I had to take work off all this week TO GET SUED for malpractice. Even though I was 99% sure I would win, I still had to miss a week's work and income. And you never know what a jury might do. Well, it's over and I WON!!

Here's the story. In Oct. '95 a 76 year old lady has a heart attack and goes to the hospital. The cardiologist on call goes in and stabilizes her, then does a heart catheterization. She has a major blockage so the next day she has an angioplasty. It works, she recovers from her heart attack and goes home. She has recurrence of chest pain in November, '95 so has another heart catheterization. Things are ok, so no more treatment.

In Feb '96 she sees me FOR THE FIRST TIME to manage her diabetes and cholesterol so she never has another heart blockage. She mentions an OCCASIONAL, momentary sharp pain in the groin at the catheterization site. I find nothing so tell her it's likely from the catheterization, it will probably go away, but let me know if it doesn't. I see her many times over the next almost 2 years. No complaint of groin pain. Then in Sept. '97 she sees me complaining of SEVERE groin pain onset 3 days ago. I examine her carefully and STILL can't find anything. I send her for x-rays and to see a surgeon anyway. HE can't find anything either. He orders some ct scans and while this is waiting to be done, she develops an abscess in the groin, goes to the emergency room, gets admitted to the hospital, has surgery, and low and behold some fragments from the coating of the catheter wire sheered off and were in her groin! She has a complete recovery and all is well.

No it's not. She sues the cardiologist for leaving the fragments in. She starts saying she had "terrible, terrible" pain for 22 months, but no one would listen to her. She claimed that EVERY TIME she saw me, she would complain bitterly of this pain and I refused to listen to her. So she sues me, too!!! This was in about May, '98.

So finally we go to trial this week. We kicked her butt all over the map. We had hospital records from the surgeon, er doctor, nurses in the er, nurses in the hospital that ALL said she told them the pain just started before she came in. Even though she said she was practically an invalid for 22 months, she was able to do 2 full stress tests 9 months apart without complaining of groin pain. Ooh man, she got GRILLED on the stand. I'd have felt sorry for her--if she had not impuned my character by lying.

The jury went out to decide on a verdict, and they had to decide on me, the cardiologist (screwy, but we get tried together), and the dollar amount of damages. They came back IN 13 MINUTES!!!!!!
That's all the time it took them. That's nearly a world's record.

NOT GUILTY OF NEGLIGENCE!! That was the verdict today! The only disappointment I had was that she and her husband didn't stick around for the reading of the verdict, so I didn't get to glare at them and gloat. That may sound harsh, but it's difficult to sit there for a week in court and hear total, complete, and indisputable lies being told about you.

Well, just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening to what I did on my summer vacation.

P.S. I'm not bitter. I'm over it. Time to get on with "real life" again.

one reason i didn't really want to be a doctor, 2nd i dont like school that much. 3rd i dont like people that much.

But its interesting on how people backstab you in the real world eventhough you help them out.

Congratulations on keeping your reputation intact, although I'm sure Granny Grunt will tell EVERYONE she meets that Dr. frontal lobe, well didn't he get sued for malpractice?
At least you have the court system to protect you from lies and innuendo. The shmuck at the bottom of the food chain has no recourse when a fictitious complaint makes them lose their job.

Just some random ramblings too early on a saturday morning.

Whew! Glad to hear justice prevailed. Too bad things like that have to happen, huh? I always seem to read about people sueing others for idiotic reasons. Remember the one about the lady who spilled her coffee in her lap at McDonalds and sued. She won $3million!! She said that no one told her the coffee would be hot. What a sphincter.

------------------
Dave-
Grape Ape ('85GT)

That old bag probably believed every word she said. Her reality may not even be on the same plain as the average human bean. Man, you bend over backwards to help someone and they stab you with a pointy stick. I don't know how many times I tell myself, "No more Mr. Nice guy", but I see I'm not the only one that hasn't learned that yet.

Anybody can sue anybody in this world today.It's a fact of life.I was rear ended by a car going about 75 and they sued me(probably because I was in my work truck).The bad thing was I was found 10% at fault because I was there for them to hit me.

Fierospeeder, yeah, talk about being backstabbed. The poor cardiologist rushes in and saves her life because the blockage she had was a killer one. That's the thanks he gets.

Stimpy, have you heard about the national data bank they want to keep on doctors. Doctors had to fight to make it only include out-of-court settlements and actual cases they lost, not just the number of times sued because anyone can just sue you.

Monkeyman, I wonder if I still would have won if I had the jury of the person who won the McDonald's coffee case! That's what is so scary. Or if I had the OJ jury.

stsmithgt, yeah, I think after a while she convinced herself she was telling the truth. She was older and sure had a LOT of facts confused. For example, she kept coming to me for 6 months after the surgery! She was completely happy with me. We pointed that out in court and she said, no way, I only saw you once right after and that was only because the hospital made me. You should have seen her face when my lawyer brought in her own calendar for that year with the office visit dates from 6 months later ON HER OWN CALENDAR!!

hugh, man, if I had your jury, I would have been 10% at fault just for having the misfortune of having met her and treating her!