Letter to the Editor: A Bad Day at MedExpress

Letter to the Editor,

This letter is to inform you of the medical practices of MedExpress in Wilkins Township. Today, my daughter had taken my 22 months old granddaughter to MedExpress per her doctor's advice because she had swallowed poison and it was the closest place. He wanted her to be seen immediately.  

I cannot believe that a team of doctors, nurses or staff would leave a 22 month old child wait to be seen by a physician after ingesting a poison. They had to process payment and insurance verification before even putting her on a list, which had two people ahead of her, letting my daughter know that they were not an emergency room.   

I know that the girls that were checking her in seemed a little worried. My granddaughter was sitting in the waiting room for over 20 minutes, at which time my daughter was on the phone with the poison control center afraid of leaving when there was a medical staff right there. The poison control center said that because of what she ingested, she should be fine. It was considered non-toxic but if ingested, you had to be checked out. My daughter asked for her payment back and left the office.

What is the matter with this picture? You are possibly going to let a child die because she has not been processed or is on a waiting list of patients to be seen? Even if you thought she may have needed an ambulance, something should have been done. She should have been checked out.

The product that my granddaughter swallowed was a jewelry set her sister got for her birthday—Orbeez, which are superabsorbent polymers. With the addition of water, they can grow to more than 100 times their volume. They are also used in diapers to prevent leaks, in food packages to absorb liquid and in floral vases to hydrate cut flowers. Luckily, the product was swallowed after they had gone through the three-hour processing time. Had she ingested before they swelled, I hate to think of what could have happened. 

Luckily, there was no fatality in this situation. And my granddaughter is as active as ever. I cry to think of what could have happened because of the incompetence of a medical staff that has taken an oath to help treat people.    

Laura Gribbin

Wilkins Township