There is a failure of Justice in the State of Pennsylvania.
"Justice for All" should read "Justice for the rich and powerful."
Electric stimulation burns, James B. Crownover.
The Hetrick Center in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania refuses to compensate me for three months of wound treatment due to burns they caused.The Hetrick Center seems to feel the damage they did is of no concern.
On December 9, 2004 I underwent right knee replacement surgery. As part of my rehabilitation I needed to go to physical therapy. I originally started my therapy at First Choice in Newport. However, by late January of 2005 I decided to switch to the Hetrick Center in Mechanicsburg because they have a pool with a treadmill to promote greater range of motion.
February 2, 2005
Part of the therapy I received was electric stimulation. The purpose of electric stimulation was to reduce swelling and relive pain. The physical therapist, Christy, applied four stimulation devices or patches around the knee replacement. When the session was over I had received four burns from the electric stimulation machine. One of these burns (the one on the left) was very severe. The other 3 were like the one on the right. Karen, the physical therapist assistant and most of the other employees were aware of what had happened.
February 3, 2005
I went to my doctor at Broad Street Family Heath Center in Marysville Pa. for treatment for these burns.
Doctor Matsco gave me 8 days worth of oral antibiotics. I have diabetes and am very worried about infection or gangrene.
February 5, 2005
February 10, 2005
The wound looked bad to me.
I went back to the doctor’s office and saw the nurse. They gave me 3 more days of oral antibiotics.
February 21, 2005
I was still and am very worried about infection or gangrene and it did not look good to me so I visited the doctor again today. They started me on antibiotics again. They gave me a 10-day supply this time. They told me to come back on Thursday. At this point the lessor burns are almost healed.
February 24, 2005
I went back to the doctor’s office again. He said the wound may debridement the wound but that would require a surgeon. He gave me a prescription for Granulex and told me to come back in 2 weeks. This is getting to be a long hard thing. I never had such a bad burn before. The drug store has to order the Granulex so I didn’t start it today.
February 25, 2005
I started feeling some pain this morning. This was mainly occasional sharp quick pains like the sticking of a needle.
I started using Granulex this evening. This picture is the last one before starting Granulex.
February 27, 2005
I think Granulex is a spray for debridement. If this doesn’t work it will require a surgeon.
March 1, 2005
Freshly sprayed with Granulex. Later in the day.
March 2, 2005
March 4, 2005
March 6, 2005
It has been one month and four days since the burn. It is still very bad. On March 13, 2005 I will need to take a long trip down south. I guess I will need to find a doctor down there to continue treatment.
March 8, 2005
I went to Broad Street Family Heath Center for the fifth time for this burn today. Doctor Matsco sent me to Susquehanna Surgeons. Doctor Page examined the burn and said it was a fourth degree or very severe third degree burn. I think it burned to the bone. He scraped it and gave me a prescription for Panafil ointment. This caused pain, which is continuing tonight. He said it would be a long time before this heals. He says I will need to see a doctor in two weeks in North Carolina. Doctor Page said a bad burn like this would take three to five months to heal.
March 9, 2005
It is still sore today.
March 13, 2005
This wound continues to be sore and does not seem to heal. I seem to be developing some kind of wound below it above my ankle.
March 17, 2005
There is no improvement. There is a widening red area around the wound. I hope it is not infection.
March 18, 2005
I called Doctor Matsco’s office and they called in a prescription for Amoxicillin. This is more expensive than the previous antibiotics. It came with a $91.00 price tag. It is a 10 day supply.
March 22, 2005
Today I was examined by Doctor Gibble at Atlantic Internal Care. He did blood work and told me to continue current treatment and come back in two weeks.
March 25, 2005
This continues to be a very bad burn as it approaches the 2 month mark.
March 30, 2005
I think it might be beginning to heal now. It has been slow because it was so deep. It may have burned the bone. It will still be a long time before it heals. The doctor bills are building up. I guess the Hetrick center needs to do something, but they have offered nothing so far. It has been a long time since this happened. I may have to see an attorney.
April 6, 2005
The Hetrick Center has not yet contacted me.
Subject: RE: electric stimulation View Full Header
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From: "hetrickcenter" <hetrickcenter@hetrickcenter.com>
Date: Fri, April 1, 2005 1:16 pm
To: <jimc@crownover.com>
Cc: "Management" <Management@hetrickcenter.com>, (more)
Dear Mr. Crownover,
We are in receipt of your recent email and will be back in touch with
you by the end of next week if that is convenient for you. If you would
like us to telephone you, please e-mail me your phone number otherwise
we will communicate with e-mail. Thank you for contacting us.
Gordon M. Ellis
CEO
717-944-2225
The burn seems to be almost healed now.
April 12, 2005
The Hetrick Center has still not contacted me. I saw Doctor Gibble again today.
He says the burn is just about healed and I don’t have to come back anymore for it.
I am using antibiotic ointment on it now and can probably stop that in a few days. It doesn’t give me any pain anymore.
April 15, 2005
The Hetrick Center has still not contacted me. The wound is itching now. I guess that is a good sign it is really healing.
May 4, 2005
The pain is almost gone now. There is just an occasional twinge of pain now.
I think it is as healed as it will ever be. Maybe the bone has been burned.
I have had 9 visits to the doctor for this burn, prescriptions for Granulex and Panafil and numerous prescriptions for antibiotics. I have tried to get the
Hetrick Center to settle on this but they don’t seem to be willing to do so.
June 4, 2005
The Hetrick Center now refuses to answer my email.
July 10, 2005
The Hetrick Center continues to refuse to answer my email.
I think the only solution will be to go to court.
September 1, 2005
The Hetrick Center still will not pay anything.
The wound still bothers me some after all these months, mostly itching.
September 28, 2005
I realized they would never give me anything and filed a claim in small claims court.
October 14, 2005
Doctor Hetrick called me today. He said his attorney said my case was frivolous.
I consider three months of pain and suffering due to severe burns anything but frivolous.
He then said my case is not worth more than $1,500.
He should have severe burns himself then maybe he would understand the truth.
October 18,2005
I just received a threatening letter from The Hetrick Center’s law firm(Charles I. Artz & Associates).
Charles I. Artz tells me to withdraw my case immediately or he will punish me.
If people are not allowed to collect anything for injuries done to them, then there is something seriously wrong with this country. This threat is very upsetting to me.
If my case is so small it would cost more for an attorney than I could receive in compensation that is exactly what Charles I. Artz is telling me.
It seems they are telling me "We made the mistake but the jokes on you!!!". I am sure they get great pleasure stepping on people with less money and power than they have.
They say I need an expert witness.
This case is so uncomplicated anyone can understand it. The electric simulation consists of placing 4 pads with electrodes around the knee and turning on the electricity for about 15 minutes. When they were removed there was a burn under each one of them. The electricity was turned up too high.
I think anyone could understand that!
Here is some information I found out about that.
An exception applies "where the matter is so simple and the lack of skill or want of care so obvious, as to be within the comprehension of non-professional personsThere have a number of cases citing it, the two most recent are Brophy v. Brizuela, 358 Pa. 400,517 A.2D 1293 (1986) and Brannen v. Lankenau Hospital, 90 Pa. 588, 417 A.2d 196 (1980).
October 27, 2005
We made a request to Diane at Mechanicsburg Hetrick Center to have my records sent to us.
October 31,2005
We received an authorization for release of information form on. On the back of this form was hand written amounts the Hetrick center would charge to research file and pull records, $17.48. There was also a note on bottom stating to call Claire to get the cost of copying the files.
November 1, 2005
We called to speak to Claire. We were told she was not in and would call back.
November 2, 2005
Received call from Claire at Hetrick Center in Middletown regarding cost to copy James Crownover’s files. She stated that the cost would be $84.18 to copy 87 pages, plus the $17.48 and postage to mail. I asked what dates were referenced. I stated I only needed the period starting in February through March of 2005. Claire stated that Gordon Ellis had the records and was not in the office this morning.
This charge does not seem reasonable.
February 16, 2006We went to small claims court today. The Hetrick Center agrees they caused the burns but say they are not responsible. Their attorney had all kinds of legal gimmicks that supposedly meant they had no legal responsibility. I guess they are saying, we burned you physically, we burned you financially, we burned you mentally and the jokes all on you. Ha Ha Ha. We won't hear the final decision for about a week but money and power always wins over truth and justice so I assume we will loose this case. What has this country degenerated to?
March 1, 2006
We just got the decision today. Everyone agrees I was burned at the Hetrick Center. Due to lawyers and legal technicalities the Hetrick Center is not responsible! Truth, Justice, and the American Way is pure fantasy. All that matters is who has the money and power to defeat the peasants! The people lose in this county. I had no attorney. I could not afford one. If I had won the case with an attorney and medical expert the settlement would have been much less than the cost.
The Hetrick Center is not responsible for it's actions. I consider this to be malpractice!