This thread interests me, because I would like to undertand how such a tort (malpractice) gets handled.
The man in question died at age 66. For American males, I believe that the average age at death is something like 76 years.
So, suppose that a correct diagnosis and successful treatment would have extended this man’s life by 10 years.
How do you calculate what these years were “worth” to him?
Ans, chemotherapy/radiation, etc. is not uniformly successful-what are the odds that the treatment may have shortened his life?
Plus, the doctor makes decisions based upon what he knows-suppose he had decided that the treatment for this form of cancer was simply not worth the risk to the patient?
These are questions that I cannot see a court of law handling-they involve highly technical details that most judges and lawyers are unfamiliar with.
And there’s another detail that I learned last night.
The radiologist’s reports, which my husband got a hold of last week, talk about a “neoplasm” in March, 2009. The radiologist saw cancer. And a later report says it’s spreading.
I don’t know. I don’t understand why his physician didn’t respond. I wish we’d all reacted differently.
What exactly will you achieve? I’m with Yarster.
Oh yeah, I don’t think there IS anything to achieve.
“You ignored tests and symptoms, HE suffered and died, therefore give US money”??? I can’t find anything right in that.
I’ll ignore the snark.
If the surgeon had a history of malpractice; if you knew of such things you would/ could be removing him from applying the same practices to other people.
This is not apparent here.
As for giving you money because someone else suffered and died? Prove the doctors negligence first.
Really, I’m not being snarky - I don’t get the point of the money part. I’m sorry if that sounded snarky from me. I like money as much as anyone else, but I don’t see how that equation is a good thing.
As to negligence - well, FIL complained of pain and blood in the urine. His doctor ordered CAT scans. The radiologist said “Yep, I see a neoplasm.” And then… I have no clue. Maybe my FIL was told “this could be cancer, you need XYZ next” and ignored it? Maybe he didn’t want to know?
I don’t know. I only know that he went back over & over and kept asking what was wrong. And never once told US that anyone suspected cancer. What WE were told was that his doctor thought it was because he’d fallen off his roof the year before.
I may have read too much into it. I’ll drop you a PM.
I would probably say no. When my dad died (lung cancer) he had been through about a year of treatments of various kinds and I never got much information about what was going on. So it was hard to tell if he was getting great treatment and just not telling me about it or if he was getting bad treatment. The doctors couldn’t reveal information and my dad was kind of tight lipped. Afterward it was impossible to get useful information about what went on from any of the doctors I spoke too. They aren’t just giving away information that I might use to cause them trouble. What I’m saying is, outside the patient/doctor relationship it is hard for most of us to tell malpractice from normal practice. There is certainly suffering going on and we can’t easily guess if a doctor is adding to or subtracting from it.
That said, doctors have almost zero oversight other than malpractice suits. If you really believe that substandard doctoring was going on then you should file a complaint with the state board at least. If there was actual malpractice, that doctor will continue until he is sued out of business.
One caveat. I once filed a complaint about a doctor with the state board and they sent her a copy, even though they claimed the complaints were confidential . Within a couple of weeks her attorney had sent me a letter demanding the full amount of all the bills plus attorney fees plus interest from the day of service with open threats of suits if I didn’t comply immediately, even before the stuff hadn’t worked its way through the insurance system yet.
This brings to mind another experience I had, not long after my father died. Another family member was diagnosed with (a different type of) cancer. Yes, my family history is thoroughly riddled with it, but that’s another thread…
Throughout his illness, we were never quite able to get a handle on what was going on with him, because his story kept changing. First it was one type of cancer. Then it was another. Then he’d been misdiagnosed. Then he probably didn’t have cancer at all. This was all secondhand information that we were working with, because he declined to have anyone attend his appointments with him. From what little I was able to piece together, I strongly suspect that what he had was a form of cancer that is typically called one thing during its early stages, and another during its later stages. And that people typically survive for much (in many cases, decades) longer than he did. Given what I know of the doctors who treated him, it is highly unlikely that they misdiagnosed, misinformed, or mistreated him. Given what I know of his cognitive abilities and level of education, it is highly unlikely that he didn’t understand that he was told. I think he just couldn’t accept it.
Based on my experiences as a family member and friend of people with life-threatening and terminal illnesses, my experiences as a patient, and my experiences as a health care professional (although not an M.D.), I know that what the patient hears is not always an accurate reflection of what they are told. And that what they choose to share about what they hear is at times another thing entirely. The prospect of death is an extremely difficult thing for many people to accept, especially when it’s their own, or that of someone close to them. Even when not accepting it means delaying or forgoing life-extending (or perhaps even life-saving) treatment.
There are a number of possibilities here, including that (a) the doctor didn’t see the radiology reports, (b) the doctor saw the reports but didn’t discuss the findings with your father-in-law, (c) the findings were discussed with your father-in-law, but he didn’t really hear what he was told, and (d) your father-in-law heard what he was told, but didn’t share it with anyone, perhaps because he couldn’t really face it himself. I’ll leave it to someone else to speculate on which of these possibilities might be most likely, but I will say that you will never know exactly what transpired. Even if you manage to get your hands on all of his medical records, they will only tell part of the story. I wouldn’t be so quick as some to assume that they will tell a self-serving story, but they will tell the story from the doctors’ perspective. What you’ll be missing is what was going on in your father-in-law’s head. Which is now unknowable.
You suffered too. Don’t forget that. Money doesn’t undo the loss, it compensates you for it, in a small way. You can always give any money you get to cancer research or other worthy groups. I’ll repeat, however, I’m not advocating a lawsuit. I thought you might find some value in learning more about what happened. Like I said, if you find out the doctor didn’t make a mistake, or that it wouldn’t have made a difference, it might be a little less painful. Up to you.
My grandmother. By a fluke I was there when the doctor was talking to her. She downplayed EVERY symptom and issue she had, she told him she “barely smoked” (two packs a day from the time she was fifteen) and didn’t have emphysema. And she didn’t listen to anything the doctor said either - what she told my father he said and what I heard him say were barely related.
We think - though no one has seen her medical records - that she knew she had lung cancer a lot longer than we knew she had lung cancer. Or rather, she was told - but with no one other than herself to hear it - it didn’t happen.
And they call it “practicing medicine” for a reason. It really is as much art as it is science.
Thank you Traymoon and Procustus. This conversation has had enormous value to me. I really appreciate all the posts.
It’s difficult to articulate, but it’s just so soothing to read your thoughtful words. In addition to the points you make, there’s just something great about “hearing” your “voices”.
Thanks.
eta, hey Dangerosa, thanks hon Good to see you again.