Surgeon Allegedly Puts Screwdriver In Man's Spine

[eyelikeart]

http://www.theneworleanschannel.com...3&tml=no_7am&tmi=no_7am_1_07000007162003&ts=H

This is the type of thing that drives medical costs & insurance up...not to mention giving a very bad reputation to the parties & affiliates involved.

Sadly, I'm willing to bet this doctor won't be able to pay up and the family will get left shafted.

 

[patrick0brien]

-eyelikeart

8 malpractices?!? Where the h*** was the red flag?

And why didn't an attending nurse or the anethesiologist stop him from inserting the screwdriver in the first place - it's not like he was doing surgery without anyone else in the room.

 

[Taft]

But this is also why putting a cap on negligence claims is such a bad idea. This guy ultimately had his life taken away by the incompetance of his doctor. If a cap were in place, his family might get a fraction of what they are really owed for such a horrible deed.

IMO, legislating caps on malpractice is just a really bad idea. Instead of punishing ALL people bringing lawsuits against doctors, we should legislate to punish only those who bring frivilous or false lawsuits against doctors.

By not differentiating between the two and attempting to limit all cases, you are in effect just punishing those who have been horribly and legitimately hurt by a malicious or incompetant doctor.

This case is a perfect illustration of why caps are bad.

Taft

 

[wdlove]

Trying to come to the aid of the doctor. In medicine often there is a need to jerry rig in an emergency. It just happens in this case it didn't work.

The only ones that really win in a medical malpractice case are the lawyers. That is why lawyers are dead set against any reform. As usual we pay!

 

[amnesiac1984]

Originally posted by wdlove
Trying to come to the aid of the doctor. In medicine often there is a need to jerry rig in an emergency. It just happens in this case it didn't work.

The only ones that really win in a medical malpractice case are the lawyers. That is why lawyers are dead set against any reform. As usual we pay!

True, but he should never have started the operation without first checking he had the necessary props to complete a successful operation. Surely if you were planning to plant a titanium rod into someones back you would want to make sure you had one. One thing I ask, however, instead of jerry rigging with a screw driver, would it have been possible to abort the operation and close up the wound?

 

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by wdlove
Trying to come to the aid of the doctor. In medicine often there is a need to jerry rig in an emergency. It just happens in this case it didn't work.

maybe so...but a screwdriver in place of a titanium rod?

anyway...this guy had a very bad track record and should never have been granted authority to practice anywhere with pending cases in other places...

 

[wdlove]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
maybe so...but a screwdriver in place of a titanium rod?

anyway...this guy had a very bad track record and should never have been granted authority to practice anywhere with pending cases in other places...

I agree that it he had a track record of errors, someone should have removed his license to practice. Doctors should be treated just as harshly as nurses. A nurse probably go into trouble because the titanium rod was not available!

 

[Wardofsky]

Well, I guess that screwed him up.
His back would have tightened perhaps?

Ok, enough with the screw jokes.

Well, dropping large metal objects in someone seems to happen often for some weird reason, how do you miss a screw driver?

 

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Wardofsky
how do you miss a screw driver?

-Wardofsky

Especially if he looks around, asks for the titatium rod prescribed, then shrugs, grabs a screwdriver and hacksaws the handle off.

Not one eyebrow raised?

 

[sonofslim]

has anyone here ever been on the receiving end of a titanium rod? i can tell you, stainless steel screwdrivers they ain't.

absolutely mind-boggling. this is a real-life dr. nick riviera here.

 

[tazo]

That is absolutely appalling, one must wonder how much worse the medical malpractice scene can become.

In other words, this guy got screwed.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I read this story and cringed - its exactly what you don't want to hear....scary that people like this are out there.

Good to see that his application for Kansas didn't go through....

He'll end up doing organ *donation* operations somewhere.....

D

 

[Sun Baked]

If it was a Craftsman screwdriver, at least they would have been able to turn the remaining parts in for a new $5.99 screwdriver.

But with the budget cuts in hospitals lately, it was probably an inferior piece of equipment from a foreign country using low quality metal.

Certainly not an ideal replacement for medical grade titanium rods.

 

[tazo]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
I read this story and cringed - its exactly what you don't want to hear....scary that people like this are out there.

Good to see that his application for Kansas didn't go through....

He'll end up doing organ *donation* operations somewhere.....

D

Exactly, its like a piece out of a Jonathan Kellerman or Robin Cook novel. It is extremely scary to think that today's doctors are resorting to this sort of behavior.

Putting a cap on malpractice lawsuits only heightens the risk these alleged doctors pose. Allowing a malpractice cap is telling these doctors that their behavior is acceptable and worthy of protection.

What is this world coming to?

 

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by Sun Baked
If it was a Craftsman screwdriver, at least they would have been able to turn the remaining parts in for a new $5.99 screwdriver.

But with the budget cuts in hospitals lately, it was probably an inferior piece of equipment from a foreign country using low quality metal.

Certainly not an ideal replacement for medical grade titanium rods.

i wonder if sears would be obligated by warranty... there's probably a "do not use to artificially support spine" clause in there somewhere...

and if there's not, there will be soon...

pnw

 

[wdlove]

Originally posted by tazo

Putting a cap on malpractice lawsuits only heightens the risk these alleged doctors pose. Allowing a malpractice cap is telling these doctors that their behavior is acceptable and worthy of protection.

What is this world coming to?

We also need to limit the amount lawyers earn. His/her expenses plus 10%. I think that 50% is obnoxious!

 

[uhlawboi80]

well this is just ridiculous. all the same, i still think torts caps are a good idea. i understand the family is distraught, but if the guy doesnt go bankrupt, then his insurance will just be paying out there limit. 8 million dollars to a 70 year old woman will not bring back her brother. In the legal field we call insurance a "loss spreader" because it just spreads the loss out across a class or society as a whole. why spread a huge loss across society when the loss didnt have that large of a monetary impact (not to be hartless).

oh, and tort caps arent just "no one gets more that 500,000" they sets formulas that take into account estimated life earnings, companionship, etc. but they DONT allow a jury to just get pissed and try to give someone 100 mill for there daugther losing a toe.

and lawyers in most states control what percentage they can collect (and most set a 30% max). its the POINT of the american tort system, it allows people who cant afford a lawyer to get their case heard on contingency. The 30% helps to offset the cases that lawyers take for clients and the client loses and the lawyer collects nothing. It also gives incentive for the lawyers to take non frivolous cases...they wont waste money if they cant even maybe win.

just my 2 cents