A Colorado woman said paramedics put her life at risk by refusing to take her to her hospital of choice, and the city may be liable for her out-of-network hospital bills, CBS Colorado reported July 5.
Darien Peoples, a Type 1 diabetic, was going into ketoacidosis — a condition that includes dangerously high blood glucose levels — on Nov. 28. Her boyfriend called 911 and asked that Ms. Peoples be taken to Aurora-based UCHealth's University of Colorado Hospital, where she previously had been treated. The paramedics refused and took her to Parker (Colo.) Aventist Hospital instead. Because she was a new patient, Ms. Peoples said she did not receive the IV insulin she needed for more than two hours, resulting in her blood glucose levels reaching around 1,400; a normal level is around 180. Ms. Peoples had to stay in the hospital for five days and faced high out-of-network insurance bills.
Aurora Fire told CBS Colorado that paramedics were on a "zone master" protocol that night. Zone master is a policy that determines the rotation of hospitals where paramedics take patients, and the department said the paramedics were within their rights to refuse Peoples' request due to the protocol.
Emergency management experts, on the other hand, told the news outlet that a patient's hospital choice should be honored, with few exceptions.
Attorney Brad Levin, who specializes in insurance and medical cases, told CBS Colorado it appears the city could be liable for Ms. Peoples' bills. "It sounds to me that there was potential negligence. … That would place the blame, the responsibility, on the ambulance company for her ending up into place she shouldn't have been," he said.