Posted by Shari on September 01, 1999 at 18:51:48:
There are the cases of abuse in Nevada and the cases of Physician negligence and neglect which the State Board of Medical Examiners sees fit to ignore. This is a short story to share that shows the other side.
My father was in remission from cancer (bladder) not metastacized. He was having trouble walking at Thanksgiving 1996 due to pain in his hip. He eventually ended up in an emergency room, where xrays showed a mass in the hip. They admitted him for a CT scan to be done the next day to see if it was a cancerous lesion or a cyst. He sat in that hospital for 10 days and not one test was done. I begged & pleaded for a Urology consult when he bled at the insertion of a catheter; they told me it was irritation from the cath - I knew better.The tumor was back. They ignored me. When I asked that they look at a lump on his top rib they said they would have the Dr look and never did. I asked the attending Dr to call for a Urology/Oncology consult - he refused. I called his Urologist and Oncologist and asked for a consult and was told they agreed he needed to see them but the attending had to call them - Managed Care Insurance dictates that policy! Their hands were tied. Dad was transferred to a rehab hospital, where a wonderful Dr ordered the CT/MRI etc the day before Xmas eve. Due to the holiday the results wouldn't be in until the 26th or 27th.
On the 26th I visited at 4pm; he said he was cold and bloated ... his belly was very puffy. The nurse placed a call for the Dr. Before she could reply on that Xmas weekend, we got a call at home ... 3am ... get to the hospital - no - not your hospital.. the closest one to the rehab center - we can't say why.
When I arrived I was told he was hemmorhaging and had almost no blood pressure ... he was screaming in pain from the clots he was passing ... to avoid the gory details .... the tumor in his bladder,yes there was a tumor, which the catheter had irritated, was causing him to bleed to death. The lump on his chest was also a malignancy, as was that lesion in his hip that the hospital chose to ignore for 10 days later. At 1am on December 28th my father died a very slow and painful death due to the neglect of the attending physician. We burried him the day after New Years.
The reason I tell you this, is that I filed complaints with the hospital to no avail. He was reprimanded by his peers and nothing else. I filed a formal complaint with the State Board of Medical Examiners who investigated and said no action was warranted. The Lawyers I called refused to take the case, stating that it is next to impossible in Nevada to WIN against a Dr. The Chairman of the State Board of Med Examiners turns out to be on staff & practice with that Dr. NO ONE WOULD HELP ME get action taken against the man responsible for my fathers death !! Now to anyone on the outside this may seem like red tape. You would think that if I were someone on the "inside" it would have been handled better. Let me tell you this. I got nowhere - and that is even more painful, because to this day, I WORK AT THAT HOSPITAL ... I see this incompetant physician on occasion, and NO ONE CARES.
The Medical Care in Nevada is at a dangerously low level of quality ... and we suffer at the hands of these people. There may be a few good ones out there, but not enough to make a difference.
Maybe, just maybe, if enough of us complain they will have to listen. WRITE THE STATE BOARD - CALL A LAWYER -CALL THE POLICE WHEN NECESSARY --- STOP THE ABUSE AND NEGLIGENCE NOW !!!