C. Diff legal issues

[C. Griff]

Hello,

Bit of a newbie here. I'm a 20 year old male. A few weeks ago, my appendix burst and I was "rushed" to the hospital. After a about two hours of the paramedics telling me not to scream in the hospital, they finally took it out and when I had woken up, they informed me that they found ESPL's in my colon and would be treating me with Clyndamycin and a couple other antibiotics. The same day I was to be discharged from the hospital, C. Diff hit me hard. I've been on several forums in which the members mentioned that they would have rejected Clyndamycin had they known it commonly causes C. Diff. In my case, my doctor did not mention any side effects of the antibiotics and when I mention this to my friends, they suggest I take legal action as this would be considered malpractice. I want to know if anybody has been through something similar or knows what kind of legalities there are around this situation. Thanks in advance!

[NanciT]

Hello C GrifF and Welcome to the site Please read the first thread for all new posters

Sorry you have to find us and are dealing with CDIFF. Are you currently recovered or still dealing with it?

I understand your question is a legal question and the site focus is around supporting those who have CIDFF and are working through it.

I will say my time on this board ( my diagnosis was 3.2014) I have not run across this question. Probably because most on this site were put on antibiotics for one infection or another and came down with CDIFF. Some of us were in the hospital at the time, other's not.

We are here if you need support getting through this very difficult illness

I hope you are recovering

NanciT

[C. Griff]

I'm thrilled to have gotten such a quick response to this. I have finished taking the antibiotics they replaced the Clyndamycin with and am mainly focusing on my probiotic and fiber intake. They ended up keeping me at the hospital for two weeks, total, that being two weeks longer than an appendectomy outpatient should. Once I tested positive for C. Diff they took me off Clyndamycin as if they knew that was the cause right away and put me in an isolation room. I hope this information clears anything up. I read the rules for posting before I made my account a few minutes ago and I hope I'm not breaking any of them. To reiterate, my main concern is that they did not disclose any side effects, although they seemed to be aware of them. Currently, a good friend of mine is reaching out to lawyers that would be willing to sit down with me and answer question.

[roy]

You would have died of the infection complications of the apendectomy, you would have signed a consent form that gave permission for the operation and any medication needed. Unless they have been negligent (they have not) you have little chance of success.
There's a chance that if you did start litigation they would settle out of court, most if not all the award would just about cover the legal expenses.
If you recover or die the cost and hassle of litigation is not worth it.
If you were crippled for life that's another matter!
Be glad your alive. Hope your c.diff recovery is smooth and relapse free.
By the way, clinda does not cause c.diff, it's a naturally occouring bacteria that just loves to move into a gut that clinda has prepared for it. Defence would state you could have caught it anywhere. An act of God.
Also you can not prove that you were not a carrier of c.diff before you had it as a disease.
Many people are!

[NanciT]

It sounds like you are doing well which is fantastic. Yes, my greeting as a moderator is the same for everyone. We are asked to greet all new posters.

As far as your legal issue, I cant comment. Only to say that there are probably thousands of us out there. For me, It was Cipro but I relapsed several times and had to be treated over 10 months. There are many antibiotics that put us at risk for CDIFF. It has also been found in the environment, we have some who have not taken antibiotics at all and have picked it up.

Hoping your recovery continues to go well

NanciT

[NikaNik]

Hi, there! So sorry you're dealing with this. As Roy mentioned, antibiotics don't "cause" c diff. C diff is a bacteria that needs to be ingested in order to get inside us. It's typically found on surfaces in hospitals, doctors offices and nursing homes but can be anywhere. Hand sanitizer doesn't kill it. After ingestion it can become part of your normal flora and not cause any symptoms and you won't even know you have it. BUT if you take an antibiotic (particularly the broad spectrum ones like Clindamycin) the antibiotic kills out your good flora/bacteria which keeps c diff in check. That's what makes c diff produce toxins causing illness. A way to think about it, is antibotics can "activate" c diff if it's already present in your gut (or clear out your good bacteria making it easier for c diff to take hold if you ingest it after the antibtoics).

So there no way to know if you already had ingested the c diff prior to going in the hospital or if you picked it up there and the Clinda activated it.

Again, so sorry you're dealing with c diff. Hang in there and take it one step at a time. You will be okay!

Nikki

[Lisa33]

Another welcome to the forum and so sorry that you got c-diff. I can't comment on the legality of your situation, but also agree with everything that the others said. Unfortunately, there are several high offender antibiotics that will just kill off your good gut bacteria leaving you open to bad bacteria, such as c-diff. I know that some hospitals will give probiotics along with antibiotics, which should be protocol in my opinion. My mother in law recently had salmonella and was given cipro, but they also started her on probiotics as well. The best defense to c-diff other than proper hygiene is to keep your good gut bacteria in check. Unfortunately, most doctors do not disclose side effects of antibiotic use. I never even knew about c-diff until I got it in Sept 2014 after taking Cefdinir for a so-called sinus infection, which was most likely viral. Now that we all are educated on c-diff, antibiotic use, probiotics, etc., we can make sure that anbibiotics such as clinda can be avoided if possible in the future. It does seem that clinda is one of the worst offenders as many, many posters got c-diff after taking it. It must really do a number on your good gut flora.

[C. Griff]

You all are awesome for giving such great advice. I just want to make sure I'm understanding what has been said. Basically, some possible scenarios are:

1. Appendectomy ---> reject antibiotics ---> septic (colon was already inflamed due to time) ---> death
2. ... accept antibiotics ---> C. Diff ---> possible relapse ---> possible death
therefore, if I wanted to live (which I am very thankful for, considering two simultaneous death scenarios), I most certainly should not have rejected the antibiotics, making C. Diff likely inevitable (since they kept me there so long anyways).

I guess my next concern would be:

They found ESPL's during the surgery and told me later that C. Diff probably would have shown up on their tests, however, it didn't. They concluded that the change in my symptoms post-surgery means C. Diff was introduced to my gut colony while I was in the hospital. If I already had one mildly dangerous gut bacteria upon admittance to the hospital, would it be negligent to put me in a regular room versus an isolation room? Honestly, I don't expect you guys to have a certain answer. This could vary on a hospital to hospital basis. Nonetheless, everybody has excellent points and advice. Thanks for all of the well-wishes, too. Dealing with both recoveries at the same time has been rough, but I'm feeling better every day.

[roy]

Almost all of us would test positive for E.coli.
Its not a problem unless it gets into the wrong place. Because you were cut the antibiotic was given to prevent a serious infection.
A c.diff test is specific. They would not do it as a routine test.
C.diff can be a very minor infection right up to a life threatening one, so can the common cold!
People your age rarely have any problems and just get over it.
Time to move on and live life.

[C. Griff]

Roy, I'm sure they did a number of tests, considering my doctor discovered it on sight. I don't think it was routine, but rather reactionary. And I'm sure that plays a big role in what they prescribe me, whether it be Clinda or not. I don't think I'll pursue any legal options at this point, since you have seemed to ease my mind about it quite a bit. I'm back at work and school already and the new lifestyle doesn't really bother me a whole lot! I hope you're right about growing out of it. Thanks again to everyone for all of the advice!

[beth22]

My suggestion to you would be to contact a Personal Injury attorney. They usually work on a contingency basis, so you don't pay unless they win the case, but check that out. That is the case here in CA, but it may vary from state to state. There have been some cases that have gone to litigation where the patient got c dificile in the hospital. This type of an attorney would be able to tell you if you have a case or not. Usually there is no charge for a consultation, but call and find out.

[Ril]

Just want to add, and make crystal clear, FYI, if antibiotics are necessary, even though clinda is a notoriously high offender (initiated my c diff) any antibiotic can do the same.
So ......

Glad you are doing better.

[AllisS]

Hi C. Griff, hope you're continuing to recover. IMO, the chances of any success via the legal route are near-zero; malpractice is notoriously hard to prove. However, please consider submitting an Adverse Event report re: your experience with clindamycin (also the antibiotic that triggered my own case of C. diff) to the FDA. You can access the website by clicking on the link below my post. As data continue to accumulate, the hope is that FDA will consider stricter black-box warnings about this drug.