A Mr. Joseph Blow writes the following:
danwalter says:
- Dear Mr. Blow,
OK! Now we’re getting somewhere. This is exactly the kind of input I’m looking for. I do not want to be shrill – and I realize that I’ve been dwelling too long in negative territory. It needs be said, of course, that most hospital personnel are in the job for the right reasons and perform in a skillful, professional and selfless manner on a regular basis. In zeroing in on the few egotistical self-centered lying bastards out there, I need to remember that. This is a work in progress… Thanks for the DING! As for the original consent form, rolling the dice and yanking on the catheter, see Chapters in Progress.
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An apparent Med School student has this take on his blog:
http://frommedskool.com/2008/03/31/taking-claims-of-malpractice-to-the-internet/
Here is my reply, which may not did survive moderation:
Well said. I would address a couple of points: First off, my blog is a work in progress, and I welcome your comments.
“I’m an ambitious doctor who puts my career above the safety of my patients.”
* That was a terribly inappropriate thing to do, an unwise thing for me to do from many viewpoints, and I regret it. I have tried to have that removed (not that I disagree with the sentiment).
* For the record, my wife has Lone Afib.
*It’s not libel if it’s true.
*“What we didn’t know is that [our electrophysiologist] – according to what he later told colleagues – follows the practice at most teaching hospitals wherein “the attending shows up to be there during the burn.”
This is a direct quote from the attending physician himself, which can be found here: http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/03/transcripts/3954t1.htm
*“As Mr. Walter presents it, it doesn’t appear that anyone but who was in the cath lab and the operating room knows if the fact that trainees were involved in his wife’s care contributed to the terrible and tragic outcome she had.”
Dr Hugh Calkins is on record as saying that this procedure is “associated with a risk of serious complications,” and “anyone who is doing this procedure realizes there is a learning curve and the learning curve is very rocky as you go up on it and the complications are like no other procedure that’s ever been done in an EP lab….” and that the procedure is experimental in nature and should only be performed by highly trained and experienced physicians.
My point is not to denigrate trainees. My point is that my wife consented to have Hugh Calkins do this procedure because Hugh Calkins held himself out to be a highly trained and experienced physician who was comfortable and confident in performing it.
If I were to go to Hopkins for elective gall bladder surgery and it was clearly spelled out to me that closely supervised trainees would be involved in the procedure – I would probably consent to that.
But to be the victim of a bait and switch operation for an experimental “technically challenging… high risk” procedure in which “the attending shows up to be there during the burn,” well … that’s another matter.
* There was no trainee involved in the mitral valve replacement (as far as I know). And I agree that my wife is better off with a mechanical valve. My point was that here we were in America’s Best Hospital after her valve was damaged IATROGENICALLY and they give the repair job to a Doc who had never repaired a mitral valve before. Perhaps she would not have had to face the choice between a mechanical or porcine valve if they had brought in someone who may have had the expertise to repair the valve.
* “A resident or fellow being involved in a patient’s care does not generally put that patient in danger, a mechanical valve isn’t always the wrong thing, etc.”
I totally agree with that statement – and nowhere on my site does it say otherwise. I’m saying we were lied to by Hugh G. Calkins, MD from the very beginning of our interaction with him.
Again, it isn’t liable if it’s true – and I can prove it’s true.
(Great site you got here.)
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steve Says:
March 31, 2008 at 2:20 am You tell him Dan! I like this site Dan and I am sorry for your loss. You are telling it how it is and I applaud you for that. Joe blow sounds like a moron btw, lol. -
danwalter Says:
March 31, 2008 at 11:32 am Thanks Steve, I appreciate it.
March 29, 2008 at 1:33 am editWow you are a bitter, angry man. So let me get this straight. All the people at Johns Hopkins are incompetent. All the people at Jackson Memorial are incompetent. All the people at Anne Arundel Medical Center are incompetent.Please give me the name of a hospital that actually meets your standard for competence. I guess such a place doesn’t exist.
March 29, 2008 at 1:35 am BTW, you’ve posted all the other documents from the medical record. I want to see the original consent form for the afib ablation. All consent forms contain the standard “I authorize Dr. X and his residents/associates/co-workers/best friends to assist in this procedure” stuff
March 29, 2008 at 1:37 am I also want you to post the portion of the medical record which says the doc “decides to roll the dice and just give the catheter a good hard yank.”I sincerely doubt thats what the medical record and notes actually say.