Is this a medical malpractice?

[Zeze]

My mom got a small splinter stuck under her index finger. It's about half an inch at best and got in there quite good. She tried to pry it out with a needle with no luck. So she went to a doctor to get this taken care of.

She expected a small procedure... a doctor with a light, magnifying glass, and some pinching instrument. Get that sucker out and be done with it.

But that wasn't the case. They put her into a general anesthesia (WTF, totally knocked out) and just butchered her index finger. Instead of just taking out the splinter (just make a cut if you have to), they totally took out an area of flesh of the entire index finger.

She woke up with a gash in her fingertip. After it healed few weeks later, there's now a permanent indentation in her fingertip. And this messed up her finger usage too. There's chronic pain and she can't use it well. During the healing, she had to go to a physical therapist and do little finger exercises to regain the strength back.

Half a year later today, her finger is never the same today she says. She still can't use it fully, and it hurts her.

All this from a small splinter. It's definitely a botch job, her friends say look into a lawyer.

What does ATOT think?

 

[zerocool84]

You made the right decision asking here first instead of a lawyer. They go to school for years and we still know more than them. I say sue them for everything they got.

 

[Corporate Thug]

med mal is a crap shoot...basically, it's the battle of the experts.

There are two general ways to go about: (1) establish that the procedure was unnecessary and/or (2) it was necessary but negligently done. In either event, it's a battle of the experts so it comes down to who the jury believes more.

In any event, I would imagine that damages for limited use of 1 finger is fairly minimal and probably not worth the hassle.

 

[Chris A]

You made the right decision asking here first instead of a lawyer. They go to school for years and we still know more than them. I say sue them for everything they got.

BEST ANSWER EVER!!! Lol

 

[lxskllr]

First, I wouldn't have gone to a doctor for a splinter. I'd have cut it out if necessary. If I did go to the doctor and the above situation happened, I'd live with it. I don't like the American court system, and avoid it as much as possible.

 

[Slew Foot]

Sounds like it was infected so they had to clean it out and get rid of the dead tissue.

 

[AgentUnknown]

1/2 a year later and you decide to sue? This country is sue crazy. It must have been a huge splinter to take off that much. Something tells me it's more than just a splinter. What is your mom's medical history?

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Can't tell, there isn't enough information.

 

[Lobotomized]

Sue the f**kers into oblivion!! Medical insurance premiums/rates/costs/whatever aren't high enough yet!!

 

[UnklSnappy]

I'm no doctor but the general anesthesia seems like overkill to me.
I've had a couple surgeries done on one of my thumbs. Once for a trigger thumb and another where they had to do micro surgery to reconnect everything after I slashed the base of my thumb with a knife. In both cases they just put a tourniquet on my arm and injected it with lidocaine.

 

[brainhulk]

there was an article awhile ago that said some dude had to get a biopsy for testicular cancer or something. The surgeon ended up removing his whole penor because the surgeon saw cancerous tissue. The dude sued and lost the case.

The dude lost his package, consider your mom lucky

 

[Tiamat]

Did she get the splinter at Target and did she spend the 10$ gift certificate?

 

[SandEagle]

did they explain it all beforehand in writing?
sounds like they want to milk your mom's insurance with unnecessary procedures

 

[Brainonska511]

Why would she even agree to that in the first place?

If my doctor said I needed general anesthesia for a splinter, I'd get the hell out of there and look for a second opinion.

Regardless, you really would need to talk to a competent lawyer about this.

 

[darkxshade]

Parody?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2294281

If not, just go back and tell them it's no big deal but insist on getting a free flu shot or something.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I'm no doctor but the general anesthesia seems like overkill to me.
I've had a couple surgeries done on one of my thumbs. Once for a trigger thumb and another where they had to do micro surgery to reconnect everything after I slashed the base of my thumb with a knife. In both cases they just put a tourniquet on my arm and injected it with lidocaine.

he probably did that to create a "procedure" that could be cleanly billed for

 

[IronWing]

To evaluate the case we need pics of avery female in your family from age 18 through 72*.












*Gotta have one for Boomer.

 

[edro]

Good luck getting a judge/jury to trust your opinion over that of a doctor.
Do you even have any photos of the splinter?
You have NOTHING to go on except "It was just a splinter".

 

[Murloc]

if it was infected maybe it was the right thing to do but you'll never know.
Anyway 6 months after, and being it just a minor injury that doesn't really influence her life, you would probably spend more money on lawyers than what you would be ever able to get.
Still, the general anesthesy is complete bullshit. It's not a risk-free thing to do so I don't understand why do it for something so minor, unless they were 100% sure she used that drug with no problems before.

 

[brainhulk]

ask medical records for the chart and post the OR notes here

 

[SandEagle]

To evaluate the case we need pics of avery female in your family from age 18-44. and males 50 through 72*.












*Gotta have one for Boomer.

ftfy

 

[rudder]

Sounds like it was infected so they had to clean it out and get rid of the dead tissue.

Maybe the OP's mom does not have a car or phone in order to contact the dr's office. At any rate, did the just knock her out or did they explain the procedure to her? I have never been put under without signing papers and being told of the potential risks... surely she could have brought up any questions at that point.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Something isn't right with this thread.

 

[brainhulk]

Something isn't right with this thread.

you think it's a parody? i was thinking the same thing maybe

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

you think it's a parody? i was thinking the same thing maybe

It's something.

No one gets "surprise" general anesthesia.

I can think of circumstances where the procedure would be as described. If the patient had a deep infection and was allergic to local anesthesia, sure, it makes perfect sense, but considering the other thread and how this one is worded it's hard to believe things are as advertised. Possible? Sure, what isn't? Likely? I think not.