We are both coming to the discussion with assumptions. Let me express mine, please.
E said the patient had been admitted to the hospital with chest pains. That's the most important information. That means he had come in through the emergency room, been evaluated by the emergency room staff, and his condition was serious enough for him to be kept overnight for observation.
That means that at least an emergency room physician evaluated his symptoms, which probably means he had an ekg, and blood work. E didn't say what the patient had, it could be a number of things, including infarct and embolism, but if they gave him pain meds, it probably presented as angina. His cardiac enzymes were probably negative, ekg did not signal impending heart attack, but they were watching him.
The hospital may have had a cardiologist on staff, if not, there were cardiologists available. The physician undoubtedly had other cardiologists on call to take his calls and cover for him when he was off duty. He is entitled to have a personal life. He must have a personal life, otherwise he will burn out and be useless. He is not required to drop everything and come running every time a patient has chest pain and feels anxious.
By having been admitted, the patient was adequately provided for. In the event of an emergency, he was already in the hospital, and the staff would have been there to take care of him, and they would have called the cardiologist on staff and the man's personal physician or whomever was covering for him.
Those are my assumptions.
I think your assumption is "the customer is always right." I hope you don't mean that the patient has the right to force the doctor to drop everything he is doing and come running whenever he is anxious.
The doctor made a judgment call, and he made a mistake. But that doesn't mean what he did was criminal, or even negligent. Physicians make mistakes, because they are not perfect. Bad things happen. That's a fact.
Your job, as patient, is to make sure that the doctor knows everything, I mean everything, he needs to know to treat you properly. Don't assume he remembers anything about you from time to time. Don't assume he read your chart. Don't assume he remembers what medicines you are taking, or what you are allergic to, or anything else.
I learned that the hard way when I was in premature labor. The hospital called the doctor, who didn't remember that I was six months pregnant, because he had only seen me three times in his life, over a period of three months. He remembered that I was a strong healthy woman, and assumed I would be fine unless someone told him otherwise. I should have made sure they told him that. I asked the hospital staff if they told him that and they said they assumed he knew that. Never assume. Never let anyone assume. Miscommunication kills.
But threatening lawsuits is, IMHO, counterproductive, and should only be done in extremis. |
