Peter and King,
The problem is the 40 year old woman who goes in for back surgery and the doctors mistakenly identify a vein as the iliolumbar instead of as the external illiac vein. The external illiac drains the entire lower leg of blood. They decide to ligate and close it because it is "in the way." They then find in post-op recovery pressures in her lower leg 3 or 4 times normal but don't do the necessary emergency surgery for 8 hours, each hoping the other will take care of the problem. Patient ends up in multiple organ failure with lifetime loss of use of her leg and extreme permanent pain syndrome. Can't even go to the bathroom without help. Will spend her life out of work and essentially bed ridden and in pain.

The problem is the woman who goes in for knee replacement surgery and when she is taken to the recovery room she is still asleep. The orthopedic surgeon has a golf tee time and wants to start the next case. So, the anesthesiologist extubates the patient and leaves her asleep. She chokes. By the time he gets back to her (and breaks her jaw trying to re-intubate her), she is brain dead from lack of oxygen. Her devoted husband is left with some nasty choices and will never have his wife.

The problem is the woman who has gastric bypass surgery and develops a small ulcer right at the anastomosis (the new connection between the stomach and intestine). She can't hold down any food. The hospital and several doctors treat her for 3 months including 9 infusions of water because she is dehydrated. They never give her any nutrition. She is so sick she is in the hospital for over two weeks. Still, no nutrition. One day, after two weeks in the hospital,she is batty. They call in the neurologists. Well, she has developed Wernicke's encephalopathy. An irreversable condition characterized by ataxia, ophthalmoplegia, confusion, and impairment of short-term memory. This condition is caused by lack of protein. It happens right there in the hospital. It could have been cured by simply giving her IV nutrition any time before it manifested. It takes months to develop. She spends the rest of her normal life in a wheelchair drooling and being fed and having her butt wiped by others. She can remember her whole past, who she is, who her family are. But, she can't carry on a coherent conversation because she has NO short term memory. Kind of like Alzheimer's disease. (Course, the good news is you can tell her the same joke over and over a hundred times. It never gets old.)

The problem is the young mother having her second child. After the birth she develops extremely high blood pressure. A well know condition called pre-eclampsia. The condition is fairly easily treated with immediate infusion of mag sulfate. But, some knuckle heads decides not to give that drug for about 8 hours. She develops full blown eclampsia and dies of multiple organ failure and brain hemorrhage. She leaves behind the new baby and his 3 year old sister and a husband who earns a modest wage with no other family to help him.

The problem is that when real malpractice occurs, it can be devastating and extremely expensive to deal with. And, for what it is worth, over 35 states have enacted "tort reform" for medical malpractice cases. It is the most restrictive area of law for a claimant/plaintiff in about half of the United States. Recoveries for death of a child or spouse or for a lifetime of debilitating pain is $250,000. That is it. Not a dime more. And, to prosecute such a case to a successful conclusion costs about $100,000. Most good lawyers can't afford take medical malpractice cases on.

There are certainly system abuses out there. There are certainly frivolous suits filed. But, eliminating responsibility for one's actions has some inequity built in as well.

And, if we are all fans of "personal responsibility" and "taking responsibility for our own actions" then that also must mean that when someone screws up, they should take responsibility for the results.

Don't you think?

Jake

R. Craig Clark
jakearoo(at)cox.net