Medical Malpractice

[JOEBIALEK]

On May 7, 2001, my mother, Eileen Bialek {age 72} underwent elective surgery for correction of a prolapsed uterus and cystocle. The surgeon in the department of Urology at a major medical facility in Cleveland agreed to perform an open laparotomy with a uterine suspension. Eileen’s past medical history included colon resection for bowel cancer 18 years prior. The surgeon was aware that she had previous abdominal surgery but decided that open laparotomy was the procedure of choice and did not discourage Eileen from this type of surgery despite the risk of complications. He did not offer her a second opinion. No prior medical conditions pertinent to this surgery were present. With the exception of symptoms of urgency and a visually prolapsed uterus, Eileen had no other medical problems. She was active in her church and community as well as taking care of her spouse.
Postoperative course initially was normal until discharge when she started to vomit bile and was readmitted 18 hours post discharge. The surgeon evaluated Eileen and suspected she developed a postoperative ileus. His initial treatment consisted of telling her daughter to " give her a milkshake" to encourage her bowel to move. She did indeed follow the surgeon's advice; however, Eileen’s condition continued to deteriorate. Conservative treatment over the following two weeks consisted of clear liquids and nothing by mouth. Total parenteral nutrition {TPN} was then initiated and finally bowel decompression via nasogastric tube. Preliminary x-rays were done but results were not followed up on.

At two weeks postop a computed tomography {CT} scan was done which revealed a blockage in the small bowel. The surgeon advised Eileen of the need to return to surgery because he suspected that an adhesion was causing the blockage and it needed to be released. Eileen consented to the surgery and requested that her previous surgeon {bowel cancer} be in attendance. The current surgeon said he was out of town and he was asking another colorectal surgeon to be on hand.

Eileen was taken to surgery May 17, 2001. After 5.5 hrs of surgery the surgeon informed her daughter that he found a portion of the small bowel had twisted and he had to resect a portion of it. Because there were enterotomies, a jejunostomy was placed along with two mucous fistuals. Blood loss required transfusion of six units of blood during surgery. Eileen was transferred to the surgical intensive care where she required full fluid resuscitation and mechanical ventilation for two weeks. She sustained atrial fibrillation, required seventeen units of blood and clotting factors secondary to developing large retroperitonal hematoma. She remained in the ICU for 4 weeks and transferred to the floor for two more weeks at which time she was admitted to a long term acute care hospital. Before discharge the resident informed her that she had a rectal laceration and would need to have that repaired when her jejunostomy would be reversed in one year. She remained at the acute care hospital for 4 weeks then transferred to a nursing home to continue her recovery. Eileen was so debilitated from the surgery she required daily physical and occupational therapy.

During this entire time she experienced daily nausea and vomiting. Physicians at two different hospitals were consulted and determined that gallstones in the common bile duct were causing her symptoms along with elevated liver function. Eileen underwent repeated endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatopography {ERCP} over the next several months as no surgeon would remove her gallbladder for risk of causing more bleeding and complications.

Eileen had two episodes of sepsis treated by antibiotics during several readmits to the original surgical facility.

Finally in December of 2002, she became acutely septic and unresponsive and was transferred to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. The hospital surgeon determined that removing her gallbladder was probably her only chance to survive. She was placed on full life support, aggressive antibiotic management, vasopressor agents and taken to surgery. The surgeon successfully removed the gallbladder and informed the family that her organs were stuck together like cement. He gave no guarantees but stated that with antibiotics and life support she may be able to survive but with an arduous recovery. The bilirubin continued to rise; she was severely jaundiced and no longer responded to increase vasopressors or dialysis. Eileen Bialek expired on January 8, 2002. The postmortem documents indicated that she died of organ failure secondary to sepsis. The origin of the infection was vancomycin resistant enterococci {VRE} in the common bile duct probably secondary to the ERCP or the residual retroperitoneal hematoma.

I believe she was deceived by her surgeon in terms of the full disclosure of the risks involved in this kind of surgery. Anyone who knew her would testify that she was not one to take un-necessary risks. Accordingly, I am asking Congress to pass "Do No Harm" legislation requiring a neutral third party to be present during all pre-surgical consultations.

[Ajinryu]

Linkage? I'd like to read more on this. Unless this is all there is?

[Nomi]

Medical malpractice is an absolutely retarded, bogus, and shitty topic. Sometimes, it's a CLEAR violation of the medical professional, and they need to be punished if they've KNOWINGLY neglected something or messed up seriously.

My dad's a doctor, though, so I get defensive. He's been sued over 20 times, and not once has it ever made it to upper court or has he lost a claim. People sue doctors for EVERYTHING. A doctor can't predict exactly what's going to happen all the time, and it just gets absurd how some people think all their money is going to make them feel better. I know it's hard when something goes wrong, but ruining a good doctor's life isn't going to make anything change.

Now, when a doctor screws up, yes, action needs to be taken. We lost a family friend because a great doctor with an awesome history misdiagnosed a rare tumor that resulted in mistreatment and the woman's death. Should he have lost his job, lost all of his money and have his family destroyed because he missed something that three other doctors ALSO misdiagnosed before him? I don't think so. Yes, it's a tragedy, but doctors are not perfect. Not everyone can be saved, and medicine is so damn complex, I'm sick of all the frivolous suits as people think doctors can save everybody. If they can't, then they get sued. It's sick, and needs to stop. I don't think a doctor who has done everything within his power to help someone should lose all his money and his license because of one mistake that was not a result of poor practice. Shit happens, and it sucks, but suing a guy for 2 million dollars isn't going to change anything.

I have a lot of sympathy for those who have lost someone due to a medical procedure. A lot of times, doctors get sued even when it can't be concluded that it was entirely their fault. Technology isn't perfect, and most surgical procedures have SO many things that can go wrong...

I guess I'm just saying, it's not always the doc's fault, and filing a lawsuit won't fix anything. Make the doctor be suspended and attend heavy course training on whatever went wrong.

When they're jerks about it, won't talk to and don't provide proof of anything, then I fully say take action. Your trusting your well being to someone else, and they have a responsibility to do everything within their power to fix it, or direct you to someone better suited. I'm not ignorant to idiotic surgeons and medical mishaps, but they're in the minority of lawsuits. Do a lot of research, find all documentation involved with the case, and try to determine, hands down, that it was one man's mistake before you take legal action. Feeling bad about something going wrong or thinking they didn't do enough isn't enough evidence to lay such hard charges. Get records from everyone involve and talk to as many people as possible, and be thorough. You can find sometimes find out where things turned bad and what exactly happened, things they may not tell the family outright.

If it's 100% clearcut malpractice, take action, but just be smart about it.

[AstroBlue]

I agree with everything Nomi says, suing doctors in most cases is biting the hand that could save your life. Doctors are human and everybody makes mistakes at work, it's only their mistakes, sadly, may have fatal consequences. Sometimes it will be associations or the hospital that pick up the bill of a lawsuit, and in that case, suing is fucking counter intuitive. People should work more on lobbying hospitals to improve quality assurance procedures and preventative measures, rather than suing.

Accordingly, I am asking Congress to pass "Do No Harm" legislation requiring a neutral third party to be present during all pre-surgical consultations.

[Jeremy]

I nearly lost my sight due to a misdiagnosis and hold no ill-will towards it, since it was an easy mistake to make, and one that was rectified to the best extent it could. It sickens me to see so many folks sue over petty shit though, since it does ruin the doctors' lives and likely makes them fearful, which isn't going to help them, or their patients, in any way.

[Calliander]

Go cry me a river. She was 72. That's 42 years past her expiration date anyway. I hope the doctor offed her on purpose.

Isn't that last name the same as the girl from Blossom?

[AstroBlue]

I nearly lost my sight due to a misdiagnosis and hold no ill-will towards it, since it was an easy mistake to make, and one that was rectified to the best extent it could.

Jeremy, what is the exact cause of all your medical problems? Sorry if that's a bit rude, I'm just curious.

[Drewbacca]

This story is absolutely disgusting and I can't believe anyone would actually read all of that. I read the beginning and end of the first paragraph and now feel as though I must vomit.

[AstroBlue]

That's 42 years past her expiration date anyway.

She was a "runner".

[arjue]

I nearly lost my life due to mis-diagnosis. When I was 2, my appendix burst, and all the doctors said I was complaining about nappie rash because its ridiculously unlikely to be my appendix at that age. luckily they caught on eventually and did an emergency operation.