Lawsuit: Amputation could’ve been avoided if hospital provided interpreter
WATE News in Tennessee reported that a federal lawsuit against Parkwest Hospital and Covenant Health alleges that a deaf patient could have avoided a partial leg amputation if the hospital provided him with a live (in-person) interpreter during several visits in 2017.
The news report said the deaf man had a fall and went to Parkwest Hospital in Knoxville in October 2017 because he had numbness and pain in his right leg and foot. The deaf man requested an ASL interpreter, but the hospital didn’t provide one. The deaf man’s leg was x-rayed and he was sent home with an antibiotic and ibuprofen.
But several days later, the pain in his leg increased, and he went to an emergency room in Lenoir City run by Covenant Health. Doctors there determined that the deaf man had blood clots and transferred him back to Parkwest to see a vascular surgeon with a request that an interpreter be provided.
At Parkwest, the deaf man was provided with a VRI, but it turned out to be a failure because there were many disconnections and blurry pictures. The lawsuit said it was because the hospital had a firewall.
The deaf man had surgery the next day to remove the clots and insert a medical device. There were no professional interpreters provided — instead the deaf man’s daughter acted as an interpreter. After the surgery, the deaf man had severe pain and was unable to communicate with the medical staff. He was sent home heavily sedated with his foot blue in color.
On November 1, the deaf man went to see his family doctor and was sent to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where he finally received 24/7 live (in-person) ASL interpreters. He had another surgery on November 2nd. Three days later, he was informed that a part of his right leg had to be amputated. On November 7, 30% of his right leg was amputated from the knee down. The lawsuit said staff at UT Medical Center said if the deaf man came into their facilities earlier, they could have saved his leg.
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The lawsuit said the deaf man did not have an understanding of the reason why he was admitted to the hospital, about his treatment, aftercare or discharge instructions, or alternative treatments. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages and attorney fees from the two medical centers for violations of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which requires hospitals to provide interpreting services. The lawsuit requests the court to issue an injunction to require the hospitals to provide in-person interpreters whenever deaf or hard of hearing people request them and for the hospitals to recognize that VRI systems may not be appropriate in all medical situations. That’s the end of the news report.
The NAD said in a Position Statement on Health Care Access for Deaf Patients that “the health care system has largely failed to both ensure and provide accessible language services and health information for many deaf individuals” and that it “may contribute to poor patient-provider communication.”