Freeked Out In A Law Suit

[CMORELOCK45]

I am have recently been named in a law suit by an OD we recieved in the ER one night. The pt was brought in by EMS. Lab work revieled methadone, valium, phenergan, thc and etoh on board. I followed normal protocol;ewall, folley, monitory o2 ect.

The suit states that I sexually molested the pt. The pt as well as my self are male. I am married with a child. I have ER MD documentation of pt halucinating and low respirations ect. He received cha, narcan and romazicon. Later documentation in the ICU from an out of house psych facility shows Halucinations and delusions. The hosp. has provided an attorney. He says not to worry that this will not make it past deposition. My concern is that There was not much nursing documentation on him in th ER due to the fact that he was out of it most of the time. There is doc. of sternal rubs due to LOC and things of that nature, This is my first, and hopfully, my last suit. Any advise or coments? Als there have been no criminal reports filed agianst me and the date has passed for him to do any. The lawyer says my lisc. is not in jeopardy. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ernurse1234]

cmore, my husband is a law enforcement officer and he has gone to court many many times over the past 6 years fro various arrests etc.. he basically always says that if there is a complaint against an officer that it always comes down to credibility. believe it or not, the patient has very little credibility in a court of law due to the fact that he was under the incluence of many drugs and etoh at the time of his ed visit. the fact that you have numerous entries about hallucinations and delusions in the medical record (which is a legal document) speaks volumes. also, did the md do a rectal exam? if so, he may be confusing you for the md. his ability to prove that there was malice on your part is impossible. you have md documentation about his psyche as well as a psych md? any attorney worth his weight will have you off the hook without a dispo in a matter of minutes. good luck and keep me posted.

[PSUNURS05]

i am just a student and all that we have been told about lawsuits is that they can't sue you unless you have caused harm...for example....if a patient falls they can't sue you unless an injury resulted from that fall.....

this is very frightening...people suing for no justifiable reason...can you countersue for causing unnecessary stress???

[AB.ER.RN]

What a pain to even have to go through this. Get your own lawyer,at the very least,consult with one,so you will know what to expect.....As for the hospital protecting your interests..FORGET IT!!!..........Good luck...

[rncopper]

I didn't read all the posts, but I agree with the last one: GET YOUR OWN LAWYER! The hospitals lawyers look out for: THE HOSPITAL! Do you have medical malpractice insurance? I am pretty sure that this is covered in that policy!

Good Luck to you! Let us know how things go!

[ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN]

DON'T WAIT!!!!! GET YOUR OWN LAWYER NOW!!!! The lawyer for the hospital is looking out for the hospital, and will pin anything on you he/she can, (i.e. lack of charting, even though there wasn't much to chart). I am sure from what you describe that the case will go nowhere. Please take this whole mess as a warning and get YOUR OWN liablility NOW!

[tonchitoRN]

i vote for getting your own lawyer. someone posted about getting insurance to pay for a lawyer. this sounds like good advice.

i would advise against the malpractice insurance. i asked a lawyer one time if this were advisable. her comment was she would never spend time to sue someone who did not have the ability to pay. so if you do not have anything to go after you lessen the likelihood of getting sued.

good luck and keep us posted.

[MishlB]

I wouldn't even worry.

[redshiloh]

Getting your own lawyer will be expensive. Given what you wrote in your initial thread letter, I think you'd be wasting money. They are suing the HOSPITAL not you and will more than likely settle out of court.(this appears the be the trend)

[rncopper]

I am not so sure about "wasting your money" with getting your own lawyer! I asked IF you have malpractice insurance. Getting some now would not help.

Your license is to be protected. Sexual accusations, though hard to prove, thereby sometime easy to be "assumed", can be VERY detrimental to your license: ie. LOSS OF IT!!!

You worked hard for your license. Would you jeopardize losing it because it was "too expensive to get a lawyer"!!!!

[jenac]

Wow- what a horrible exprience. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I can't imagine how hard it is.

I would have to vote for getting your own laywer. In the whole scope of things- It would seem wise to have someone looking out for only you. CYOA, right?

This also brings up a reaccuring dilema. To personally carry malpractice or not. I've heard numerous times from many people that a lawyer has recommended they not carry it as it increase your likelyhood of your being sued, or increases the amount of the suit. (It's stated here in a previous post) I'm not so sure of this- especially because it always seems to come from the laywers of the facilities. I'm torn on this one. I was always taught to CYOA-and malpractice is one more way to do that I guess. Call it piece of mind.

Just out of curiousity-can anyone tell me what an ewald is?

[crissyb]

I agree with the majority here, get yor own lawyer. THe reality is, even after the depo, this guy can come back and press civil charges on the alleged rape - even though he was under the influence, the psych notes come after his visit to the er, can claim those as a result of the "rape"

The malpractice insurance controversy has gone on for years. I carry it as a peace of mind. Never know when you might need it, and they have coverage to protect your license. After all, if you lose in a judgement situation, they can garnish future wages to pay for the settlement....

[AB.ER.RN]

Ewal tube---------Think supersize NGT that the pt swallows orally so there stomach can be irrigated with large quantities of H2O...Unfortunately lots of OD pt's tend to eat food with the pills,imagine corn,chunks of pizza clogging up the tube.....Messy...Hope this heWow- what a horrible exprience. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I can't imagine how hard it is.

I would have to vote for getting your own laywer. In the whole scope of things- It would seem wise to have someone looking out for only you. CYOA, right?

This also brings up a reaccuring dilema. To personally carry malpractice or not. I've heard numerous times from many people that a lawyer has recommended they not carry it as it increase your likelyhood of your being sued, or increases the amount of the suit. (It's stated here in a previous post) I'm not so sure of this- especially because it always seems to come from the laywers of the facilities. I'm torn on this one. I was always taught to CYOA-and malpractice is one more way to do that I guess. Call it piece of mind.

Just out of curiousity-can anyone tell me what an ewald is?