I don't understand- is the contention that she did not actually have the blood infection or that the infection was caused by neglect or not diagnosed in a timely manner? I have known a lot of people with kidney stones and didn't have this kind of complication. Kidney stones are bad enough! That's a horrible thing for her to go through, and I hope she does get satisfaction if the doctors screwed up.

Wow. This has the inklings of a frivolous lawsuit, but the blatant malpractice is just too much.

I'm totally opposed to frivilious lawsuits but I think this woman is justified in holding the medical community accountable. Hospital errors occur way too frequently and most of the time the public has no idea how many errors their local hospital has made because they are settled out of court and without any publicity.

This is one of the few times I would bend my personal rules and say that the lawsuit is justified and the right thing to do.

Jemison

Hospitals do need to be accountable for misdiagnoses and for their "meet 'em and street 'em" attitude in the ED.

My brother went to the ED complaining of "stomach ache". They gave him some Tums and sent him home. I was out of town on a travel assignment but when I came back 8 months later, he was still complaining of a stomach ache. I asked him "where" does your "stomach" hurt because, to most non-medical people, your "stomach" is anything from your nipples to your pubic line. He pointed to his spleen.

I immediatley made an appointment for him and 2 days later he was diagnosed with leukemia. It was too late to save him by then and he died 9 months later after incurring almost a year of torturous treatments and a million dollar hospital bill.

It's entirely possible he could have lived had anyone in the ED bothered to ask him "WHERE does your stomach hurt?"

The woman in the OP article did seek treatment for her complaints but they were treated as insignificant and she was sent home to have her condition worsen. 100 million dollars will be gone pretty quickly (lawyer gets 30%) with all the hospital, rehab, prosthetic bills she will incur. They should give her 10 million and pay for all her medical bills for the rest of her life at a facility of her choosing.

One of my best friends since high school is a GP who was affiliated with one of our very large State Hospitals. If he spends more than 20 minutes with any patient, no matter what their complaint, and doesn't refer to a specialist, he is penalised and must state why. He finaly quit 4 months ago after 19 years with this particular arrangement. Because of this practice, Malpractice insurance for all rural Dr.'s who take the time to actualy listen and attend to their patients has gone through the roof. He is presently trying to find a place that he and his family wants to live and go back to family type, country doctoring!

Zindo

[edit on 11/22/2008 by ZindoDoone]

ANNED,
He did and got the same crap from them, He resigned his commission only to find that unless your a poverty stricken country Dr. thats single with no bills to pay, your left with the same crap, differant day!

Zindo

I don't think this is a frivolous lawsuit.

To lose one's hands and feet is a very profound loss and if she lost her hands and feet because someone forgot to order a necessary test, then that is the very quintessence of malpractice.

One hundred million dollars is a ridiculously large amount of money, but it is more indicative of the games that lawyers play than it is the amount of money she will ultimately realize.

I would guess that this case will never go to trial.

I certainly believe it,I was scheduled for MRI on my right foot,the operator started setting me up for left foot,he argued with me,I told him look at my feet and double check your paperwork,and as far as losing a limb,who could put a price on that