Yes, indeed another story of an inappropriate lawsuit for “medical malpractise”. And this one also involves an obviously biased judge, an unethical radiologist, and a ridiculous patient.
So a lady came into the ER (not mine but one nearby where I work) for a possible fish bone stuck in the throat (a fairly common complaint). The vast majority of the time in these cases the bone actually passed and is not stuck but scratched the esophagus on the way down - giving a SENSATION of foreign body. 99% of the time no big deal - just an annoyance. The standard thing to do is after an exam, order a lateral soft tissue of the neck x-ray. Once and a while you can see something. If you see it, then the patient should be admitted or have an endocscopic procedure to remove it ASAP (meaning within about 8-12 hours, varying with patient appearance, size of bone, clinical picture, etc). However, if you don’t see it but still highly suspect it - you can do a CT scan. If that is also normal and the patient does not look sick or in severe distress, usually you can discharge the a patient with the “scratch” diagnosis and they can get the endoscopy within a few days if symptoms persist.
In this case, the x-ray looked suspicious. The ER doc thought he saw something. He called the radiologist for his opinion. He told the ER doc, “No, that is not a foreign body, it is just an osteophyte”(a congenital free piece of bone present in tons of peoples bodies and completely normal). The ER doc called the ENT (ear nose and throat doctor who would do the endoscopy) that had been involved and told him that the reading of the x-ray was normal. Thus,, the ENT guy said that since the patient looked good and was only mildly symptomatic that he would see her in two days in the office. Fine. Patient discharged in no distress.
Well, lo and behold, two days later the patient is scoped by the ENT in the office and finds the offending bone - stuck RIGHT were this supposed “osteophyte” was! It was removed and the patient went on her way with no evident problems except a sore throat.
A few weeks later, all three doctors get the dreaded “, esq” singed letter - they are being sued for missing the bone. Now, here is the ridiculous part. Her suffering? Severe pain? Infections? Scarring? Worse? No, SHE SUED BECAUSE SHE COULD NO LONGER PERFORM ORAL SEX! Yes, that is right.
6 months later at trial - The judge tells the jury before any testimony has gone on that “a fish bone was left in her throat for 2 days, SOMEONE is guilty of malpractise”. What!!! If that is not the most biased statement I have ever heard! Of course the jury has to find someone responsible.
Next, the radiologist sells his soul by testifying that he NEVER said anything about the film being normal - and that it “could” have been a bone. That leaves the ENT and ER guys to share the guilt.
The only good thing is that since the injuries (if you can call it that) were mild, the reward was low - they each split a 60,000$ settlement.
I guess a her fellating ability was pretty damn impressive to be worth 60 grand!!
Canadian Pharmacy
First of all, Was she a hooker? A high $ call girl from New York?
Was it interfering with her work?
Second,when I was 16, I had a fish bone puncture my throat too! I went to the ER the next day cause of the pain-It really felt like it was still there-
ER doc took a look, put a little silver nitrate (I think) on the puncture and I was good to go! No law suits involved!
so when a patient comes in with oral sex related TMJ (don’t laugh it happens) what is the minimum standard of care???? physio.
www.waittimes.blogspot.com
Could you please provide the case number for this lawsuit as I would love to use it as an example.
[…] Another Case that makes you Sick […]
30 years ago, when I was into that sort of practice, the radiologist took a small piece of cotton, dipped in gastrografine or some other radio-opaque fluid and made the patient swallow it. Then he did the lateral x-ray; if the cotton was stuck somewhere in the esophagus it lighted up like a christmas tree.
Is that obsolete? I haven’t been in an ER for years and years, being an OB now…
She should have been asked to perform OS on any male of her choice in the courtroom (hopefully, the judge). Case closed!
Any competent attorney would have called for a mistrial based on the judge’s remarks. And would have won.
But who says attorney’s are competent?
Well ain’t that a load of shit. I hope she chokes on something…
I must confess to being a little confused - is there no basis for appeal based on the judge’s comment? I have heard of cases thrown out (however, they were in Australia) based on the judge’s description of “beyond a reasonable doubt” - surely this is even more capable of being appealed?
Yes, when I heard this case the first thing I wondered was about appeal considering the judge’s comments. However, apparently the insurance company attorneys decided since the amount was very low (relatively speaking), it was not worth the time or expense involved.
im sure she was a hooker…..somebody put this story in REPLEYS please.n grant her more publicity for her work : )
My husband and I are 54 and 47. He was impotent when I met him years ago, but can still orgasm through oral sex. So guess what? That would have truly been a bad thing for us.
I shall certainly stay away from fish from now on!!
TK, actually A girl is right. There are a lot of details about this story that make zero sense. From a lawyer’s perspective, it’s right up there on the Sound Facts Scale with the one about microwaving a poodle.
Are there frivolous lawsuits? Sure are. Are there unfair medical practice lawsuits? Indeed. Are there lawsuits that mysteriously are only reported on this blog, with no attribution, that make anyone even vaguely familiar with how trials work go “huh”? No.
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Perhaps she was blowing the judge, did you ever think of that? What a freaking joke!