Might try the county health department. Was it at the doctors office or hospital?
If doctors office he’s calling his insurance company and lawyer and probably won’t respond. There should be a way to determine who the other patient(s) were and find out if they had a communicable disease.
Call another doctor and an attorney.
Don’t panic.
I would be talking to the Doctor about his responsibility to give my daughter free testing for Hepatitis and AIDS. Do not take “no” for an answer.
Unheard of - sticks are supposed to be disposed of in special containers. If it is the case, you need to contact the “owner” of the facility. If that’s the doc (private practice), you need to let him/her know you’ll need to file a report on him if he won’t return your call. Get the name of the tech - check on reports against his/her licensure.
1) Pray! 2) Get her tested! 3) Pray! 4) See lawyer
That care provider is totally responsible for this. This includes blood testing for your daughter at varying levels of time to be sure she does not develop HIV, Hepatatis B or C. They need to provide a place for this to take place so it can be properly documented and followed up. They should not be the ones handling the testing or follow up-it needs to be an independent party.
The most important thing is your daughter’s health. For that you need a consultation with a doctor you trust. Someone from your church, a neighbor, a doc used by your friends. That doctor will know what tests to run to make sure all is ok — which, although your doc had all sorts of self-interested reasons for saying it, is still overwhelmingly likely.
AFTER you see a doctor and have tests run, then decide what else you need to do. I’m a lawyer, and i can tell you that in the most likely and happiest event that your daughter wasn’t infected with anything, you won’t have a claim. But you don’t want a claim — you want a healthy kid.
Then get your daughter a new doctor.
In the meantime, get on the task of finding and speaking with a doctor you trust. it’ll feel good to be doing something to address your situation, and it’s what will most likely yield peace of mind (or the information you need to deal with whatever needs dealing with).
Good luck and don’t worry too much.
Any doctor who won't return your call on this matter should not be practicing medicine. I would seek another physician as soon as possible and discuss the situation. Short of that you may want to seek legal advice to put pressure on. In any case don't wait to long to do either.
All of the above (good advise that is). Then ask your Dr. if he/she has ever heard of a website called FreeRepublic.com
She will need AIDS testing now and again in 6 months ..if she is clear in 6 months then she is ok with HIV
But there is also a risk of hepatitis or other blood born illness..
If this doctor will not assist you with this I would file a complaint with the medical board
Demand that the lancet be kept for testing. I don’t know what kind of testing can be done on it..but ....
I am sure you are furious and scared.
That Dr knows he has a lawsuit coming. Some diseases can take years to develop. He is now responsible for all free followups.
I wonder what can be done legally to find out what kind of diseases the other person has. You wouldn’t have to know identity and that would keep patient confidentiality.
County Board of Health
State Board of Health
Medical Board in your state
This is for healthcare workers, so it makes references to employer. There is a post-exposure prophylaxis treatment for needle sticks. You say this was a used lancet - from a someone other than your daughter? I would pursue medical advice immediately from someone other than the doctor.
http://needlestick.com/injured.htm
This info is from clicking the arrow to the third screen:
If you suffer an accidental contaminated needlestick injury, you should immediately wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, then report it to your employer. Do not hesitate. Universal precautions require that all blood and other body fluids be treated as though they were contagious. In the wake of a needlestick injury, your employer should provide you with post-exposure prophylaxis in an effort to prevent your contracting HIV. And several tests need to be conducted; such tests may have to be done at intervals over a period of several months to make sure that your needlestick injury does not lead to HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) or any of approximately 20 other bloodborne diseases.
The first thing I would have done ( and you can still do it) is call the police. Seriously. If they won’t return your call you need to get a statement taken as soon as possible. The police should interview the doctor ASAP, and they can go to his home, they don’t have to wait for office hours or returned phone calls. It makes you wonder what their motive would be to not return your call. Are they going to try and deny anything happened? I would also call an attorney and another doctor tomorrow for advice on how to proceed. And don’t sign anything the doctor who hurt your daughter tells you to! If for some reason the police officer will not go to the doctor, at least tell them you want a written record that you contacted the police today, the day it happened, with your side of the story. While this may have been an accident, and the odds are high that everything will be fine, what happened was really wrong and potentiosly very serious.
Here is what should be done... (this will help you understand what really needs to be done and also find yourself a lawyer ASAP and call your local health dept)
http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-a-Needle-Stick-Injury-at-Work
First - don’t panic Jess...and don’t pay attention to the blog bullies that have no manners or concern for others.
Checked this Canadian site:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/needlestick_injuries.html
99.7% of needle stick injuries cause no infection.
They should immediately find out which patients the needle COULD have been used on. Shouldn’t be too difficult. I would call and demand to speak to their office manager, since everyone else isn’t speaking to you. If the office is owned by a larger group, go over their heads and speak with someone that is in charge of them. I’m SURE they would rather quietly work this out, instead of getting attorneys involved. I’d raise total Hell, until I got some answers.
The child will need to be closely monitored. The Doctor’s office should pay for everything involving this. May not be a bad idea to go ahead an contact an attorney. I’m sure they would just LOVE to hear from you regarding this.
Sorry you are going through this.
It’s frightening what can happen at a medical facility.
The germ factor alone creeps me out.
I alcohol swab my hands the second I get out of the clinic and get in my truck.
I use lancets to test blood sugar everyday.
I would freak out if some unknown and untraceable stranger and I used the same lancet.
Prayers for your daughter’s safety.