I was just there in May of 2008.

I wish I would have seen this 1 month ago.

I have had what I thought was an abdominal muscle strain that just kept getting re-aggrevated. I finally went to a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic and he diagnosed me with an Inguinal Hernia. He was wrong. He sent me to the surgeon. The surgeon could not find the Hernia and casually sent me for a CT Scan. No discussion about costs or what this test was about. I did not have the background or frame of mind to ask about costs. I figured it could not be much because I am just getting diagnosed for simply either a aggrevated muscle or a hernia. Medical 101. Nothing else was discussed. The CT scan showed that I did not have an inguinal hernia. I do have an aggrevated muscle.

My bill came the other day and they charged me $3500 for 2 CT scans. ????? I am at wits end.

The Clinic is telling me I should have asked for the costs. I am telling them they should have let me know this is an expensive procedure and that it is not really necessary. Am I supposed to ask for the costs and how many pictures they are going to take? I am just an ignorant patient who goes to see a doctor about once every 5 years. The Cleveland Clinic posts a patients bill of rights but I say it is lip service. I did not experience world class treatment nor customer service.

What can I do to fight this?

Abdominal CT with contrast is $1910 at the Cleveland Clinic.

http://cms.clevelandclinic.org/documents/CCMain_HB197_2007.pdf

That “rack rate” of seven grand is going to get cut back quite a bit.

Kevin, if you still have any connection with the reporters who did the news segment, you may want to point them in that direction. The grossly inflated “rack rate” at most hospitals, and how the uninsured can get stuck actually paying that.

Your ideas are great ! Why should I write them down for you ? You have literary talent. DO IT !

I was thinking to quit writing and become an executioner. After all, in the post-electric chair era, who knows better than an anesthesiologist how to administer intravenous drugs ?

But the lawyers scare me. What happens if “the patient” survives ?
Will I have to buy “Executioner Malpractice Insurance”….?
(If you read my book, you’ll find this idea in it -SORRY !)

Dr. N

You know pretty well that physicians (like all other professionals), discuss victories and try to forget defeats.

Where would I find you 5 RIL cases ?

All I know is that the undersigned had one such a law suit -which made me write “terrO.R.” (fiction ?)- and for me, Res Ipsa not only represents 100% of my legal experience but also made me realize how easy it is for ambulance chassers to make money on physicians backs.

JJN

Here is another one: statistically speaking, the unsafest place in America is a hospital bed. More people die in a hospital bed than in any other location: restaurant, shopping mall or ice-cream parlor.

I had my bed for 40 years already and, so far, nobody dared dying in it. Therefore, if American get sick, let them stay home in the safety of their beds.

BEST,

Dr. N

P.S. I would love to have your opinion on my above mentioned novel.