My dad (he's the judge named in the article) was telling me about it a few days ago so I thought I'd share.
While I agree that the doctor was pretty stupid, I had to feel a little bad for him. What a crappy spot to be put in.
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quote:The stainless steel screwdriver snapped days later, and the then-73-year-old Iturralde had to have three more back surgeries as a result. He died two years later.
What happened in the interim? I hope Dr. Ricketson made note of the problem during the surgery and planned to correct it as soon as possible. And even if he didn't, there must have been other people in the room when he cut the screwdriver and inserted it. Was his personality was so overbearing that nobody dared question him?
In any case, I think he lost because he failed to realize that the rods were missing before the surgery and started anyway, thus putting him in an even worse situation.
But I have to wonder how differently his actions during the surgery would be judged had the screwdriver held long enough for someone to go back and replace it.
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I didn't get too many details. I'm assuming the proper course of action would have been to close the guy back up until the rods were located.
If I recall correctly, some of the nurses questioned the decision at the time but Dr. Ricketson overrode the objections.
Apparantly, many hospitals have been implementing a training system to encourage assertiveness among team members that's based off of flight crew training to prevent these types of situations.
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posted
oh dear, now this is a story. I mean, now we are punishing those same resourceful people we praised when at boy scout camp they could make a raft from two twigs and three pieces of string. What has society come to?
P.S. Juxtapose, very neat that your father was the judge presiding. Too often do we encounter idiots in the workplace.
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I don't think he was that dumb I mean, what else could he have done? He just opened up someone's back to do surgery on a faulty spine...
I mean if he hadn't done anything the patient would have had surgery for nothing, which I'm assuming is bad. Of course he should have to be responsible for the man's death, but doing surgery on the back is a major operation, and if he hadn't done anything the patient would have been in worse condition than before. The thing that I don't get is how the screw driver snapped. Shouldn't the patient have a longer rehabilitation time before he puts any weight onto his back? During this rehabilitation time, isn't it possible that the correct metal rods would have been found? That is where I feel the doctor was at fault.
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Wow, I seem to recall hearing about this case before it went to trial. I'm definitely very happy to hear that the jury found for the plaintiff.
While I agree that in another situation the substitution would have been worthy of MacGyver, massive invasive surgery is not the place to be running around with WD-40 and duct tape...
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Even if the screwdriver hadn't snapped, how sterile could it have been? There couldn't have been time to autoclave and cool it, and dunking it in alcohol is only so effective.
Surgeons need to be aggressive problem solvers, but this doc crossed the line.
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posted
Also, if I recall correctly, titanium is about as strong as stainless steel. And there were supposed to be two titanium rods.
quote:I mean, now we are punishing those same resourceful people we praised when at boy scout camp they could make a raft from two twigs and three pieces of string.
The only lasting thing I learned in the BSA was how to make a fire from anything. Including sticks and string...
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quote:Originally posted by SoaPiNuReYe: I don't think he was that dumb I mean, what else could he have done? He just opened up someone's back to do surgery on a faulty spine...
I mean if he hadn't done anything the patient would have had surgery for nothing, which I'm assuming is bad. Of course he should have to be responsible for the man's death, but doing surgery on the back is a major operation, and if he hadn't done anything the patient would have been in worse condition than before. The thing that I don't get is how the screw driver snapped. Shouldn't the patient have a longer rehabilitation time before he puts any weight onto his back? During this rehabilitation time, isn't it possible that the correct metal rods would have been found? That is where I feel the doctor was at fault.
I think he was at fault more because he didn't make sure he had everything he needed *before* making any incisions.
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