Question: I was told by a representative today that no size tubing on sterile leg bags is removable, to allow the bag to be attached directly to the Foley catheter. She said, in fact, that if the tubing could be removed from the bag, that meant I had been given a non-sterile bag and this was unacceptable for a Foley. Later in the day, I found a Bard sterile bag and tubing still in pkg, with the enclosed tubing definitely not attached--ready to be attached, though. Since my mother is short, I had hoped that it would be safe to attach her Foley directly to that bag, which I did tonight since she began treatment for infection today.
I have a 2nd and 3rd questions: if the recommendation, which I am seeing on some sites, is for me to put on a brand new bag every week, can I ignore the weekly change, which her urologist never mentioned? Otherwise, I am going to have to fork out additional expenses to cover what I assume Medicare will not. Or will Medicare make exceptions if a prescription orders 4 bags/month for extremely frail, elderly patients who must use a Foley due to retention, but are quite prone to infections, anyway?
Asked by Dee M. on Jun 4, 2020
