My son took some used needles from the Dr.'s yesterday and got poked?!
Question: My son took some used needles from the Dr.'s yesterday and got poked.?
...when I left to use the bathroom I left my 10 year old in the room. While I was in there he pulled a chair up to the used needle container, stuck his hand in, got poked, and took two. I found them in his room last night and TOTALLY freaked out. I cleaned his thumb that got poked with peroxide and called the Dr.s this morning. The Dr. said he should be fine because he recently had a Tetanus shot. But I am still worried, What would you do.? Should I call another Dr.s office.?Health Question & Answer
Answers:
Wow this sounds like a serious case of negligence!
Document everything - write it down and take photos if possible and contact a lawyer. I would personally be contacting the medical registration board to let them know the situation.
Definately go see another (unbiased) doctor - ie: not at the same practice
If you still have the needles, they should be sent for pathology testing, your son will require blood testing and update of all immunizations especially HEP B.
I hope it turns out to be worry over nothing but needlestick injuries should not be taken light heartedly.
See below for more info or google "needlestick protocol"
http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/em...
EDIT: In response to
4] 10 years is too old to mess around with needles - and YOU left him alone in there, so suing won't work.
Its not a matter of suing just for the sake of it - from the description given, the actions made by the doctor were substandard to duty of care and clinical guidelines.
The sharps container SHOULD have been out of reach and securely sealed and during the time the child was in his office, the doctor had a duty of care for his safety.
On top of this, the very minimum of needlestick protocol was not followed. "He's had his tetanus shot he will be fine" is almost a joke! I would be very interested to see the doctors patient notes on this incident...
I'm not a lawyer or doctor so I can only give a lay opinion but this just does not sound right.Health Question & Answer
Document everything - write it down and take photos if possible and contact a lawyer. I would personally be contacting the medical registration board to let them know the situation.
Definately go see another (unbiased) doctor - ie: not at the same practice
If you still have the needles, they should be sent for pathology testing, your son will require blood testing and update of all immunizations especially HEP B.
I hope it turns out to be worry over nothing but needlestick injuries should not be taken light heartedly.
See below for more info or google "needlestick protocol"
http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/em...
EDIT: In response to
4] 10 years is too old to mess around with needles - and YOU left him alone in there, so suing won't work.
Its not a matter of suing just for the sake of it - from the description given, the actions made by the doctor were substandard to duty of care and clinical guidelines.
The sharps container SHOULD have been out of reach and securely sealed and during the time the child was in his office, the doctor had a duty of care for his safety.
On top of this, the very minimum of needlestick protocol was not followed. "He's had his tetanus shot he will be fine" is almost a joke! I would be very interested to see the doctors patient notes on this incident...
I'm not a lawyer or doctor so I can only give a lay opinion but this just does not sound right.Health Question & Answer
1] the tetanus shot recommendation was correct
2] he needs a baseline hepatitis and HIV blood drawn.
3] check with another doc about anti-virals
4] 10 years is too old to mess around with needles - and YOU left him alone in there, so suing won't work.
5] the doctor's office will NOT release any info about who was treated in that room - they would need a court order, which probably won't happen because of patient's right to privacyHealth Question & Answer
2] he needs a baseline hepatitis and HIV blood drawn.
3] check with another doc about anti-virals
4] 10 years is too old to mess around with needles - and YOU left him alone in there, so suing won't work.
5] the doctor's office will NOT release any info about who was treated in that room - they would need a court order, which probably won't happen because of patient's right to privacyHealth Question & Answer
I am a doctor and from what i can tell is that he had a thumbinal puncture in his phalange. This is EXTREMELY BAD! I am sorry to say this but from the looks of what happened it seems that your son may not make it. After needles have been used they create new bacteria which spreads like you cant imagine. He probably has about 2 or 3 days. I am really sorry. He might make it but.. There is more of a change that he won't .Health Question & Answer
no, this happened to my brother as well, i can conclude from this theory that your young male offspring has a 100% chance of not surviving no matter what shots or medicine he had taken. If it indeed happened yesterday, the sixth of October of the year of two-thousand and eight, your child will have aproximately 48.65778 hours before he dies due to the needle puncture in his thumbinal phalange, it will be excruciatingly painful for him so you might want to put him out of his misery and have him put down as soon as you read this, its for the better and like my father said to say, "SIT UP STRAIGHT!, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! YOUR THE PERFECT LITTLE CHILD NATE FRANK! WHY CAN'T HANNAH BE AS PERFECT AS YOU.?!"Health Question & Answer
I would definitely get a second opinion as his risk of contracting hepatitis or HIV are very high. I work in a lab and if we were to get poked with a needle we have protocols in place where we are to start emergency treatment immediately - as in the form of anti-retrovirals. Health Question & Answer
I used to work in the health care industry and any time someone was stuck they were immediately sent to the lab for bloodwork. He should be tested for hepatitis and anything else the Dr thinks he should be tested for. Call another Dr.Health Question & Answer
YES, tetanus is the least of your worries here. Even nurses go through quite a testing process from a needle stick, even if they know the patient it was used on. I am in udder shock that this is what your dr. told you. who is your dr.? Health Question & Answer
Call another doctor and tell them your son was stuck by used needles. If they don't wish to help go to the ER and make sure you report the original doc to the Medical Board.Health Question & Answer
Oh my goodness yes call another doctor, the other one was passive like he poked himself with a rusty nail-unprofessional and I would question his ethics in treating patients. Health Question & Answer
I would call another doctor's office. He could have contracted something!!! Take him to get tested.Health Question & Answer
You need to get him checked for other things besides tetanus. That would be the least of my worries. I am sure you are fine but check it out to be safe.Health Question & Answer
yea u better get that checked out asap. theres a number of things he could have got just by one prick of the needle including the HIV virus. definitely get him testedHealth Question & Answer
Yes you should call another dr.Health Question & Answer
No, you should leave him alone. If you react he'll never learn his lesson. Health Question & Answer
It's technically possible that your son has been exposed to something other than tetanus, but my guess is that this is the most likely thing he might contract. Ask your doctor if he has a record of what injections were given or what blood was drawn over the last few days in that exam room. Ask also if he has any patients that have more serious problems that he treated recently - hepatitus, for example.
I'm no expert by any means, but I would think that it was probably antibiotics, flu or tetanus shots and the like, and so on.
You could go to another doctor's office and ask their opinion. Be sure to take a record of your son's immunizations, etc. But if you trust your doctor, I would give him a chance to deal with this first. Don't "totally freak out" when you talk to him. You won't be helping the situation at all if you do this.
And if you don't trust your doctor, why did you take your son there in the first place.?Health Question & Answer
I'm no expert by any means, but I would think that it was probably antibiotics, flu or tetanus shots and the like, and so on.
You could go to another doctor's office and ask their opinion. Be sure to take a record of your son's immunizations, etc. But if you trust your doctor, I would give him a chance to deal with this first. Don't "totally freak out" when you talk to him. You won't be helping the situation at all if you do this.
And if you don't trust your doctor, why did you take your son there in the first place.?Health Question & Answer