$3M Malpractice Lawsuit? Yikes!

[FCBarca1990]

Hey guys,

I'm not sure if someone's posted this already, but check out this article if you're interested:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/05/28/2010-05-28_widow_wants_3m_for_kidney_death.html

Thoughts? I'm a bit irked by the quote from the lawyer, which almost seems to paint the surgeon as some kind of evil practitioner with the intent of killing the patient. I think the surgeon's defense is perfectly reasonable; the patient was informed of the present cancer and could have gotten it removed but chose not to. However, it probably would have been smart on the surgeon's part to have kept some kind of documentation of the agreement....

Anyway, here's a prime example of patient autonomy for you...

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[Frazier]

I would post a thumbs down, but it would be borderline hypocritical.

Everyone [read: 99.99%] wants money. If she found a lottery ticket (per se) for 3 million bucks - of course she's gonna try to cash it in. The more that the "ticket" is worth, the merrier.

Same goes for the lawyer -- gotta make that 33% commission, man!
He's got a cool mil riding on the verdict.

 

[Penner]

So ridiculous.

 

[Web MD]

How is there no documentation for this? Pretty sure leaving a diseased kidney in someone would make any surgeon begin with "so just sign right here and then we can talk"....

 

[FuSoYa]

the article didn't seem to say much. what exactly did the hospital and/or doctor do wrong here?

 

[christina30]

I don't see where the hospital went wrong here. The patient's cancer was undiagnosed - they didn't know. And this lawyer is a hack - "when in doubt, take it out"? Who does he think he is, Johnnie Cochran?

 

[futureboy]

Update on above link--Jury finds NYU [and doctor] not liable in kidney transplant death

 

[KTownGT]

I don't see where the hospital went wrong here. The patient's cancer was undiagnosed - they didn't know. And this lawyer is a hack - "when in doubt, take it out"? Who does he think he is, Johnnie Cochran?

Ron Jeremy.

Hiyo!

 

[pvmed]

.

 

[Slack3r]

But thanks to the US court system, the doctor was able to waste plenty to time and money to prove he was innocent.

God bless Ameeeeeeerica!

 

[plauto]

the doc was lucky the hospital did not settle. Unfortunately many hospitals settle for PR reasons. This gives patients more reasons to bring about frivolous lawsuits. I am waiting for a jury to start handing out heavy fines for frivolous lawsuits. It's a waste of taxpayers' money along with the defendants'. This seems to me the only way to stop it (since Mr. Obama along with congress are incapable/unwilling to do anything about it).

 

[Dr Oops]

the doc was lucky the hospital did not settle. Unfortunately many hospitals settle for PR reasons. This gives patients more reasons to bring about frivolous lawsuits. I am waiting for a jury to start handing out heavy fines for frivolous lawsuits. It's a waste of taxpayers' money along with the defendants'. This seems to me the only way to stop it (since Mr. Obama along with congress are incapable/unwilling to do anything about it).

theyre not gonna go against their biggest donors.

 

[drizzt3117]

How frivolous a suit that was. Glad she didn't get a freakin' dime.

I'm all for tort reform, but how is it a frivolous suit when someone gets a transplanted organ with cancer? There needs to be some level of responsibility for screening, whether that's at Newburgh, or NYU, or wherever.