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St. Margaret's Hospital of Dyer, Indiana

Abuse, Malpractice, Incompetence, and Lies

Please help by not patronizing this healthcare facility.
With help like this who needs enemies?

St. Margaret's Imports Part-Time Incompetent Third World Doctor to
Increase Profits While Putting Patients' Lives At Risk

    St. Margaret's used an incompetent Third World Pakistani doctor
to cut costs and increase profit margins by getting this incompetent
to work the graveyard shift in the ER. This quack, or "doctor" if you
will, was brought in on St. Margaret's "Doctor Exchange Program" from
Pakistan and paid a few more Gherkin's per day than what they make in
Pakistan. After this doctor's short incompetent stint, he was sent
back to Pakistan.

    This incompetent Pakistani doctor treated my son at St.
Margaret's in Dyer. This emergency room used a Third World doctors
who, due to Indiana Law, is granted reciprocity. This incompetent
doctor is  treated as if he were a licensed doctor who went to
medical
school in the United States.

    The hospital protects itself by forming a shell corporation to
shield itself from liability for mistakes that are made in the
emergency room. But, what shocks the conscience is that St.
Margaret's
goes one step farther in protecting their bottom line by hiring an
incompetent Pakistani doctor who mistakes brain injuries for
intoxication without even doing a breath test or blood analysis.

    A family member of mine was jumped by four people and knocked
unconscious and taken to St. Margaret's and released because a
Schererville cop, Officer Lopez, decided to tell the doctor my son
was
"only drunk".

    The emergency room released my son, but the Lake County jail
refused to take him because it was so obvious that he was severely
injured. The ambulance was again called and attempted to take him
back
to the emergency room at St. Margaret's, but the hospital refused to
re-admit him and told the ambulance EMT they would not re-admit him
"because his breathing and heart rate were normal" even after the
ambulance EMTs noted the medical patient was "unresponsive to voice
and pain stimuli".

    The call to the emergency room took place in front of my wife
and
I. When we complained to the hospital about them not re-admitting my
son, and asked why they refused him treatment, they lied and said
they
never refused him treatment. My wife knew all the radio traffic from
ambulances is recorded and my son asked for the recording. The
hospital then lied and said they did not have the recording and only
certain calls are recorded. I asked how they differentiate between
calls from ambulances that are recorded and not recorded, and the
emergency room personnel then refused to say anything else.

    So, protecting the hospital from lawsuits originating in the
emergency room is understandable, but what is inexcusable is that
they
would take a Third-World doctor from Pakistan and pay him peanuts to
increase their profit margin in order to get someone that is only
qualified under the color of law, and meanwhile risk a patient's life
to put more money in the pockets of the other doctors in the hospital
and the hospital's laywers by risking the health of those in medical
need.

    The hospital calls is a "Doctor Exchange Program". I wonder what
they pay a doctor from Pakistan to come to America to work the night
shift on Sundays in the emergency room at St. Margaret's? My bet is
more than they are worth.

    I ask people to write their congressmen to stop this abuse of
Indiana citizens and to specifically not patronize St. Margaret's
until this skinflint practice of importing Pakistani Third World
doctors that are incompentent and who end up risking patients' lives
for a bigger profit margin is ended at St. Margaret's.

    Please click on the St. Margaret Mercy Abuse and Incompetence
link below to read about St. Margaret's Hospital and Dr. Hussein's
incompetence and stupidity.

Joseph Zrnchik
April 4, 2007
9306 Saric Drive
Highland, IN 46322

The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
One Renaissance Blvd.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

Dear Commission Member,

     My son was provided medical care that I believe is criminal.
He
was attacked in a bar by four males and was struck with a bar stool,
attacked with a pool cue, and hit in the head with a pool ball.  The
people who attacked him all fled.

    The problem arises from the fact that the bouncer was only 21
years old and was high school buddies with my son's attackers.  My
son
originally thought that the bouncer was one of the group of
individuals who had attacked him.  The bouncer was playing pool with
these guys before they attacked my son.  At no time did the bouncer
try to stop the attack on my son, but instead did everything in his
power to prevent my son from defending himself and then lied about it
to the police while conveniently forgetting all of the attackers'
names.  He then when on to accuse my son of attacking the four people
for no reason while falsely accusing my son of having attacked them
with a bar stool and cue stick even though my son is 6'4" and 275
pounds and was a first team all-state football player and an
accomplished wrestler.  None of the other individuals were injured or
even remained at the scene, yet my son received a serious brain
injury
and was the only one injured.  This was just the beginning of his
problems.

     My son's group of people included his girlfriend who is a
nurse,
another coule was a 26 year-old male nurse and his wife, and a 30
year
old manager of a business.  The police refused to listen to a single
person in my son's group and refused to take a witness statement from
a single person in my son's group, but instead took the word of a 21
year-old bouncer who suddenly forgot all his friends' names.

    My son was clearly the victim and since the police officer was
abusive to him, he smarted-off to the officer.  He began having an
asthma attack and asked to see a doctor.  This is where the situation
becomes complicated.  My son is under the care of a neurologist due
to
multiple and severe concussions.  He has sustained at least 10
concussions where after up to even an hour after receiving a blow to
the head would lose consciousness for up to another three hours, and
then become semi-conscious and while being able to eyes, not have any
motor function or even the ability to speak for another three hours.

    This past summer he was struck in the head with a softball of
the
12" hard fast-pitch variety and almost died.  His breathing had shut
down and he was placed on a respirator for two days in an intensive
care unit.  He was scheduled to undergo a day of neurological testing
at the University of Chicago Medical Center under a Dr. Fink and his
neurologist is Dr. Biehrman of the Northwest Neurological Associates.

    While the police officer decided to arrest my son and transport
him to the county jail, my son suffered an asthma attack and asked
for
medical attention.  While being taken to the hospital for his asthma,
he suddenly lost consciousness, which was consistent with at least 10
of his previous concussions.  The officer called an ambulance that
met
him and took him to St. Margaret's Hospital.  The police officer told
the ambulance personnel that my son was only drunk, even though my
son
had not even finished one beer before his attack.  The ambulance
personnel noted on their paperwork that my son was "unresponsive to
voice and pain stimuli".

     My son was administered at least 5 doses of smelling salts by
ambulance personnel.  He says he remembers becoming semi-conscious on
several occasions and seeing the ambulance personnel laughing at him
even though he was unable to more or speak.  He then remembers
becoming semi-conscious in the emergency room.  The police officer
told the nurse my son was only drunk.  Apparently they checked his
breathing and heart rate and since it was normal decided he was okay.
According to them he was asked to fill out medical papers concerning
his medical history.  At this point he was able to open his eyes, but
still had no motor function or ability to speak.  Apparently, as soon
as he arrived at the emergency room he was asked to fill out medical
papers.  He does not remember them asking him to fill out any papers
and instead the hospital repeatedly wrote over and over on each
question of his medical questionnaire "Refused To Cooperate".   At no
time did the hospital take his blood to determine that there was no
alcohol or drug-related cause of unconsciousness or loss of motor
ability.  They just kept noting "Refused to Cooperate" on all of his
medical history paperwork.

     At one point while a nurse was standing next to him he was able
to clutch a piece of clothing to communicate he was in distress, but
she told him "Quit being an a.shole".  The hospital then released him
and he was put in the back of a police car.  As he had no ability to
move, he was stuffed in feet first.  Because he is 6'4" and 275
pounds, his head was sticking off the seat.  The officer,
Schererville
Police Officer Lopez, slammed the door and smashed it into his head.
The door bounced open and the officer then put his shoulder on the
door and drove the door shut.  As my son's shirt had been cut off at
the hospital and he was covered with a hospital gown, the officer
decided to "teach him a lesson" and decided to transport him from the
hospital to the jail that is approximately 30 minutes away with the
windows rolled down when the temperature was approximately 17
degrees.  When my son appeared at the jail, the jail personnel who do
accept drunks, refused to accept him because they knew something was
wrong with him and he needed medical attention.  The police officer
then drove him back to the police station with the windows down.  My
son was shivering severely and was ice cold to the touch.  We were
eventually able to get him to communicate. This was about three hours
after he was struck in the head.

     We met the officer who had my son at the Schererville police
station.  As we are very familiar with the signs and symptoms of him
having concussions, and as my wife was the one who only months
earlier
received the call telling her our son was in critical condition in an
intensive care unit on a respirator and was not breathing on his own,
she immediately became hysterical as at that time we did not know our
son was unconscious, how long he was unconscious, nor that he even
had
a concussion. The ambulance that had previously had taken him to St.
Margaret's was again dispatched.  One of the ambulance personnel
called St. Margaret's on a dispatch system that records
transmissions.  That ambulance EMT reported that St Margaret's
refused
to accept him because they said, "his breathing and heart rate was
[had been previously] normal".

    My wife became hysterical and then irate that our son was being
denied medical treatment from St. Margaret's Hospital.  The EMT
stated
that all calls to the emergency room are recorded, but St. Margaret's
later lied to us and said "only certain calls are recorded" to now
deny the fact that they denied him treatment.  I would like to know
what their criteria is for recording or not recording emergency calls
from EMTs working on ambulances responding to medical emergencies.

     My wife finally directed the ambulance to take my son to
Community Hospital in Munster where he was admitted with a
concussion.  As Community Hospital was familiar with his medical
history, they admitted him immediately.

     I made a complaint to St. Margarets'.  I first went to the
emergency room supervisor who said they did nothing wrong and issued
a
letter stating the same.  I then went to the patient care
representative who a month after my initial complaint said she knew
nothing of the incident.  She promised to get back to me after
reviewing the facts.  I never received a response.  I then complained
to Risk Management who stated they knew nothing of the incident.
They
promised to review the incident and contact me, but neither my son
nor
I received a response.  My son even met with their official and
signed
a release of his medical records from Community Hospital so they
could
review the incident with the knowledge of his previous medical
history
to know we were not exaggerating any aspect of his medical condition
or previous concussions and the resulting loss of consciousness,
motor
function, and non-motor function of breathing.  Again we were told
she
would review the fact and get back to us, but no response was ever
forthcoming.

     I then went directly to the secretary to the president of the
hospital and talked to his administrative secretary.  Again I was
told
she had no knowledge of the incident but she would review the facts,
investigate the issues, and get back to me.  Instead, I received a
letter from their lawyer falsely stating I was rude to hospital staff
to which I had previously complained.  This was a lie and total
fabrication.  I was seeking assistance and was not argumentative with
the people to whom I had complained, but merely explained the facts.
The lawyer told me if I had any issues to go ahead and sue, as they
would not provide any more cooperation.

     I admit speaking to the president's secretary and stating my
son's willingness to sign a release in exchange for them releasing
him
from any fees not covered by his insurance due to the fact that their
mistreatment and misdiagnosis resulted in his having two ambulance
bills and two emergency room bills.  Moreover, they failed to take
even the most rudimentary measures to determine his true medical
condition.  I am explaining this to you not to gain satisfaction
towards this end as I know this is not within your purview.  I am
merely stating this fact to be forthcoming so that you do not think I
am doing this in retaliation for financial considerations.

     If you need to be granted permission to review my son's past
medical history or the records regarding his care at St. Margaret's
Hospital, please contact us by phone and mail and any requirements
will be provided.

    Also, I was wondering if there is any type of review that can be
provided concerning the lack of training by the Town of
Schererville's
ambulance EMTs and to gain information relating to their training
program and as to why a nurse took the word of a police officer that
my son was drunk as opposed to being provided information by the
ambulance dispatch.  Moreover, when my son tried to find out who
treated him, who were the EMTs that provided dispatch, and gain any
records that were provided by the EMTs to emergency room personnel,
he
was refused all cooperation.

     This hospital has been noted in the press for previously
providing the wrong medication to a patient that did not contribute,
but instead directly caused the patient's death.

     Thank you for your help in this matter.  I truly feel this has
been a case of injury added to injury with insult thrown in for good
measure and I pray nobody will have to suffer this type of abuse in
the future.

Sincerely,

Joseph Zrnchik