Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Unfortunate: A 30-year old man, already paralyzed from the waist down, suffered further damage after falling off the gurney during a chest X-ray
"Nathan Ogden, 30, whose lower body had been paralyzed by a 2001 skiing accident, sued the hospital after his neck was broken in a gurney accident in 2003, causing him to lose most of his upper body function. The jury found the hospital was negligent in providing medical care to Ogden.
At the time of the gurney accident, Ogden was suffering from pneumonia. His wife called an ambulance after she could not wake him up, and he was taken to St. Luke's in Meridian.
Once there, the unconscious man was placed on a gurney and wheeled into an X-ray room, Ogden's lawyer Rex Blackburn said. A hospital employee sat Ogden up at an angle and didn't secure him to the gurney before lowering a side rail, Blackburn said. Ogden fell out of the gurney, breaking his neck at the fifth and sixth vertebrae."
"Nathan Ogden, 30, whose lower body had been paralyzed by a 2001 skiing accident, sued the hospital after his neck was broken in a gurney accident in 2003, causing him to lose most of his upper body function. The jury found the hospital was negligent in providing medical care to Ogden.
At the time of the gurney accident, Ogden was suffering from pneumonia. His wife called an ambulance after she could not wake him up, and he was taken to St. Luke's in Meridian.
Once there, the unconscious man was placed on a gurney and wheeled into an X-ray room, Ogden's lawyer Rex Blackburn said. A hospital employee sat Ogden up at an angle and didn't secure him to the gurney before lowering a side rail, Blackburn said. Ogden fell out of the gurney, breaking his neck at the fifth and sixth vertebrae."
Posted by Kevin |
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Comments:
I like that choice of words by Kevin - "Unfortunate". How "unfortunate" that the hospital's negligence resulted in your neck breaking, sir.
It's an unwarranted outrage or morally reprehensible or evidence of patients' greed if you sue a physician. But a broken neck - just unfortunate.
It's an unwarranted outrage or morally reprehensible or evidence of patients' greed if you sue a physician. But a broken neck - just unfortunate.
# posted by 
: 4:31 PM
: 4:31 PM
So you want to replace the word unfortunate with your choice of words. So here it goes:
An unwarranted outrage or morally reprehensible evidence of greed if you sue a physician: A 30-year old man, already paralyzed from the waist down, suffered further damage after falling off the gurney during a chest X-ray.
An unwarranted outrage or morally reprehensible evidence of greed if you sue a physician: A 30-year old man, already paralyzed from the waist down, suffered further damage after falling off the gurney during a chest X-ray.
# posted by : 5:37 PM
: 5:37 PM
Oh the silly snipes. Commenter 1 has a point. The word "unfortunate" means literally, without fortuna, without luck (Fortuna was the Roman goddess of luck -- O fortuna, velut luna/statu variabilis)
Sometimes, doctors use the word to refer to random events--like a particularly horrible disease.
KevinMD, however, used it to refer to something that was clearly NOT random and for which an individual has clear moral responsibility.
Thus, doctor's use of the word unfortunate is really a moral dodge. A refusal to be accountable. This is not surprising from KevinMD: he supports a workmancomp like system to replace the existing tort system--why? Doctors won't have to take responsibility. I think that's unfortunate.
Sometimes, doctors use the word to refer to random events--like a particularly horrible disease.
KevinMD, however, used it to refer to something that was clearly NOT random and for which an individual has clear moral responsibility.
Thus, doctor's use of the word unfortunate is really a moral dodge. A refusal to be accountable. This is not surprising from KevinMD: he supports a workmancomp like system to replace the existing tort system--why? Doctors won't have to take responsibility. I think that's unfortunate.
# posted by : 10:49 PM
: 10:49 PM
Why are you all assuming that a doctor is negligent here? The article says "a hospital employee" - in the x-ray room that could easily mean an orderly, a nurse or a radiographist.
- Not that that changes anything, or what? I mean even an orderly with his not-so-deep pockets must be held accountable, right?
- Not that that changes anything, or what? I mean even an orderly with his not-so-deep pockets must be held accountable, right?
# posted by : 11:52 PM
: 11:52 PM
Dr. Isberg is better at sarcasm than reading. Anon 11.49 said nothing about whether doctors or orderlies are to blame--rather on the way doctors use words to evade responsibility generally.
Ahh, but Dr. Isberg's Norwegian--perhaps the years of his nation's collaboration with Hitler has clouded his judgment.
Ahh, but Dr. Isberg's Norwegian--perhaps the years of his nation's collaboration with Hitler has clouded his judgment.
# posted by : 7:47 AM
: 7:47 AM
"collaboration with Hitler "
That didn't take long. What is the name of the droll weblog expression that the length of a weblog thread and the probability of appearance of references to Nazis and Hitler approaches unity?
I thought the Nazis invaded Norway.
That didn't take long. What is the name of the droll weblog expression that the length of a weblog thread and the probability of appearance of references to Nazis and Hitler approaches unity?
I thought the Nazis invaded Norway.
# posted by : 8:41 AM
: 8:41 AM
that would be Godwin's Law; as opposed to Murphy's law, which applies to mishandled unconscious patients, and that one in particcular.
Heck, I think all the doctors on the entire hospital staff should be sued. Somebody needs to pay for this poor guy's misfortune. CJD? Elliot?
# posted by : 9:44 AM
: 9:44 AM
It appears the negligent party already has paid, Anonymous. You should read for comprehension.
# posted by : 10:01 AM
: 10:01 AM
I happen to know the 30-year old man, and what Kevin MD doesn't tell you is that he's married with 3 children under 6 & is now basically a quadriplegic who can no longer provide for his family. It's not greed that motivated the suit. It's survival.
Unfortunate is one of the lightest words that could be used to describe the incident--I'd go more along the lines of horrific, terrible, a tragedy, etc.--but he is dealing with it incredibly well.
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Unfortunate is one of the lightest words that could be used to describe the incident--I'd go more along the lines of horrific, terrible, a tragedy, etc.--but he is dealing with it incredibly well.
# posted by : 5:42 PM
: 5:42 PM
