Everyone has had bad customer service before, but there are some instances where being rude to a client can be costly. New York residents might have heard of the medical procedure in Virginia that started with a colonoscopy and ended with a $500,000 payout for a patient.
Everyone has had bad customer service before, but there are some instances where being rude to a client can be costly. New York residents might have heard of the medical procedure in Virginia that started with a colonoscopy and ended with a $500,000 payout for a patient.
In April 2013, the man recorded his procedure on his phone so that he could listen to any instructions given to him from his doctors. He got more than he bargained for as he discovered the surgical team insulted him while he was under sedation. The anesthesiologist and gastroenterologist also talked about wanting to avoid the man after surgery and asked an assistant to lie to the man, and the anesthesiologist also put a false diagnosis of hemorrhoids on his chart.
After filing a lawsuit for medical malpractice and defamation against the doctors and their practices, the man was awarded $500,000 from the anesthesiologist and her practice by jury verdict. The defense argued that the recording made by the patient was not legal as the anesthesiologist did not give her consent, but under Virginia law, only one party’s consent is needed. While the gastroenterologist did make some disparaging comments and did not stop the anesthesiologist from listing hemorrhoids on the man’s chart, he was dismissed from the case.
Typically, a negligent doctor is one who makes a mistake or fails to do something that leads to injuring a patient. While the patient in this story did not suffer physical injuries, emotional damage occurred along with the falsification of his medical records. Regardless of the circumstances, doctors or a hospital staff who fail to provide the appropriate care for their patients could be negligent, and an attorney could assist a patient when seeking damages through a medical malpractice suit.
