lawyerssssssssssssssssssssssss

[saint]

In the most aseptic conditions, there is sterility and there are no germs. I'm shocked you don't know this?? THanks, and Cheers.

I phrased it poorly. I meant that even when proper protocol is followed, it still happens. Yes, I do think there are times where that protocol is not followed which results in an unncessary infection, but there are also times I think it happens regardless. That's opinion though since I have only worked in an OR a few times.

 

[IE]

maybe if I would have had a roomate and maybe if the bug I have was E-coli. :142smilie :SIB

re:

http://madjacksports.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242077

 

[yyz]

The Almighty Father. Let's sue God

It was a serious question, I think a better answer could have been put forth. Since there is no "god", let's try again........


Aren't OR's supposed to be sterile environments? MRSA is not air-borne, it is spread by contact, correct? That means it is quite preventable, or at least the percentage of acquiring it should drop quite highly, if one works in a properly cleaned environment, and washes one's hands correctly. (At least that's what a simple fuk like me would guess......)

If you got food poisoning at Taco Bell tonight, you would be all over their ass, because some 16 year old kid didn't wash his hands after taking a shit, or stored the meat wrong.

But, lack of proper technique in a hospital is passed off as an "act of God"?


I'm just guessing, here. I know some of you guys are actually involved in this shit, but it doesn't seem that hard to break down.

 

[saint]

If you got food poisoning at Taco Bell tonight, you would be all over their ass, because some 16 year old kid didn't wash his hands after taking a shit, or stored the meat wrong.

No, I'd say "this sucks, nothing I can do at this point but ride it out." I went to Taco Bell knowing the risk of getting food poisoning is always there. I know that people have been shown to get food poisoning from eating fast food. To me it would have been an acceptable risk to take, and if I got food poisoning from it I would realize this instead of playing the blame-game. I'm an adult, I like fast food, I know I can get food poisoning, but I accept that and go anyways. It's not my personality to have the 'woe is me' mindset. What does it solve? Does it make me feel better...no.

The same way a person who signs the dotted line to undergo surgery. They are informed that there are risks involved. If they didn't understand them, then it's their problem for not piping up and asking. When they consent, they legally accept those risks. Yeah, it sucks when it happens. But guess what, sometimes it does.

 

[l_love7]

quite an interesting thread. i am a surgeon, so i will give my take from that perspective. each pt i operate on (average 55 cases a month in surgery plus 60 to 80 colon and stomach scopes a month) gets the same talk about risks to surgery. this is the is the law, it's called providing informed consent. common risks to all procedures include bleeding, infection, chronic pain, scarring, need for further procedures. . . then other, more procedure-specific risks like anastamotic leak, blood clot, etc.

if you did not sign a piece of paper that states this and/or your surgeon did not inform you of these things, then you have a case. if you did, then one would have to prove that your surgeon deviated from the standard of care.

MRSA is a common bacteria nowadays and is normal skin flora (bacteria that populate our body as symbiants of sorts) for about 50% of the general population. it commonly inhabits nasal passages, skin and the perianal area. most healthcare workers (over 80%) are colonized with this bug today. you are probably in this group. your primary care doc could swab your nose or anus to figure this out for certain. so there is a good chance that the bug that caused your problems started out on your body. there's no way to know for certain, and that doesnt liberate you surgeon from wrong-doing, but it is something that you should know.

for better or worse, infectious complications are a part of our daily lives. we give antibiotics pre-op, we prep the surgical site with bacteriacidal concoctions, and for 1-2 people in a hundred, this sort of thing still happens. frustrating, but true.

 

[SixFive]

quite an interesting thread. i am a surgeon, so i will give my take from that perspective. each pt i operate on (average 55 cases a month in surgery plus 60 to 80 colon and stomach scopes a month) gets the same talk about risks to surgery. this is the is the law, it's called providing informed consent. common risks to all procedures include bleeding, infection, chronic pain, scarring, need for further procedures. . . then other, more procedure-specific risks like anastamotic leak, blood clot, etc.

if you did not sign a piece of paper that states this and/or your surgeon did not inform you of these things, then you have a case. if you did, then one would have to prove that your surgeon deviated from the standard of care.

MRSA is a common bacteria nowadays and is normal skin flora (bacteria that populate our body as symbiants of sorts) for about 50% of the general population. it commonly inhabits nasal passages, skin and the perianal area. most healthcare workers (over 80%) are colonized with this bug today. you are probably in this group. your primary care doc could swab your nose or anus to figure this out for certain. so there is a good chance that the bug that caused your problems started out on your body. there's no way to know for certain, and that doesnt liberate you surgeon from wrong-doing, but it is something that you should know.

for better or worse, infectious complications are a part of our daily lives. we give antibiotics pre-op, we prep the surgical site with bacteriacidal concoctions, and for 1-2 people in a hundred, this sort of thing still happens. frustrating, but true.

thanks for your take. Tell you what. I have the utmost confidence in my surgeon, he fixed my problem, he's a great guy, and actually, I don't think he's the one that screwed up. Another thing I haven't mentioned is this. Isn't it getting to be a more common practice to go ahead and swab those high risk (for MRSA) patients before surgery and then treat them for such pre-op? ALso, I know that for surgery, many times there is something like Cefazolin hung before or during surgery and even after. That doesn't do you any good if somebody has infected you with MRSA as it doesn't kill it, correct? Also, the MD sent me home on Levaquin for 3 days. If I'm not mistaken, MRSA is resistant to that also. My infections diseases doctor mentioned that the standard was changing and he was seeing/recommending that VANCO be hung during the surgery and after instead of one of the more common Cephalosporins.

I had no idea that 80% of healthcare workers were colonized with MRSA!!! If so, is there nothing to be done about that? Seems like lots of carriers out there!

Again, I'll reiterate, my first thought is to do nothing, but I'm glad I posted this thread to get opinion, and I do appreciate your opinion as you are in the OR.

where in Ky, btw?

 

[l_love7]

most common form of MRSA is sensitive to bactrim and levaquin, as well as vanc and zyvox. for high-risk procedures (ie, prosthetic implants (metal plates, grafts, etc.) some folks will swab preop and treat, although treatment often involves applying topicals to the nares and anus in addition to oral abx.

interesting that he sent you home on abx, as this is not common practice. did you go home with a foley? thats about the only reason i could think of for you to be treated for 3 days c levaquin.

or did you have a UTI? if so, the case should have been rescheduled. standard of care for most procedures is one dose of abx within an hour prior to the skin incision. some types of procedures (colon resection, hip replacement, etc.) get IV abx for 24 hrs, but no more than that has proven to be of any benefit in large, randomized, controlled trials.

the choice of antibiotic varies from case to case and specialty to specialty. so, do you have a PICC line? i suppose so. and i'm in hoptown.

 

[l_love7]

my best friend in this part of the world lives in bowling green & is the zosyn rep. a good guy, played baseball @ UK.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Hoptown?? Used to go there and Madisonville once a week years ago--now cut back to just Madisonville. You wouldn't know Scott G (head of Multicare Specialist) by any chance? Good friend of mine--use to play golf with him--was intersting watching their break from Trover Clinic.

 

[SixFive]

most common form of MRSA is sensitive to bactrim and levaquin, as well as vanc and zyvox. for high-risk procedures (ie, prosthetic implants (metal plates, grafts, etc.) some folks will swab preop and treat, although treatment often involves applying topicals to the nares and anus in addition to oral abx.

interesting that he sent you home on abx, as this is not common practice. did you go home with a foley? thats about the only reason i could think of for you to be treated for 3 days c levaquin.

or did you have a UTI? if so, the case should have been rescheduled. standard of care for most procedures is one dose of abx within an hour prior to the skin incision. some types of procedures (colon resection, hip replacement, etc.) get IV abx for 24 hrs, but no more than that has proven to be of any benefit in large, randomized, controlled trials.

the choice of antibiotic varies from case to case and specialty to specialty. so, do you have a PICC line? i suppose so. and i'm in hoptown.

was told I was sent home on Levaquin because of the "holes in my head". They did my surgery in a seated position, and someway, after I was anesthetized, they sat me up, and screwed 3 rods into my head (skull) that held me in position for the surgery. I of course asked about the Levaquin, and that's what I was told it was for, to prevent infection in those rod holes. Thanks!

 

[SixFive]

Hoptown?? Used to go there and Madisonville once a week years ago--now cut back to just Madisonville. You wouldn't know Scott G (head of Multicare Specialist) by any chance? Good friend of mine--use to play golf with him--was intersting watching their break from Trover Clinic.

Wayne, still waiting for that visit J/K So, what's your take on this. I could probably hazard a guess as I'm sure you feel about lawsuits as I do, but this was a rather unique circumstance for me. Post here or give me a call later. Thanks, old man.

 

[AR182]

65....

don't let anybody influence you....

you have to do what you think is right for you & your family.....

 

[taoist]

I am going to refrain from getting into all the legal stuff and just say, 6'5, go and talk to a reputable personal injury atorney in your area.... what's it going to hurt?


...also, I do hope that you have a speedy recovery, bro!

 

[VaNurse]

I am going to refrain from getting into all the legal stuff and just say, 6'5, go and talk to a reputable personal injury atorney in your area.... what's it going to hurt?

I tend to agree with this advice. You and I both know that there had to be contact with someone/something that was contaminated. This just shouldn't happen in a sterile environment. While I can sympathize with the doctors here, what they may not realize is that we, nurses, also have to carry malpractice insurance for situations such as this. It's not a matter of "somebody must pay for my misfortune" but more that it's unacceptable practice and that there was a violation of the standard of care.

It would probably be prudent to have swabs done for both you and your wife because if either of you is found to be carrying MRSA it'll probably all be kicked to the curb and blamed on dressing changes once home. Sadly, this might just be like closing the barn door after the horse got out, since, obviously you've both been exposed.

This isn't a matter of being litigious. It's a matter of not accepting deviations from the standard of care. I wouldn't expect my patients to accept it of me. If I screwed up, blame should be placed and I should be willing to take the responsibility for it. :nono:

 

[saint]

I am going to refrain from getting into all the legal stuff and just say, 6'5, go and talk to a reputable personal injury atorney in your area.... what's it going to hurt?

The rest of our insurance premiums.

 

[taoist]

I'd like to know how consulting with an attorney will make everyone's insurance rates go up?!?!? :shrug:


do we need to ask Jack to change your moniker to Dr. Froze so that you can feel more like Freeze? (I can't believe that I took the time to reply to that nonsense....)

 

[AR182]

I phrased it poorly. I meant that even when proper protocol is followed, it still happens. Yes, I do think there are times where that protocol is not followed which results in an unncessary infection, but there are also times I think it happens regardless. That's opinion though since I have only worked in an OR a few times.

how do you know that proper measures were taken to avoid this problem ?

maybe the out patient area was behind schedule & short-cuts were taken ?

 

[AR182]

The rest of our insurance premiums.

it seems to me that you & dr. freeze are worried more about your ins. premiums increasing than seeing if someboy's safety/health was compromised...

if your both worried about your premiums increasing perhaps you both should look into a 2nd job to offset the possible rate increase by 65 seeking legal advice...

and btw, i have no dislike for dr. freeze what so ever....i happen to agree with him on some issues & respect him as a poster....i just think he was being insensitive to 65's problem...

 

[IntenseOperator]

BOL Six

You got time on your hands. Look into the legal angle. You may be saving some other poor bastid from future suffering.



as far as some of the rest of this thread......

insurance premiums




Now where did I put my violin?

All kinds of people have small/large businesses in this country and pay all sorts of insurance etc while earning an income for their families. Wouldn't say all of them pay the number that the docs above do, but neither do they get the return income wise. Yet they can just as easily lose everything by coming head to head with some legal situation they had nothing to do with. Lets throw in the plight of a policeman/fireman being killed in the line of duty knocking down 50 to 60 a year. That's quite a bit to give for a paycheck.

I made my bed. So did you guys.

Sleep in yours or maybe find another line of work.

 

[kosar]

Well put, I/O!