band, I can assure you that I would never have done that, and I'm a retired RN. The ID band is the only concrete evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the hospital.

If this story is true, I hope the security guards do prison time for assault and battery with intent, and that Mr. Wheeler retires in the style, compliments of the hospital.

[pipi_k]

27. Well then he was obviously dealing with nutcases in the hospital...

and the article did make it sound like he was being a bit of a jerk too.

The thing that makes me shake my head is where he says he only wanted to leave, but refused to do anything to facilitate his being able to, even if it meant turning the wrong ID bracelet over. Do nurses stations have copy machines? Make a copy of it. Have someone with a cellphone take a photo of it and email it to him or someone he knows.

I mean, there are all sorts of creative ways to deal with a difficult situation instead of making it worse.

:shrug:

[NashVegas]

29. You Must Be Reading a Different Article

The nurse who first looked at the ID did NOTHING to stop the surgery preparation.

In the above article, Wheeler was beaten up BEFORE any hospital official verified his ID or requested the bracelet.

Wheeler was within his rights to demand immediate release, and the hospital forcibly restrained him. And when they realized how much deep shit they were in,

Wheeler says the men took him to the hospital security office, where an unidentified lieutenant questioned him.
"After Mr. Wheeler explained what had happened, the lieutenant looked at Wheeler's hospital-provided identification bracelet and acknowledged that Wheeler had been misidentified," Wheeler says.
But that was not the end of the conflict. Wheeler says the lieutenant became agitated when he would not return the incorrect bracelet, and ordered the security guards to stop him from leaving.
He says a plainclothes hospital employee, a woman he identifies as an "administrator ... intervened in the conversation" and after he explained the situation, said she would make sure he "would have his own private room and any type of drug he wanted, just to name the pain killer."
Wheeler says he and his wife chose to leave the hospital, but when he tried to leave with the incorrect ID bracelet, one of the security guards "charged Wheeler, again calling Wheeler 'bitch,' and shoved him against the wall."

That's a hospital whose administrative staff, executive officers and corporate board need to be fired.

[pipi_k]

34. No, I read the article.

As far as the guy being beaten up (apparently for no other reason than because he wanted to leave the hospital), that's HIS side of the story.

There are always two sides.

What would the "other side" have to say about this?

Did the patient become verbally and physically disruptive himself? Did he act in any way which caused the security guards to try and restrain him? It's all well and good for someone to claim they were beaten up, especially if he may already have injuries caused by an accident and it's not possible to tell whether they were obtained in the accident itself or as a result of a "beating" that may only have been an attempt to restrain him.

As far as why hospital personnel were so incompetent about the whole mistaken ID thing, who knows. That part is inexcusable.


While I'm not going to claim that every negative interaction between law enforcement officers and ordinary citizens is a lie, I think there are too many people who only read one side of a story and automatically decide that the person telling the story is speaking the absolute truth.

People DO lie.

And the claims the guy made over what those security guards "beating him up" said to him...if he was only there for surgery...that's just bizarre.

[tblue37]

32. My guess is that they wanted to keep the ID for legal

purposes--for their lawsuit--but that the hospital wanted to get rid of the evidence that proved how negligent they were.

[pipi_k]

35. Yep, I think so too...however...

I think a little bit of forethought might have ended this peacefully.

A man finds himself in the hospital wearing the wrong ID bracelet, scheduled for surgery he doesn't need. His wife is there. They are prevented from leaving.

First choice...feign compliance, go back to the room and call the police, tell them the problem and ask to be escorted out. Or call a lawyer. Or call a bunch of family members in to witness the whole thing...maybe one of them has a cell phone to record the whole incident.

Or send the wife off to a nearby store to buy an inexpensive tape recorder...very small, can be hidden in a pocket, they have proof on tape that they were prevented from leaving, and even if they have to turn over the bracelet, they can steer the discussion toward hospital personnel admitting there is a wrong ID bracelet first. Turn over the bracelet and leave, contact a lawyer immediately and sue the shit out of them WITH PROOF.


I dunno...sometimes people just make trouble for themselves by reacting without thinking....

:shrug:

[librechik]

10. Hey, that was $20-30,000 walking out the door!

but seriously, that's some strange shit. I worked in hospitals for years, and all we would do is make the patient sign an AMA (Against Medical Advice)form and call a cab for them. Sheesh.

[Edweird]

11. Wow. So much for "First, do no harm".

[burnsei sensei]

12. Hospitals, the places where compassion is practiced.

Quote:
A man who was hurt in a car crash but was misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George's Hospital beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid chest surgery he didn't need - "to have a potentially cancerous mass removed from his chest." He adds that one guard repeatedly called him "bitch" as he roughed him up.
end quote.

Well, it's practiced, but definitely not perfect.
No, not even good in this case.
I hope this incident never ceases to haunt the hospital.

[Bitwit1234]

14. Every time I need a procedure the nurse and the tech both

at different points of treatment ask my birth date and name. Why didn't the have some fail safe method to recognize this cancer patient. I would hate to be the patient if they didn't know who he was. Oh and by the way when they take an x ray they mark the spot with a washable marker...I like this hospital and clinic they are thorough.

[truedelphi]

28. My clinic asks my name also.

And my DO Birth.

Don't get a spot marked on my body for the X ray though. Sounds like a good idea.

[L0oniX]

15. Battery anyone?

[Boojatta]

16. "Battery" is very crude language ...

... for information retrieval.

[L0oniX]

22. Tell it to the police and the courts.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

17. what is in the water in Prince George's County?

It seems half the random episodes of inexplicable violence occur there.

[SmileyRose]

18. WE HAVE THE BEST MEDICAL CARE IN THE WORLD !!!!

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA !!!!

[704wipes]

19. and he still has a deductible, I bet

for the treatment of the beating injuries !

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. OMG. That's intense

[madmom]

24. So now if the REAL cancer patient decided they wanted to go elsewhere...

would he/she have been beaten up too?

[Boojatta]

30. It depends. Is the hypothetical "REAL" cancer patient an African-American?

[Barack2theFuture]

31. House wasn't scheduled to do the surgery was he?