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Question from enoughalreadyNov-4

my mom was amitted to a hospital for loosing weight at a rapid rate 1/2 pound a day on avg., and for her lower bowl dropped, While she was in there a Dr. did a colonoscopy, he tore the spleen, had 6-8 blood transfusions or more, almost died.  In the hospital for 3 weeks she was moved to a rehab hospital for one week, moved back to the hospital due to infections, found that she had blood clots in both legs, and fractured ribbs.  Now all the bills are comming in and she is on a limited budget, she is 87 years old. My mom can not get dressed by her self, or bath, do laundry can not walk with out a walker and she is in a assited living place, before all this happened she could walk with out a walker, never used one, could do everything by her self, does she have a case for the Dr. that caused all this to pay for her bills and the place she is having to live in?  My mom should not have to use the little bit of money she has for bills, and she will never be able to live by herself ever again. Now since all this has happened they still have not even been able to find out why she was loosing so much weight, the original reason for going into the hospital has never been touched. Is there help for her?

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Fallen Nov-5 77189.2

In future, please don't post in all bold-faced type.

Sounds like your mom needs more physical rehab, but you don't say how long out of the hospital she is. 

"Now since all this has happened they still have not even been able to find out why she was loosing so much weight, the original reason for going into the hospital has never been touched."

Well, she clearly needs to see a doctor or two about that.  :)

"Is there help for her?"

She's free to talk with a med-mal attorney or two about going after the doctor who tore her spleen.  You don't say whether this was a private practice doctor or whether he worked for a hospital, but it's unclear why if he worked for a hospital the hospital would be sending bills for care if he indeed messed up a colonoscopy.  She shouldn't pay the bills instead of other more critical expenses.  (I mean, the worst that could happen is the providers sue her for it.  She's more than likely judgment-proof anyway.)

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enoughalready Nov-5 77189.3
Sorry, thought this was a legal advice site, I already knew all of this information that you gave.
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Fallen Nov-5 77189.4

The boards aren't here to provide legal advice -- just general feedback and info where possible.  In any event, no stranger on a message board can possibly know whether the doctor actually committed malpractice simply based on your post.  Certainly, your mother's free to sue the doctor for the medical bills, etc.  If she wants an attorney, she would have to talk with a few local attorneys and they would have to assess the information given to them and also perhaps have a medical expert review the issues.  Then they'd analyze how much the case was worth given your mother's age, etc. (harsh, but true -- whether a case is worthwhile depends on how much money can be made). 

It's not clear what you or your mother did post-mess-up in terms of demanding that the doctor or hospital employer to cover the related medical expenses, etc.

In any event, "is there help for her?" is a pretty vague question and I'm not sure what kind of answer you expected (the boards aren't the place to look for an attorney, either -- even if we knew where you were).

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