Hospitalized After Papaya, Ribeye - Hard Rock Resort at Punta Cana, Punta Cana La Altagracia

Calle Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, 23000 La Altagracia, Dominican Republic

Papaya, ribeye steak. I am reporting as the mother to one of the young adults that took ill on the evening of February 24th. My daughter and her boyfriend ate papaya, he had just a bite but she completed the serving. Of note, my daughter also had the ribeye steak later in the day (I noticed the posting on 2/22 of someone getting sick as well from the steak). That evening my daughter called me (I am a physician) and said that she and her boyfriend have been vomiting for several hours, have a fever, and now are experiencing diarrhea. I told her to go to the resort infirmary/ house physician. They did but it was closed until 8:30 am the next day. By Thursday morning, my daughter had passed out on the bathroom floor and her boyfriend, while also sick but not as severe, called the house doctor. Both were taken to a hospital 45 minutes away from the resort by ambulance (nearest hospital 10-15 min away from the resort and accepts international insurance). IV's were placed in both of them, my daughter was taken to the ambulance by stretcher since she was lethargic and hypotensive. Her boyfriend was able to walk with IV in place. No liaison from the resort escorted them; neither of the young adults spoke Spanish. To make a very long 48 hr short, I must assume they received adequate care but had no English communication as to what was being done to them. We were able to find an acquaintance from the Dominican Republic that my daughter would call on the phone whenever a physician would come in to see them. This individual also interpreted when they were still in the emergency and were asked for the credit card to pay for the ambulance ride and a consultation (we are not sure if that was the resort physician's fee or someone who saw them in the ER). There were no sheets on the beds other than the fitted mattress sheet. Both of the kids had vomit and feces on their clothes and were never offered hospital attire, never offered a shower, not even a toothbrush. They were pretty much forced to stay the night on Thursday because the doctor left the hospital and left no orders. Friday morning comes around, their symptoms have resolved but are exhausted, wanting to go back to the resort so they could shower and sleep. Doctor finally comes in and now tells them that they want them to stay to at least 4 pm so they can eat solid food and have a bowel movement (it is now 10 am and they were never served breakfast). She calls me and I tell her to sign the voluntary discharge papers and go back to the resort. Those papers took two hours to complete. Originally the Resort told them via "What's App" that they could catch a cab (40 min away) when they got discharged. My husband was finally able to get ahold of a manger from the Resort and while the manger claimed he could not discuss the case with my husband because he didn't really "know if he was speaking to the father", somehow a car was dispensed from the resort to Hospiten Bavaro to pick up two young adults that were being discharged and coming back to the resort. Fortunately these two people were young and healthy. They are safely back in the states and want to put their horrific ordeal behind them. But as a healthcare worker I am concerned and frustrated that this incident in Dominican Republic continues to happen over and over again. While I understand that mishaps can happen I strongly feel that these resorts need to up their game. When someone gets sick and must go to the hospital, send a liaison so the patient can understand what is being done to them. Ask the patients if relatives should be contacted in their homeland. In addition, why are these resorts sending these patients to a hospital 45 min away from the resort when there is a much closer hospital which can deal with dehydration and food poisoning? All questions that a health department in any country should be investigating. I tried to report this to the local health department and have been currently unsuccessful; I found this website and hope others will benefit from this posting.  | Symptoms: Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Dehydration, Fever