Malpractice?

[clanglee]

So get this. . . My wife goes to her pain management doctor's appointment. He gives her a shot of cortizone in the back and pierces her fucking lung!!! She goes home, has problems breathing, but thinks nothing of it. Her mom takes her to the doctor and turns out her lung is collapsed. So they proceed to poke a hole in my wife's side to put in a tube to reinflate the lung. She has spent the last 2 days at the hospital in some of the worst pain she has ever experienced as a result of going to a PAIN MANAGEMENT doctor!!!!

So the bill is going to be like 600.00+. I'm thinking ole Doc Pokeyatoodeep should foot the bill at the very least. Hell. . I'm thinking about calling a lawyer.

Thoughts?

[Wooley]

Yeah, a consultation with a good malpractice lawyer would be in order. Holy fuck dude, how big was that needle to pierce a lung?
Hope she's doing better. Chest tubes are not a pleasant experience from what I understand.

[C5NOTLD]

So the bill is going to be like 600.00+. I'm thinking ole Doc Pokeyatoodeep should foot the bill at the very least. Hell. . I'm thinking about calling a lawyer.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't be thinking about it - get on the phone. The attorney would likely visit her in the hospital.

Besides the medical bill she'll get some additional for pain and suffering if you take it through a law firm. Find one that won't charge a fee and who will take a percentage only of the settlement. If they try to charge you a upfront fee for handling her case run to the next attorney.

[kortick]

Good Lord.

I am sure the Dr. didn't mean to do it but
he is responsible for any and all medical costs
as well as pain and suffering.

Plus its probably a good idea to break his
hands so him injecting others isnt possible.

I know about collapsed lungs, repairing
them are done in usually 2 ways,
the first like ur wife where they insert a
hose to drain the fluids and fix the hole,
then they have to re-inflate the lung
using a balloon. basically they put a
balloon in ur lung then fill it and it pushes
against the lung wall until the lung is back to
normal shape. the other involves a balloon
and a tube but they go down ur nose into ur lung.

It is EXTREMELY unpleasant and u need to get a lawyer to
sort out medical fees and malpractise issues.

Hopefully she is feeling better.

[EvilNed]

Had a pierced and collapsed lung three times, and no, it's not very pleasant. But for some reason, it's quite common. Anyway, it was awhile ago, I but I remember it was very, very painful when moving around, even the slightest. So my best to your wife

[krakenslayer]

It's not really malpractice, as such, it's an accident. Medical accidents happen in the hands of even the best doctors in the world. However, he should be responsible, at the very least, for taking care of her medical costs. As a doctor licensed to carry out surgical procedures like that, he will certainly be insured against this kind of thing, so I don't see why there should be any problem getting the bill paid for you. Have you been in touch with him yet?

I still think it's fucking horrendous that you guys have to PAY for your medical treatment, at all. I can't imagine how depressing it would be, getting hurt and knowing that not only my life, but also my financial future and everything I had worked hard to save up for, was in grave danger.

[MikePizzoff]

Sue the shit outta him. Your wife should have her bills fronted AND deserves some cash for the pain and anguish she has to go through.

Don't worry about it effecting him very much, he's got his own practice so that means he's probably got great insurance that'll more than likely cover whatever you sue for.

Get in touch with a lawyer asap.

[Yojimbo]

Sounds awful brother! Hope your wife is feeling better, and you both are in my thoughts.

I do not know if it is malpractice, but it cetainly sounds negligent to me, accident or not.

Most definetly contact an attorney, at least for a consult. No patient should have to go through what you wife did!

[kortick]

It is malpractise, but I will give him
the benefit of the doubt it was accidental
and not due to being on
drugs or a sadist.
And I am sure he feels badly.

mal·prac·tice (n.)- Improper or negligent treatment of a patient, as by a physician, resulting in injury, damage, or loss.

He was most definitely negligent in not
realising he punctured her lung and filled
it with cortazone and she did suffer injury.

Some people will say sue him for all u can,
I feel at the least you make sure u
incur no medical expenses from this,
as they can be substansital.

Plus breaking his hands might be a settlement option.

[krakenslayer]

It is malpractise, but I will give him
the benefit of the doubt it was accidental
and not due to being on
drugs or a sadist.
And I am sure he feels badly.

mal·prac·tice (n.)- Improper or negligent treatment of a patient, as by a physician, resulting in injury, damage, or loss.

He was most definitely negligent in not
realising he punctured her lung and filled
it with cortazone and she did suffer injury.

Some people will say sue him for all u can,
I feel at the least you make sure u
incur no medical expenses from this,
as they can be substansital.

Plus breaking his hands might be a settlement option.

It's not necessarily malpractice, because he wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong or being negligent. He might have been, I'm not saying he was definitely innocent, but it could just as easily have been a simple freak accident. Sometimes even when you take all the precautions shit can still happen.

It's stuff like this that would put me off being a doctor (even if I was smart enough), because when you're dealing with thousands of patients a year, even if you're the most careful and skilled doctor in the world, it is statistically inevitable that at some point in your career something is gonna go terribly wrong for at least one or two of those patients, and you're gonna be held responsible. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to shoulder that responsibility.

[Yojimbo]

I agree that "shit happens" but intentional or not, accidental or out and out negligence, I say that doctors are highly paid NOT to make mistakes like this. They also, as a matter of regulation, have to have insurance that will cover them just in case of unforseen accidents.

I also agree that doctors have a very hard position, and not one that I would be willing (indeed if I were smart enough too) to do simply because of the immense responsibilities that they shoulder. But a patient was seriously injured and litterally could have died due to this "accident" so at the very least the doctor's insurance company needs to pay for the pain an suffering of this patient and all medical bills. It is up to clang and Mrs. Clang as to whether or not they should pursue anything further than this- and if they choose to do so, their actions should not be viewed as something coming from someone who is overly litigious. I can tell you that if someone caused my wife pain under any circumstances, I would want to make them pay dearly for it. Perhaps if this doctor takes a nice hit on his insurance making his premiums shoot up, maybe he will be a little more careful next time.


Check out how much, on the lower end, that physicians in the USA make! http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm

(Note: the figures on the above website are outdated since they reflect 2003 average physician wages. More than likely these have increased quite a bit over the last six years.)

Seems to me that if they are that well paid for an average 4 hour workday, then they can take the time not to accidently puncture a lung when administering pain meds.

Surely the good doctor did not mean to do this, so it was an accident. But fuck that, I say. It was an accident that should not have happened, and care needs to be taken to ensure that accidents like this neer happen. My gut response: if it happened to my wife I would sue the shit out of this overpaid motherfucker.

[krakenslayer]

I agree that "shit happens" but intentional or not, accidental or out and out negligence, I say that doctors are highly paid NOT to make mistakes like this. They also, as a matter of regulation, have to have insurance that will cover them just in case of unforseen accidents.

I also agree that doctors have a very hard position, and not one that I would be willing (indeed if I were smart enough too) to do simply because of the immense responsibilities that they shoulder. But a patient was seriously injured and litterally could have died due to this "accident" so at the very least the doctor's insurance company needs to pay for the pain an suffering of this patient and all medical bills. It is up to clang and Mrs. Clang as to whether or not they should pursue anything further than this- and if they choose to do so, their actions should not be viewed as something coming from someone who is overly litigious. I can tell you that if someone caused my wife pain under any circumstances, I would want to make them pay dearly for it. Perhaps if this doctor takes a nice hit on his insurance making his premiums shoot up, maybe he will be a little more careful next time.


Check out how much, on the lower end, that physicians in the USA make! http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm

(Note: the figures on the above website are outdated since they reflect 2003 average physician wages. More than likely these have increased quite a bit over the last six years.)

Seems to me that if they are that well paid for an average 4 hour workday, then they can take the time not to accidently puncture a lung when administering pain meds.

Surely the good doctor did not mean to do this, so it was an accident. But fuck that, I say. It was an accident that should not have happened, and care needs to be taken to ensure that accidents like this neer happen. My gut response: if it happened to my wife I would sue the shit out of this overpaid motherfucker.

I hope no one read my post above as suggesting that Clang's other half should not seek compensation for the financial and emotional situation it has left her in. I'm just playing devil's advocate and suggesting that we shouldn't necessarily lay "blame" with the doctor. Sure, there was a fuck up, but that doesn't mean he was negligent or committed malpractice. On the other hand - yes - the financial responsibility for dealing with the situation should not lie with Clang's wife, and the doctor will have insurance to cover that and having to pay out for that sort of thing is really just a hazard of the job.

[capncnut]

So get this. . . My wife goes to her pain management doctor's appointment. He gives her a shot of cortizone in the back and pierces her fucking lung!!! She goes home, has problems breathing, but thinks nothing of it. Her mom takes her to the doctor and turns out her lung is collapsed. So they proceed to poke a hole in my wife's side to put in a tube to reinflate the lung. She has spent the last 2 days at the hospital in some of the worst pain she has ever experienced as a result of going to a PAIN MANAGEMENT doctor!!!!
Take the c**t to the cleaners, Clangers. If that was my missus, he'd be flyin' head first out of the surgery window - Clarence Boddicker style. :mad:

[clanglee]

I'm going to try to make it to the doctor's office tomorrow before work. I'm going to tell him to cover the medical bills at the very least. If I get flak, then I will consult a lawyer. Something about the whole idea of suing just makes me feel unctuous, but I will if the fucker won't have the decency to fix this problem. I'll keep you guys posted.

[krakenslayer]

I'm going to try to make it to the doctor's office tomorrow before work. I'm going to tell him to cover the medical bills at the very least. If I get flak, then I will consult a lawyer. Something about the whole idea of suing just makes me feel unctuous, but I will if the fucker won't have the decency to fix this problem. I'll keep you guys posted.

Sounds like the honourable way to go Clag, good luck with that and I hope your wife gets better soon!

[AcesandEights]

I'm going to try to make it to the doctor's office tomorrow before work. I'm going to tell him to cover the medical bills at the very least. If I get flak, then I will consult a lawyer. Something about the whole idea of suing just makes me feel unctuous, but I will if the fucker won't have the decency to fix this problem.

Sounds like a good, level-headed plan. I would do some quick e-research first to make sure you're following procedures that will not hurt you after the fact, should you decide to obtain legal council and follow up in a more formal/legal manner. There must be some good information out there from patient advocacy groups.

In any event, my best to your wife, Clang. It's a shame she needs pain management to begin with and now an additional issue to deal with, no less. My best wishes for a quick recovery.

[clanglee]

Good advice Aces. I am actually going to contact a lawyer tomorrow morning first to see if this is even a case worth pursuing. Then I will proceed from there. I made some calls to the doctor's office today and I got a bit of the runaround, so before I say anything else, I am going to check it out with the lawyer first.

[Yojimbo]

Good advice Aces. I am actually going to contact a lawyer tomorrow morning first to see if this is even a case worth pursuing. Then I will proceed from there. I made some calls to the doctor's office today and I got a bit of the runaround, so before I say anything else, I am going to check it out with the lawyer first.
Wise move brother. It will not hurt anyone to at least check with a lawyer. You are a gentleman and obviously want to handle this in a civilized manner - not wishing to immediately cry foul and go the lawsuit route - which is admirable and shows a lot of self-restraint. At the very least, though, I think you and your wife should not have to pay anything out of pocket for this. Certainly it would appear, on the flipside, that your wife should be entitled to some compensation for her pain and suffering given that she went to the doctor for pain relief, not to further complicate her situation.

Good luck to you and your wife - I really hope that everything turns out ok for her!

[clanglee]

Well here is a case VERY similar to my wife's situation that did not go well for the plaintiff.

http://www.jvra.com/Verdict_Trak/article.aspx?id=133976

Although, in my wife's situation, I'm sure she wasn't moving around during the shot. In her situation, the accident happened because she is so small. Hmmm.

And thanks everyone for their well wishes.

[Exatreides]

How large was this needle? I was under the impression from Combat medic training that it had to be at least 2/3ds the size of the Trachea in order to do that, but then again you said that she was quite small.

Good thing it didn't develop into full tension pnumothorax, that's why you should always keep some good old 14g's around the house in case you ever have to decompress your loved ones :p

[clanglee]

She did have a pnumothorax, but I am not sure if it was full tnsion. I'll tell you what though, they popped that tube in her side with the quickness in the ER. Just as soon as the xrays showed her lung was collapsed.

As for the needle, It couldn't have been that big. That's what bugs me. I guess the doc could have injected into the chest cavity without peircing the lung, thus decreasing the pressure between the lung and the chest cavity. I don't know. But I am coming away from all this realising just how frail the human body really is.

[clanglee]

So it turns out that this is actually a rather common problem as far as these things go, so a malpractice lawsuit would be unlikely. The lawyer I spoke to didn't exactly jump on the case. He didn't count it out, but it would all depend on my wife's recovery really. But I am still convinced that the doctor's office should cover the hospital expenses. I'll give them a call this week and see what can be done.

[C5NOTLD]

Talk to another attorney.

Like anything, you have to shop around to find the good ones.

[kortick]

yea look for another lawyer,
there are lots who wont take a case
cuz the settlement isnt worth thier while

but others can settle it quick and get
whats fair for u without headaches.

some lawyers are worthless.
those are the type you hire
when you WANT to go to jail.

[krakenslayer]

Is this your doctor?:

http://piratepalooza.com/graphics/articles/2008/kriders_013.jpg

:lol::lol::lol:

[clanglee]

bah, can't see the pic from work. sorry. check it out at home tonight.

Yeah, I might call a lawyer in Charlotte as well just to see. Honestly tho, the more I look into and read about this situation, the less likely any legal action seems. Ahh well. . we shall see.

[krakenslayer]

bah, can't see the pic from work. sorry. check it out at home tonight.

Yeah, I might call a lawyer in Charlotte as well just to see. Honestly tho, the more I look into and read about this situation, the less likely any legal action seems. Ahh well. . we shall see.

Nevermind, it wasn't all that funny anyway. It's a pic of the crazy Dr. Merlin from Knightriders. If you've seen that movie, you'll know who I'm talking about.

[Skippy911sc]

Check this site out...

http://www.expertlaw.com/

It has a forum where you can ask some questions of lawyers...I think some of them are lawyers???

:p