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My husband's mother has custody of his oldest son who is 3 1/2 and he came to visit this past weekend and he had a horrible cold that is mother failed to tell us about and she took him to the hospital and says that he has foot, hand, and mouth disease ... my 21 month old has now gotten the same "cold" that the oldest had and I called her to find out what the symptoms of the foot, hand, and mouth disease were and she wouldn't tell me and hung up on me...so my question is, if my son develops the foot, hand, and mouth disease can I sue her for the doctor bills? I pay out of pocket for the check ups and other doctor visits but if she knew he was sick shouldn't he have to pay?.
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I am sure you can file a civil suit. Whether you win or not is a different issue.
I hope both children get better soon. -
I'm going to go with "no". No, no you can't you sue.
For one thing, there is absolutely no way that you can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the other child is the one who exposed your child. In fact, I sort of doubt it because the timing sounds off. Most illness have incubation periods on the order of several days, not just a matter of hours as it sounds like this was. I'm sorry your child isn't feeling well, but chances are good that he caught his bug somewhere else.
Furthermore, you used the internet to get to this site, use the internet to look up the symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth. It goes around this time of year. It's normal.Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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I did actually look up the symptoms and it says 3-6 days incubation period,i was just calling to see maybe if he had a certain symptom that made her think something was wrong...I also wasn't very clear in my first post about the timing....he was here last weekend and she took him to the hospital last night....thanks for the feed back though!Comment
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Originally posted by SilverSabre25 View Post
I did actually look up the symptoms and it says 3-6 days incubation period,i was just calling to see maybe if he had a certain symptom that made her think something was wrong...I also wasn't very clear in my first post about the timing....he was here last weekend and she took him to the hospital last night....thanks for the feed back though!Comment
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She probably should have told you about it so you could have made a decision about having him over, and/or keeping your own child away from the virus. I don't think you can sue, though, because 1. it would be difficult to prove that your child got it from this one, and 2. it's a common childhood virus, doesn't require medicine (that I know of), and goes away on its own. It will probably cause hurt feelings with the boys mom, but I would require her to notify you of any "colds" in the future, so you can make informed decisions about your own kids health.Comment
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Originally posted by SilverSabre25 View Post
If you feel strongly about it, I'd suggest you speak with a lawyer but I think Silver is probably right. Can you imagine how many lawsuits would be clogging our courts if everyone - especially day care providers - sued because someone got them or their kids sick?! 
Seriously, though....You're obviously upset that your child is sick and that it may be due to this woman's thoughtlessness. I can't blame you for feeling that way. As upsetting as it may be, though, please consider trying to get past this without making a huge deal over it. I know that biting your tongue may be hard but try to do it for the kids' sake. When the adults fight and squabble over such things, it really can affect the children in such a negative way. I hope both kids feel better soon.Comment
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I feel for you because my son has HF&M right now. It is a tough illness, but it is common, and kids get sick. I hope your child avoided getting it!
I would encourage you to talk to Grandma about some sort of illness policy and let her know that, with certain symptoms, you would not like your husband's son to visit--or if he IS sick, maybe your child can go elsewhere during the visit. I think it's important for your husband to spend time with his son even if the child is sick.
She doesn't have any obligation to tell you if he is sick and no obligation to cover your child's medical expenses. The best thing you can do is build up better communication with her so you can work together and not fight.Comment
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It is doubtful she even knew he had it yet They are contagious before they show any symptoms Plus refusing a visitation because the child has a cold would surely mean his chances of getting custody are slimmer. but I gather you do not want custody if you want to sue Grandma for exposing your child to an illness.It:
: will waitComment
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I agree. I don't think non-custodial parents should be excused from visitation just because their child is sick. Being a parent means taking care of your child whether they are sick or not.Originally posted by preschoolteacher View Post
I also agree with the other advice given in the above post.
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My son also has coxsackie virus right now, which is the same one that causes h,f, and m. I just let my dcf's know that he was diagnosed with this yesturday but, I would remain open. I only have one staying away right now because his ped recommended it since he had breathing treatments and bronchitis with ear infection last week. It only lasts a couple of days and while it stinks, a cold is not generally the symptoms associated with it. Mouth blisters and fever are the usual starter symptoms. My youngest had a fever of 105.5 with it in July!
But, chasing tylenol with ibuprofen 4 hours apart seems to keep it under control. Good luck! I hate this virus more than any of them!
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