Pediatrician Mistake

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Texas
Does anyone know how to file a "wrong-doing" claim against your pediatrician? Today, I had my husband take my son for his one year physical. At this physical they gave him his shots, which would have been normal except for the fact that I had already taken my son in to get his shots three weeks ago. They only did the shots then because they were overbooked and did not have time to do the physical. My husband didn't know that I had already gotten his shots (I told him, but he forgot and he was just trying to do what the doctor told him to do). The thing is they never brought out any paperwork for my husband to initial. Had they done that (like they are supposed to) this would not have happened. I am absolutely livid and I want some heads to roll on this one. The nurse had the audacity to tell me, "Well, he should be fine, just watch for a very high fever and seizures. Oh, and we wont charge you for it." I am sooooooooo mad. Then the doctor called me and said it was my husband's responsibility to tell the nurse not to, and not hers to check the records. Where do I go from here?

Talk to a malpractice lawyer. This is outrageous. Fiance is a DDS and pathologist or he would do it for you.
He teaches medical record keeping as part of his course and says this never should have happened.
The nurse and the doctor were totally out of line.
Good luck,

Agree, talk to a medical malpractice lawyer. The nurse & doctor were probably trying to put the responsibility on your husband in hopes that you wouldn't sue.

Seems to me it's the parents at fault here. The doctor deserves some blame because his computer system didn't catch it but the parents are the ones who have the actual shot record.

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Quoting kist

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Seems to me it's the parents at fault here. The doctor deserves some blame because his computer system didn't catch it but the parents are the ones who have the actual shot record.

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You must not have kids, or you would know that it is not common practice to give parents a copy of the child's medical record every time they are in the office - and babies and toddlers are in the office all the time for shots and checkups.

The doctor's office maintains the shot records.

No, the doctor is at fault here, and the tactic of "blame it on the computer" will not fly. It is VERY MUCH the doctor's responsibility to look at the patient's chart before doing ANYTHING.

I do have kids and I managed to keep them alive to adulthood. We were always aware of what shots were due when. The courts routinely punish parents who don't get their kids immunized indicating there is some degree of parental responsibility involved. You have a little passport sized yellow booklet for each of your children you have to bring to school to get them enrolled

I have three children and I have never had a "little passport sized yellow booklet" for my children's immunizations. Most parents I know get the immunization record from their child's doctor when the school physical is done, all on the same form.

What shots were repeated?
You NEED to find the paperwork on the shots that were NOT given to your husband. The lot #'s from the drugs would be listed on them. This is important bc if there (God forbid) a recall on them, you have no way of knowing if your child was given something that was recalled.

Just my two cents worth here...2 office visits for something that should have been done in one visit is bad practice to begin with. 3 weeks apart for shots and a physical? Thats just bad practice and it sends the message that the physician is more interested in getting reimbursed for 2 office visits and 2 copays instead of caring about the patient and family.

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Quoting kist

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Seems to me it's the parents at fault here. The doctor deserves some blame because his computer system didn't catch it but the parents are the ones who have the actual shot record.

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Sorry, but that is not true. My husband had no way of knowing that my son was not in need of additional shots. Had the doctor actually pulled out the checklist that a parent is LEGALLY REQUIRED TO SIGN BEFORE ADMINISTERING ANY INOCULATIONS then they would have seen my initials were already next to those shots. My husband was doing what the doctor told him to do.

The issue here isn't whether it's shots or not. It's that it's a redundancy in *anything* given to *any* patient. The medical record serves two purposes: consistently accurate records for billing and *for patient care*. There's a sign outside of my old office when I used to teach math. It was in the sciences division, one of which is apparently the science of chart keeping. Anyway, that was what I saw each day leaving my office.

What if this had been something other than an immunization? Granted, parents *should* know what their children have had, but not everyone is savvy with medical terminology and abbreviations. Moreover, pediatricians - ya, know people who spent 12 full years of study to become this kind of doctor - should also be aware by now that not all parents are savvy with the medical sciences.

Also consider that they're fully aware, or should be, of what they pay in malpractice insurance. As much as doctors gripe about what they pay as being one reason for absurd medical care costs, you'd think he'd be mildly aware that double administration of something is considered bad doctoring and can make that pesky insurance premium go up.