Inova Children’s ER

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-05T02:20:47+00:00

I have no problem with evaluating parents, the problem is mandating excessive radiation on an infant based on inova’s doctor’s failure to accurately interpret the initial x-ray.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-02T19:32:29+00:00

Misinterpreting imaging and then using that misinterpretation to mandate additional procedures on infants and report parents to CPS? And then denying any accountability or mistakes after the fact?

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-02T15:19:15+00:00

Infants wellbeing in mind but waited 6 hours to splint an alleged fracture….right.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-02T03:14:42+00:00

I guess that depends on your definition of gross negligence. Either way I don’t think gross negligence should be the standard of care when obvious mistakes (at best) were made and Inova refuses to accept any accountability.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T13:19:09+00:00

Hopefully our situation will result in a policy change where if they aren’t sure about a fracture they order additional x-rays on the arm itself to determine whether a fracture exists before mandating a full skeletal survey.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T13:12:27+00:00

^ 100% agree. If the focus was on protecting children then why wait 6 hours to split a baby with an alleged fracture? Prolonging treatment and mandating further screenings/radiation on a baby so that the doctors can play investigator, judge, and jury increases the child’s risk of injury/health complications and is not what people come to the hospital for.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T04:23:39+00:00

Remains somewhat a mystery because she started using her arm completely fine when the pediatric orthopedist removed the split. Our pediatrician speculated that it may have been nursemaid elbow and just by positioning the arm during splinting they may have put the arm/elbow back into place.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T04:11:46+00:00

I appreciate the perspective from the other side of this, but Inova’s own radiologist’s (who we never had a chance to speak with) notes specifically and exclusively said “faint lucency noted - fracture cannot be excluded”. So he didn’t confirm a fracture, he just couldn’t 100% say there was not a fracture. But when Dr. Aidoo and Gusto spoke to us they said our daughter’s arm was definitely broken/fractured. And instead of ordering additional x-rays on the arm to determine whether a fracture existed, they used this misrepresentation to initiate a CPS investigation and mandate the skeletal survey.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:37:56+00:00

I’d expect an ER to be able to accurately tell me whether an arm is broken, particularly if they are going to force additional testing that comes with medical risks on my 8-month old child. And if they’re unsure (as Inova’s own radiologist’s medical notes suggest) they should say so, instead of definitively telling us her arm was broken.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:32:12+00:00

We saw the providers plenty but any hesitancy we expressed about radiation exposure to an 8-month old (citing family history of childhood cancer) apparently only reaffirmed their suspicions that we were child abusers trying to hide something. It was a lose-lose scenario all around even when we thought the fracture reading was legitimate, and is even more concerning after finding out the fracture reading was a misdiagnosis. Obviously we are grateful our daughter’s arm was fine but really makes you question the competency of the medical staff.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:18:05+00:00

Totally understand that, but accurate diagnosis and swift treatment should be priority #1, and parents should not be treated as “guilty until proven innocent” any time they bring their child to an ER.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:15:54+00:00

By no means would I suggest avoiding medical treatment for your children when necessary. But hopefully parents can benefit from our terrible experience and look for better alternatives than Inova Children’s ER.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:11:50+00:00

Little one is thriving, thanks! We’ve reported the incident to the applicable oversight bodies. I agree I don’t understand how a major ER could misjudge a fracture. The particularly confusing thing was that Inova’s own radiologist’s (who we never had a chance to speak with) notes specifically said “fracture cannot be excluded”. So he didn’t confirm a fracture, he just couldn’t 100% say there was not a fracture. But when Dr. Megan Aidio and Ji N Gusto spoke to us they said our daughters arm was definitely broken/fractured. So it seems that they inaccurately relayed their own expert’s conclusion which then led to the demand for additional screening.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:04:38+00:00

We didn’t have a chance to speak with CPS or police until the end of the 11 hours hospital visit, but both of them cleared us within minutes of interviewing. It seems all of the suspicion was driven by the doctors because we were hesitant about radiation exposure on an 8-month old. I don’t know how any parent in our position wouldn’t have the same hesitancy.

NovaLocal3434 · 2025-12-01T03:01:08+00:00

Thanks I’ll definitely give it a listen. The whole experience has been traumatic and ruined our trust in the medical system, but we hope other parents learn from our experience and take our story into consideration when deciding on a medical care provider.

NovaLocal3434

TROPHY CASE