“Joel Bieber enjoys playing Ping Pong in the rain. He initially thought he would be an Armadillo Shepherd, but decided to go to law school instead.”
Medical Treatment Head Shaker
Several years back, I represented a lady, as a result of bad dental care. She went to the dentist and was told that she needed to have her wisdom teeth removed. Rather than referring her to an oral surgeon, the dentist scheduled the procedure. This, of course, was the dentist that her insurance company had sent her to, as a participating plan member.
The morning of the surgery, she was put under by anesthesia. When she awoke, her jaw was wired shut, without explanation. She didn’t think that a wisdom tooth procedure was so drastic. Then, she found out that during the extraction, the dentist broke one side of her jaw. He didn’t stop. He continued to the other side and broke that side of the jaw, as well. During deposition testimony, the dental hygienist testified that, during the procedure, the Dentist was on the phone and was arguing with his wife.
The case settled a day before trial. There wasn’t much of a defense. The only thing that was at issue was the damages. Unfortunately, my client probably is still living with the numbness of her bottom lip and may have residual problems, from the 2 places, where her jaw was broken. I also suspect that she still has a mistrust of dentists.
I read two news stories that reminded me of that case. I will put each in the form of one paragraph, but obviously, I am not doing justice to the suffering that has been caused by subpar care. Also, a great majority of medical care providers would never cause this kind of harm. Unfortunately, the national health care bill that is being debated, would include limiting damages against these types of doctors. So, in that context, I post the following:
The Seattle Times reports that the Air Force is investigating the circumstances surrounding what caused a 20 year old airman to lose both of his legs, during a supposed routine gallbladder surgery. According to reports, the gallbladder was to have been removed laparoscopically. However, when the doctor was going in, he nicked the airman’s aorta. When they went to repair that, they somehow disrupted blood flow throughout his body, When blood flow was restored, his circulation to the legs was so badly damaged, that both legs had to be amputated. He still is slipping in and out of consciousness. He still is experiencing kidney function impairment.
The St Louis Post Dispatch is reporting on an ongoing medical malpractice case involving a doctor who perforated a patient’s colon, during surgery. As a result of the perforation, they had to remove about a foot of his colon. The evidence to the jury has included that the doctor was on oxycodone, a strong pain killer, during the surgery. The hospital had become aware of the drug problem in 2003, when a surgical nurse reported that the doctor had fallen asleep during one surgery. In 2006, after he perforated the colon, that is the subject of the lawsuit, his license was suspended and then subsequently revoked, after he repeatedly tested positive for the same painkiller.
For the original posting by Joel Bieber, a good friend of the No Insurance Club and well known Liability attorney in Virginia, visit his personal site at http://joelbiebersblog.joelbieber.com/my_weblog/. For more information about the most affordable health care coverage around, visit http://www.noinsuranceclub.com.
