Thursday, December 21, 200614
A mother wins a payout for hurt feelings
Luckily, Dr. Bennett doesn't practice in the UK. A mother gets over $80,000 after an anesthesiologist tells her to quit smoking:
A mother who was criticised by a doctor for nipping out for a cigarette moments before her caesarean operation has won more than £44,000 for her 'hurt feelings'.
The heavy smoker claimed that she developed severe post-natal depression after the anaesthetist told her off.
The patient, known only as Mrs G, delayed the operation by leaving the ward in the private clinic to get her nicotine fix.
The anaesthetist, referred to as Dr A, claimed her coughing made it difficult to give her an epidural before surgery.
After the birth he told her: 'You've seen your daughter born, if you give up smoking you might see her get married too.'
The patient, who is in her 20s, complained that the doctor had harassed her and was awarded £44,500 for 'pain and psychological distress'. Her legal fees were also paid for.
Comments
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Anonymous
But according to lawyer John Banzhaf,the doctor should be sued for NOT harrassing her to quit smoking (see earlier posts, this blog).
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WilliamManginoMD
Having performed over about a thousand epidurals-at least-for labor-it would be my opinion that since cessation of smoking causes increased coughing for a couple of weeks - that the advice given to this patient was wrong.
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Gasman
So the doc harrassed the patient. It was for a legitimate medical purpose. While the delivery of the message was probably ineffective it didn't violate any currently protected status, such as gender, sex, race, religion, etc.
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Anonymous
Mangino,
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WilliamManginoMD
Dear Anon 12:44 PM;
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Anonymous
Bill,
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WilliamManginoMD
Dear Anon 3:03 AM
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Anonymous
"Here's a message for all thin skins out there. You will be treated rudely throughout life; get over it.
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Anonymous
<<"Exhibit "A" as to why physicians should never give up the third party payer system. Too many of you lack the customer service skills to make it in the first party private pay world."
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Anonymous
What I love about this story is where do yo think the money will go? Cigarettes!
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Anonymous
"<<"Exhibit "A" as to why physicians should never give up the third party payer system. Too many of you lack the customer service skills to make it in the first party private pay world."
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Anonymous
NOT demanding your patients quit smoking is an actionable offense in New York. This whole issue is "darned if you do or darned if you don't."
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Anonymous
"MOrons like you did complain when physicians made it in the good ole' days of "1st party payer " of fee for service ."
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Anonymous
"Actually I'm quite smart"
Post a Comment »9:13 AM
Additionally-any anesthesiologist who can't get into the epidural space - even with the patient writhing about in pain - shouldn't be doing epidurals in the first place.
Just another wimp taking out his personal frustrations on his patients.
10:30 AM
Here's a message for all thin skins out there. You will be treated rudely throughout life; get over it.
11:17 AM
I have felt sorry for you as you have told your story here before and agree with much of what you say. Then you occasionally say something so stupid that I wonder if you don't deserve it.
12:44 PM
Most experienced anesthesiologists would encounter no particular degree of difficulty performing an epidural on a coughing, moving patient. Why don't you ask around if you don't understand this.
By applying steady pressure on the syringe-loss of resistance signifying entry into the epidural space can be achieved even with a significant amout of movement on the part of the patient.
It has been my personal experience that doctors who lash out at patients when things are not going smoothly-are often frustrated at their own technical inadequacies.
Chastising a patient because she smokes - on the day of the procedure - is not going to magically restore her lung function.
Actually I'm quite smart.
Get yourself into therapy - before this destroys your life.
6:40 PM
A thousand epidurals or not to your credit, you weren't there, so your bloviations are suspect. Once again.
You would do whatever ideas you have more credit if you weren't so irritatingly pompous and judgmental in your delivery. If you are even half as smart as you say you are, then I expect you would have already figured this out.
3:03 AM
That may be so-but calling me stupid is out of line-not to mention that unless you are the anesthesiologist in question I just might be right--I suspect I am.
I respect what you say and think-but the thousand gives me some insight as to what probably DID occur.
If you know different--then tell me.
No hard feelings.
6:38 AM
# posted by Gasman : 11:17 AM"
Exhibit "A" as to why physicians should never give up the third party payer system. Too many of you lack the customer service skills to make it in the first party private pay world.
10:36 AM
True or not, that world is pretty tiny, one of the dwarf planets.
11:32 AM
10:57 AM
MOrons like you did complain when physicians made it in the good ole' days of "1st party payer " of fee for service .You cried foul and got all of us into this mess. Many of us will be much better off to receive the paycheck from your hand not the insurers.People will flock to someone as long as he/she can provide a service playing the rules of the market.Sick of your Doctor? just Switch over.
3:24 PM
Physicians are merely fattened cattle walking into the slaughter for a corrupt lawyer industry to parasitize off.
4:09 PM
I'm not old enough to remember those days. You guys made that bargain in the 60s.
"Many of us will be much better off to receive the paycheck from your hand not the insurers."
No, many of you won't, because you have no idea of the concepts of "customer service" nor the difficulties in having to collect from individuals. When you don't get paid now, you file class actions against insurance companies who almost certainly can pay. Or, like Anon 4:09, you despise your patients so much and have so little understanding of business that you'll never last on your own.
12:25 PM
And it has been my experience that pompous and arrogant physicians often know the least about taking care of patients.
Please just don't tell us that the "thousand epidurals" you performed were with "a smile" to 14 year old Medicaid patients with no prenatal care at 3 a.m. with our tax dollars.
The ONLY reason this anesthetist might have been better to hold his tongue was that this occurred at a private clinic rather than at a NHS clinic. Stupid is as stupid does, but cash is king.
12:13 AM