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To: Cobra64
Well.... before you all sue the doctor you might want to think about this case. There is a difference between a bad outcome and malpractice. In other words if somebody does 1000 heart catheterizations 1-2 of them will end up with a perforated artery and 1%-5% will die. It sucks to be that .00001-.00005 cause all you know is that 100% of the one you loved is dead. So let's just see what happened here.

#1 The GI doc that did the procedure had you sign a permit with one of the "complications" listed as infection, bleeding, perforation etc...

#2 Post procedure you were told that if you bled you were to show up to the ER or call the office... you did that.

#3 In the ER the doctor found out that you were bleeding and it really isn't important to measure the blood in the toilet cause a little bit of blood will look like a lot mixed with stool or water. Sometimes a lot of blood can be hidden behind a lump of feces, so only a little blood may fool you also. So the important thing to know is if you are CONTINUING to bleed. So they might want to compare you H/H (hemoglobin/hematocrit=blood level of RBC's) at the time of the ER visit with your pre-op H/H. They tend to repeat them every six hours and see how you are doing... if you are dropping then rescope and transfuse as a last resort.

#4 The "deer in the headlights" look was probably.... the doctor thinking... "this guy is bleeding and he's busting my balls for trying to prevent him from IRON SUPPLEMENTS as opposed to a transfusion." The reason men over 50 don't need iron is cause we don't menstruate and lose blood... so it builds up in our system and some seem to think that has a role in cancer and heart disease. If you are bleeding then you need the iron supplement to replenish your losses. Unless you have a metabolic disorder that stores abnormally high iron in your system. The doctor was trying to minimize the chance for transfusion... which can lead to transmision of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, AIDS, West Nile,...etc.. you get the picture, right? So the ER guy saves your life, tries to prevent you from getting a transfusion you might not need.

#5 You see the doctor in the ICU.... and what was the cause of the bleeding... polyps, perforation (doubtful)cause those tend to bleed INTO the abdomen and you die of infection usually, hemerrhoids, or what?

So it sounds like you got a $17,000 bill that you are upset about and are looking to stick it to the docs. I say................ go for it.

Everybody else does.
Make sure you name the GI doctor, Anesthesiologist, your family doctor, the ER doctor, Radiologist, and the Hospital. All of them will settle and you can come out with a profit..... Oh yeah, make sure you mention the sleep deprivation, the worrying and whatever else you can think of.... you can also add lack of consortium if you were unable to perform your husbandly duty during the 3 days and in the intervening time since your "trauma".

Did they find cancer or polyps? That's usually what the screening colonoscopy is for. The x-ray stuff mentioned is ok I guess but I'd rather do the colonoscopy.

By the way the number 1 reason for malpractice suits against doctors is not poor quality of medicine but poor communication skills towards the patient. Usually you just want to know "WHY?" and a suit is your only avenue... Really bad doctors usually bury their mistakes.........

28 posted on 10/12/2002 4:59:09 PM PDT by Dick Vomer
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To: Dick Vomer
ouch! I like your last line...that's a great pun!
40 posted on 10/12/2002 5:33:06 PM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace
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To: Dick Vomer
"By the way the number 1 reason for malpractice suits against doctors is not poor quality of medicine but poor communication skills towards the patient. Usually you just want to know "WHY?" and a suit is your only avenue... Really bad doctors usually bury their mistakes........."

I can believe that! I had neck surgery almost 2 years ago and have more pain than I started with.

I knew there were risks and might not get any relief but it actually is getting worse.

I have been complaining to the surgeon and my GP and they send me for x-rays, physical therapy etc.

Two weeks ago I found out by accident that the plate they installed to hold the vertabra together is too long and the lower screws are drilled into the DISC instead of the bone. I can't get anyone to tell me if this is bad, not important or sure to cause me to start looking like Cristopher Reeve.

I finally got an appointment with the surgeon (a month from now). I expect another cycle of BS instead of just leveling with me. I feel like I have a hand grenade in my spine, but maybe not, who the hell knows!

53 posted on 10/12/2002 5:59:06 PM PDT by Howie
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To: Dick Vomer
Well.... before you all sue the doctor you might want to think about this case. There is a difference between a bad outcome and malpractice. In other words if somebody does 1000 heart catheterizations 1-2 of them will end up with a perforated artery and 1%-5% will die. It sucks to be that .00001-.00005 cause all you know is that 100% of the one you loved is dead. So let's just see what happened here.

All well and good, what you said. The goal is zero mistakes, and when there are mistakes, somewhere in that fraction are doctors who have no business being at practice.

I'll give you a case in point: my son's birth was a traumatic nightmare that lasted 12+ hours and included failed forceps, failed vacuum and a delayed crash C-section that damn near claimed the baby and the mother. I watched the doctor in a full panic, after having berated my wife for 'not being up to the task of motherhood' drive the operating theater into a near frenzied panic with cursing, yelling and a hysterical tantrum. Nurses openly argued with him in front of me, saying he was making a bad case worse.

If I'd had my wits about me at that moment I'd have demanded he be removed.

Had my wife's uncle not been on the board of directors of the hospital group and had I not been diligent in demanding records immediately following the birth, I might not have found out some of what transpired.

When it was all said and done - I didn't sue- it was clear to me that at the very least I could have seen that OBGYN/SOB sanctioned by the medical board, if not suspended. It still makes my blood boil 9 years later.

I showed the physcian's own report to a close relative who is an internist. His opinion (not having been in the room) was that the OB's record was, at best, 'artfully written', in light of the other records I had.

Your response sounds to me like the words of a 'denial officer' with an HMO.

70 posted on 10/12/2002 7:39:32 PM PDT by IncPen
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To: Dick Vomer
See my posts to - bleeding after colonoscopy/polyp removal is a known possible complication, as is perforation. However, these are uncommon, and much rarer when the procedure is done by a board-certified gastroenterologist.

Just because perforation and bleeding are known complications, doesn't make causing them (by act or omission) within the standard of care. Screw ups are screw-ups. However, if the MD actually did attempt to cauterize the lesion, perhaps it was an unavoidable re-bleed. But it might have been avoidable.

Say that no screw-up occurred. It is always possible that the patient was NOT fully informed of the possible complications, or sent home with adequate instruction about follow-up if bleeding should occur.

More significant (i.e., malpractice) would be if the MD "forgot" to advise his patient to stop taking arthritis meds/aspirin, coumadin, heparin, or other drugs that cause excessive bleeding. If this made his patient sick, or led to excessive bleeding that required a transfusion, the doctor caused this by his failure to follow the standard of care and give adequate warning before the procedure.

Since it is forseeable that a blood-borne disease can be contracted because of the transfusion, failing to warn the patient to discontinue meds that put him at risk, would make the doctor at fault if such a disease were contracted.




71 posted on 10/12/2002 7:59:50 PM PDT by SarahW
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To: Dick Vomer; bourbon; WKB
My cardio surgeon basically save my life twice from a congenital defect. I'm pretty fond of him.

My dad's neurospecialists at Mayo kept him in decent life for 7 years after brain tumour diagnosis. One is a personal friend in Middle TN

My wife and I visited our OB-GYN today who delivered 2 for us so far till this next one and we are crazy about him. He's delivered over 15K babies and is revered.

I could say the same for some RNs, Surgical Nurses and Emergency Room docs I've known over the years

But yes....there are some crappy docs too and staffs as well

I've fond that health care is usually determined by the local hospital and the volume they treat.

Here in Nashville, we have 4 very good hospitals which is high for a metro area of 1.5M....and about a dozen feeder hospitals ringing Metro Nashville. Unless it's an emergency of locale then one goes to certain hospitals for certain specialties and you have a good idea you'll get good service from top notch folks who have seen your ailment before.

My heart surgeon is number 3 in the world volume-wise still in practice at 50 or so. Things like that give comfort...least to me.

I'm sure glad Cobra survived but I'm not sure he has grounds. Complications are not always grounds for recourse except in tort-law-rich-jury environments like Mississippi where I come from and juries are demographically prone to support any claim just to get back at the "man"...whoever that is.

Medical claims down there have nothing to do with reality but rather opportunity.
91 posted on 04/04/2006 10:38:24 PM PDT by wardaddy (If the GOP is so great, why do I feel so crappy, betrayed and surrounded by eunuchs?)
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