Tired of some things

[pstone]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18040894/

So clearly it must be horrific, and I am sure without a doubt it is something all doctors try to avoid.

But come on, I can totally see not paying for the anesthesia, of being reinbursed for the surgery, of getting some funds for therapy if needed but things happen. So tired of the 'get rich off known risks' approach to our society.

Sure, if the doctor has a history of this, or forgets anesthetic in what is more then some fluke mistake becuasue they were keeping you saturated with O2 or something, they should be censured and investigated, but please.

I think it is even worse for surgery, no matter what you tell the patient about risks, complications, and even death they still sue no matter what.

[Deebs]

This one is nothing. It is a real phenomenon, and I think everyone would have been better off if someone spoke with the patient about the error. It's amazing how many suits get filed (and won) over either known risks that can't be controlled for or even outcomes that aren't adverse.

The last hospital I worked at in Illinois saw docs leaving the state left and right, after having their malpractice coverage dropped. The most notable was one of our neurosurgeons who specialized in spinal surgery. He operated on a patient after going through the long list of risks/benes, etc.

The outcome of the surgery is that the patient's back pain is no better, but also no worse than before surgery (as had been discussed in advance). The patient sued. His lawyer found a medical device sales rep who testified that if the doc had used the suction tip that his company sold, rather than the suction tip he did use, the outcome may have been different.

The physician lost the case. His malpractice coverage was dropped. He had to sell his home and boat to pay his tail, and now practices as a Locums in another state.

Oh, and part of my job there was to review many cases for QI/QA. So, I did see cases where there were real errors - this wasn't one of them. The doc in question was our best neurosurgeon, and had one of the most positive track records in terms of outcomes in our institution. The reality is, back surgery for pain relief doesn't have a very high success rate.

My DH hasn't been named in a suit yet, but we basically figure it's when, not if (1 in 6 EPs gets sued annually). We found an awesome book, "The Resilient Physician" that talks about how to cope through a suit.