A College Park, Georgia, mother is demanding answers after her 5-year-old daughter was wrongly diagnosed with multiple STDs at a local urgent care clinic.
The woman, whose identity is being withheld for privacy, said she took her sick daughter to a College Park urgent care clinic in April, Fox 5 Atlanta reports. After providing a urine sample, the test results left the mother completely stunned.
“They told me they called me, and when I went up there, they ended up telling me that she had trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and I knew right then that was incorrect because I protect my daughter,” the mother said.
The urgent care clinic followed state law and contacted police and the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. The mother described the moment officers arrived at her home as terrifying, fearing she might lose custody of her child.
“I couldn’t even breathe when they came to my house,” she said. “I was really thinking like they’re about to take my child away from me. I knew I was the best mom, and nothing happened to her.”
Follow-up testing at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, along with a second test ordered by the urgent care, both came back negative. However, the ordeal has left lasting emotional scars on the family.
“My daughter is five, and you don’t want to put those kinds of things on a five-year-old,” the mother said. “She’s still wondering why did that happen to her? Why did the doctor and the police come? Why was she looked at down there?”
The mother is speaking out to help prevent another family from going through the same traumatic experience. The family’s attorney says an investigation is underway to uncover how the urgent care center produced the false test results.
“This case is still being investigated,” Fowler said. “We’re still looking for results and answers and responses, but what we’ve seen so far there is evidence of some serious concerns of the handling of this child’s healthcare.”
“As of now, we’re seeking answers,” he added. “Then from there we want to ultimately get justice for this child.”
Meanwhile, an attorney for the urgent care stated that the facility is “obligated to comply with all laws, from patient privacy to mandatory reporting requirements,” which are “designed to protect all patients.” The clinic added that it relies on a third-party lab for testing and simply reported the results it received.
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