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Been there, done that. Had some mistakes during an appendectomy a few years ago. Coupled with neglect, after spending a week telling the surgeon, "something is wrong." and being put off with, "You're back to work too soon. It's 'late' for anything bad to be happening there." I had a CT scan that showed a 750 cc abscess and peritonitis.
After another week in the hospital, and 7 more with a PICC line and home iv antibiotic treatment, and two more weeks on oral augmentin, I was pronounced cured and released from doctors' care.
A procedure that used to be done on a kitchen table with a spoon, cost my insurance company over 65,000 dollars. It cost me nearly 50 pounds in three weeks, six weeks pay, and months of recovery. Plus nearly 5 thousand dollars in copays and deductibles.
Lawsuit? Damages were certainly "significant" in the range of a hundred thousand dollars. Well qualified and known malpractice attorney in Virginia said this.
"You'll win, because it's a no brainer. Problem is this. With a hundred thousand dollars damages, by the time you pay the insurance company the 65,000 dollars back and my fees, you'll have nothing for your troubles. You can eat, poop, and you're living a happy normal life now. Go on with it, and forget the lawsuit. It's not worth it."
Best advice he could have given me under the circumstances. Doctors and hospitals are not perfect, and we expect them to know all the answers, and not have to INSIST on what we we need. The truth is, they're not, and the bills still have to be paid. The only thing worse than an imperfect hospital with humans working in it, is NO HOSPITAL AT ALL.report abuse
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