# Woman enters hospital to give birth, leaves a quadruple amputee **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856 "2006-01-27T16:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/41 "2006-01-27T19:45:14Z")
**brossa** , so if I’m understanding you correctly, the hospital MAY be able to answer if anyone else had staph, but they cannot answer WHO had staph? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/42 "2006-01-27T20:44:18Z")
What a bizarre situation. I hope there is public follow up on this. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/43 "2006-01-27T20:57:49Z")
**ivylass,** no, I don’t think that they can say anything at all, other than maybe “we had 256 people in the hospital that week.” Without a court order, I don’t believe that they can reveal that there was a person in the hospital being treated for _X_, even if any identifying data is redacted, because this does not fall under the HIPAA release guidelines (eg it’s not for medical research or billing, etc.) However, as I said I’m not a HIPAA expert. It’s also possible that the attorneys were looking for hospital Morbidity and Mortality data, which is priviledged IIRC. Maybe the attorney was asking for the records of the last 1000 women who gave birth at the first hospital, to see how many ended up with NF. Perhaps they asked for the records of all of the patients of doctor _Z_, the infectious disease guy, to see how many ended up with amputation. This poorly written article does not give us any really pertinent information; they could easily have stated what specific information the attorney was asking for! ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/44 "2006-01-27T21:01:13Z")
> [@Tupug Anachi](#): > > South Seminole doesn’t have maternity services. ORMC does. So what I’m saying is there must have been some kind of emergency to begin with for her to go to South Seminole. According to the hospital’s [web site](http://www.orlandoregional.org/comm_hosp/south_sem/family.cfm), they have quite extensive maternity services. Perhaps the family unit is a recent addition and you’re operating off old information? > [@](#): > > The Family Unit at South Seminole Hospital is designed to make each family’s childbirth experience a special and personal one. Our beautifully decorated and spacious suites are equipped to handle labor, delivery and recovery - all in one room. The birthing suites provide all the comforts of home, including private Jacuzzis, televisions, VCRs, refrigerators and even a bed for dad. > > There are also surgical suites for Cesarean births and a fully equipped nursery ready and waiting for the arrival of your little bundle of joy. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/45 "2006-01-27T21:25:16Z")
> [@JohnM](#): > > According to the hospital’s [web site](http://www.orlandoregional.org/comm_hosp/south_sem/family.cfm), they have quite extensive maternity services. Perhaps the family unit is a recent addition and you’re operating off old information? I stand corrected. I actually DID check the web site, believe it or not. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/46 "2006-01-27T21:43:07Z")
There’s a bit more detail in [this](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-flesh2106jan21,0,2234184.story?coll=sfla-news-florida) article from the _South Florida Sun-Sentinel_. She did contract a flesh-eating bacteria and she was apparently informed that the choice was the multiple amputation or death. The first article made it seem like she went in for childbirth and mysteriously left as an amputee. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/47 "2006-01-27T21:49:48Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > The first article made it seem like she went in for childbirth and mysteriously left as an amputee. Indeed. This is now a different beast altogether. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/48 "2006-01-27T21:55:03Z")
Here, for example, is a much better-written article that actually conveys useful information:[HeraldToday.com](http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13676065.htm) > [@](#): > > On Jan. 13 Mejia sued Orlando Regional Healthcare System Inc., which operates the hospital, asking a judge to order the company to release records of any other adverse medical incidents related to flesh-eating bacteria before her discharge on Aug. 4. The company refused to divulge the information, citing patient privacy, the newspaper said. So she probably already has her _own_ medical records; she wants _other folks’_ records. Frankly, even if she could show that there was another person in the hospital with NF or TSS, it’s another thing entirely to show that there was direct transmission from one to the other. Some info on [puerperal fever](http://www.ivillage.co.uk/pregnancyandbaby/pregnancy/labour/articles/0,,15_183571,00.html). It would be interesting to know what her Group B Strep status was, and what the circumstances of the delivery were - early rupture of membranes? Perineal injury? On preview: spend less time reading other, \*\*itty message boards and more time typing on the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/49 "2006-01-27T22:00:51Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I think the hospital amputated the wrong patient, and she can’t get the medical records of her own surgery because it lists the other patients name. According to the [Orlando Sentinel](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-flesh2106jan21,0,7426924.story?coll=orl-travel-headlines-print&track=mostemailedlink): > [@](#): > > She gave birth to Matthew with no problems. > > “They told me everything was normal,” Mejia said. > > Then a rash appeared, and she had severe pain in her belly. > > The rash, the medical staff told her, was a possible allergic reaction to the sheets, and the stomach pain was normal for someone who had just given birth, her husband said. > > Two days later, though, her condition turned critical. She was moved to intensive care. Soon after, doctors performed a hysterectomy. > > A few days later, they transferred her to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando. > > According to her medical records, Mejia suffered not just the infection – she went into shock, and her kidneys began to shut down. Gangrene set in. > > Twelve days after she gave birth, doctors amputated her arms and legs. > > “They gave her a choice of either dying or getting her limbs amputated,” said her husband, a manager at Target in Lake Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/50 "2006-01-27T22:07:26Z")
The Orlando Sentinel article had this sentence, which I find amusing for some reason, “She is now at home in Sanford, where she has a remote-controlled wheelchair.” Do they mean powered wheelchair and not remote-controlled? As for her situation, I’m very sympathetic, but I’m not sure she should get the records of other patients. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/51 "2006-01-27T22:19:18Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > As for her situation, I’m very sympathetic, but I’m not sure she should get the records of other patients. I don’t think it’s her that wants those records but her lawyer does. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/52 "2006-01-27T22:26:07Z")
You’re right, this article does have more information. It’s not “I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this,” Mejia said as it states in the article I linked to. It sounds like they needed to do this to save her life. Still, I would be wondering how this happened, not only for closure but to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s rather frightening to think you can go in for something as routine as childbirth and leave the hospital _sans_ limbs. Could the hospital still be liable in some way, maybe poor sterilization of instruments? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/53 "2006-01-27T22:27:13Z")
I’m sorry, that came out wrong. Of course they did it to save her life. I meant to say that _she knew_ they needed to operate to save her life. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/54 "2006-01-27T23:41:48Z")
IANAD, but Staph and Strep are everywhere. Since it is 8 months removed from the situation, there is likely never going to be a definitive answer. She could have already had the bacteria as **brossa** suggested. She could have been exposed if her husband or anyone else in the room during the delivery didn’t wash their hands well, or didn’t wear a hair cover or a surgical mask. She could have brought something with her to the hospital that infected her (ie. underwear that were damp when they were packed). She could have infected herself by not washing her hands before she went to the bathroom after delivery. Of course, she could have been infected by a careless doctor or nurse. Once an infection like that gets a foothold, you are lucky to live. Her sons could be motherless. Shit happens and there are no guarantees. This sounds very harsh, I do feel for the woman, I am just not sure that the hospital is necessarily to blame. If I were in the next bed with an embarassing infected hemoroid, I wouldn’t want my chart with my name blacked out with a Sharpie to become public record. You know someone would figure out that the week I was “on vacation” was the same week that this woman was sharing a room with someone with an infected hemoroid and that I was sitting a little funny when I got back. Then everyone knows that **xbuckeye** had an infected hemoroid that ended up costing a poor woman her arms and legs. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/55 "2006-01-28T14:31:30Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > It’s rather frightening to think you can go in for something as routine as childbirth and leave the hospital _sans_ limbs. Could the hospital still be liable in some way, maybe poor sterilization of instruments? Scarily enough, even in developed first-would countries you can still catch stuff like this for no discernible reason. If the hospital were careless with hygenie it would make it much more likely (the NHS has big problems like this because of poor hospital cleaning) but short of autoclaving everything in the hospital including the patients there is no way of eliminating the risk of infection. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/56 "2006-01-28T18:39:17Z")
Staph is rampant in hospitals- you won’t find a facility that doesn’t harbor it. Why? Because it is drug-resistant in the extreme. Scary but a fact of life. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/57 "2006-01-28T20:52:49Z")
Holy shit. That does it-if I ever get pregnant, screw the hospital, I’ll hire a midwife! ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/58 "2006-01-29T02:56:03Z")
Just remember to think of this story the next time you demand the doctor give you antibiotics for a cold because you just have to get back to work, and refuse to listen when she tries to explain that they wont help and only increase resistance, and continue to argue that the last doctor you went to always gave you antibiotics when you had these symptoms and they always worked in 2-3 days, nevermind the doctor telling you that you will be fine in 2-3 days regardless. _Yeah-it’s my pet peeve as a doctor-what of it?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/59 "2006-01-29T03:10:46Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > _Yeah-it’s my pet peeve as a doctor-what of it?_ Damn good pet peeve. We’ve been warned for years about the overuse of antibiotics. Not sure that’s what’s happened in the case here, though, but good point. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856/60 "2006-01-29T03:13:38Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > _Yeah-it’s my pet peeve as a doctor-what of it?_ I do my part - I don’t buy anti-biotic hand soap. And as some of my co-workers have found out, it’s really easy to get me to give a lecture on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-enters-hospital-to-give-birth-leaves-a-quadruple-amputee/341856.md?page=4)