The right decision was handed down today.
But one problem as I see it.
In a case that should have never even come close to a jury, 3 jurors bought the story hook line and sinker.
Sad Sad Sad
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Friday, March 14, 2008
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8 Outbursts:
Anyone know the details of the other medical providers and the hospital and why they were such pansies and settled? I am glad these two docs had the guts to go to the mat and fight it.
As above.
One wonder's if this was a regular joe instead of a Hollywood personality if the others would have settled the way they did. I suspect the widow found a good landshark to strong arm them into settling. I suspect it was the same landshark who brought about a 67 million dollar suit in the hopes of scaring the remaining docs into settling with thoughts of financial ruin (most insurance limits I see per case are 1-2 million)
The simple fact as any doctor who has seen an acute aortic dissection knows, it has a grim prognosis. The way the plantiff pounded away about the chest X-ray showed a complete lack of understanding as to the limits of chest X-rays in this setting. It sure seems like this is a bad outcome on a guy who showed up in very bad shape, rather than malpractice. But I am sure some attorney can say otherwise.
NOT TO IMPLY MERIT FOR A CHEST X-RAY...it's curious why this ER admission order wasn't done. Could it be the reason why the hospital settled?
For admitting doctors...how many orders do you have "missed" either because of system overload, ignorance by ancillary staff, or plain laziness?
I can easily see how a chest x-ray does not get completed. JCAHO, CMS, advocacy groups emphasize that patients should get to a cath lab quickly to optmize outcome.
Someone with suspected MI will go to the cath lab quickly if the cardiologist and cath team are ready.
I the x-ray technician on duty is up on the sixth floor with a stat exam or in the ER with other traumas (maybe there are 30 other studies pending) then it won't get done.
That is the way things are. Should we now delay every suspected MI case (and trump every other x-ray ordered) in the
country from now on because of John Ritter?
"That is the way things are. Should we now delay every suspected MI case (and trump every other x-ray ordered) in the
country from now on because of John Ritter?"
Probably not. But we can move away from "the way things are" for example, by increasing capacity for studies with more working techs and working equipment; not being ignorant and lazy, just signing off doctors' orders without really doing them["...it's been called to x-ray, doc" - how often u hear that?]
Unless "morning" [when CXR was ordered] and "evening" [when cardiologist saw the patient] times referenced are not hours apart, the door to cath time is really not a consideration?
And I APPLAUD the jury for the doctors acquittal...for seeing thru the moneygrab efforts of the widow and her lawyers [JR failed to f/u as advised 2 yrs ago]
The hospital should be penalized though...for not carrying out doctor orders properly...but then they settled so, no further foul?
"Unless "morning" [when CXR was ordered] and "evening" [when cardiologist saw the patient] times referenced are not hours apart, the door to cath time is really not a consideration?"
I am not sure where you get the reference to morning. An ER doc or internist would not take the patient to the cath lab so the cardiologist must have been there promptly to do that. ACXR after the fact is not going to be helpful.
Yeah we could spend limitless resources like having a single ER tech and x-ray machine for every patient that comes into the ER. Like yeah, that will happen
"In a case that should have never even come close to a jury, 3 jurors bought the story hook line and sinker."
Do physicians agree 100% on all cases?
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