As an update, I received the following message from my niece:
We saw the doctor this morning and he read the medical report and saw the meds he was prescribed and giggled. He said the "narcotic" they gave him is a very old form of Demoral. He said he hasn't seen it for over 18 years.
He said he needs to stop taking all the pain meds and stick to the anti-inflammatories. He checked his reflexes (pretty basic) and he had no reaction in his left leg at all. In fact, he has very little feeling in that leg at all. He is hobbling around trying to adapt to it. The doctor sent us for xrays to make sure he didn't damage anything in the knee area itself.
He's ordered an MRI as he said the injury is likely disc related which is cutting off the feeling in his leg. He is sending him to physio to get him started on healing. They have advised him not to work for the next 2 weeks at least.
So it would appear the muscular diagnosis is in question and apparently, no reflex test was done on his knee while he was in the hospital. Had that simple test been done at the hospital, perhaps a disc injury may have been suspected.
On the flip side, had either of the two doctors who treated him done the reflex test, he would probably still be at the hospital waiting for an MRI and paying way more than they could have managed to scrape up to get him out of there. The hospital wouldn't release him or sign his insurance forms until the bill was paid. Being able to board the flight was conditional upon having the hospital release form.
Had the hospital bill gone much higher, they would have been between a rock and a hard place. They just bought a house so are pretty cash strapped. Their vacation was carefully planned well in advance and they did everything on an economical basis.
All in all, it was not a great way to end their vacation.
The good news is that at least he is home, being taken care of and they don't have to fork out any more cash for his treatments. His insurance thankfully covers all of it.
