A cancer patient says she was left alone in a CT scanner for hours after a technician apparently forget about her, and she finally crawled out of the device, only to find herself locked in the closed clinic.
Elvira Tellez of Tucson said she called her son in a panic, and he told her to call 911.
Pima County sheriff's deputies arriving at the oncology office had her unlock the office door to let them in, said Deputy Dawn Hanke, a department spokeswoman. The deputies contacted the office manager, who was not aware of the situation.
Tellez was taken to a hospital as a precaution, then released early the next day.
Tellez said she's had trouble sleeping since last week's incident. She and her family said they want an explanation from the medical office, Arizona Oncology Associates, but have yet to receive one. She said the technician did call to apologize the next day.
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Assuming she will sue, how much would you award her?
2007-09-30 03:48:55 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in News & Events ➔ Current Events
now to me that would be worth a million bucks.
2007-09-30 15:24:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Of course she will sue, who doesn't? However, I have seen this happen a few rare times in the past (patient forgotten). No one is being spiteful or practicing immorally, unethically, or malpractically--they are being, unfortunately, human. Most often it is a miscommunication in a very busy situation, and the patient is very passive. I am sure the tech felt awful (he did call & apologize). He should be counseled, but fired??? How would you like to waste 3 years of specialized training to lose ever being able to work in that field again on a very simple mistake? Firings should be reserved for true negligence and "reckless disregard." The clinic needs to instigate a better patient tracker system to avoid things like this in the future. A formal apology, proof of problem addressed, cover her medical bills, maybe a small compensation for time lost, and some free CTs--that's all I'd give. People hold medical people to a higher standard then they should at times--this is why everyone should be an informed consumer. It is interesting, that the same people who often complain the loudest about short-commings in the medical field, often give crappy, crabby service themselves at their own jobs. How about everyone work on being polite, pleasant, and as helpful as possible?
2007-09-30 13:53:23 · answer #2 · answered by Diane A 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on what the clinic has to say. I believe the only way you can hurt corporate/business entities who don't perform morally/ethically is to hit them in the pocketbook. If they express true remorse and have assembled a plan to avoid this happening in the future, then I would keep it low. If they take a nonchalant attitude toward the matter and you feel in your bones this could reoccur, then I would hit them hard and drive the lesson home. There has to be a happy medium with these lawsuits. She didn't suffer anything but a little distress, she will live. I'm less interested in giving her money for distress (how does $$ fix distress anyhow?), and more interested in fining the objectionable activity.
2007-09-30 10:55:20 · answer #3 · answered by missusliz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What happened to this woman was wrong, no doubt about it.
My question is: How will money make it better? Will putting a check in her bank account make her sleep better? Probably not.
A better solution would be to see that the techincian who was negligent was reprimanded (or, better yet) FIRED. Then initiate a new training program at the clinic to better ensure that this situation doesn't happen again. The clinic should be made to pay fully for any psychological help this woman needs to recover from her emotional trial.
I am not always in favor of granting money to someone who was emotionally traumatized.
2007-09-30 11:05:09 · answer #4 · answered by artistagent116 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure the followup observation in the hospital cost a thousand or two dollars. Add in a few hundred for her time, and a few thousand for her distress, and it's probably worth a dozen CT scans.
2007-09-30 12:33:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would award her the cost of the precautionary stay in the hospital, unless she could demonstrate higher damages.
2007-09-30 12:17:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would sock it to em'......no less than 3 million, no more than 30 million(dollars)
2007-09-30 10:59:45 · answer #7 · answered by cliffordw hippiefied ol fart 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Is she a legal US citizen?
2007-09-30 11:12:24 · answer #8 · answered by Splitters 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋