Lawyer up?

[Sean88gt]

That is one mighty, "if."

"if" is an easy question to answer, "reasonable" seems to be the unicorn.

But, professionals/dr's, etc have a higher duty of care than you or I would, in regards to taking proper care of their patient.

[davbrucas]

If he did not breach the standard of care and the attorney cannot prove negligence then there is no case. Not all surgical complications are malpractice.

[davbrucas]

That's the attitude i want from the nurse taking care of me.

This is not necessarily his ideology. He is just speaking from the shit he has seen in his career. RNs in the ER and ICU get jaded very quickly. This usually does not inhibit their ability to take care of patients, however.

[lowthreeohz]

This is not necessarily his ideology. He is just speaking from the shit he has seen in his career. RNs in the ER and ICU get jaded very quickly. This usually does not inhibit their ability to take care of patients, however.

My mom has been a NICU nurse since i was in diapers, and i've never heard her say anything that crass. But I do understand the point you're making.

[davbrucas]

My ex is a NICU nurse practitioner. Quite the difference between what they do and what he does.

[blownaltered]

My dad has had many dental implants and has a few fail. He had a specialist do them and never had a CT scan to see where a nerve was. As far as dental implants failing, that shit just happens. My dad still has some and has lost two.

I have had hip surgery on both hips. My right side is perfect and so is my left side now. But my left leg has a large spot that is numb and sometimes just has sharp pain for no reason. This was the same surgery, on the same person, by the same doctor, on a different side and one side has nerve damage and the other doesn't. Seems to me this kind of shit just happens.

[Sean88gt]

If he did not breach the standard of care and the attorney cannot prove negligence then there is no case. Not all surgical complications are malpractice.

That is for the jury to determine. He can file suit and if the Dentist doesn't believe he screwed up, then let it go to trial. But if there is a reasonable chance that he'll get hammered in the ass at trial (because dentists are loved by the people), then he'll settle before it ever gets to that point...or at least his insurance company will.

[line-em-up]

Shit happens. Just be happy it wasnt worse. I have seen patients die from surgery and guess what, shit happens. There are always complications anytime you mess with the body. You do your best to minimize this, but it happens.

I hate that he has issues now, but I don't see how the doctor could be held responsible for it. I don't think he has any way of telling where the nerves are going to be. Stuff happens. Take for instance the 14 year old girl in England. After her first time using a tampon, she got toxic shock syndrome and died. What are the odds? Is someone responsible for that?

[ceyko]

Is someone responsible for that?

Well, you gotta sue to find out.

[8mpg]

That's the attitude i want from the nurse taking care of me.

No shit. I'm glad the margin of error is so great that its acceptable.

Fortunately my attitude isnt that bad. I really feel that society is just sue happy. This is a perfect example. Read through my posts here about people trying to lawyer up. I truly believe that a cash settlement for "pain and suffering" is going to help the guy. Again, he must prove negligence. If the dentist was qualified to do this procedure, then they will have to show he came to work drunk, did not have the true qualifications, used dirty equipment, etc.

This is not necessarily his ideology. He is just speaking from the shit he has seen in his career. RNs in the ER and ICU get jaded very quickly. This usually does not inhibit their ability to take care of patients, however.

Thanks man.. I am honestly jaded. I will admit it but no matter what I think, I will ALWAYS do my best to help someone even if I dont think it is worth it or what is in my mind "right". I help keep people alive for weeks artificially for families to try and wrap their minds around the fact their family member is essentially dead. CRRT, 4 pressors, vent, hypothermia be damned... I will do it though I know I prolong the agony of patients who should have died already.

With the surgical aspect, I have seen quite a few complications from laparascopic cholecystectomies turned perfed bowel, turned sepsis. This was a complication from the first trochar being inserted. Heck, I had a patient with a perfed aorta from a laparascope (that is a deep insertion). This is why the medical profession is covered with consents and Dr's must cover the risks/benefits and have the consent signed. Stuff happens, nobody is perfect.

[eastsidetorino]

The dentist should have insurance. The first thing an injury attorney will do is to file a claim with their insurance. They will take 40% of this settlement. My suggestion: review how to file a claim with their insurance yourself. Start there. if you get stuck, consult an attorney.

[davbrucas]

A CT scan will not show anything about where nerves are...and it isn't standard of care to perform any imaging to delineate said nerves.

[YALE]

If he did not breach the standard of care and the attorney cannot prove negligence then there is no case. Not all surgical complications are malpractice.

I appreciate the clarification.

[DamonH]

I just had a wisdom tooth yanked on Tuesday. Before they did it, I had to sign a long consent form saying that I understand tons of horrible things, including everything you mentioned, *could* be a result. I would imagine your Dad had to sign a version of the same thing for his dentist. He's shit out of luck would be my guess.