If your medical films are read wrong?
My husband just found out that in 2005 when he had an ultrasound done of his heart, that it showed an anureysm and he was never told. He just had a new one done because he had chest pains and that's how we found out. I'm wondering if he has any recourse that he paid for a test and wasn't given this information. He could have been on medication to slow this down, but since he was unaware he didn't and it's gotten larger. Not that it wouldn't have anyway, but the standard treatment when one is found is to be put on medication because it's known to slow the growth.
Also, if you sue a doctor or hospital are you put on some type of medical blacklist?
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas.
Answers:
Medical Malpractice has to prove three things - duty of care, causation, and damages.
Duty of care is established by the doctor patient relationsip. Causation is the connection between the previous echo and current echo that shows because the doctor did not tell him then something bad happened.
Damages - you would need someone to speak to the fact that not knowing the results in 2005 has caused proveable damages and impacted him physically.
The real issue is did they read that echo as having an anuerysm and would it have changed the phsycians course of care. I am assuming you are saying that it was noted to have been there - but no one mentioned it.
The only person that can speak to the reading of an echocardiogram is a trained cardiologist - and just because cardiologist A disagrees with Cardiologist B does not mean that there was malpractice.
Damages are the hardest thing to prove in this case - if your husband has had no ill effects in 2 years and/or has not had his life expectancy significantly shortened you could have a hard time proving that not knowing mattered.
If you feel strongly about it speak to an attorney -- or seek an opinion from another cardiologist.
Addition: You are in the realm where I would have to guess -- anuerysms by their nature grow. Certain ones there is no recourse or treatment for them period, and others are not treated until they reach "X" size. This is something that is going to have to be discussed with the physician who is treating your husband and get his opinion. The issue of what would have been done 2 years ago is something only an expert in cardiology and echocardiograms could speak to, and if you plan to try to pursue the legal route then they would have someone review the records and opine to the cause and effect.
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