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Tuesday, February 11, 2003For the 14th consecutive time, a Lackawanna County Court jury this week refused to award any money after hearing testimony in a medical malpractice trial. In the latest case, jurors rejected the claim of Bernadette and Craig Westbrook, Scranton, that Dr. Bharat Patel did not properly inform her of the risks of a diagnostic test. Mrs. Westbrook went to Dr. Patel, a gastroenterologist, in 1993. On Oct. 26 of that year, he suggested she undergo a procedure to see if she had stones in her gallbladder or common bile duct. After the test, the complaint said, she developed pancreatitis, together with a cyst on the organ. She eventually underwent corrective surgery at a Philadelphia hospital. Mrs. Westbrook, represented by attorney Michael Roth, contended she would have refused the test had she been told of the dangers that could result in death. Dr. Patel testified he told Mrs. Westbrook of the possible complications, but did not mention the risk of death associated with them because the percentage was so small. As my email correspondent points out: The only reason they mentioned that 14 out of the last 14 cases were found for the defendents was to reinforce an earlier article whose title ran "Jury Awards not Driving Malpractice Rates". They never make the point that with the average case going to trial costing over 100K then those 14 cases cost the insurance companies over 1.4 Million dollars to defend innocent doctors. Is it any wonder Scranton PA is in a malpractice crisis? posted by Sydney on 2/11/2003 07:38:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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