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An error in blood test results were made. emotional distress for family. letter of apology given. any other recourse? thank you!

Asked over 2 years ago - Los Angeles, CA

due ot a faulty lab blood test result a family member had to be admitted to a hospital in the middle of the night!! a second blood test proved the first test in error!! ther was great emotional distress for the patient and family members!!! a letter of apopogy was give, but, is there any any room to sue the lab??? thank you!!!

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Attorney answers (2)

Elizabeth Taylor Herd

Reputation Level 14

Answered over 2 years ago. Medical Malpractice Attorney in Tampa, FL.

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I am not licensed in CA and can offer only general advice. Because you are required to hire an expert witness to support your claim, you would likely spend much more than you could recover pursuing this claim. You may want to consider reporting the facility to the local hospital and national hospital association and The Agency for Healthcare Administration.

Betsey Herd
Tampa, Florida

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Richard Forrest Gould-Saltman

Reputation Level 18

Answered over 2 years ago. Family Law Attorney in Los Angeles, CA.

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Although I'm not a medical malpractice attorney, I agree with the previous answer.

An important question to remember is whether the incorrect blood test result on test #1 happened because someone did something wrong or inappropriate, or if it simply happened, even though the test was done correctly and interpreted correctly.

Remember, there's almost NO medical test which is 100% accurate 100% of the time, even when done EXACTLY the way it's supposed to be done..

If the doctor's choice was:

"This blood test SEEMS to indicate a very serious problem; we can put the patient in the hospital to keep an eye on him overnight until we're sure, re-test him, and let him go home if the re-test is OK

OR

we can send him home, and if the first test is right, REALLY bad stuff might happen",

then it sounds like the doc made the right choice. I'm glad your family member wasn't actually suffering from a serious problem!

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