Malpractice sought after surgeon operates on wrong eye
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VANCOUVER, Wash. - When a surgeon operated on the wrong eye on a 4-year-old boy, his parents were shocked that something like that could happen. Now, they are actively pursuing a medical malpractice case against the doctor who performed the surgery, and the hospital where it was done.
"This isn't about the money to me," the boy's father, Dale Matlock, said. "This is about all the people out there that have been through what we've been through the last two years. All the mishap surgeries that go on out there and all they do is try to cover it up. I'm done with it. If I have to get a different attorney, I will. I want to take this to court so a judge can decide what is right."
When Jesse Matlock of Vancouver went in for surgery in 2011, an eye surgeon was supposed to operate on his right eye to stop it from wandering. But the boy's parents say instead, the surgeon operated on their son's left eye before realizing the mistake and repeating the same operation on his right eye.
"My husband and I were in awe," Tasha Gaul, the boy's mother, told KATU at the time. "We were like 'can you repeat that again? She said 'frankly, I lost sense of direction and didn't realize I had operated on the wrong eye until I was done operating on the eye.' "
Matlock said doctors from Legacy told the family that Jesse's left eye is getting better and shows no signs of long-term damage but the family wants the doctor and hospital to admit fault. The family's lawyer does not want to go forward with the case, which is why they are considering hiring another attorney.
The surgery was done by Dr. Shawn Goodman at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. She was not an employee of Legacy, but was using their operating facilities.
Matlock said the hospital thus far has offered only to settle the case outside of court for up to $50,000, without publicly acknowledging the mistake. The hospital would not comment on the case because it is an open one.
maybe they meant his other right eye...no this is unacceptable you can do grave damage to an eye very easily,we dont know yet if the wrong eye will have problems since the child is only 4 years old,and may not know the possible problems are,double vision ect.
the settlement should be free future eye care if needed
Defending this doctorâs actions is like being soft on crime. This was not a mistake. Dropping a tool or being late is a mistake. This is clearly derelict activity. Job ONE should be to know which eye to work on. This physician should lose her license for this blatant inability to perform such a high risk task.
@ Feral When YOU get sick dont go to a Doctor! You are overly critical.
Ok when all you make a mistake at you job what ever it is , YOU can't ever work in that profession again How you like them apples?
I'm sure all of you know the complexities & dynamics that go on prior to the procedure . The kid will be fine...
@ Garner I agree!!!
I heard about a guy who had to have a leg amputated to save his life.Â
Unfortunately, the doctor cut off the wrong one, and didn't realize it till
later. Then he had to go back and amputate the correct leg.Â
Quite naturally, the patient sued.
When the case came to court, the judge heard all the evidence, and
shocked everyone when he threw the case out.
When asked why, the judge declared that the victim didn't have a leg to stand on.
:-P
Dr. Goodman is a great doctor. She did the a similar surgery on my son. The process both the doctor and the hospital staff goes through to try to prevent this type of error is extensive. They ask which eye multiple time and mark the eye and then verify again. This take place with 3 or 4 different people and the doctor. We do not know the details of how it came about that the wrong I was operated on, but it was. I feel bad for both the family and the Dr. Goodman.Â
No let's bring it home. Who on here has never made a mistake at work? The incredible pressure surgeons must be under. The are expected to be perfect. The outcome is expected to be perfect, even if they tell the patient and their family that the outcome come be something other than desirable. Dr. Goodman does these surgeries all the time. I dare say, she has done thousands. Many of you are proposing that after one mistake, and that is what it was, a mistake, she loses her job and livelihood. How many of us could live up to that standard in our workplace? Tomorrow your boss says, sorry you made an error, so I have to fire you. Oh, on top of that, you can't work in this field anymore. You will have to change carreers. Good Luck!
@Garner There is no expectation of perfection here. How could you consider this a mistake. The expectation was to get the correct eye. My wife had lung surgery and the surgeon brought in a marker and initialed her skin to depict the lung. Effort and procedure. Both were ignored by this doctor. Â
@Garner ---- Great doctor, hummm...I'm thinking a so so doctor. Mistake at work, these guys get a butt load of money, they better not screw up. This is a little boy for cripes sake!
@Garner You are talking about a 4 year old's eyes!! I'm sure you wouldn't be so cavalier if it was your child who was wrongly operated on.  Eye surgeons have to be perfect. Are you kidding??? Yes, she should lose her license. If she cannot tell right from left and she's an eye surgeon!?!?!!?  Â
@KKStJohn @Garner If it were my son, I would go for the main vein and make sure after winning that doctor never practice medicine ever again.Â
An eye for an eye?
Cute kid. Crappy doctor.
Hmmm. Let's see. I'm looking at the patient. The right eye is on my left, right? Or right? Let's see. Hmmm. Scalpel, please. Don't distract me now; I'll lose my sense of direction. The left eye is on my left, right? No. Waitaminnit. Uhh... This is my left hand, so... uhhh....
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@feral  Yes.. then there would be NO surgeries taking place !! Â
@Oh My @feral Can you explain what part of Obamacare prevents surgeries from taking place or are you just channeling your inner Sara Palin?
@feral @B Smizzle @Oh My Okay because your first message said no surgery....now you are saying you will get them but it will take a year or two.  How is that any different than the current system?
money grubbers
@Oh My Explain please?
Hey they Don't teach left from right in med school...
@yesiam --- Don't you know, the Left always thinks they are right.
I wish PGE would say "It's not about the money".
Dr. needs to have his license suspended or revoked, period. This is gross negligence.
Anyone who says "It's not about the money" means "It's all about the money".
How is the hospital responsible for an individual's error, when that person wasn't a hospital employee?
We need to change the law so that settling a case automatically admits guilt.
@ShallowEnder Read the article. The doctor is a SHE. Â
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@feral @ShallowEnder Actually doctors kill more people per year than guns.....BAN ALL DOCTORS!
http://www.naturalnews.com/038889_doctors_guns_statistics.html
Haha silly public.... Don't you know health professionals never mess up!
Simply because the outcome wasn't tragic doesn't make it any less malpractice. Â
The doctor made a horrific error and was very lucky it didn't cause damage to the good eye. LUCKY. No doctor and/or hospital should be able to buy or pay their way out of having to admit that they did their job badly. Saying "oops" isn't enough - this needs to be on a public record for other potential patients to be able to see.   The next patient might not be so lucky.  They need to have all the information necessary to make a sound decision when selecting a surgeon and facility that will do the best job.
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@feral The more you post, the stupider you appear.
You should quit while you're abehind...I mean ahead.
@feral  How comfortable would you feel if you went in to have a rotator cuff repair done on your left shoulder and they ended up doing the surgery on the right side, only to have to go in and work on the left side afterwards too? Extra recovery time. Extra pain. Extra issues with the probably of future issues with the unnecessary surgical site. The issue with the financial issue of who pays for the additional time in the hospital/surgical expenses/medications. Insurance? Hospital? You? Time Loss Expense?   Extra Physical Therapy?
All these issues still come into play with this little boys unnecessary surgery. Both eyes have to recover. Physical therapy for recovery. Parents extra time off for the extra help the child needed. Extra costs/expenses. Who pays for those? It wasn't their choice. It was the doctors error, which she clearly admitted to them, almost in passing - as if it was nothing. And that is where the problem lies.  This isn't NOTHING. This is a serious issue on all levels. They have an obligation to do their jobs correctly.  If something goes wrong that is beyond their control, that's one thing. But when it is a blatant error on their part - that's something completely different.
@feral  A wandering eye is NOT cosmetic.
@feral And in the 1960's, doctors could smoke in the rooms, not everything is good about the old days
@feral Yes it will, because I had it done in 1969 and wore a patch over my good eye while it was healing to help strengthen those muscles.  It worked .
@feral @wondering A wondering/lazy eye causes dizziness, double vision, headaches, in-balance, the inability to drive in some cases, and long term vision issues, including loss of peripheral vision. It is not cosmetic.Â
If it is not about the money as Matlock claims then offer the doctor and hospital a contractual agreement that if they publicly apologize Matlock will waive his right to sue.
I do believe doctors should be held accountable for gross errors, and this certainly qualifies. However the father said it wasn't about the money so he should offer to back his statement.
@I812Â Â It's ALL about the money for the lawyer. LOL!
What are they complaining about? The kid didn't die and he still has both testicles...right? It wasn't long ago that some surgeon removed somebody's good leg rather than their bad leg. These people should feel like they won the incompetent surgeon lottery.
@Agness P Weatherby Ummmm...read the article. It was an eye operation...not his testicles. Sheesh.Â
Okay, look, I'm completely sympathetic to the boy and his family. If there has ever been a case deserving of a malpractice award, this would be it. But...
"This isn't about the money to me,"Â
For cryin' out loud. I do hate it when people preface lawsuits with that statement. I IS about the money. At least be honest. Irrelevent if the money is sought as a form of punitive action against the hospital, doctor or the medical industry as a whole so as to ensure that protocols are put in place or followed. Or, if some lawyer just convinced you that this is your families brass ring... Own up to the reality of it.
It IS about the money.Â
@MarkKpic "It isn't about the money" is an interesting one.  So is "With all due respect..." right before someone dumps a heaping load of disrespectful doo-doo on another's head.
@MarkKpic Â
Every law suit is about the money its been that way since the discovery that death cannot be reversed. It is silly to make the claim that "they're only in it for the money" because that is the only way that courts compensate victims. And, besides....hospitals don't take chickens as payment....they take money, so does that make hospitals only in it for the money? Yes, and Yes...literally and figuratively; saving patients and improving lives is what doctors do...sometimes when they're not busy being incompetent.Â
Pussy lawyer. This is a horrible case of malpractice and failed process.
Regardless if no harm was done in the long-term, it's a serious "mistake". This child had an operation on his healthy eye...this shouldn't be left alone. Shame on the attorney for wanting to bail. In this age of stupid, frivolous lawsuits, this one certainly counts as something that needs to be dealt with legally. I seriously doubt that if any of your children had this happen, you'd be just as anxious to get an attorney to make it right.
An unfortunate mistake, however no harm was done. It says a lot that the attorney is not even willing to proceed. It was not intentional, nor was it egregious. Who really benefits from this specific lawsuit? I can assure you it won't be the collective public. Yes, the surgeon needs to admit wrongdoing, and the hospital needs to put protocols in place to prevent this. When healthcare consumers get off the fast food mentality, that can happen.
@vanburbian I have to disagree. How would you like to have TWO eyes in recovery from surgery at the same time, especially if you are a 4 year old child?
That would suck, and harm was done. Thankfully *permanent damage* was not.
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@feral @WhenCowsAttack @vanburbian Assuming the CORRECT surgery was done on the wrong eye in the first place...