Posted on 10/01/2009 7:34:08 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana
We Freepers routinely complain about our overly litigious society. I thought it might be a good time to describe events that happened in our lives when we didn't sue, but a liberal/socialist/amoral opportunist might have.
That way, instead of saying, we are too litigious, we can point to all of the stories (true ones only, please)of needless litigation avoided because Freepers aren't jerks.
I will start with two examples.
1. My 90 year-old grandmother had stomach pains. Hospital diagnoses stomach cancer in this tough old Polish-American warhorse. In fact, her 90 year-old appendix was about to rupture. It did after she was sent home. Needless to say, the quality of life in a 90 year old goes down dramatically after a ruptured appendix. My aunt wanted to sue. My mother, who wound up actually caring for my grandmother said no, that the doctors made a mistake, but it wasn't appropriate to sue under the circumstances.
2. Yesterday we had our driveway seal-coated. The head man rang our doorbell, and my five year old opened the front door to answer (without permission). Our nervous little rat terrier scooted outside, onto the blacktop, and just as quickly scooted back in ... onto the area rug and the hardwood floor. The sealing company knew we had a nervous little dog and an impulsive five year old. Although it would be ridiculous, I could imagine somebody blaming the guy who rang the doorbell, as he has deep pockets, and are probably insured anyway. We decided toget both dog and five year old in a little trouble. (For the record: baking soda on the wood floor, Tar remover and emulsifier for the concrete porch, Gojo and soapy water for dog's paws.)
Now, let's build up a list of more examples of when NOT to sue.
That could be hundreds of times that i’ve slipped on ice, been kept awake by a barking dog, or been burned by hot coffee in a resturant.
practically everyday...
My 6 year-old daughter leaned back in her chair and fell off the deck and onto the concrete of my sister’s Michigan lake house. Broke her arm, requiring surgery and pins.
Medical bills hit about $10,000 (top notch treatment at the UofM hospital). I ate about $3,500 of those.
Could’ve sued, I suppose.
Of course, my daughter was entirely at fault.
But, that never stopped a liberal.
My husband went to his dermatologist for his annual skin check and pointed out something that was bothering him. The derm didn’t “think it was anything to worry about.” Over the course of the next year it began to change and he scheduled another appointment. Again the dermatologist didn’t think it was anything but did a biopsy because it was bothersome to my husband. It ended up being amelanotic malignant melanoma stage IIa. Within a week it was removed along with a lymph node and has remained cancer free.
The important point of this story for us is not that his doctor was incompetent in diagnosing early and needed to be sued but the importance of being personally proactive and how excellent our health care system is that when it was identified it was taken care of IMMEDIATELY.
Here is one for you. I have terminal Cancer and was getting a dose of Chemotherapy in my Doctor’s infusion laboratory about 1 ½ years ago when I went into Anaphylactic Shock. There was this remote chance for an adverse reaction to the drug where your breathing and heart could stop.
Well, no one told me and when I went out, the heart and the breathing did in truth stop .Three Policemen, five Ambulance folks and three Paramedics along with three Doctors, and four nurses from my Oncologists managed to bring me back. I figured that n o harm no foul and that it was nothing they had done bad. We had no way of knowing that this would happen until it actually happened.
Bottom line was I didn’t sue even though I was hounded by some lawyers. They all told me that the Insurance companies wouldn’t even see it go to court and that I would be rich. I asked them if it would cure my cancer and unless it would, I didn’t want to sue.
Every medical person who saw me was pushing me to identify the rstaurant and seek damages. It was clear to me that the injury was more my fault than the restaurant's so I just ignored the calls to initiate a lawsuit.
When an orthopedist who was treating me for shoulder and back pain got frustrated because I didn’t improve with treatment and therapy and got worse, told me at my last visit to him to get a facelift and I’d feel better about myself.
The back pain was kidney cancer.
I was shocked. I had to much weight in the back of my truck and was going to fast for the conditions. When she knocked I was worrying about what this little incident was going to cost me.
My truck was a beater and the damage was very minor. I thanked her and left. I never called the insurance company or got my truck repaired. She actually accepted fault for the accident.
2. About twenty years ago I was working on a line of spinning looms...it was a small mom and pop outfit making macrame cord. No I guess it was closer to thirty years ago. There was no saftey equiptment on the machinery at all. Long and short of it is that an employee came back from lunch early and turned the line on while I was in it and as a result my right index finger was amputated and my hand was pretty mangled. It was an accident and suing wouldn't make anything better. I loved the people I worked for and they took care of all my expenses so I was happy.
I’ve had several potential lawsuits, but at least twice those responsible were convinced I would sue~ but I didn’t.
I do contract work for a federal law enforcement agency, one day years ago when I walked in the employee entrance in the rear (which is where I was told to enter and entered regularly) one of the rookie LEOs drew his weapon on me thinking I was an unauthorized visitor. He quickly realized he shouldn’t have reacted that way and the powers that be got very excited. I have been told numerous times that I could have claimed mental anguish and retired that day. I admit I was darn sure mentally anguished until he holstered his firearm.
When my youngest was 4 she broke her leg (tibia and fibula just above the ankle) and it required an orthopedic surgeon to set it. Her injuries were absolutely caused by negligence on the part of a state employee who did not secure a large metal panel in an area where the children were supposed to be. My daughter was injured at an activity for children that was sponsered by the county, the state, and under the USDA.
On a much sadder note my sister died of undiagnosed kidney cancer even though she had been under treatment of a kidney specialist for two years. The kidney specialist was treating her for food alergies and her cancer was not discovered until she became so weak her husband took her to the ER where she was admitted and within hours they diagnosed her, she died shortly afterwards. I really thought my brother-in-law should have sued, just to try to get that doctor out of practice- but he didn’t.
I had much the same experience with a piece of glass in a salad, didn’t hurt me but came close to it, but I didn’t sue and settled for getting my meal and my wife’s meal for free. I didn’t finish eating mine.
Just from that remark made to you I assume you are a woman. It is one of my pet peeves that many doctors think if they can't figure out what is wrong with a woman it must be in her head. My sister was at one point accused of being a hyperchondriac by a kidney specialist when she turned out to have kidney cancer. My sister-in-law was accused of having a change of life coping crisis when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Those type of doctors deserve to be sued if anyone does!!!
I was a passenger in a car wreck when I was around 18y/o. Broke my femur and cut my eye and forehead. I agreed to medical only, but I retrospect I should have sued because to this day I still have problems with my leg and facial scars as a result.
We went to adopt a pet from the animal shelter. One section was for very tame cats to roam free out of cages and my kids went inside. My 8 year old son chased a cat and cornered it in a small tent. He stuck his head inside and the cat scratched his face drawing blood. The staff went nuts and I had to fill out a bunch of forms. Under “reason for attack” I wrote “my son is an idiot”. I put a band aid on him and that was the end of it.
My sister went to an outdoor charity event at our church. She slipped on a wet wooden bridge built by the boy scouts and broke her collarbone. When asked “how she wanted to handle it” by the parish she replied “Next time I won’t be an idiot and wear heels to an outdoor trail hike”.
My father had a biopsy for retreating prostate cancer. The urologist did a lousy job and nearly killed him by infecting him with e-coli bacteria. He was very dangerously ill when I happened across him... 106 degree fever... semi-comatose.
Thanks to the first responders and the excellent staff at the emergency room, he survived. His bladder however is destroyed, permanently.
I’m angry, but we will not sue. A simple biopsy gone bad. Sucks, but it happens.
A neighbor of mine is recovering right now from a lawsuit rich injury. She is quite elderly and tripped on a very uneven (nearly 2 inch difference in joint height) concrete sidewalk in front of a Walmart and fell and broke numerous bones, including bones in her hand that are not healing properly and she may lose some use of that hand according to her doctor. She told me she is not going to sue Walmart.
We have a family history of Polycystic Kidney Disease. When I was 26, I had some urinary problems, saw my doctor, and there was microscopic blood in my urine. He treated me with an antibiotic, did a culture, and ordered a renal ultrasound. The culture was negative, and so was the renal ultrasound (looking for kidney cysts).
10 years later, my sister was admitted to the hospital for gall bladder problems, and they found cysts on her kidney when checking her gall bladder.
I mentioned this to my doc, and he ordered another renal u/s. Sure enough, my kidneys were filled with cysts, and the radiologist told me that I had cysts visible 10 years before that had been missed. I had PKD.
I suppose I could have sued, but that wouldn’t have changed things, as there is no treatment for PKD.
I did end up on dialysis 2 years ago, and received a transplant last year.
My father got a milkshake in a diner that had glass in it; he didn’t sue either and we ate there all the time, after that incident we always got a discount. I laugh and tell that story about my dad’s frugal ways.
(1) Used to eat regularly at a Chinese restaurant on Ohio State campus. Felt something hard in my mouth. It was a piece of wire from a wire brush. Nicked my inside cheek. Owner was VERY rude about it, which almost caused me to sue. Didn’t though. They went out of business not long after that. Gee, wonder why?
(2) Walking in a parking lot at night and slipped on a patch of black ice. Went down HARD, head bounced off the ground. Fortunately I have a hard head (or so my friends keep telling me). I was stunned for a couple seconds but not knocked out. Figured it was my own dang fault, got up and walked on.
(3) Had a skiing accident caused by a negligent snowboarder. Some kid with no money, but I’m sure he had insurance and/or his parents had money (he had NICE gear, nicer than mine). I was pretty hurt. Ski patrol came to get me, but they didn’t secure me properly. Got dumped down the hill, rolling about 10 feet with a shattered arm. I just laughed. Ski patroller couldn’t believe it. I said “I’m laughing so I don’t cry or get mad.” He was clearly scared that I’d sue, as was the ski place (that kind of gross negligence goes beyond the waiver you sign when you ski.) However, I knew it wasn’t intentional, and ski patrol is both voluntary and usually very helpful. My own insurance paid all the bills - no surgery but lots of rehab and some nasty meds due to complications. Didn’t sue, definitely could have. Life’s too short to waste in a courtroom over something like that..
On the other hand, I have been involved in lawsuits for breech of contract and fraud. I don’t take getting lied to well...
Sorry, “on Ohio State campus” should be “near Ohio State campus.”
I have never had to sue anyone, but the only time I would consider it is if someone, through their obvious carelessness, causes me or my loved one some type of bodily injury that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. But I would only sue for what I would be out of pocket, not try to get rich by suing for more than it would cost me in expenses. Or if someone defrauded me in some way, I would sue to get my money back. But I would never sue because of my own carelessness, or if I spilled hot coffee on myself from McDonald’s.
Many years ago, we dumped out a box of frozen peas. One of the peas looked funny so I picked it up for a closer look.
It was a grasshopper head!
We *joked* about suing, but never would have seriously considered it. Personally, I thought the incident was rather funny. Anyway, I can see why automated peapacking equipment would confuse a pea and a grasshopper’s head.
As an “ant” I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more “grasshopper” heads in boxes of peas!
;-)
I'm surprised they didn't tell you it would...
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