Greedy Trial Lawyer
The Old "Day Surgery Doctor Switcheroo With An Immunity Twist"
Category: The Latest Baddest
Ken Ackerman, a former Portland television anchor, has posted a compelling story of surgery that turned out poorly, a substitute surgeon and the virtual immunity provided to doctors practicing at many state-owned facilities.
While I Was Sleeping is the ironic title of the article. Ironic because sleeping is what we all have been doing while immunity expands for medical providers.
OHSU doctors are virtually unaccountableIt was supposed to be a 45-minute day surgery. "Dime a dozen," my doctor said. When the anesthesia wore off, I'd go home.
Several weeks earlier, I had been playing tennis when I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I called the head of neurosurgery at OHSU who referred me to a doctor on his staff. We met and decided I would undergo a procedure designed to reduce spinal nerve pressure.
Following the early morning operation I woke up in a hospital room. I wasn't supposed to be there. It was dark outside. Nighttime. I was supposed to be home. Yet, here I was, hooked up to tubes, my friends and family were there, my mother was crying. My doctor announced, "We think the swelling in your neck is the cause of your paralysis."
Paralyzed? The shock of hearing that word was only slightly more shocking than the news I received a few weeks later. A friend told me that an acquaintance of his was in the operating room during my surgery and had witnessed a second-year resident perform most of the procedure. I had put my faith and trust in one doctor. I had gone under the anesthesia with the understanding that the physician I had selected would be performing my surgery. I began to look for legal representation. That's when I received another big surprise.
One well respected Portland lawyer told me I had a case, but he wouldn't represent me because I had the surgery at OHSU. Doctors at OHSU claim protection under the Oregon Tort Claims Act, a law designed to limit liability for public agencies. If you file a medical malpractice claim against an OHSU doctor, you are limited to a maximum of $200,000 in damages. The cost, I learned, of preparing a malpractice claim for trial is too great and doesn't pencil out with the limits in place. In other words, I discovered, OHSU doctors are virtually unaccountable.
I was eventually able to find an attorney who believed that, with the right approach, we could make a difference. We filed suit against the OHSU Medical Group, which the doctors established in 1998 for the express purpose of separating themselves from OHSU Hospital. It's our contention that these doctors shouldn't be able to hide behind any kind of public protection.
My trial is set for this coming August. A jury will decide if the OHSU Medical Group doctors are public agents or private businessmen. If jurors rule in our favor, it will open the door for many others to get the most basic of questions answered like, "Who operated on me?" Just the first of many questions a victim has a right to know when a routine day surgery turns into a lifelong disability.
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