Underwent a preventative open heart surgery in order to get clearance to get a back fusion for stenosis. Well, her brilliant physician SAID he performed four minor grafts. She died four days after surgery, after spending three days in afib – following protocol *give it a while to straighten out, if not medicate it, if not then shock her back into a normal rhythm.*

Day four she codes and her cause of death on her death certificate is ‘natural causes’ (of course).
Shortly before I had mom ext’bd I had the pleasure of trying to understand some foreign version of the English we hear on the CBS news – and on his third repetition understood him finally as saying

“your patient was old, fat, sometimes these things happen, we don’t know what exactly went wrong, sometimes it doesn’t go as planned.”

I was a little freaked, but after photographing my mother’s mutilated body, I discretely arranged for her to be sent out for autopsy.

I had nothing to gain but understanding into this mysterious ‘sometimes these things happen’ explanation of her death.

Her surgeon said he put in four grafts. Her pathologist, only found three, ironically those three leading to her RCA ….which was left untouched w/ 90% stenosis….not thrombosis….but the same 90 percent stenosis it had when he took her heart OUT and put it back IN.

So pretty much from the time they took her off bypass, she was a sitting duck.

So, frivilous? I don’t know. You tell me.

My folks are those blue blooed self insured that write checks for everything – - so I really had to laugh when the doctor expected payment for doing shoddy work. I keep looking back on my work history, and can’t remember the last time I botched a job and got paid anyway.

I kept hearing….’well, she was 70…’ and I have to wonder to what degree does ageism play in the significance of ‘getting it right’ in the medical field?

Would it have mattered more if my mom were a chubby 42 year old loan officer with a wife and three kids??? Or a 60 year old golf pro?

This case went straight to mediation and settlement. The doctor didn’t even waste his time doing otherwise. There was no defense. It was an “oops!! we forgot THAT RCA graft”

My parents were wealthy – we would have gladly cut her surgeon a check for 400k to do his job right that day – in addition to the medical bill. Maybe that’s what it’s coming to nowdays – slipping in an extra 100k before the surgery to make sure things go right. (I do this at the car wash to make sure they clean the carpets extra carefully – even when it’s supposedly paid for in the total cost.)

This story is not unique- except that I dared send my mom out for an autopsy. I’d bank so many medical mistakes – critical errors are covered by the peace of mind that physicians get from knowing that 99% of grieving families would not do the same.

On that front – the malpractice of medicine is a gold mine. What if everyone wanted to know EXACTLY what killed their loved one?

What if the practice of medicine were put to the TEST of the pathologist a little more often – or in a random sample to measure the quality of the care/surgery received compared to the outcome?

It’s a thought.

In the meantime, I’d tell anyone who gets this type of explanation for death? to quietly send their loved one out for an autopsy.

While doctors deserve respect – the survivor mentality should be to have good faith, try to trust – but verify that which can not be rationally explained – and to know that “well…she was 70 and chubby” is never a good reason to die.

Sign me, Somewhere in Seattle

I can see folks who have never had an inclination in their life to sue anyone, wanting to get a piece of you. Man, you just make people hate you. Why did you become a doctor and why don’t you get out of it?

I love this phrase. Hey, no guarantees, we don’t have any control anyway so you can’t hold us responsible, but make sure to pay us more!

“Anyone can swim anywhere and if they drown.. well then…one less stupid person in the world.”
This is a simple descriptions of how things work outside of the US.
Have you ever travelled to Mexico, for example or the South of France? There are no restrictions, is it an invitation to swim as far as you think you can? If you overestimate your ability and ignore the possibility of currents and sharks, is it the hotel’s fault that something happens or yours? It can happen to me too – I can do stupid things sometimes, and yes, if something happens, it’d be my fault, but I still want to have the right to do these stupid things.

You also discriminate against ill people and obese people.
Where did you get this from?
I’ve never ever said anything against ill people; pray show where I did. I’ve never been rude toward obese people either nor called anyone names. Give a single example that would indicate discrimination.

You also discriminate against ill people and obese people.

Are you related to crazy doc?

Your friends in Eastern Europe live in countries where they cannot rely on the rule of law. They don’t get to see a jury of their peers when someone else’s negligence harms them.

I would be careful about comparing unfavorably our system with any other until you’ve seen those in action.

As for most vulnerable to “frivolous” litigation, physicians are the least vulnerable of any business because the barriers to filing are higher than most and the statute of limitations shorter.

Product warnings exist because too often, in a rush to sell more, manufacturers don’t adequately disclose the risk. See Vioxx for example.

How many med mal cases have you settled with these insurers who pay out really quickly on meritless cases?

A friend of mine – who is also from Eastern Europe as I am once called litigation an “American national sport”. This is a bit off-topic, but one thing that immigrants notice immediately is the number of prohibitions – don’t swim there, don’t do that, etc. And product warnings that get more idiotic every day. There is a price for all frivolous lawsuits – whether it is in extra money or in reduced freedom (strange to talk about less freedom coming from Eastern Europe, but if you go to any of the lakes there you can swim wherever and whenever you want and if you swim too far or skate on thin ice and drown – well, one stupid person less in the world, warning for others). I do realize that doctors are much more vulnerable than most and that cost of frivolous litigation is higher in medical field. But it is not negligible in other businesses as well.