worst week of my life

[IDT]

Mate just look after your wife and kids. Once everything is back to normal (or as close as you can be) then deal with the hospital. I can't even come close to understanding what you and the wife went through, so all I can say is sort the important bit "home". I would suspect you could go see someone, a councelor or such, together. But I don't think you will ever have a sense of retribution about this so put it on the back burner.

[Cashie]

Get legal advice now, the hospital screwed up...

[ehast13]

We are planning to have a relaxing weekend.

I will email and/or call any law firms suggested tomorrow morning and then head to McDonalds for breakfast.

After that?? Who knows? Might work on the car, might mow the lawn. Might just hang out and watch DVD's and take the two year old up to the playground.

[dave351cid]

wow... thats a shocking story.
really makes me wonder what the country is turning into.

whoever made the desision not to admit there could be a mistake needs to lose their job. i know there is a shortage of health workers but we would be better off without someone like that.

might pay you to send an email + printed copy of the letter to the qld health minister ( so he can deal with the hospital), the premier (so she can make sure the minister acts) and the opposition ( they will make sure that its not swept under the carpet ).

good luck, and talk with your wife.

[Cobra]

Man what a horrible story. My heart goes out to you. I have a two year old and the thought of him being taken away would be really distressing and upsetting. There's a lot more petty, less shocking stories on today tonight than yours. That show thrives on things like this, and your story would have them licking their lips. I'm sure they'd want to air it if that's the direction you want to go, but I'd advise seeking legal advice before you do anything else. My fiance is a lawyer, I might talk to her about this and see what she thinks. In the mean time take care of your family, look after each other and your kids mate. It sounds like you are doing just that though. Hang in their bud, everyone here is behind you.

[gtxb67]

what i am going to post may come out wrong, so hopefully my sentiments are understood

firstly, what you, your wife and kids went through was horrible and hopefully you and your wife can work your way through this. it is easier said than believed, but of course both of you would have expected the other. however, you both now know that neither of you was responsible, and that fact is more important than the previous one

i think the biggest error was that there was only one "expert" to confirm the facts. the hospital were hopefully just trying to make sure your baby was safe. there have been many such instances (the baby called daniel??) in which a child was placed back in the care of abusive parents and the results can be devastating. it may also be important to remember the hospital was not in charge as such. it was a group of individual people at the hospital who had to make the right call. they do not want to make the wrong call, for the baby's sake and also for litigation reasons too. the hospital are probably not apoligizing because of the possible litigation if they admit fault. unfortunately everyone makes mistakes, especially if they are overworked, and if we are too critical of doctors etc. who will take up the job and look after us.


i just hope that in the short term, but certainly in the longer term, you and your wife are much stronger for this experience. in some ways, you have both had first hand proof of how much the other loves your kids. hopefully your love for each other will help this to become a bad, but distant memory soon




i am not trying to suggest what your next actions should be one way or the other - just trying to offer a slightly different view

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by Russell

It was not the fault of the Police or the department that took the children, they were only doing their job and were acting on the advice of the Hospital. The Hospital is who got it so badly wrong and caused all of this, all the DCS could act on was their advice and the Police were then enlisted as per standard procedure.

The Hospital screwed up and screwed you, that's where I'd be looking for answers. Try to keep the DCS on side with this as if they see that you understand what is going on they may be willing to assist you with investigating the Hospital.

Spot on.

That's an aweful thing to go through, but the hospital got it wrong, the Police and DCS were just acting on advice.
If it was me in this situation id want the matter investigated to prevent it happening again and an apology.... "compensation" for me would be more in the form of satisfaction that its dealt with properly.
Speak to a lawyer and for your own good be-careful what you say in a public forum till its cleared.

[bathurst77]

Jesus Ehast!
Thats shocking. I can only imagine what you have been through. And i think that you and your wife got through it together shows you must be a loveing couple and thus great parents.

IF I was you (and as others say. i would be going to the newspapaers, Today tonite Current affairs, adna bloody good lawyer). Mate rip them to shreds, they deserve to pay for that.

It does beg the question that you asked. does that mean some other kid is copping it while you were being put thru hell?

[mcnews]

Originally Posted by ehast13

SHould we sue? Should we just let it go and move on?

I am about as far from a litigious type as you can get but I would be walking straight to a lawyer and it would not be about money it would be about making the fecken arrogant tosspots at the hospital take responsibility for their actions.

The arrogance in much of the medical profession galls me big time. I would take that chance to take the unprintable words to task.

[nuthin' fancy]

Originally Posted by ehast13

Is it wrong of me to want money??

No it is not. In the end if they are proven to have acted wrongly, money is the only punishment that can be given to them.

Nothing they do can reverse the terrible situation you have been through, money is the only effective apology that can be offered.

Good luck and be nice to your wife (what an awful situation).

[King Nothing]

Mate, both my and my fiancee's hearts go out to you. We don't have kids, but even the thought of it is horrible.

I would be going after them with guns blazing. Not only for your own sake, to get an apology and fair compensation. Im not talking about hundreds of thousands, just what you suggested (time off work, trust fund, etc).

But more importantly, there is obviously something wrong with the system. gtxb67, I understand where you are coming from, but stuff like this SHOULD NOT happen, full stop. They may be overworked (my fiancee works in a hospital, I know), short of resources or whatever, but that is still no excuse. What about the poor kid who does have broken ribs? What about the people in future that this could happen to?

If this is not investigated, it will not be properly fixed. Lessons need to be learnt from this, or else it could happen again. And unfortunatly the most effective way to get this to happen is the embarress them. For your sake, you should go speak to a lawyer about this. But I would love for something like this to go public to try and fix the root problem. As others have said, its not a DCS or police issue, they were fed the information and followed their own procedures, it is the fault of the hospital and the QLD health system as a whole.

Good luck, and I hope your family recovers from this shock as quickly as possible.

[uranium_death]

Reading it, sometimes, doodie happens.

HOWEVER, if somebody called me a bad father when I clearly wasn't, I would go back and sort that out.

They effectively questioned your ability to raise your child when there was a mistake made at the other end. That is a personal attack of the worst kind.

[cuz]

Man what a horrible thing to have happen to you.
Both my wife and I feel for you at this time and wish you all the best.

My first concern would be to clear you and your wifes names and get both that and a written statement of accepted blame from DOCS and the Hospital.
Once I had that in my hot little hand I'd got for the throat.

Once again my family and I wish you all the best and hope that this nightmare goes quickly into the past.

Craig, Rebecca, Georgiana, Katie and Joshua

[Stav]

Go for the dollars mate.You are worth big ones. Next time they will act more appropriately.How many people have they treated this way?

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by ehast13

Is it worth seeing one of those 'no win, no pay' law firms?

i would be very careful with these deals. i have never used a lawyer, so have no first hand knowledge, but i assume that if you do not win anything, there is no fee. win a lot and there will be the full fee. win a small amount and you are likely to get the full fee as well. you can bet they will work it so you win something, just so you have to pay them. you may end up owing much more than you win

[scoupedy]

SHould we sue? Should we just let it go and move on?

Yes you should, This is a terrible thing to happen to you and everyone involved should be made to pay.
Also you could donate some/all of the money to a childerens charity if you wanted

[4Vman]

If your motivation is purely driven by the thought of making lots of money forget it, from your description it cost you very little financially, if your motivation is recovery of out of pockets, emotional retribution and satisfaction and to ensure it never happens again go for it, in fact id see it as a kind of responsibility..
Dont let greed motivate you though...

[Mansal]

ehast13,

My lawyer buddy got back to me - he recommends that you contact the Queensland Law Society (http://www.qls.com.au) as they have a referral service similar to legaltender.com.au (who are Melbourne-based).

Additionally, he has it on good authority that Slater and Gordon operate on a no win-no fee basis.

Hope this helps!

[benoxr]

You should also be giving some serious thought to your wife's health. If she has had post natal trotting off to a lawyer or the media could have ramifications for her. See a lawyer on your own at first but keep her away and away from any media. If it was all done wrong, any compensation wouldnt offset you and your wife's health deteriorating because of the ordeal.

[gtfpv]

to the OP.
THIS THREAD both saddens and furiates me . i would definately get legal advice/ a lawyer, and persue it right through . MONEY is not the AGENDA HERE . it's the only thing that will force the hospital/ and govt. to take notice , and perhaps make sure these things do not happen to other people.

when my son was born, my wife was given anopther baby ,during the night , to breast feed. !!!!! we were ropable . my wife had to give a blood sample to rule out disease chance given to someone elses child .
i couldnt help wondering if our baby was given to someone else such as the other babies mother for breast feeding . WE REQUESTED ablood analysis from the other babies mother, but we had no rights and werent allowed to find out who the other mother was, she refused a blood test too. so we had to take our own baby home , with DOUBT!!!!! .
I SEEKED LEGAL ADVICE AND COULD DO NOTHING ON SUSPICIAN ONLY!!!!! I FEWLT TERRIBLE .

MATE FRY THEM FOR HURTING YOUR FAMILY.

[mik]

I`ll say it too "WOW" , if this happened in US with their sue mentality they would get a $10,000,000 DOLLAR SUIT, what a terrible story, i`m not a litagation person but in this instance , on going pain and suffering... take them to the cleaners, if you let it go it will just be another screw up that will go under the carpet, let them pay for their incompetence and hopefully some heads will roll and this wont happen again, good luck .

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

Reading it, sometimes, doodie happens.

HOWEVER, if somebody called me a bad father when I clearly wasn't, I would go back and sort that out.

They effectively questioned your ability to raise your child when there was a mistake made at the other end. That is a personal attack of the worst kind.

NO NO NO . BASED ON THE FALSE EVIDENCE they were given they treated the case as they should have. someone who broke bones of a baby . may be either mentally ill. or very bad. making them coffee and sypathising wioth them doesnt cut it .
its the FALSE info and INCOMPETANCE, which is the issue here , not the way the case was handled.

[DayTE]

I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope for everyones sake that it will all work out in the end.

But my suggestion is to get a lawyer. And for you and your wife to visit a counsellor. You may not think you need it, but as you said you thought it was her. And you think she may have thought it was you. Visiting one can't hurt, especially if the Hospital pay for it, which they should. And that's where representation will help.

I wouldn't get TT on ACA involved unless you have no joy from lawyers.

Please keep us informed how it all goes.

Good luck.

[Aeron]

They put you and your wife through all that for NOTHING!?!?!?!?!
Im angry and I dont even know you.

[ehast13]

WOW. thanks for all the support. At this point, I've been advised not to make anymore public statements (including posts) until all parties have met for a frank discussion of the facts.

I will keep u all posted and appreciate all your support. Thank u to those who sent me private messages with well thought out advice.

I look forward to posting on wednesday night to let you all know how it went

[gz1]

Wow dude, that's one of the most horrible things I have heard of.
You HAVE to sue that hospital. It's not the money, it's the thought of doing that to you. And It's also beyond what they have done to your family, Did they discharge another child with broken ribs? was that a child that had an accident or much worse, a child that went right back into an abusive family?. Either way That poor child would have got far worse outcome that you did, so make them pay. A hospital that behaves in that type of manner is worse than no hospital at all, so things would be better off if it shut down.

[ieatsports_cars]

this sounds like a queensland health scam typical, one the word gets out they don't want the public to know about it

i wish you all the best for this week comming, and dont let them get to you because they will and i will be keeping my fingures crossed for you and your family,

[fangq]

Take a deep calming breath, get centered and write it all down NOW and consult with a lawyer. You can bet your that the police , the radiologists/hospital and DOCS are massaging CYA reports
as we speak.

Steve

Originally Posted by ehast13

Yeah. I won't tell her but I think she knows just as I know she must have suspected me.

Is it wrong of me to want money??

I want to go public and screw them!

I want money put in a trust for my kids. It doesn't have to be much. Just to show my familiy that they are sorry and are taking responsibilty for this.

GOD! I am so angry about this. The relief part is over and now I am just being eaten up inside by this 'knotted up' feeling in my chest.

I like to think that I am a decent guy who has learned to let things go. Y'know "alls well that ends well" sort of thing but I am having trouble getting over this

[fangq]

[QUOTE=Mansal]You could seek legal advice and pursue legal action - then all you'd be doing is having them utilise their professional indemnity insurance to deal with your case (that's what they pay it for). They STILL wouldn't remember you..

..you want them never to forget you? Take this story to the media I say...

It's obvious that a catastrophic breakdown occurred in the hospital's protocols to let this happen to begin with (you'd think that the x-rays would be crosschecked by peer doctors, possibly followed by a physical examination of the child).

Spot on..radiographs are but an AID to diagnosis
Steve

[fangq]

[QUOTE=ehast13]Just had the worst week ever.

Last thursday my wife took our ten week old son to the doctor. He had a chesty cough and we thought we should get it checked out (he was premmy and is still only 8 pound). The doc advised we take him to the hospital.

The hospital did some xrays and advised us that he had broken ribs and arms. The police arrived soon after.

snip

The radiographs should have had the patient's name, dob on them . That is absolutely a must do as far as ID is concerned. As a parent, you are entitled to a copy of the radiographs in question. The hospital cannot refuse this request. If they get half smart, get the records released to your family GP

Steve