Didn't steer clear of the staph

Both of my boys are on the high school football team and a kid came to practice with a staph infection.  The coach, who is also the principal, told him just to wrap it and go ahead and practice and play.  Needless to say that didn't contain the spread of the staff.  I got home from surgery and after about 3 days noticed that both of my sons had oozing sores on their bodies.  At this time there were rumors about staph going through the boys but nothing being confirmed by the school.  I took my boys to the doctors and yep, they had staph.  At that point my doctor became concerned because I had two incisions that were still draining and my house was considered a "sick house".  We started taking precautions like not using hand towels and using paper towels instead, not using hand soap, switching to hot/hot for laundering, and disinfecting the boys football clothing.  The doctor took a culture last week and it came back this week as staph.  Now I'm on 3 different antibiotics for the next 9 days and if that doesn't cure it then I have to have IV antibiotics twice daily at the hospital for 2 weeks at $2000/day.  My doctor is questioning whether or not my insurance will pay for the IV therapy since the incisions that are infected are due to WLS which my insurance company will not pay for in any way, shape, or form.

I'm really upset with the school because I feel that as soon as they knew someone had staph the kid should have been sidelined until cleared by a doctor but they didn't even talk to a doctor or the health dept to see what should be done.  Now there are over a dozen, diagnosed, cases of staph on the team and those are just the ones whose parents have actually taken them to see a doctor.

Do you think it's crazy of me to feel like the school is partially responsible for this situation and if I have to end up with a $28,000 bill that they should in some way help?  My boys think it's crazy but the rest of my family think I'm right.  The school didn't even tell the parents there was an outbrea****il about 9 children had been diagnosed.  The letter actually said that there is no harm in staph to the boys, which is fine but what about the families they are bringing it home to?

Just completely frustrated!

You should call your county health department and find out what the mandated reporting policy is.  Is it MRSA?  There are probably different reporting requirements for MRSA vs. "regular" staph infections.

Here is one such policy: http://www.acps.k12.va.us/student-services/health/mrsa-guide lines.pdf

As for the school being responsible for your infection?  Depends on whether there was a stated policy and whether they violated it.  And even then, you may not be able to prove that they are liable.

Have you looked at your insurance policy in detail?  I certainly did, before I had reconstructive surgery that was not covered by insurance - I made sure I had coverage for complications of that surgery AND I had supplemental insurance provided by my plastic surgeon.

You KNEW you were taking a risk - I hope you were prepared for the consequences if there was a complication.

 Personally, I agree with you. They are morally responsible. You need to talk to a lawyer to see if they are legally responsible, however. Depending on how strongly you feel, you ought to move quickly.

Grrrrr!  I don't blame you for being upset; I would be, too.  Being the suspicious person I am, I'll bet your insurance company will try to weasel out of paying saying that it's related to your WLS.  They'd probably try to weasel out of it if they were wounds from having your appendix out or any other procedure they would cover. 

It reminds me of when I twisted my foot on a curb and broke one of the long bones.  Every time I submitted a claim, my insurance tried to find out if anyone else was responsible.  I think they'll say to get your bills paid by the school yet the school has already proven itself to be full of irresponsible idiots.  I truly hope that you get some help with the medical bills, but if it were me, I would not hold my breath.  I hope I'm not discouraging you from pursuing some help.  I'm just trying to be realistic in case you don't get any.  Good luck!

I would be irate if I was you. The school has a responsibility to keep sick kids away from the other ones and to let someone come into contact with other kids when its contagious is irresponsible. I think a few calls to the health department are in order along with the superintendent of the schools.

I would call the health department and a lawyer fast.  You should in no way be responsible for this bill.  Yes, you had weight loss surgery but this infection was not due to the surgery.  You caught a highly infectious disease from the football team that the school knew about and did nothing about - they should be liable.

Just a thought, but while everyone is blaming the school, has anyone thought about the first sick boy's parents? Didn't they have a responsibility to keep their kid out of practice until his contagious medical issues cleared up?

And who is "the school", exactly? Is it the coach? I feel like if the coach did indeed know about the staph infection, it was his responsibility to sideline that kid, BUT even more I believe that the kid's parents should have taken on that responsibility.
 
If you go after "the school" (i.e. the school board), you may be taking money away from wherever can spare it, maybe the art program, or perhaps the extra playground monitor at the elementary school. OTOH, I can't even imagine facing those kinds of bills. I don't have an answer for you, I'm just sayin' it's something to think about...

I've heard of catching STDs from the football team, but staph! Lol. Your principal was wrong!! You definately need to take action. I would also site him individually! You may be able to join together with others or ride on one of their skirt-tails. Staph can be very dangerous. Just a question..... do you know if they water your football field with "gray" water? I have heard of that causing staph as well. Especially if they practice with sprinklers on!!!

Staph is EVERYWHERE.

staph inf. are more common than you think in that situation, locker rooms, wrestling etc.  but the school should have told you.  if you do get an infection then your insurance should pay (yes i know they are all different) because your inf was not due to your WLS, but actually due to a school outbreak, something you could easily prove.......