About a month ago, my wife had some rather involved oral surgery. Before the surgery (not covered by insurance), we had an agreement with the oral surgeon about cost. He was to "totally relax her", using some sort of gas. He wanted a list of her medications, and he would contact our primary care physician to make sure there was nothing he wanted done prior to surgery.
Before we had the surgery date, he told her that her physician wanted her to have an (outside) anesthesiologist handle the anesthesia. That would mean he would not be using the gas to relax her during surgery. The additional cost to us would be $1300.00. Since our physician ordered it, we bit the bullet, and had it done.
Now it's the day of surgery, and everything seems to be going O.K. The surgery is completed, and the anesthesiologist leaves. She should be fully awake in about 1/2 hour, but they couldn't wake her up. They used smelling salts several times, and she would wake up, but fall right back asleep. They put a monitor on her to watch her blood pressure. After about 5 hours, they still could not keep her awake, and her blood pressure dropped. They called an ambulance to take her to the emergency room. After spending about 6 hours there, we finally went home (she was awake, but drowsy). The diagnosis was a drop in blood pressure due to an overdose of anesthesia. She was to follow up with a visit to our physician within 2 days.
She is now in our physician's office, and she jokingly told him it was all his fault for ordering an anesthesiologist to handle it. He was very surprised, and more than a little upset when she said that. He told her he did not order it. He only told the oral surgeon which meds she should be off of before and after surgery.
Next visit to the oral surgeon's office: The surgeon told us that the anesthesiologist overdosed her (which we already knew), but that he was not part of their team. He was brought in from outside his office. He also told me he was going to get my $1300.00 check back for me. Neither one of us has mentioned it since. The check has never been cashed, so I expect he is holding it. I told my wife not to sign anything releasing anyone from responsibility if she is asked to. We'll wait until everything is over.
Here are my thoughts. He might be getting a kickback from the group of anesthesiologists, so he told her that her physician ordered it. She has had health problems for the last 20 years, and maybe he was afraid to handle it himself. But if that was the case, why wouldn't he have told her that?
When he tells her he is finished with the job, I'll bring up my concerns with him. I'll ask him why he told her our doc ordered the anesthesiologist, when he didn't? My wife went through a lot because of the overdose. She slept most of the next day after getting out of the hospital.
We are definitely not the type to sue people just because we can. We don't believe in that. I actually had a doctor tell me she felt it was the fault of another doctor which caused me to have a stroke in 1995!! She told me I had very good cause for a lawsuit. I did not pursue the lawsuit because there was no reason to believe the doc did anything but try to help me. Maybe he went too far, but people make mistakes. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could have at the very least received compensation out of court. But I didn't think it was morally right.
But this is a different thing. Did the surgeon talk us into spending $1300.00 so he could get a kickback? If so, I think that would be cause for him to lose his license, and also a hefty lawsuit. Right now there are unanswered questions, but I wonder what you would do?
Ed
Before we had the surgery date, he told her that her physician wanted her to have an (outside) anesthesiologist handle the anesthesia. That would mean he would not be using the gas to relax her during surgery. The additional cost to us would be $1300.00. Since our physician ordered it, we bit the bullet, and had it done.
Now it's the day of surgery, and everything seems to be going O.K. The surgery is completed, and the anesthesiologist leaves. She should be fully awake in about 1/2 hour, but they couldn't wake her up. They used smelling salts several times, and she would wake up, but fall right back asleep. They put a monitor on her to watch her blood pressure. After about 5 hours, they still could not keep her awake, and her blood pressure dropped. They called an ambulance to take her to the emergency room. After spending about 6 hours there, we finally went home (she was awake, but drowsy). The diagnosis was a drop in blood pressure due to an overdose of anesthesia. She was to follow up with a visit to our physician within 2 days.
She is now in our physician's office, and she jokingly told him it was all his fault for ordering an anesthesiologist to handle it. He was very surprised, and more than a little upset when she said that. He told her he did not order it. He only told the oral surgeon which meds she should be off of before and after surgery.
Next visit to the oral surgeon's office: The surgeon told us that the anesthesiologist overdosed her (which we already knew), but that he was not part of their team. He was brought in from outside his office. He also told me he was going to get my $1300.00 check back for me. Neither one of us has mentioned it since. The check has never been cashed, so I expect he is holding it. I told my wife not to sign anything releasing anyone from responsibility if she is asked to. We'll wait until everything is over.
Here are my thoughts. He might be getting a kickback from the group of anesthesiologists, so he told her that her physician ordered it. She has had health problems for the last 20 years, and maybe he was afraid to handle it himself. But if that was the case, why wouldn't he have told her that?
When he tells her he is finished with the job, I'll bring up my concerns with him. I'll ask him why he told her our doc ordered the anesthesiologist, when he didn't? My wife went through a lot because of the overdose. She slept most of the next day after getting out of the hospital.
We are definitely not the type to sue people just because we can. We don't believe in that. I actually had a doctor tell me she felt it was the fault of another doctor which caused me to have a stroke in 1995!! She told me I had very good cause for a lawsuit. I did not pursue the lawsuit because there was no reason to believe the doc did anything but try to help me. Maybe he went too far, but people make mistakes. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could have at the very least received compensation out of court. But I didn't think it was morally right.
But this is a different thing. Did the surgeon talk us into spending $1300.00 so he could get a kickback? If so, I think that would be cause for him to lose his license, and also a hefty lawsuit. Right now there are unanswered questions, but I wonder what you would do?
Ed
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