DR FAIL

[scubanurse]

I agree with you there doc. If I place myself in the shoes of the chief, I probably would not have done the surgery for all the reasons you stated.

I think the outcome of problems like these rely solely on how the hospital and staff handle the situation after it occurs. I've found honestly to be the best policy from the patients side. I would much rather have a doctor come to me and look me in the eye and tell me what went wrong and what his/her plan was to fix it...instead of the blame game and avoiding the patient.

[ERDoc]

Zilla brings up some good points. Was any harm done to this pt? From what I can see, no. One of the requirements for a malpractice suit is that harm had to be done. Again, this is NY so the woman has probably found her winning lottery ticket. Let the orthopods and gas passers get paid for the job that they did, but the hospital should clear their part of the bill. I would be curious to hear why the surgeon who was supposed to do the surgery wasn't there but with a pending lawsuit he isn't going to be saying anything. If I don't know a pt I sure as hell found not be cracking open their skull.

[Dustdevil]

Was any harm done to this pt? From what I can see, no. One of the requirements for a malpractice suit is that harm had to be done.

That was my very first thought on the matter. Yes, it is sad that the medico-legal climate has conditioned so many of us medical professionals to think primarily in legal terms, but that's how it is.

No harm done. Michael Jackson would have paid good money for anaesthesia like that.