Opinion ID: 1597354
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Didea's Treatment

Text: At approximately 2:00 a.m. on April 24, 1982, Reagan's parents took her to the emergency room at the Children's Hospital, located in Birmingham. She was suffering from fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. Reagan was seen by one of her pediatricians, Dr. Polhill, who admitted her to the hospital and put her on intravenous fluids. Later that day she was also seen by Dr. Didea, a second-year resident at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, and Dr. Reynolds, her other pediatrician. Reagan's condition improved, and on the morning of April 25, after Dr. Didea had observed her and discussed her condition with Dr. Reynolds, her doctors decided that she could be dismissed. However, before Reagan's discharge, her mother noticed that she was favoring her neck, and her mother asked if Reagan could be examined for meningitis. Dr. Didea observed Reagan's condition, checked her neck, and concluded that she showed no sign of meningitis. However, Dr. Didea failed to record the extent and thoroughness of this examination in Reagan's medical records. Reagan was discharged from Children's Hospital at 10:50 a.m., April 25, with orders to return to see her pediatrician, if she needed to. Reagan's parents took her home, but that afternoon her temperature increased and they returned to the emergency room of Children's Hospital. The emergency room doctors determined that Reagan might have a shunt malfunction, and she was sent to the emergency room at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital for neurological evaluation. Reagan came into the UAB Hospital emergency room at 4:50 p.m. on April 25 and was seen by Dr. Zeiger, the neurosurgeon on call, and Dr. Kendrick, a third-year neurosurgical resident. Because Dr. Zeiger's treatment of Reagan is the focus of this appeal, we have examined it in great detail. The order in which the facts are set forth below accurately represents the chronology of events in Dr. Zeiger's treatment of Reagan, although these facts do not necessarily appear in the record in the same order.