Did your hospital lie or mislead you? Mine did.
Covid-19; Cash over Care
The hospital knew I was not Covid-19 positive but failed to tell me
After returning from abroad in March, I decided to get the Covid-19 test. I was asymptomatic, halfway through my self-imposed quarantine and wanted to be proactive. I went to a world renowned private hospital accessible from Sukhumvit Road for the test. Standard protocol at that time was to take 2 tests: if the first test came back negative, you were presumed negative. If the first test came back positive, the 2nd test was sent to a reference lab for verification. The reference lab was/is considered the prevailing diagnosis.
The next day my first test came back positive. The hospital called and insisted that I return for further testing and treatment. I asked why we do not wait for the 2nd test and I was told the government requires all positive patients must undergo treatment (even if they were not confirmed?). The fear and anxiety were building.
A few days later, after spending nearly $1000 USD, being prescribed potentially unsafe, and clearly unproved medication for Covid, I was contacted by the hospital again saying that my 2nd test came back positive and I required immediate isolation and hospitalization. It was explained to me that if I did not comply, the hospital would turn my case over to the government health officials and I would be placed in one of their public facilities with no choice in the matter.
On top of the Covid-19 scare, I started to have side effects from the medication prescribed. My kidneys were going into revolt and clearly something was wrong. Feeling as though I had no choice, I was admitted that day and immediately had another x-ray and series of tests to assess my condition. I was placed in a newly opened ward designated for Covid-19 patients. It appeared I was one of the first patient in that ward when I arrived. A couple days into the hospital stay, I finished my drugs and insisted on a new test. It was negative and I was released immediately. I was happy to be discharged but something did not seem right. To be sure, a few days later I went to a different, public hospital to get another test for verification. It was negative so I was relieved.
Several weeks after this ordeal I was getting all my paperwork sorted out. I requested all my records from the hospital for this period. I received most of the documents but there were some issues and pages missing. I followed up and was told by the Medical Records unit that my request was forwarded to another department. It was not until weeks later, after having to demand all of my hospital records, did I find out that I never was infected with Covid-19. The hospital received the confirmation from the reference laboratory that I was "non-reactive" on the same day they required my admittance. On the day after I was admitted, the hospital CHANGED my initial test report to essentially hide and clearly misrepresent the actual reference lab report of negative.
After I pushed the matter to get my records released, I was contacted by the hospital. The doctor acknowledged that the hospital may not have handled this situation well. She confirmed they did not tell me I was negative and tried to downplay the error. At one point she said "look at it this way, maybe you had Covid and we cured you". Really? That's like saying maybe you have cancer so let's go to chemotherapy and confirm later.
For just a moment, put yourself in my position. Think about being told you were Covid-19 positive in March. Millions of people inflected. 10s of thousands of people dead. Horror stories over going into a hospital never to see your friends and family ever again and wondering if you infected someone else who may loose their live.
This just scratches the surface of the emotional tailspin I was on. On top of that, 10s of 1000s of dollars in lost wages, specialty care, fees wasted for care and treatment that was not only unwise but unnecessary. I spent weeks doing contact tracing and regularly going back to another hospital to get my blood and urging checked. Several people I am close to were required to quarantine, got tested and some had to temporarily close their business. All because this hospital refused to tell me the truth and my test results were withheld from me.
Was this fraud? Was this negligence or malpractice? I do not know from the legal sense. From a moral and ethical sense, you tell me. If your Covid-19 test results came back negative and the doctor chooses not to inform you. If they withheld critical test data on your condition leaving you to believe you are positive, is the ethical? Is it responsible medicine? Does that meet international standards, or even expectations of care?
To me, it runs counter to the Hippocratic Oath "to treat the ill to the best of one's ability". It is more likely the hospital adheres to a hypocritical oath.
My case may or may not be unique but there are plenty of stories surfacing about some of the private care providers are cashing in on Covid. I was a patient at that hospital for more than a decade. Never again will I go there for treatment and I would urge anyone seeking medical care to consider carefully your options. Do not trust them as from my case it is clear you cannot. Consider other providers and if nothing else, challenge and question everything they say as what you hear may not be the whole truth.
There is much more to this story. The fear, the anxiety of being told you're Covid-19 positive. Think about how you would feel. That fear and the emotional challenges associated was something I had never experience before. Being admitted into the hospital, wondering if I would ever see my friends and family again? Wondering when it would finally take cover. It was beyond depressing. It was terrifying.
If you want to know more, feel free to email me.