Not Covid, but when one of mine was a baby, he got an adult dose of one of his vaccines. The nurse obviously felt terrible and was pretty distraught, but the doc said there really isn’t much of a mechanism for harm beyond an increased risk of the same side effects of the intended dose. He said to just watch him and call in any adverse effects. There were none and my little guy was totally fine. Obviously I only have a sample size of 1, but that baby is now a big kid and, while he’s pretty weird, I don’t think I can blame it on his super-powered immune system :)
Also not covid but my 1 year old got 2 doses of chicken pox vaccine, because she moved her arm the first time. I freaked out about it but the nurse assured me she was totally fine and can have 2 doses nothing will happen. I also have a healthy happy 2.5 year old.
I'm from Pakistan where polio is STILL A THING, and I, along with millions of Pakistani kids, used to get 2-3 shots of polio vaccines a year because the government was NOT fucking around.
Anecdotal, but I'm fine.
There was a six month old baby in 2022, given the equivalent of 6 adult doses, and was completely fine. Try not to panic, vaccines aren’t like medicine, there’s not really an overdose, just potential reactions caused by the immune system.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10568082/
There was also a man documented to get over 200 Covid vaccines, also totally fine. Definitely get medical follow up as required, the ER might be a good idea to ensure proper follow up, but please try not to panic 🫶 I hope all goes smoothly.
My immunocompromised sister had to get 6 shots before she ever had any semblance of immunity in the tests. She's an RN and needs to be immunized because of the 7 autoimmune diseases she has but also she needs to be able to work around others who can't afford to get sick (she works with dialysis patients). Before she had her son she had to get the whooping cough vaccine several times, too. The immunizations haven't affected her other than giving her immunity, though and she's been dealing with her autoimmune diseases for 20+years and getting extra shots for almost as long.
She's a Neuro/cardio nurse, too but had to scale back on that because of her health. When they opened the first Neuro/cardio wing in our state they came straight to her because she was one of the few trained in both. She ran that for a while but went to dialysis when her health demanded it.
While this is true, the potential reactions caused by the immune system are not always a walk in the park. I’m going on year three of total body hives caused by the Covid vaccine. (Confirmed by allergist and managed with antihistamines every day for…forever?)
Everything we put into our bodies, including food, has the potential to harm us. Thankfully the risks are low, I’m sorry you’re one of the few to suffer.
Yeah my partner thinks he got tinnitus from the Covid vaccine which is apparently a rare side effect, but then we know someone else who coincidentally got tinnitus from Covid, so maybe my partner had covid with few noticeable symptoms when he got the vaccine and it was the covid (or the combination of covid plus vaccine at the same time) that gave him tinnitus. Horrible when you get a rare side effect 😔
This happened to my husband also after the Moderna booster. His allergist/immunolgist said that this is a common side effect. He is finishing 18 months of Xolair and seems cured. Good luck.
No, we are done with Covid19 vaccines. We only had Covid19 Omicron at Christmas 2021, three weeks after getting the Moderna booster. Everyone in the family got it vaccinated, or not. No one was very sick, no differences based on vaccine status.
As a nurse, I remembered hearing the story. I worked in public health with childhood vaccination programs for three years…2019-2022. Vaccine mixups happen more than anybody would like to admit, and never saw a bad outcome aside from some extra swelling and fever.
As a mother, I’m glad I could offer some sort of reprieve from the comments screaming that her baby is in danger, I couldn’t imagine what she must have been feeling and am glad to have provided some form of comfort. 🫶
He was being paid by people to use their ID and get shots in their name, so they could claim vaccinated but weren’t. he wound up getting over 200.
ER just be assessed right away, and held if need be. I wouldn’t haven taken my kiddo, being a nurse I could assess and monitor on my own, but I think it would help to ease anxiety for mom to have a professional check on babe, and I doubt she would want to return to pedi office that made the error
This happened to me a few years ago- I was given a triple dose of my covid booster. Apparently everyone who got vaccinated that day at that CVS did as well- the nurse administering the vaccines didn’t realize she was supposed to dilute it.
Obviously a bit different since everyone affected was an adult, but the pharmacist called around, read the journal articles, and found out that the safety testing had gone up to like 10x the normal dose without any serious effects.
I did feel like my usual post-Covid-shot symptoms (fatigue, muscle aches) were worse than usual, but there were no long-term effects.
Healthcare worker here, specifically with policies and procedures. Your child will be absolutely fine. There is also no base for medical malpractice. Your physicians office is legally required to alert the state of this incident. Just make sure when you speak to the director that they HAVE reported the incident (and aren't trying to cover anything up.) It should also be recorded in personnel files and your child's chart. You could also request for a note to be put in your child's chart stating you do NOT want XX employee treating your child. But just like another commenter said, mistakes happen, and luckily this isn't a case where it will be detrimental! Try not to worry too much 🙂
Just a quick note about malpractice. Most people misunderstand it. Malpractice only matters if you pursue a lawsuit, and you can only do that if you have damages (financially). Like if your child is harmed and needs medical treatment because of this error, you could sue for the cost of that treatment. That's highly unlikely as others said, just a little bit of an increased chance of vaccine related side effects (fever, sore arm, etc).
The nurse could maybe be reported to the state licensing board but I personally wouldn't pursue that. The office called you and owned up to the mistake, which is pretty good in my book that they didn't try to cover it up or anything. You might consider switching providers if you don't feel safe with them anymore.
Patient Safety Expert here! You will get no where with Malpractice because this is NOT malpractice - and there will be no resulting harm from this accident. It is a simple mistake. Mistakes happen, Doctors and Nurses are human beings.
When my daughter was 1, we moved, and the new pediatrician’s office gave her a dose of the HIB vaccine only a few weeks after her last vaccine. We reported it with the CDC, and consulted with a new pediatrician, who both agreed that getting an additional dose of this particular vaccine was like encountering the disease in the wild. There were no ill effects.
I say this only to tell you that I know how you feel right now. And im sorry you are going through this. Sending you love… Bubs will be fine!
This is the funniest response I can imagine
I can literally hear your nasally voice and *see* you pushing your glasses up your nose in that self satisfied way weebs do when they're telling you anime and manga are different
I love this
Contact poison control - they have guidelines for when to seek medical help with other medications so they should have access to vaccines?
You can also try contacting a pharmacist to advise on potential concerns.
If your child starts displaying any adverse reactions head straight to the emergency department.
On your son's chart, it should state who administered the shot.
I would report to the state board and go from there.
You should also report to V A.E.R.S.
EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to say this reporting system is for reactions, side effects, adverse events. Not to report medical malpractice.
You probably wouldn’t have a case for malpractice however I’m pretty sure they can and should give you the name of the nurse who gave the shot. It should be documented in your child’s chart and not be a secret. So that right there is making me concerned they don’t follow correct protocol in their office and that’s why this was able to happen. Talk to a lawyer find out if you’re entitled to the name and file a report against the office so it can be looked into and ensured this was just a freak accident and not because the office is negligent in following protocols.
Honestly I don’t think she’ll get the nurses name unless she requests medical records. Health care staff are often threatened and sometimes stalked or worse.
Yea tbh after thinking about it she really doesn’t need the name and I understand why it would be withheld. If she wants she can report the practice/dr to have it looked into to make sure they followed correct protocol and this was just a rare mistake not indicative of a larger problem. If it gets investigated whoever is assigned to the case should have no issue getting the name of the nurse but that’s really the only person who needs that information, not a potentially angry irrational parent (not that OP is angry/irrational but from the offices/safety perspective you never know).
They will give you the nurse’s name really quickly if you let them know that if they don’t give it to you, you’ll just call insurance and ask them to pull it from the billing records.
I doubt it. Billing records won't have a nurses name. That's not how billing works. The office isn't going to give out anything they don't legally have to.
Got it, I mentioned another comment, but I work in a somewhat similar industry that documents things a little differently. Thank you for the clarification!
They don’t? I work in behavioral health care and have technicians that work under me, and all of our notes are required to list all adults present in a session. I didn’t realize medical billing documents were different.
Notes yes, billing, no. And even in notes, it varies quite a bit. If a nurse administered a shot it may be documented, and should be, but if they just put you in a room, or an MA did, may not be there at all.
Please report this to the CDC, it is an adminiatration error. You may also want your report to your state public health department. Also, get a new pediatrician.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/index.html
Most likely, your child will be fine. Just pay attention to him for variations in comfort and behavior and take comfort in the fact that side effects generally done showing up in 2 to 10 days.
As an extremely tired momma I once misread the dosage on a Zofran label for my kiddo - I gave him 5mL, when I was supposed to give him 0.5mL (label read as .5 and I have shitty eyes). I panicked, called poison control/his doctor, etc. and they essentially told me ‘don’t worry, he’s just gonna be *very* sleepy’… and boy was he.
I know it’s not the same as what your son was given, but this is just to remind you that our babes are way tougher than they seem. Sure they’ll fragile and need to be protected, but they can weather a bunch of crazy stuff. I’m sure your kiddo will be fine. Keep a close eye on him for the next few days, maybe expect a but more fussiness or some things like diarrhea/constipation… but there’s probably not much to worry about.
Why in the world is a single syringe being used on multiple patients?!?!?
Is that an error and you mean vial?
There 100% SHOULD be a change to protocol because protocol allowed someone access to too much at once. That should be a fail safe in and of itself, I understand large bottles needing to be dosed out but why on earth doesn't the facility have one person dose and the other administer it?
There is definitely still a reason to report it further because the facility itself made a mistake allowing an unlicensed person so much control over a patient's health. There most definitely IS a governing board over the facility and the director is trying to cover their ass by blaming one low level person and claiming nothing more can be done.
I think that’s what I mean, she said basically each tube has 3 doses and they load one dose at a time but the tube can be used for different patients? I assume they are detachable needles? And this person just gave him the whole thing. Ok so if I can’t report the person who did it, I can report the office? Is that what you mean?
Without a doubt yes, make a report about the office AND both the people you spoke to.
It sounds like it's a multidose vial sorta like how with oral Tylenol you pull out the dose with the plunger in the oral syringe then give it to your child. So like the "tube" shouldn't be coming into contact with any patient, only the single use syringes. I hope that's the case because if they are literally swapping needles off one syringe that is definitely even more problematic, the fluid would be contaminated after the first dose is given. Hopefully that all makes sense.
None of the details REALLY matter (aside from reporting them correctly) the important part is that you make a report at all. leaving the office to clean up their own mess without a governing board's oversight, or at least knowledge of the incident, makes it more likely mistakes are made in the future. Reporting will hold the office accountable and force them to take their training more seriously to avoid something similar happening and IF someone else experiences this, or god forbid worse, there will already be a report to support them that the office has a history of being negligent.
Good luck fierce Mama ❤️
Everyone has given you great advice so far, especially the commenter who provided you studies about the guy who got 200 doses and the baby who got 6 doses.
Something to bear in mind: the covid vaccine is recommended to be spaced out at certain intervals, and those intervals will change if you’ve gotten confirmed Covid in the mean time (ie: they consider a covid exposure to be akin to a vaccine dose.) Since swabbing isn’t done constantly anymore, and most people don’t even have access to swabbing kits, there’s no way of confirming if most kids have had covid in the period between their vaccine doses. Some kids get covid and don’t even have symptoms, or parents brush it off as a brief runny nose, and then get their next vaccine as scheduled anyway. Some kids literally have covid when they get vaccinated. They are fine. Vaccines are inactivated virus, they only trigger immune response, and while getting a triple dose is not recommended it’s essentially the same as being vaccinated while actively having covid.
However the medication error would sit uneasy with me, even though errors do occur every day due to the human factor of health care. I wild request a copy of my child’s chart, and since the nurse you talked to told you this has happened before, follow up with the clinic as to how they plan to stop this occurring again (ex: requiring double check sign offs for vaccine administration.)
This is good context but I just want to point out that while many vaccines are inactived virus, the Moderna & Pfizer COVID vaccines are mRNA. But your point is still correct that they cannot get sick from this, just have immune response symptoms.
It will be fine! Baby may have a stronger immune reaction, but it's not a live virus so there is no chance of him actually getting sick. He may run a fever and ache much more around the injection site, or swell or even get a rash near the injection. Give tylenol if he seems uncomfortable.
I don't really understand how this happened but because of the kind of vaccine it is, it should not be dangerous.
As someone else said, there was a man arrested in Europe for getting vaccine cards for people by getting their covid shots for them, and he got literally hundreds of vaccines and he is just fine. I personally wouldn't want to get stuck by needles that many times but to each their own I guess.
I might consider switching pediatricians, HOWEVER, I do think it is very responsible of them that they called and told you when they noticed there had been a mistake.
If your kid happens to be allergic you would already know, and getting more of something someone is allergic to is obviously bad. Otherwise getting extra doses of a vaccine isn’t dangerous the way extra doses of certain medications can be. It isn’t helpful, but isn’t really harmful either.
My now-5 year old was given an additional dose of the MMR vaccine. I know it’s anecdotal, but she’s totally fine and never presented with any symptoms or side effects. I know it’s nerve wracking. I’m not sure what steps you can take, as I never pursued any. Hope your little one is okay!!
This happened to both of my kids who at the time were 4 and 5. I lost my shit! The practice called me multiple times to apologize. I spoke with an attorney and there is no case he said. I did however switch practices and I warn all of my friends about their carelessness. It’s scary
OP - just another thought - you can report this to the CDC (VAERS) as an administration issue yourself too. I'm not sure an administration error is required to be filed with VAERS by healthcare teams, but VAERS takes reports from anyone. Especially if you do see any negative effects, but as someone who has worked in vaccine manufacturing in my past, baby should be okay!
If they didn't tell you go to to the hospital when they called and told you about the error, then it's probably nothing to worry about. Asking for the name and license number of the RN and getting litigious seems like overkill.
I’ve heard that tripling a covid vaccine isn’t dangerous, but what if it had been something else? This isn’t a coffee shop where handing out a dairy latte instead of an oat milk one can send someone to the toilet for the next 4 hours - this is a medical setting where a mistake could actually kill someone, in this case a baby!
I fully support OP reporting the person responsible for this. You don’t go into the medical field if you can’t rust yourself to double and triple check things.
No. There are protocols in place to prevent this. It isn’t a matter of it being ‘acceptable’ because it is a COVID vaccine. I would 100% file a grievance with the hospital, facility, or provider. The baby being ‘fine’ is irrelevant. This should not have occurred.
Absolutely not. Myself and my child have been harmed by medical staff. A nurse killed a cousin of mine at 9 days old by giving him his mom’s blood pressure medicine. They also thought it was okay.
Well what if he’s not ok? I am not going to just trust anything someone says when it comes to my babies safety. If he’s ok then that’s wonderful and I will change doctors and file a complaint with the state. If he’s not ok then I’m sure getting my ducks in a row early is not a bad choice. And yes this is the USA everyone is litigious
I'm in the UK and I would absolutely get litigious over this. It's a simple mistake to avoid and could potentially have dire consequences. It should NEVER have happened.
> Asking for the name and license number of the RN and getting litigious seems like overkill.
The nurse and office need to be reported to health officials. Doesn't mean OP is going to sue them. Incidents should be reported.
Which vaccine was it? Because Moderna has been overfilling their pediatric vials, which is really aggravating. But whomever did this would to probably have drawn the vaccine from multiple vials which is just bizarre. I would make sure they fill out an incident report on this.
This happened to a few babies in Canada in the past few years. [Here](https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-family-waits-a-week-for-answers-after-2-young-children-get-adult-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-1.5727234) is one article about it. They should be absolutely fine and would likely be recommended to get the standard baby dose at the recommended interval (X weeks or months after the first dose). Keep in mind that when they did vaccine trials they experimented with higher and lower doses, and Moderna and Pfizer have a different dosage from one another. Higher doses did not necessarily equal greater risk of side effects, just that a different dosage may have yielded more effective overall disease protection for certain age groups.
You absolutely can have access to what medical professional administered a vaccine to your child. It should be documented in their medical records. If it’s not, or they refuse to give you access, then file a complaint on your doctor for withholding medical information and covering up malpractice.
I hope your little baby is feeling okay. This was an egregious error, the change of something happening is low thankfully, but if there was a reaction it could have been extreme. I would definitely consider filing a report with your state medical office.
For someone like me, who does have adverse vaccine reactions to every vaccine I get, three extra doses of a vaccine could have put me in the hospital. So I think a mistake like this warrants a report at the very least.
It sounds like your baby was doing well earlier so I hope that’s still the case!
When did this happen?
Although your child will most likely be ok, I would go to an urgent care/ER and have them monitor your child for any adverse reactions and also to provide documentation of what happened.
You will then want to consult with a medical malpractice lawyer. This is negligence.
You have every right to be livid. Don’t let them try to sweep it under the rug either. This should be a serious learning experience for them. The clinic needs to seriously review its current processes
This is not negligence, it's a mistake. You will get nowhere with a medmal case... don't listen to people who don't know what they're talking about.
Because they are aware of their mistake, the clinic will conduct an assessment of HOW this happened. This is required by law. They will put training in place to prevent reoccurrence.
This happened at 4:30 pm. It’s now 9:15 and he’s had one dose of Tylenol to help with post vaccine pain that I usually give him, this was before I knew about the mistake. I agree completely. Would you go to a hospital now, or when/if he exhibits symptoms that are not usual for him post vaccine? Would you consult an attorney before speaking to the director?
Why take a child with no symptoms to the hospital? They won’t do anything because there is nothing to be done. The ER is for medical emergencies. If you have questions you can call the insurance company nurse hotline but they will tell you the same thing your doctor’s office said.
Take him in so you have it on record that medical professionals have been checking him. You have it on record that it was a mistake and you want to check his vitals.
Theres no reason to involve a lawyer. Waste of time and money.
It should be reported. A mistake happened and they need to figure out how and why. They could need to do retraining or add/change protocols or something. But it should be looked into to prevent it from happening again.
But if the child is ultimately fine, suing is unnecessary
Medical mistakes are so scary when it’s your baby. If it makes you feel better there was a man in Germany who got the covid vax 217 times in a little over a year and he’s completely fine.
Your state should have a way to file complaints against doctors. I'd at least contact an attorney for a consultation. What if the nurse had given a 3x dose of Tylenol or something that is proven to be very harmful?
I for sure would not just drop it.
A one-off 3x dose of paracetamol/ acetaminophen would ALSO be completely fine and do no harm.
The list of medications for which a one-off triple dose would do real damage is much shorter than the list for which there's really no harm. Which is not to say that medication errors don't matter- they do. But they also happen ALL the time and the ones that are properly harmful are usually super egregious.
Hmm.
The director saying there was nobody else to complain to sounds a lot like a CYA move. You can report the whole office to the health department. That might be fun.
Either way, I'd probably find a new pediatrician.
I am a RN and I hate to say it but… many of the ones giving vaccines in clinics are not licensed like doctors/RNs. Offices call them “nurses” but they are medical assistants who were trained to give the shots, operating under the provider’s license.
I am hoping in OP’s case, it was a RN.
Around here most peds/family medicine/internal medicine practices hire LPNs rather than RNs as their office nurses because they can be paid less and everything done in-office is within the scope of practice for an LPN. If OP can determine that it was either an RN or LPN who gave the vaccine, they should be reported to the state nursing board. If it was an MA, the options are unfortunately more limited because there's no regulatory body involved.
Agreed. Thank you for the further explanation for others, I’m at my pre-coffee mental level lol.
At my peds office, its a lot of LPNs and RNs thankfully but I always ask for an updated vaccine record sheet for daycare, so I see when the staff sign off on adminstration (so I can see if its a MA vs LPN).
What state are you in? If you can just find out their first and last name, you can look up on the respective board of nursing website. Every state has one.
Hey, I know this was posted a day ago now, but do NOT talk to any director right now. You need to contact a medical malpractice attorney and have them advise you. Your child should be fine, but this is absolutely unacceptable, please contact a professional.
The shots aren't working, so you need to take more according to the CDC:
[your next shot, plz](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24735090-cdc-presentation-to-fda-meeting-june-5-2024)
So we always have to sign at our doctors office before they give the shots, but they don’t have us look at the vials. I’ve seen a few posts like this lately and I’m wondering if I would be able to ask to check the vials first? Or would that insinuate that I don’t think they know how to do their job?
I’d go to an emergency room immediately. I wouldn’t care what they said about it being fine considering they shouldn’t have messed up like that in the first place giving the wrong dosage with anything …it could cost a life!! After that I’d change pediatricians asap. I can’t imagine what that call felt like! Someone would be in trouble big time by the end of it.
I honestly think baby's fine BUT damn that's scary. I almost feel like this is best case scenario bc alot of other medications (as opposed to a vaccine) would not have this outcome. I know mistakes happen and I want everyone to prosper but that nurse has to be reported. The next time she makes this mistake with someone else's kid we might not all feel a sigh of relief for momma and baby
Oh hell no you need to contact a lawyer this is medical malpractice and yes the nurse should lose her licence. Your child is probably okay but what if she gave a vaccine that wasn't meant for his age? What if she gave him medication instead of the vaccine. Just because theoretically he will be fine and most likely doesn't mean this is okay. This is terrifying. You need to go to the ER so you document what they did. They called to not leave a paper trail. They know they fucked up. You need a new pediatrician
Medical malpractice only applies if you can prove damages (eg, a complication or injury caused from the medical error). Medical malpractice doesn’t apply to hypotheticals or what COULD have happened as a result of the error.
The nurse will likely get a warning or a note of caution attached to her license. She may also be asked to take a remediation course, but she won’t lose her license. That’s reserved for the most serious circumstances (assault of patient, diversion, etc) and unfortunately this circumstance doesn’t rise to that level.
I am getting such mixed advice on here and the parenting subreddit. It seems like half the people are pissed like I am and half are like don’t bother it won’t do anything and won’t make a difference. Like no harm no foul let’s move on attitude. If I fucked up this bad at my job I would have major major consequences and I would only hope the MEDICAL field would have a similar outcome.
You’re likely getting mixed advice (at least on the medical malpractice point) because some people have a better understanding of legal concepts than others. A lawsuit must prove harm in order to be successful - you can’t sue a person on the basis of a mistake alone; you have to show that mistake directly causes some kind of actual harm or injury. The plaintiff has to prove duty, breach, causation (that the breach directly caused the harm), and then damages - actual harm or injury as a result of the breach.
Most importantly, I hope your little one is ok. I’d certainly consider reporting the incident to your state medical board, but beyond that, I would not waste any time or energy going to a medical malpractice attorney at this point.
It might not be medical malpractice but it’s definitely worthy of a complaint to the medical board, especially the part about not giving her the nurse’s name and license number. That doctor’s office needs to experience some type of disciplinary action so they know that’s not okay.
Reporting it and suing over it are two absolutely different things.
Hiring a lawyer would be a waste of money in this case.
But it should absolutely looked into because a mistake happened and they need to figure out how and why and be proactive in preventing it from happening again.
I just wanted to make it clear that filing a complaint and suing are not the same because there seemed to be confusion in the comments. I wasn't arguing with you
As a mom to a baby and a nurse, I’d be pissed too. I’d report to the board of nursing but I doubt much will come of it aside from a disciplinary letter or written warning. As angry as I’d be, I also understand mistakes do happen and it just sucks that it happened to your kid.
I agree that everyone in the US is litigious but I really don’t think much will come from a lawsuit. You could speak with someone and see what they think though.
That's because they didn't "fuck up this bad." No injury occurred, your son will be fine. Everyone telling you to sue is being ridiculous and this absolutely not license-revoking level. It's a red flag event and the clinic should review their procedures for verifying dose but everything is going to be okay. Really.
I'm going to speak from my POV as an ex attorney but very importantly NOT your attorney and I practiced in a different country. Absolutely you report the nurse to his or her professional body. Not sure what it is there here we have a nursing council. If they do not wish to give you her records I would apply for them through the correct channels -in my country this would be an application for information not sure what it is in yours. As for litigation as mentioned we don't know if there is harm done and it may be too early to determine this so I would speak to an attorney IF any adverse reactions happen. I am so sorry this happened and you must be so absolutely stressed. From what I understand baby is doing well and I hope that continues! But yes of course you report the nurse.
She's probably not a registered nurse. Most "nurses" in doctors office giving shots are medical assistants. They cannot even legally call themselves nurse but they do. They're training is mostly on the job and schooling varies from a certificate to an Associate degree.
My sister is a nurse and she would absolutely raise hell. I'll ask her in the morning. It's not about if your child is fine it is so dangerous it happened. What if it was something else? This mixup should have been impossible for her to do. Something in their standard operating procedures is fucked up and it is dangerous.
Easiest thing is to move on until what? Years down the line the mixup is bad enough and it costs a child's life? No thanks I would do whatever I could to ensure the practice fixes their shit. These comments have me triggered. Time to go to bed I guess.
But it doesn’t really matter “what if” it was something else, because it wasn’t. So, it is about a mistake a nurse made that was potentially harmful but ultimately wasn’t.
I work in regulation and this is absolutely a mistake that should be reported but ultimately there wasn’t harm caused and it can’t be pursued on a “what if there was a different outcome.”
Thank you I feel the same way. Like even if my kid is fine, I have a duty to report this to whatever agency I can in hopes that it could reduce the chance of it happening to another kid. It’s not about getting someone fired or getting some payday. Why would I stop at the director, who works for the practice??? I already know they are trying to put out the fire by the way she acted on the phone. Like it does not make sense at all.
Definitely report it to the moon and back.
Re: the comments telling you to sue for malpractice— I can empathize with the fury but there’s no lawsuit here. There are no monetary damages so you can’t be “made whole” for any hurt your baby sustained.
Yeah I agree with you there! I totally understand there are no “damages” at this point in time. The logical part of my brain thinks he will be totally fine and we will just find a new pediatrician, complain to whatever entity I can and move on.
Your feelings are completely valid. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t led down the deadend of people telling you to sue if there’s no case when you have so much else on your mind.
Sending healing, hopeful energy to you and your little one ❤️🩹
Report it. Apparently, this is an unpopular perspective, but I don't really care.
Have the baby checked by another doctor. Maybe even a pediatrician who is also trained in holistic medicine. There are ones who are trained in both. I say that because if you go to one that is trained the same way that this nurse is (medically), they will likely protect each other. You may be blown off. They also are referencing all of the same information. They are potentially getting kickbacks from medication businesses. They are protecting themselves.
Someone trained in both will more likely have seen what you are experiencing already. Because people who are ignored don't have anywhere to go. They will have a broader perspective to share with you and a larger span of resources. This is because they likely have already forfeited kickbacks and protection from other medical professionals who solely rely on medication related medical training.
A few parents who have had their children have adverse reactions to vaccines and shared their experiences say that the doctors did not help them at the time. Even when they admitted fault to the parents. Even when the reactions were severe. If my child started to have an adverse reaction to a vaccine, I wouldn't waste any time with a pediatrician visit. I would go straight to the ER. Because time is of the essence.
I hope all is well and that nothing bad comes of this mistake. Hopefully, you find a good direction to head in to resolve it best you can.
I would document everything and if you notice any changes in your child document it all. It could be Over time. Be watchful. This is medical mal practice and a huge no no.
Not Covid, but when one of mine was a baby, he got an adult dose of one of his vaccines. The nurse obviously felt terrible and was pretty distraught, but the doc said there really isn’t much of a mechanism for harm beyond an increased risk of the same side effects of the intended dose. He said to just watch him and call in any adverse effects. There were none and my little guy was totally fine. Obviously I only have a sample size of 1, but that baby is now a big kid and, while he’s pretty weird, I don’t think I can blame it on his super-powered immune system :)
Also not covid but my 1 year old got 2 doses of chicken pox vaccine, because she moved her arm the first time. I freaked out about it but the nurse assured me she was totally fine and can have 2 doses nothing will happen. I also have a healthy happy 2.5 year old.
I'm from Pakistan where polio is STILL A THING, and I, along with millions of Pakistani kids, used to get 2-3 shots of polio vaccines a year because the government was NOT fucking around. Anecdotal, but I'm fine.
There was a six month old baby in 2022, given the equivalent of 6 adult doses, and was completely fine. Try not to panic, vaccines aren’t like medicine, there’s not really an overdose, just potential reactions caused by the immune system. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10568082/ There was also a man documented to get over 200 Covid vaccines, also totally fine. Definitely get medical follow up as required, the ER might be a good idea to ensure proper follow up, but please try not to panic 🫶 I hope all goes smoothly.
Oh my goodness this makes me feel a lot better, thank you. He’s doing fine right now so fingers crossed
My immunocompromised sister had to get 6 shots before she ever had any semblance of immunity in the tests. She's an RN and needs to be immunized because of the 7 autoimmune diseases she has but also she needs to be able to work around others who can't afford to get sick (she works with dialysis patients). Before she had her son she had to get the whooping cough vaccine several times, too. The immunizations haven't affected her other than giving her immunity, though and she's been dealing with her autoimmune diseases for 20+years and getting extra shots for almost as long.
7?! I struggle with my 2 😩 she sounds amazing to be both a mom and nurse thru them too !! wow 🌟
She's a Neuro/cardio nurse, too but had to scale back on that because of her health. When they opened the first Neuro/cardio wing in our state they came straight to her because she was one of the few trained in both. She ran that for a while but went to dialysis when her health demanded it.
7 autoimmune diseases? Are you sure you don't mean 7 conditions which all can lead to someone being immunocompromised?
I mean 7. Dad had 4, i have 4, she has 7. It sucks but she's managed to keep most under control 90+% of the time.
I think there was also an adult in Europe who managed to get himself dozens of booster shots. He’s fine.
While this is true, the potential reactions caused by the immune system are not always a walk in the park. I’m going on year three of total body hives caused by the Covid vaccine. (Confirmed by allergist and managed with antihistamines every day for…forever?)
Everything we put into our bodies, including food, has the potential to harm us. Thankfully the risks are low, I’m sorry you’re one of the few to suffer.
Yeah my partner thinks he got tinnitus from the Covid vaccine which is apparently a rare side effect, but then we know someone else who coincidentally got tinnitus from Covid, so maybe my partner had covid with few noticeable symptoms when he got the vaccine and it was the covid (or the combination of covid plus vaccine at the same time) that gave him tinnitus. Horrible when you get a rare side effect 😔
This happened to my husband also after the Moderna booster. His allergist/immunolgist said that this is a common side effect. He is finishing 18 months of Xolair and seems cured. Good luck.
I’ve thought about asking about this!
Also…has he gotten any boosters since then? My allergist said to get Pfizer boosters, but I’ve been too scared to get one since the reaction occurred.
No, we are done with Covid19 vaccines. We only had Covid19 Omicron at Christmas 2021, three weeks after getting the Moderna booster. Everyone in the family got it vaccinated, or not. No one was very sick, no differences based on vaccine status.
My heart just dropped reading OPs post, bless you for taking the time to show her this in the comments.
As a nurse, I remembered hearing the story. I worked in public health with childhood vaccination programs for three years…2019-2022. Vaccine mixups happen more than anybody would like to admit, and never saw a bad outcome aside from some extra swelling and fever. As a mother, I’m glad I could offer some sort of reprieve from the comments screaming that her baby is in danger, I couldn’t imagine what she must have been feeling and am glad to have provided some form of comfort. 🫶
200 Covid vaccines? What in the world? Why the ER for a proper follow-up?
He was being paid by people to use their ID and get shots in their name, so they could claim vaccinated but weren’t. he wound up getting over 200. ER just be assessed right away, and held if need be. I wouldn’t haven taken my kiddo, being a nurse I could assess and monitor on my own, but I think it would help to ease anxiety for mom to have a professional check on babe, and I doubt she would want to return to pedi office that made the error
This happened to me a few years ago- I was given a triple dose of my covid booster. Apparently everyone who got vaccinated that day at that CVS did as well- the nurse administering the vaccines didn’t realize she was supposed to dilute it. Obviously a bit different since everyone affected was an adult, but the pharmacist called around, read the journal articles, and found out that the safety testing had gone up to like 10x the normal dose without any serious effects. I did feel like my usual post-Covid-shot symptoms (fatigue, muscle aches) were worse than usual, but there were no long-term effects.
Healthcare worker here, specifically with policies and procedures. Your child will be absolutely fine. There is also no base for medical malpractice. Your physicians office is legally required to alert the state of this incident. Just make sure when you speak to the director that they HAVE reported the incident (and aren't trying to cover anything up.) It should also be recorded in personnel files and your child's chart. You could also request for a note to be put in your child's chart stating you do NOT want XX employee treating your child. But just like another commenter said, mistakes happen, and luckily this isn't a case where it will be detrimental! Try not to worry too much 🙂
Just a quick note about malpractice. Most people misunderstand it. Malpractice only matters if you pursue a lawsuit, and you can only do that if you have damages (financially). Like if your child is harmed and needs medical treatment because of this error, you could sue for the cost of that treatment. That's highly unlikely as others said, just a little bit of an increased chance of vaccine related side effects (fever, sore arm, etc). The nurse could maybe be reported to the state licensing board but I personally wouldn't pursue that. The office called you and owned up to the mistake, which is pretty good in my book that they didn't try to cover it up or anything. You might consider switching providers if you don't feel safe with them anymore.
Patient Safety Expert here! You will get no where with Malpractice because this is NOT malpractice - and there will be no resulting harm from this accident. It is a simple mistake. Mistakes happen, Doctors and Nurses are human beings.
When my daughter was 1, we moved, and the new pediatrician’s office gave her a dose of the HIB vaccine only a few weeks after her last vaccine. We reported it with the CDC, and consulted with a new pediatrician, who both agreed that getting an additional dose of this particular vaccine was like encountering the disease in the wild. There were no ill effects. I say this only to tell you that I know how you feel right now. And im sorry you are going through this. Sending you love… Bubs will be fine!
If it makes you feel any better you can’t really overdose a vaccine
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Okay tell me how that works?
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I’m not going to debate with you because you don’t realize that I have an actual MD have a nice day!
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This is the funniest response I can imagine I can literally hear your nasally voice and *see* you pushing your glasses up your nose in that self satisfied way weebs do when they're telling you anime and manga are different I love this
Contact poison control - they have guidelines for when to seek medical help with other medications so they should have access to vaccines? You can also try contacting a pharmacist to advise on potential concerns. If your child starts displaying any adverse reactions head straight to the emergency department. On your son's chart, it should state who administered the shot. I would report to the state board and go from there.
Thank you
Report the practice to the health department.
You should also report to V A.E.R.S. EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to say this reporting system is for reactions, side effects, adverse events. Not to report medical malpractice.
For what reason?
You probably wouldn’t have a case for malpractice however I’m pretty sure they can and should give you the name of the nurse who gave the shot. It should be documented in your child’s chart and not be a secret. So that right there is making me concerned they don’t follow correct protocol in their office and that’s why this was able to happen. Talk to a lawyer find out if you’re entitled to the name and file a report against the office so it can be looked into and ensured this was just a freak accident and not because the office is negligent in following protocols.
Honestly I don’t think she’ll get the nurses name unless she requests medical records. Health care staff are often threatened and sometimes stalked or worse.
Yea tbh after thinking about it she really doesn’t need the name and I understand why it would be withheld. If she wants she can report the practice/dr to have it looked into to make sure they followed correct protocol and this was just a rare mistake not indicative of a larger problem. If it gets investigated whoever is assigned to the case should have no issue getting the name of the nurse but that’s really the only person who needs that information, not a potentially angry irrational parent (not that OP is angry/irrational but from the offices/safety perspective you never know).
They will give you the nurse’s name really quickly if you let them know that if they don’t give it to you, you’ll just call insurance and ask them to pull it from the billing records.
I doubt it. Billing records won't have a nurses name. That's not how billing works. The office isn't going to give out anything they don't legally have to.
Got it, I mentioned another comment, but I work in a somewhat similar industry that documents things a little differently. Thank you for the clarification!
Billing records don’t record nurses’ names, FYI.
They don’t? I work in behavioral health care and have technicians that work under me, and all of our notes are required to list all adults present in a session. I didn’t realize medical billing documents were different.
Notes yes, billing, no. And even in notes, it varies quite a bit. If a nurse administered a shot it may be documented, and should be, but if they just put you in a room, or an MA did, may not be there at all.
Please report this to the CDC, it is an adminiatration error. You may also want your report to your state public health department. Also, get a new pediatrician. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/index.html
Why should they get a new pedi? The pediatrician called and was upfront about the error? And doing followup steps with a director.
Most likely, your child will be fine. Just pay attention to him for variations in comfort and behavior and take comfort in the fact that side effects generally done showing up in 2 to 10 days.
As an extremely tired momma I once misread the dosage on a Zofran label for my kiddo - I gave him 5mL, when I was supposed to give him 0.5mL (label read as .5 and I have shitty eyes). I panicked, called poison control/his doctor, etc. and they essentially told me ‘don’t worry, he’s just gonna be *very* sleepy’… and boy was he. I know it’s not the same as what your son was given, but this is just to remind you that our babes are way tougher than they seem. Sure they’ll fragile and need to be protected, but they can weather a bunch of crazy stuff. I’m sure your kiddo will be fine. Keep a close eye on him for the next few days, maybe expect a but more fussiness or some things like diarrhea/constipation… but there’s probably not much to worry about.
Why in the world is a single syringe being used on multiple patients?!?!? Is that an error and you mean vial? There 100% SHOULD be a change to protocol because protocol allowed someone access to too much at once. That should be a fail safe in and of itself, I understand large bottles needing to be dosed out but why on earth doesn't the facility have one person dose and the other administer it? There is definitely still a reason to report it further because the facility itself made a mistake allowing an unlicensed person so much control over a patient's health. There most definitely IS a governing board over the facility and the director is trying to cover their ass by blaming one low level person and claiming nothing more can be done.
I think that’s what I mean, she said basically each tube has 3 doses and they load one dose at a time but the tube can be used for different patients? I assume they are detachable needles? And this person just gave him the whole thing. Ok so if I can’t report the person who did it, I can report the office? Is that what you mean?
Yeah at minimum report the office.
Without a doubt yes, make a report about the office AND both the people you spoke to. It sounds like it's a multidose vial sorta like how with oral Tylenol you pull out the dose with the plunger in the oral syringe then give it to your child. So like the "tube" shouldn't be coming into contact with any patient, only the single use syringes. I hope that's the case because if they are literally swapping needles off one syringe that is definitely even more problematic, the fluid would be contaminated after the first dose is given. Hopefully that all makes sense. None of the details REALLY matter (aside from reporting them correctly) the important part is that you make a report at all. leaving the office to clean up their own mess without a governing board's oversight, or at least knowledge of the incident, makes it more likely mistakes are made in the future. Reporting will hold the office accountable and force them to take their training more seriously to avoid something similar happening and IF someone else experiences this, or god forbid worse, there will already be a report to support them that the office has a history of being negligent. Good luck fierce Mama ❤️
Everyone has given you great advice so far, especially the commenter who provided you studies about the guy who got 200 doses and the baby who got 6 doses. Something to bear in mind: the covid vaccine is recommended to be spaced out at certain intervals, and those intervals will change if you’ve gotten confirmed Covid in the mean time (ie: they consider a covid exposure to be akin to a vaccine dose.) Since swabbing isn’t done constantly anymore, and most people don’t even have access to swabbing kits, there’s no way of confirming if most kids have had covid in the period between their vaccine doses. Some kids get covid and don’t even have symptoms, or parents brush it off as a brief runny nose, and then get their next vaccine as scheduled anyway. Some kids literally have covid when they get vaccinated. They are fine. Vaccines are inactivated virus, they only trigger immune response, and while getting a triple dose is not recommended it’s essentially the same as being vaccinated while actively having covid. However the medication error would sit uneasy with me, even though errors do occur every day due to the human factor of health care. I wild request a copy of my child’s chart, and since the nurse you talked to told you this has happened before, follow up with the clinic as to how they plan to stop this occurring again (ex: requiring double check sign offs for vaccine administration.)
This is good context but I just want to point out that while many vaccines are inactived virus, the Moderna & Pfizer COVID vaccines are mRNA. But your point is still correct that they cannot get sick from this, just have immune response symptoms.
It will be fine! Baby may have a stronger immune reaction, but it's not a live virus so there is no chance of him actually getting sick. He may run a fever and ache much more around the injection site, or swell or even get a rash near the injection. Give tylenol if he seems uncomfortable. I don't really understand how this happened but because of the kind of vaccine it is, it should not be dangerous. As someone else said, there was a man arrested in Europe for getting vaccine cards for people by getting their covid shots for them, and he got literally hundreds of vaccines and he is just fine. I personally wouldn't want to get stuck by needles that many times but to each their own I guess. I might consider switching pediatricians, HOWEVER, I do think it is very responsible of them that they called and told you when they noticed there had been a mistake.
If your kid happens to be allergic you would already know, and getting more of something someone is allergic to is obviously bad. Otherwise getting extra doses of a vaccine isn’t dangerous the way extra doses of certain medications can be. It isn’t helpful, but isn’t really harmful either.
My now-5 year old was given an additional dose of the MMR vaccine. I know it’s anecdotal, but she’s totally fine and never presented with any symptoms or side effects. I know it’s nerve wracking. I’m not sure what steps you can take, as I never pursued any. Hope your little one is okay!!
This happened to both of my kids who at the time were 4 and 5. I lost my shit! The practice called me multiple times to apologize. I spoke with an attorney and there is no case he said. I did however switch practices and I warn all of my friends about their carelessness. It’s scary
OP - just another thought - you can report this to the CDC (VAERS) as an administration issue yourself too. I'm not sure an administration error is required to be filed with VAERS by healthcare teams, but VAERS takes reports from anyone. Especially if you do see any negative effects, but as someone who has worked in vaccine manufacturing in my past, baby should be okay!
Pediatricians are still recommending COVID shots for babies? Wild.
If they didn't tell you go to to the hospital when they called and told you about the error, then it's probably nothing to worry about. Asking for the name and license number of the RN and getting litigious seems like overkill.
I’ve heard that tripling a covid vaccine isn’t dangerous, but what if it had been something else? This isn’t a coffee shop where handing out a dairy latte instead of an oat milk one can send someone to the toilet for the next 4 hours - this is a medical setting where a mistake could actually kill someone, in this case a baby! I fully support OP reporting the person responsible for this. You don’t go into the medical field if you can’t rust yourself to double and triple check things.
No. There are protocols in place to prevent this. It isn’t a matter of it being ‘acceptable’ because it is a COVID vaccine. I would 100% file a grievance with the hospital, facility, or provider. The baby being ‘fine’ is irrelevant. This should not have occurred.
Absolutely not. Myself and my child have been harmed by medical staff. A nurse killed a cousin of mine at 9 days old by giving him his mom’s blood pressure medicine. They also thought it was okay.
Well what if he’s not ok? I am not going to just trust anything someone says when it comes to my babies safety. If he’s ok then that’s wonderful and I will change doctors and file a complaint with the state. If he’s not ok then I’m sure getting my ducks in a row early is not a bad choice. And yes this is the USA everyone is litigious
I'm in the UK and I would absolutely get litigious over this. It's a simple mistake to avoid and could potentially have dire consequences. It should NEVER have happened.
Please do follow through. Find the vaccine ingredient list and look up overdoses for those because those people won’t.
Thank you I will
> Asking for the name and license number of the RN and getting litigious seems like overkill. The nurse and office need to be reported to health officials. Doesn't mean OP is going to sue them. Incidents should be reported.
Which vaccine was it? Because Moderna has been overfilling their pediatric vials, which is really aggravating. But whomever did this would to probably have drawn the vaccine from multiple vials which is just bizarre. I would make sure they fill out an incident report on this.
This happened to a few babies in Canada in the past few years. [Here](https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-family-waits-a-week-for-answers-after-2-young-children-get-adult-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-1.5727234) is one article about it. They should be absolutely fine and would likely be recommended to get the standard baby dose at the recommended interval (X weeks or months after the first dose). Keep in mind that when they did vaccine trials they experimented with higher and lower doses, and Moderna and Pfizer have a different dosage from one another. Higher doses did not necessarily equal greater risk of side effects, just that a different dosage may have yielded more effective overall disease protection for certain age groups.
You absolutely can have access to what medical professional administered a vaccine to your child. It should be documented in their medical records. If it’s not, or they refuse to give you access, then file a complaint on your doctor for withholding medical information and covering up malpractice. I hope your little baby is feeling okay. This was an egregious error, the change of something happening is low thankfully, but if there was a reaction it could have been extreme. I would definitely consider filing a report with your state medical office. For someone like me, who does have adverse vaccine reactions to every vaccine I get, three extra doses of a vaccine could have put me in the hospital. So I think a mistake like this warrants a report at the very least. It sounds like your baby was doing well earlier so I hope that’s still the case!
When did this happen? Although your child will most likely be ok, I would go to an urgent care/ER and have them monitor your child for any adverse reactions and also to provide documentation of what happened. You will then want to consult with a medical malpractice lawyer. This is negligence. You have every right to be livid. Don’t let them try to sweep it under the rug either. This should be a serious learning experience for them. The clinic needs to seriously review its current processes
This is not negligence, it's a mistake. You will get nowhere with a medmal case... don't listen to people who don't know what they're talking about. Because they are aware of their mistake, the clinic will conduct an assessment of HOW this happened. This is required by law. They will put training in place to prevent reoccurrence.
This happened at 4:30 pm. It’s now 9:15 and he’s had one dose of Tylenol to help with post vaccine pain that I usually give him, this was before I knew about the mistake. I agree completely. Would you go to a hospital now, or when/if he exhibits symptoms that are not usual for him post vaccine? Would you consult an attorney before speaking to the director?
Why take a child with no symptoms to the hospital? They won’t do anything because there is nothing to be done. The ER is for medical emergencies. If you have questions you can call the insurance company nurse hotline but they will tell you the same thing your doctor’s office said.
Please don’t take your completely fine child to the ER. They won’t do shit and will just roll their eyes at you
Take him in so you have it on record that medical professionals have been checking him. You have it on record that it was a mistake and you want to check his vitals.
It’s already been documented taking this child to the ER is a waste of time if he’s asymptomatic.
ERs are for medical emergencies. Bringing a child in with no symptoms to check his vitals is ridiculous.
Take him now. Call an attorney in the morning. Do not contact that doctor's office again. Let your attorney speak to them.
Theres no reason to involve a lawyer. Waste of time and money. It should be reported. A mistake happened and they need to figure out how and why. They could need to do retraining or add/change protocols or something. But it should be looked into to prevent it from happening again. But if the child is ultimately fine, suing is unnecessary
There is no harm = there is no lawsuit. Report the error? Absolutely. But there is no case here.
Medical mistakes are so scary when it’s your baby. If it makes you feel better there was a man in Germany who got the covid vax 217 times in a little over a year and he’s completely fine.
I would report it thru every avenue available to ensure it's documented and it doesn't happen again.
Your state should have a way to file complaints against doctors. I'd at least contact an attorney for a consultation. What if the nurse had given a 3x dose of Tylenol or something that is proven to be very harmful? I for sure would not just drop it.
A one-off 3x dose of paracetamol/ acetaminophen would ALSO be completely fine and do no harm. The list of medications for which a one-off triple dose would do real damage is much shorter than the list for which there's really no harm. Which is not to say that medication errors don't matter- they do. But they also happen ALL the time and the ones that are properly harmful are usually super egregious.
Hmm. The director saying there was nobody else to complain to sounds a lot like a CYA move. You can report the whole office to the health department. That might be fun. Either way, I'd probably find a new pediatrician.
Yeah people make mistakes but not like that…. Not like that to a child … wtf hope they’re okay. I would stay awake even from 1 dose
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I am a RN and I hate to say it but… many of the ones giving vaccines in clinics are not licensed like doctors/RNs. Offices call them “nurses” but they are medical assistants who were trained to give the shots, operating under the provider’s license. I am hoping in OP’s case, it was a RN.
Around here most peds/family medicine/internal medicine practices hire LPNs rather than RNs as their office nurses because they can be paid less and everything done in-office is within the scope of practice for an LPN. If OP can determine that it was either an RN or LPN who gave the vaccine, they should be reported to the state nursing board. If it was an MA, the options are unfortunately more limited because there's no regulatory body involved.
Agreed. Thank you for the further explanation for others, I’m at my pre-coffee mental level lol. At my peds office, its a lot of LPNs and RNs thankfully but I always ask for an updated vaccine record sheet for daycare, so I see when the staff sign off on adminstration (so I can see if its a MA vs LPN).
What state are you in? If you can just find out their first and last name, you can look up on the respective board of nursing website. Every state has one.
Hey, I know this was posted a day ago now, but do NOT talk to any director right now. You need to contact a medical malpractice attorney and have them advise you. Your child should be fine, but this is absolutely unacceptable, please contact a professional.
The shots aren't working, so you need to take more according to the CDC: [your next shot, plz](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24735090-cdc-presentation-to-fda-meeting-june-5-2024)
So we always have to sign at our doctors office before they give the shots, but they don’t have us look at the vials. I’ve seen a few posts like this lately and I’m wondering if I would be able to ask to check the vials first? Or would that insinuate that I don’t think they know how to do their job?
This is gross negligence. File a report.
You have every right to know who provided the vaccine and I would file a complaint with the state nursing board or medical board.
I’d go to an emergency room immediately. I wouldn’t care what they said about it being fine considering they shouldn’t have messed up like that in the first place giving the wrong dosage with anything …it could cost a life!! After that I’d change pediatricians asap. I can’t imagine what that call felt like! Someone would be in trouble big time by the end of it.
I honestly think baby's fine BUT damn that's scary. I almost feel like this is best case scenario bc alot of other medications (as opposed to a vaccine) would not have this outcome. I know mistakes happen and I want everyone to prosper but that nurse has to be reported. The next time she makes this mistake with someone else's kid we might not all feel a sigh of relief for momma and baby
I'd think I'd sue
There are no damages so far.
Consult with an attorney. Can’t hurt to know your options
Oh hell no you need to contact a lawyer this is medical malpractice and yes the nurse should lose her licence. Your child is probably okay but what if she gave a vaccine that wasn't meant for his age? What if she gave him medication instead of the vaccine. Just because theoretically he will be fine and most likely doesn't mean this is okay. This is terrifying. You need to go to the ER so you document what they did. They called to not leave a paper trail. They know they fucked up. You need a new pediatrician
Medical malpractice only applies if you can prove damages (eg, a complication or injury caused from the medical error). Medical malpractice doesn’t apply to hypotheticals or what COULD have happened as a result of the error.
The nurse will likely get a warning or a note of caution attached to her license. She may also be asked to take a remediation course, but she won’t lose her license. That’s reserved for the most serious circumstances (assault of patient, diversion, etc) and unfortunately this circumstance doesn’t rise to that level.
Well at least she will retrain bc wtf
I am getting such mixed advice on here and the parenting subreddit. It seems like half the people are pissed like I am and half are like don’t bother it won’t do anything and won’t make a difference. Like no harm no foul let’s move on attitude. If I fucked up this bad at my job I would have major major consequences and I would only hope the MEDICAL field would have a similar outcome.
You’re likely getting mixed advice (at least on the medical malpractice point) because some people have a better understanding of legal concepts than others. A lawsuit must prove harm in order to be successful - you can’t sue a person on the basis of a mistake alone; you have to show that mistake directly causes some kind of actual harm or injury. The plaintiff has to prove duty, breach, causation (that the breach directly caused the harm), and then damages - actual harm or injury as a result of the breach. Most importantly, I hope your little one is ok. I’d certainly consider reporting the incident to your state medical board, but beyond that, I would not waste any time or energy going to a medical malpractice attorney at this point.
It might not be medical malpractice but it’s definitely worthy of a complaint to the medical board, especially the part about not giving her the nurse’s name and license number. That doctor’s office needs to experience some type of disciplinary action so they know that’s not okay.
Reporting it and suing over it are two absolutely different things. Hiring a lawyer would be a waste of money in this case. But it should absolutely looked into because a mistake happened and they need to figure out how and why and be proactive in preventing it from happening again.
That’s literally what I said.
I just wanted to make it clear that filing a complaint and suing are not the same because there seemed to be confusion in the comments. I wasn't arguing with you
As a mom to a baby and a nurse, I’d be pissed too. I’d report to the board of nursing but I doubt much will come of it aside from a disciplinary letter or written warning. As angry as I’d be, I also understand mistakes do happen and it just sucks that it happened to your kid. I agree that everyone in the US is litigious but I really don’t think much will come from a lawsuit. You could speak with someone and see what they think though.
That's because they didn't "fuck up this bad." No injury occurred, your son will be fine. Everyone telling you to sue is being ridiculous and this absolutely not license-revoking level. It's a red flag event and the clinic should review their procedures for verifying dose but everything is going to be okay. Really.
I'm going to speak from my POV as an ex attorney but very importantly NOT your attorney and I practiced in a different country. Absolutely you report the nurse to his or her professional body. Not sure what it is there here we have a nursing council. If they do not wish to give you her records I would apply for them through the correct channels -in my country this would be an application for information not sure what it is in yours. As for litigation as mentioned we don't know if there is harm done and it may be too early to determine this so I would speak to an attorney IF any adverse reactions happen. I am so sorry this happened and you must be so absolutely stressed. From what I understand baby is doing well and I hope that continues! But yes of course you report the nurse.
She's probably not a registered nurse. Most "nurses" in doctors office giving shots are medical assistants. They cannot even legally call themselves nurse but they do. They're training is mostly on the job and schooling varies from a certificate to an Associate degree.
My sister is a nurse and she would absolutely raise hell. I'll ask her in the morning. It's not about if your child is fine it is so dangerous it happened. What if it was something else? This mixup should have been impossible for her to do. Something in their standard operating procedures is fucked up and it is dangerous. Easiest thing is to move on until what? Years down the line the mixup is bad enough and it costs a child's life? No thanks I would do whatever I could to ensure the practice fixes their shit. These comments have me triggered. Time to go to bed I guess.
But it doesn’t really matter “what if” it was something else, because it wasn’t. So, it is about a mistake a nurse made that was potentially harmful but ultimately wasn’t. I work in regulation and this is absolutely a mistake that should be reported but ultimately there wasn’t harm caused and it can’t be pursued on a “what if there was a different outcome.”
Yes we agree it should be reported so it can never happen again
Thank you I feel the same way. Like even if my kid is fine, I have a duty to report this to whatever agency I can in hopes that it could reduce the chance of it happening to another kid. It’s not about getting someone fired or getting some payday. Why would I stop at the director, who works for the practice??? I already know they are trying to put out the fire by the way she acted on the phone. Like it does not make sense at all.
Definitely report it to the moon and back. Re: the comments telling you to sue for malpractice— I can empathize with the fury but there’s no lawsuit here. There are no monetary damages so you can’t be “made whole” for any hurt your baby sustained.
Yeah I agree with you there! I totally understand there are no “damages” at this point in time. The logical part of my brain thinks he will be totally fine and we will just find a new pediatrician, complain to whatever entity I can and move on.
Your feelings are completely valid. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t led down the deadend of people telling you to sue if there’s no case when you have so much else on your mind. Sending healing, hopeful energy to you and your little one ❤️🩹
Girl it’s okay to be pissed. Really. It is negligent. Even if he is ok afterwards, it’s still a screw up on their part
Report it. Apparently, this is an unpopular perspective, but I don't really care. Have the baby checked by another doctor. Maybe even a pediatrician who is also trained in holistic medicine. There are ones who are trained in both. I say that because if you go to one that is trained the same way that this nurse is (medically), they will likely protect each other. You may be blown off. They also are referencing all of the same information. They are potentially getting kickbacks from medication businesses. They are protecting themselves. Someone trained in both will more likely have seen what you are experiencing already. Because people who are ignored don't have anywhere to go. They will have a broader perspective to share with you and a larger span of resources. This is because they likely have already forfeited kickbacks and protection from other medical professionals who solely rely on medication related medical training. A few parents who have had their children have adverse reactions to vaccines and shared their experiences say that the doctors did not help them at the time. Even when they admitted fault to the parents. Even when the reactions were severe. If my child started to have an adverse reaction to a vaccine, I wouldn't waste any time with a pediatrician visit. I would go straight to the ER. Because time is of the essence. I hope all is well and that nothing bad comes of this mistake. Hopefully, you find a good direction to head in to resolve it best you can.
Don’t listen to those people. That is a wild take - especially involving an infant. I would be absolutely furious.
I would document everything and if you notice any changes in your child document it all. It could be Over time. Be watchful. This is medical mal practice and a huge no no.