Mother of Nine Sues Massachusetts Hospital After Unauthorized Sterilization

[Skeptic Ginger]

Well, this would be easy enough to prove or disprove.

Her allegations are rather more specific than "they rendered me infertile"; you can't accidentally perform a tubal ligation, any more than you can "accidentally" replace a light bulb. (Break one, yes. Replacement requires forethought.) The chances of "accidentally" cutting both her tubes in a way that looks just like a tubal ligation are infinitesimal.

And, of course, an error of that magnitude should destroy careers and generate millions in compensatory damages anyway....

There is the possibility of a woman in the OR under a spinal (IE clear headed) where the doc asks if she wants a tubal and she says yes, then later has buyer's remorse and lies about it.

This story is bogus. I suspect it is remotely possible some doc decided on his/her own that a tubal was better than an IUD in this case. That is so much more remote of a possibility than a lying patient with buyer's remorse, I'd place my bet on the lying patient if I had a stake in this story.

 

[AvalonXQ]

I think the actual result of the drkitten liability system would be the dissolution of large hospitals.
If every doctor's license is on the line for any mistake another doctor makes in your organization, the logical response is to stay away from large organizations altogether.
Oh, and whatever small partnership you do form, exert pressure on all of your partners not to take any questionable patients that might lead to a lawsuit and, by fiat of drkitten, likely ruin a dozen or more careers.

 

[Rasmus]

There is the possibility of a woman in the OR under a spinal (IE clear headed) where the doc asks if she wants a tubal and she says yes, then later has buyer's remorse and lies about it.

OR as in operating room?

If that was so, I still think the doctor deserves no better than being sued for a gazillion dollars. That is not a descision you should allow someone to make in a situation like that - much less so, if there is a law demanding that you get written consent several days in advance of the surgery.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

OR as in operating room?

If that was so, I still think the doctor deserves no better than being sued for a gazillion dollars. That is not a descision you should allow someone to make in a situation like that - much less so, if there is a law demanding that you get written consent several days in advance of the surgery.

OR: yes operating room.

You are so missing the point which is, you don't know what the frick actually happened here. All you know is what one side claimed as interpreted through a third party news reporter.

I have lots of experience with surgeons and people being operated on. Docs make mistakes, sometimes. Extremely rarely you get a wacko doc that might decide on his own a person had enough kids. And patients lie and misunderstand things and communication is commonly an issue, and people sue if they think they can make a buck, and people confabulate (that is, their reality doesn't match the real reality), and news reporters get it wrong quite often and no one brings their own IUD into an OR nor does a surgeon implant one just after a C-section.

So how is it anyone in this thread thinks they actually know what the real facts are in this case after reading a single news account?

 

[lionking]

So how is it anyone in this thread thinks they actually know what the real facts are in this case after reading a single news account?

But by this standard we shouldn't discuss anything reported in a newspaper. That's absurd. Sure, the report may be wrong, but in most cases newspapers get it right, otherwise they would soon be out of business.

 

[Cavemonster]

But by this standard we shouldn't discuss anything reported in a newspaper. That's absurd. Sure, the report may be wrong, but in most cases newspapers get it right, otherwise they would soon be out of business.

Even taking the article at face value, you have the plaintiff's claim stated on one side and no medical information from the hospital. Even if it's found that the woman's claim were incorrect, the newspaper hasn't misreported.

Look at the thousands of headlines that scream "Grapefruit cancer cure!" then buried in the article, "some scientists believe their research could possibly eventually, on an outside chance lead to a cure".

It is the news business to milk the most drama out of a story, even if that means a misleading pitch or a half informed angle.

The majority of news items discussed here were covered by at least one new agency who misreported or only framed one side of the story.

And in case you missed it, most newspapers will more or less be out of business soon.

 

[lionking]

Even taking the article at face value, you have the plaintiff's claim stated on one side and no medical information from the hospital. Even if it's found that the woman's claim were incorrect, the newspaper hasn't misreported.

Look at the thousands of headlines that scream "Grapefruit cancer cure!" then buried in the article, "some scientists believe their research could possibly eventually, on an outside chance lead to a cure".

It is the news business to milk the most drama out of a story, even if that means a misleading pitch or a half informed angle.

The majority of news items discussed here were covered by at least one new agency who misreported or only framed one side of the story.

And in case you missed it, most newspapers will more or less be out of business soon.

I understand, but think it's worth discussing the issue even without the full facts. And personally I don't believe newspapers (or books as well for that matter) will be out of business anytime soon.

 

[quixotecoyote]

I understand, but think it's worth discussing the issue even without the full facts. And personally I don't believe newspapers (or books as well for that matter) will be out of business anytime soon.

I don't think it's the discussion of the issue that's the problem, but that the discussion revolves around whether to crucify all the staff along the road to the hospital or only those in the OR.

As long as we're purely speculating, I'll take the long odds and place an uninformed prediction that there was never a tubal ligation performed on her at the hospital.

 

[lionking]

My money's on it having happened due to misunderstanding.

 

[Pinkymcfatfat]

I agree with the poster who said this is probably a case of 'buyers remorse'...I also think it's a case of seeing an ad for '1-800-LAWYER' during an episode of 'Judge Judy'.

I've worked on a med/surg unit for some time...docs are terriffied of screwing up and getting sued. I think the chances of this woman being givin a tubal by a 'rogue' are slim to none.

As for the missing consent papers...yes, that could have happened. But, docs don't handle consent forms, RN's do. My husband is a computer scientist working with health care to completely eliminate paper records, in the next few years, hopefully, everything will be in a database and completely trackable. This is being undertaken in part to stop legal proceedings and bring the cost of health care down.

 

[Rasmus]

So how is it anyone in this thread thinks they actually know what the real facts are in this case after reading a single news account?

It's all I have. So that's what I talk about.

If the news somehow got it wrong, I'll happily change my mind.

Now, can we just get over it, or do we constantly have to spend half of each post writing disclaimers about how we weren't there, how the news might have it wrong and how we would not blame the doctors if it turns out that it was the sterilization-fairy after all?

 

[Cavemonster]

It's all I have. So that's what I talk about.

If the news somehow got it wrong, I'll happily change my mind.

Now, can we just get over it, or do we constantly have to spend half of each post writing disclaimers about how we weren't there, how the news might have it wrong and how we would not blame the doctors if it turns out that it was the sterilization-fairy after all?

It's important to note that this isn't an issue of the news being wrong. This report just presents her claim. It's written in such a way as to suggest strongly that her claim is correct, but that's dramatic storytelling, everything is couched in the plaintiff's version of events, and the hospital, for apparent legal reasons, can't disclose her medical details to provide their version.

So it isn't as if any event we didn't personally witness requires a disclaimer. This is on the weak side of journalistic evidence for a fairly extraordinary claim, since no statement from the hospital about her medical state is yet available.

 

[ponderingturtle]

I love how most people on this forum have already found the doctors and hospital liable without even seeing any decisive evidence. Is this the new era of skepticism?

Because it is all about the paperwork. If someone accused you of abandonment and you couldn't produce a signed RMA on the back of a PCR I would hold you liable and guilty as well.

So unless they can find the paperwork they have a massive screw up on their hands. Remember the adage, if it isn't documented it didn't happen.

 

[ponderingturtle]

How does failure to take responsibility for their own errors translate to guilt for their non-involved colleagues?

How about when those colleagues prevented implementation of systems that would reduce such errors?

 

[ponderingturtle]

There is the possibility of a woman in the OR under a spinal (IE clear headed) where the doc asks if she wants a tubal and she says yes, then later has buyer's remorse and lies about it.

Then they are fools for not properly documenting her consent for the procedure.

 

[drkitten]

How about when those colleagues prevented implementation of systems that would reduce such errors?

Got it in one.

 

[Cavemonster]

Because it is all about the paperwork. If someone accused you of abandonment and you couldn't produce a signed RMA on the back of a PCR I would hold you liable and guilty as well.

So unless they can find the paperwork they have a massive screw up on their hands. Remember the adage, if it isn't documented it didn't happen.

But the issue isn't whether she gave consent to a tubal ligation, but whether one was even performed. I'd agree if it became clear that the procedure was performed, that the lack of paperwork would be damning for the hospital. For my threshold of credulity, her claim alone is fairly out of the ordinary, and requires more confirmation.

 

[pgwenthold]

Because it is all about the paperwork. If someone accused you of abandonment and you couldn't produce a signed RMA on the back of a PCR I would hold you liable and guilty as well.

So unless they can find the paperwork they have a massive screw up on their hands. Remember the adage, if it isn't documented it didn't happen.

That is the adage that led to the conclusion there were massive stockpiles of WMD in Iraq.

 

[WildCat]

The hospital owes the woman approximately a trillion dollars in damages.

Every medical person involved loses their licence immediately and permanently.

All federal funding going to that hospital is cut off for a period of at least three years.

Performing unauthorized medical procedures on unconsenting patients is a crash-and-burn offense according to the NIH.

Not good enough.

The hospital should be fined 26 quadrillion dollars, every doctor in it should be prohibited from ever practicing medicine again, every medical school involved in training said doctors should lose their accreditation, every doctor anywhere that went to those medical schools should also lose their licenses to practice medicine permanently. Ditto for the nurses and their nursing schools.

All government agencies overseeing the hospitals should likewise be disbanded, and their employees should lose their pensions and forever be prohibited from ever working in the government again. Excepting, of course, the agency responsible for all these firings and fines, they should be disbanded after all the others.

I further suggest that the State of Massachusetts be kicked out of the United States and the land thereof be divided between Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Connecticutt. The Governor should be sent to Guantanamo Bay and released among the inmates there with a tattoo on his face identifying him as a Mossad agent.

And even then this poor woman will not have been made whole.

It is impossible to overreact to this egregious incident, far worse than the Holocaust, the Rape of Nanking, the Pol Pot regime and the Rwandan massacres combined.

 

[politas]

Not good enough.

...

It is impossible to overreact to this egregious incident, far worse than the Holocaust, the Rape of Nanking, the Pol Pot regime and the Rwandan massacres combined.

I don't think you're going far enough. I think everyone in the United States should be gassed to death for this crime! And anyone who's ever visited the United States! And their friends!

Hang on, that includes me.

Maybe not their friends.