Woman becomes quadruple amputee after giving birth! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Ireneparalegal · 02-08-2006, 04:59 PM

I had seen this on CNN this morning and I was shocked and horrified that a healthy young woman who went into a hospital, gave birth and was discharged as a quadruple amputee has to sue a hospital to get answers!!!
______________________________________________________________
Woman Becomes Quadruple Amputee After Giving Birth

POSTED: 5:59 pm EST January 19, 2006
UPDATED: 4:06 pm EST January 20, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Sanford mother says she will never be able to hold her newborn because an Orlando hospital performed a life-altering surgery and, she claims, the hospital refuses to explain why they left her as a multiple amputee.

The woman filed a complaint against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, she said, because they won't tell her exactly what happened. The hospital maintains the woman wants to know information that would violate other patients' rights.

Claudia Mejia gave birth eight and a half months ago at Orlando Regional South Seminole. She was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando where her arms and legs were amputated. She was told she had streptococcus, a flesh eating bacteria, and toxic shock syndrome, but no further explanation was given.

The hospital, in a letter, wrote that if she wanted to find out exactly what happened, she would have to sue them.

"I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this," Mejia said.

Mejia said after she gave birth to Mathew last spring, she was kept in the hospital with complications. Twelve days after giving birth at Orlando Regional South Seminole hospital, she was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center where she became a quadruple amputee. Now she can not care for or hold her baby.

"Yeah, I want to pick him up. He wants me to pick him up. I can't. I want to, but I can't," she said. "Woke up from surgery and I had no arms and no legs. No one told me anything. My arms and legs were just gone."

Her 7-year-old son, Jorge, asks his mother over and over what happened to her. Neither she nor her husband has the answer.

"I love her, so I'll always stick with her and take it a day at a time myself," said her husband, Tim Edwards.

The couple wants to know how she caught streptococcus, during labor or after. She doesn't know. She knows she didn't leave the hospital the same.

"And why, I want to know why this happened," she said.

Her attorney, Judy Hyman wrote ORHS a letter saying, according to the Florida statute, "The Patients Right To Know About Adverse Medical Incidents Act," the hospital must give her the records.

"When the statute is named 'Patients Right To Know,' I don't know how it could be clearer," Hyman said.

The hospital's lawyers wrote back, "Ms. Mejia's request may require legal resolution." In other words, according to their interpretation of the law, Mejia has to sue them to get information about herself.

That's the sticking point, the interpretation of the Patients Right To Know act, a constitutional amendment Florida voters passed a little more than a year ago.

Mejia's other attorney, E. Clay Parker, said the hospital is not following the law

"We were forced to file this and ask a judge to interpret the constitutional amendment and do right," Parker said.

Mejia hopes the right thing is done. She said not knowing exactly why it happened is unbearable. She only hopes she'll be able to soon answer her little boy's question, 'What happened?'

"He told me everyday, 'What happened,' and I don't have any answers for that," she said.

ORMC said Mejia is requesting information on if there were other patients or someone on her floor with the streptococcus. They said, if they release that to her, that would be a violation of other patients' rights.

dawsongirl · 02-08-2006, 05:30 PM

I smell a coverup.

robyrob · 02-08-2006, 06:03 PM

my Aunt died from that same virus; they tried to save her by amputating her legs, but she was dead in less than 24 hours

it was devastating, she had been totally healthy before that and suddenly she was gone...

Ireneparalegal · 02-08-2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robyrob

my Aunt died from that same virus; they tried to save her by amputating her legs, but she was dead in less than 24 hours

it was devastating, she had been totally healthy before that and suddenly she was gone...

It is devastating, and I am so sorry to hear that abt your aunt. How horrible.

Cashodeen · 02-09-2006, 01:14 AM

I feel like I am in the twilightzone after reading this one. Hope I hear more on this story later.

Ireneparalegal · 02-09-2006, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cashodeen

I feel like I am in the twilightzone after reading this one. Hope I hear more on this story later.

Isn't it horrible???????? My God, so scary, sad and despicable that this lady went into the hospital to have a baby and come out without any limbs!!!!! i feel sooooo bad and angry at the same time. Her husband loves her to death and he is a fine man for showing her that through "sickness and health" he will be there for her.

Cashodeen · 02-09-2006, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robyrob

my Aunt died from that same virus; they tried to save her by amputating her legs, but she was dead in less than 24 hours

it was devastating, she had been totally healthy before that and suddenly she was gone...

That's so sad. I'm still having trouble understanding how this sort of thing happens. I'm used to strep being a typical infection.

Cashodeen · 02-09-2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Isn't it horrible???????? My God, so scary, sad and despicable that this lady went into the hospital to have a baby and come out without any limbs!!!!! i feel sooooo bad and angry at the same time. Her husband loves her to death and he is a fine man for showing her that through "sickness and health" he will be there for her.

It really is. It's one of the most horrific thing I could ever imagine happening. I just can't believe it. Thank god she has a good husband. I hope they can find answers for this tragedy soon.

MsOrange · 02-09-2006, 01:12 PM

wow... just... wow... i can't imagine having that happen.

Redd Foxx · 02-09-2006, 02:24 PM

I saw her on CNN last night. I had to get up off the couch. I started crying, literally. I thought to myself, that could happen to anybody at anytime. Not just the virus could cause that. Say a car crash, etc.

I was watching CNN because a friend told me a story about a Cop, yes A COP, shot a Just came home from Iraq American Soldier. I need to see the video. Everyone that has seen it told me the soldier DID NOTHING wrong. Cop simply said, GET DOWN, so the Soldier got down, then the Cop said GET UP, so the Soldier got up, The F*****G COP, Yes, Mr. GOOD COP, shot the Soldier 3 times, in the leg, chest, and arm. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

I believe that cop should get 20 Years no parole, and then he'll get a little taste of his own medicine, the inmates knowing he was a cop. His butt won't sleep so happily every night for 20 years. By butt, I mean literally!

Ireneparalegal · 02-09-2006, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redd Foxx

I saw her on CNN last night. I had to get up off the couch. I started crying, literally. I thought to myself, that could happen to anybody at anytime. Not just the virus could cause that. Say a car crash, etc.

I was watching CNN because a friend told me a story about a Cop, yes A COP, shot a Just came home from Iraq American Soldier. I need to see the video. Everyone that has seen it told me the soldier DID NOTHING wrong. Cop simply said, GET DOWN, so the Soldier got down, then the Cop said GET UP, so the Soldier got up, The F*****G COP, Yes, Mr. GOOD COP, shot the Soldier 3 times, in the leg, chest, and arm. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

I believe that cop should get 20 Years no parole, and then he'll get a little taste of his own medicine, the inmates knowing he was a cop. His butt won't sleep so happily every night for 20 years. By butt, I mean literally!

LOL: your post abt the "butt" reference.

yeah, the story of the lady who lost her limbs is so sad. I was crying when I saw her on the news.

Janice · 02-10-2006, 02:09 AM

Sad beyond words. One of the saddest stories I've heard in a while.

Brian · 02-10-2006, 02:28 AM

I saw this in the news a few weeks ago. It was beyond belief. I hope that woman wins. After all this, she absolutely deserves an explaination. How many other patients are at risk? What if something like this happens again not just with one person but with a few others? The hospital could be putting a lot of patients at risk.

Ireneparalegal · 02-10-2006, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian

I saw this in the news a few weeks ago. It was beyond belief. I hope that woman wins. After all this, she absolutely deserves an explaination. How many other patients are at risk? What if something like this happens again not just with one person but with a few others? The hospital could be putting a lot of patients at risk.

I can't stop thinking abt this. You just took the words right out of my mouth. And then I start to think abt other hospitals. I know in our county at least three people, one died, of that flesh eating disease. I hope to God they are destroying anything that comes into contact with that disease. Remember when AIDS first came out and people got infected from dental tools that weren't properly cleaned, etc.?

Cashodeen · 02-11-2006, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Remember when AIDS first came out and people got infected from dental tools that weren't properly cleaned, etc.?

I remember a dentist that infected his patients with HIV but I don't rememeber accidental transmissions through unclean tools. The second paragraph of the website below says that incident was the only one proven to have occured in patients in the United States. It also mentions a couple ways workers have accidently been infected by a patients.

http://www.aidsandafrica.com/aids_info_hiv.htm

I couldn't find anything on the senerio you mentioned, but I'd be interested reading any other source that mentions it. I was too young in the early and mid 80s to remember if dirty medical tools ever did cause transmission.

02-08-2006, 04:59 PM	#1
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	Woman becomes quadruple amputee after giving birth! I had seen this on CNN this morning and I was shocked and horrified that a healthy young woman who went into a hospital, gave birth and was discharged as a quadruple amputee has to sue a hospital to get answers!!! ______________________________________________________________ Woman Becomes Quadruple Amputee After Giving Birth POSTED: 5:59 pm EST January 19, 2006 UPDATED: 4:06 pm EST January 20, 2006 ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Sanford mother says she will never be able to hold her newborn because an Orlando hospital performed a life-altering surgery and, she claims, the hospital refuses to explain why they left her as a multiple amputee. The woman filed a complaint against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, she said, because they won't tell her exactly what happened. The hospital maintains the woman wants to know information that would violate other patients' rights. Claudia Mejia gave birth eight and a half months ago at Orlando Regional South Seminole. She was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando where her arms and legs were amputated. She was told she had streptococcus, a flesh eating bacteria, and toxic shock syndrome, but no further explanation was given. The hospital, in a letter, wrote that if she wanted to find out exactly what happened, she would have to sue them. "I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this," Mejia said. Mejia said after she gave birth to Mathew last spring, she was kept in the hospital with complications. Twelve days after giving birth at Orlando Regional South Seminole hospital, she was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center where she became a quadruple amputee. Now she can not care for or hold her baby. "Yeah, I want to pick him up. He wants me to pick him up. I can't. I want to, but I can't," she said. "Woke up from surgery and I had no arms and no legs. No one told me anything. My arms and legs were just gone." Her 7-year-old son, Jorge, asks his mother over and over what happened to her. Neither she nor her husband has the answer. "I love her, so I'll always stick with her and take it a day at a time myself," said her husband, Tim Edwards. The couple wants to know how she caught streptococcus, during labor or after. She doesn't know. She knows she didn't leave the hospital the same. "And why, I want to know why this happened," she said. Her attorney, Judy Hyman wrote ORHS a letter saying, according to the Florida statute, "The Patients Right To Know About Adverse Medical Incidents Act," the hospital must give her the records. "When the statute is named 'Patients Right To Know,' I don't know how it could be clearer," Hyman said. The hospital's lawyers wrote back, "Ms. Mejia's request may require legal resolution." In other words, according to their interpretation of the law, Mejia has to sue them to get information about herself. That's the sticking point, the interpretation of the Patients Right To Know act, a constitutional amendment Florida voters passed a little more than a year ago. Mejia's other attorney, E. Clay Parker, said the hospital is not following the law "We were forced to file this and ask a judge to interpret the constitutional amendment and do right," Parker said. Mejia hopes the right thing is done. She said not knowing exactly why it happened is unbearable. She only hopes she'll be able to soon answer her little boy's question, 'What happened?' "He told me everyday, 'What happened,' and I don't have any answers for that," she said. ORMC said Mejia is requesting information on if there were other patients or someone on her floor with the streptococcus. They said, if they release that to her, that would be a violation of other patients' rights.
	__________________ DALLAS COWBOYS ARE HERE AT TRAINING CAMP!!!

02-08-2006, 06:03 PM	#3
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,203	my Aunt died from that same virus; they tried to save her by amputating her legs, but she was dead in less than 24 hours it was devastating, she had been totally healthy before that and suddenly she was gone...
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02-09-2006, 02:24 PM	#10
Redd Foxx DVR's Are SO Cool! Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 12, 2005 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 617	I saw her on CNN last night. I had to get up off the couch. I started crying, literally. I thought to myself, that could happen to anybody at anytime. Not just the virus could cause that. Say a car crash, etc. I was watching CNN because a friend told me a story about a Cop, yes A COP, shot a Just came home from Iraq American Soldier. I need to see the video. Everyone that has seen it told me the soldier DID NOTHING wrong. Cop simply said, GET DOWN, so the Soldier got down, then the Cop said GET UP, so the Soldier got up, The F*****G COP, Yes, Mr. GOOD COP, shot the Soldier 3 times, in the leg, chest, and arm. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT? I believe that cop should get 20 Years no parole, and then he'll get a little taste of his own medicine, the inmates knowing he was a cop. His butt won't sleep so happily every night for 20 years. By butt, I mean literally!
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02-08-2006, 05:30 PM	#2
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,140	I smell a coverup.

02-09-2006, 01:14 AM	#5
Cashodeen Hi. Forum Star Join Date: Aug 30, 2001 Posts: 11,363	I feel like I am in the twilightzone after reading this one. Hope I hear more on this story later.

02-09-2006, 01:12 PM	#9
MsOrange Bringin' Sexy Back Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 6,133	wow... just... wow... i can't imagine having that happen.

02-10-2006, 02:09 AM	#12
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	Sad beyond words. One of the saddest stories I've heard in a while.

02-10-2006, 02:28 AM	#13
Brian Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: Jun 23, 2001 Posts: 20,451	I saw this in the news a few weeks ago. It was beyond belief. I hope that woman wins. After all this, she absolutely deserves an explaination. How many other patients are at risk? What if something like this happens again not just with one person but with a few others? The hospital could be putting a lot of patients at risk.