Medical Negligence

It took five months for a Czech woman to discover the reason for her pain – doctors had left a foot-long medical instrument inside her abdomen.

It was only this month that doctors at a clinic in the south-eastern town of Ivancice discovered their colleagues had forgotten to remove the spatula-like instrument from the woman after gynaecological surgery in September.

A regional official apologised to Zdenka Kopeckova, 66, saying she would be compensated.Clinic head Jaromir Hrubes blamed "a series of individual failures" and said four employees had been punished. According to the country's CT24 news channel the woman, who complained repeatedly to her doctors about the pain, plans to sue.

via www.guardian.co.uk

How can a human life be measured in terms of compensation, apologies and a punishment of four employees? To my mind, the doctors who forgot the spatula in Zdenka's abdomen should be sent to prison. This is severe medical negligence that could have cost Zdenka's life.

Comments

[Karolina]

I believe that medical negligence is a very serious crime and the doctors responsible should spend the rest of their lives in the prison. I accept human error but not when it endangers human life.

[walid]

Habebti.
Thank you kindly for writing about this subject.I know two cases the same.Who cares there is no low to jail not even to take off the license of any medical Dr.
By the way they never commit of doing any harm to any one even trying new drugs.
Do you know that Viagra was made as a drug for who got a week muscle of the heart.
I always think why medical doctors don't have a test every three years.In fact cars do have every one year.which is more important.God Bless.
With Love Walid.

[Anastasia]

You are absolutely right, Karolina. What's beyond me is that the woman repeatedly complained about terrible pains after the operation and it took six months to find out what..caused these pains!

[Anastasia]

I can't help smiling, but yes you are right. Just like cars,doctors should be tested every three years or so, yet, on the other hand medical negligence hasn't always got to do with a doctor's performance in the medical field. It's got to do with conscience and, as Shakespeare said "...conscience does make cowards of us all"

[Faith Barndt]

I agree with you Anastasia. I know there are so many people who have lost their lives due to medical negligence... not just simple errors but negligence. Suing will not ease the pain of physical pain/infection/being made to feel like you are crazy or loss of life. Money can buy many things but it cannot buy peace of mind (or love). There is so much negligence in our world (politicians,doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc). There needs to be a punishment more than a slap on the hand or being fired. We wonder why our children do not know how to take responsibility for themselves but look at their role models who tend to 'buy their way out of trouble'.
My roommate's niece got a car when she graduated from high school. She drove and talked on cell phone; texted;played with her stereo system and racked up over a dozen speeding tickets. Her parents, instead of taking the car from her or making her pay, paid a lawyer to make the tickets "go away". Once she was on the cell phone and had an accident. Fortunately it involved no one else. Finally, she was caught shoplifting (a sorority prank her "sisters" were all doing). This girl has more money than GOD but she shoplifted over $600.00 worth of clothing from a store. She had to go to jail (over night) until she was "bailed out" by her parents. A "good" lawyer got the charges reduced and she did not have to go to jail. She had to pay back the money and the bail money but what was learned??? Money does not make everything "all better".

Sorry for the rant but my nephew is dead because his parents never taught him to take responsibility for his actions. He took drugs, alcohol, and stole from his family, friends and neighbors. When the police caught him, he killed himself. TEACH RESPONSIBILITY. I see so much of NO responsibility for your own actions in the school where I teach. I get sick to my stomach thinking about what these kids are going to have to go through to get their lessons learned.