Comments on: Triple-bypass surgery, wrong films

By: Gibbon

Gibbon — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:16:00 +0000

From the Article in the Bee.

"Baumgartner said in the next few months her chest pains and other symptoms were worse than they were before the surgery, so she consulted a Morgan Hill cardiologist in February 2006."

Money Quote: "He ran tests, finding a number of blockages in her coronary artery system. The tests revealed that one bypass had missed the worst blockage, a lesion on an artery with a more than 90 percent blockage."

Dr Fung is Phucked.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:51:00 +0000

I’ve never been to the hospital where everyone wasn’t constantly asking my name and birthdate to make sure I was really the right person. Now, some of them even scan your name ID band, “their own ID badge”, and the bar code on the records, films, meds or whatever. yes, if he is performing a procedure he needs to verify the files match the person. How could anyone think otherwise?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:14:00 +0000

Yet another individual who expects 100% flawless performance from the rest of the world, but is unable to even control her food intake. Great.

Cheers,
Felix Kasza.

By: DR. MARY JOHNSON

DR. MARY JOHNSON — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:03:00 +0000

Sounds reasonable, Dr. Hubbard. This situation is kinda like transplanting a heart without checking a blood type.

I fear that, as hospitals become more dependent upon electronic medical records, this sort of thing will become more common. The transition period (from paper to computer) is particularly ripe for mistakes. “Crashes” are no fun either.

By: J. Hubbard, MD

J. Hubbard, MD — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:18:00 +0000

A reasonable surgeon would check the name on the film/image. If the individual image(s) were labled with another patient’s name/ID then liability rests on the surgeon. If mislabled with this patient’s name/ID then liability would seem to rest on the institution.

By: KoKo

KoKo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:09:00 +0000

Did the angiogram used in the procedure have the patients name and ID number on it?

If it did, did the surgeon check this info? If not, why not?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:55:00 +0000

It depends on details that aren’t available here. If it’s the hospital tech’s job to get the angiogram for every case and put it in the room for the surgeon and he put the wrong one in, then yes, it is the hospital’s fault and not the surgeons. I’m sure the lawyers would demand that before you do a case on someone you get a DNA sample to make sure they’re really who the hospital says they are, repeat all scans yourself (and develop the films yourself to be sure) to make sure they’re all of the right person and develop all instrumentation yourself to make sure the manufacturer didn’t screw up. Unfortunately here in the real world, we have to trust the people around us to do their jobs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:05:00 +0000

The surgeon has no duty to make sure he’s operating on the right thing? They’re basically just robots who follow instructions? Are you serious?

What do you want her to sue for? Bananas?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:56:00 +0000

Why is she suing the surgeon, except for the money? It’s not his fault, it’s the technician’s and the hospital’s. Disgusting.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:52:00 +0000

I deleted my comment #3 since it involved my yelling in frustration at the idiotic commentors at this blog.