Nightmare - step-daughter in hospital in India and hospital won't tell me the name of the medication she is allergice to....

[beansprout]

sdd is in hosptial in India with a very nasty sickness bug. Can't keep anything down and is dehydrating. She was given anti-nausea medication in 2002 and had a severe allergic reaction to it. I need to find out what this is so they don't give it to her again but the hospital won't tell me unless I sumbit a request in writing. I could send a fax but funnily enough, I don't have one of those at home and can't get to one.

I know why the DPA is there, but sometimes it does more harm than good.

That it crazy. Can you find out thru' her gp?

Can hospital fax the info direct to named doctor at Indian hospital? Can you get to a library or corner shop that has a fax machine? Have you tried talking to your hospital's PALS service (patient liaison)?

Hope you manage to work something out, must be very worrying and frustrating.

cant you send faxes via a PC?

(i knownothing about computers but im sure dh does it all the time)

I'm trying but they are shut at the moment. I'm not her parent so they probably won't speak to me anyway. Have had to pull dh out of a work meeting. Bless him, he is going to start freaking out. Poor man.

yes, can't the GP help?

mayb eyou could ask a solictor to help (bit extreme maybe)

Can you go to her GP with some id and the number for the Hospital in India? Stand in reception until they help????
Also contact the Embassy (you should be able to google it) and explain the situation and ask if they can help/advise you?

Do try contacting PALS at the uk hospital as edam suggested, they are there to help you negotiate through red tape/jobsworths etc from the 'inside' as it were.

Would they count an email as "in writing" or is it the signature the need?

agree with np - nobody likes the idea of a major lawsuit.

You can't threaten to tak ethem court for trying to uphold the data protection act though!

PALS, GP, embassy all good plans. Also library fax etc

Thanks people. Have now spoken to the surgery and there are no medical staff available until 3pm so I will have to call back then.

Am racking my brains for a nearby fax machine but can't think of anywhere. Might call my workplace, don't work Mondays but have a v helpful colleague, and ask for a favour.

Gah again.

Have spoken to dh now who is going to pick things up.

The really worrying thing is that she spent time in a psychiatric unit a few years ago, and that episode all started with her faking physical symptoms. She is claiming (today) that the drug in question left her unconscious for 8 hours but neither her dad or me have any recollection of this. He is now majorly worried that she is too stressed by her trip and isn't coping.

blinking eck. Maybe she needs to come back to the UK?

Quite possibly, but it would be a case of convincing her that she needs to. She's been fine for a few years now but like others with bi-polar tendencies, when she is high, she thinks she is invincible. Needless to say, dh didn't want her to go in the first place but couldn't stop her.

Internet cafes often have fax machines. Hth

when i said solicitor i didnt mean to threaten them with legal action, just to point you in hte right direction, tell you where you stand, help you with communication etc

what is the latest, beansprout?