A 72-year-old man died after his anesthesiologist left for lunch in the middle of his surgery to have a tumor removed at the Lidköping hospital in Sweden. Not only did the doctor leave for lunch but soon after the head anesthesia nurse took lunch — leaving a nurse from the orthopedic ward who did not know how to operate the respirator. It turns out that the machine was turned off.
The operation began in January 2011 at 10:45 am, but as soon as the clock hit noon the doctor declared he was punching out for lunch.
The patient’s condition went chronic with hemorrhaging and his blood pressure started to drop after the departure of the doctor — roughly an hour into his lunch break. Efforts to reach the doctor at lunch were unsuccessful. By the time, the doctor returned the patient had been without oxygen for eight minutes. They never revived the man who had suffered irreparable brain damage. He did not die however for several weeks.
The National Board of Health and Welfare criticized the doctor’s actions. These cases often revive the debate over whether some countries like Sweden would benefit for a more robust tort system for personal injuries and malpractice as in the United States. It is of course a trade off. Litigation does add costs to medical care but not as much as malpractice. Our system is based not only on a belief in the right for patients to recover fully for such loss, but also that such litigation constitutes a critical deterrent for malpractice.
What do you think?
Source: The Local
Kudos: Richard Swenson
Things like this piss me off….
for the most part… I have always received TOP NOTCH care here in Sweden….
so, when I hear stories like this…. it just makes me sad…..
YES…. there are going to be idiot Dr. here, just like in the USA….
However, no more so than you will find in the USA….
Tho, because EVERYBODY is insured…. They really take care to
be really thorough….
My first birthday here, I got a sudden headache…. I came on fast and hard… It was horrible…. my eyesight got blurry…. I felt sick…
They ran EVERY test under the sun on me… MRI… CAT Scan… Blood tests…. a Spinal Tap…
It was found to just be a migraine… after 8 hours of tests…. they have me a shot of something really AWESOME…. and sent me home…
Never had another headache like that again….
and we often laugh that I had a Spinal Tap on my birthday…. 🙂
In the USA, I would not have been treated like this…. EVEN if I had good insurance….
It is just too bad that some idiot DR has to ruin it for the other good ones that are here….
Obama care patterened after european style healthcare?
You talked about the Obama terrorist hit squad panel in a blog recently, how about the Obama Care death squad panel that picks as to wether you deserve a needy operation or not.
If the procedure was complete, then there would be no reason for an anesthesiologist to remain standing there. Post-procedure, anesthesia is stopped and vitals are monitored in recovery – not the operating room. The fact that the man wasn’t breathing on his own extremely strongly suggests that he was still in surgery, particularly because patients under general anesthesia can usually still breathe on their own and don’t need a special source of oxygen.
It didn’t say the second nurse wasn’t an anesthetist, only that she worked in orthopedics. Of course orthopedics routinely administers anesthesia during orthopedic surgical procedures, so a nurse anesthetist working on that service should be perfectly competent with the machines. If he or she wasn’t, it’s not necessarily the fault of the anesthesiologist (who is not an anesthetist). It’s the fault of the surgeon.
Lastly, the phrase “the patients condition went chronic” makes no sense and refers to nothing.
Nate,
There is no reference to a surgeon. It’s possible that the surgery was finished, but the anesthetic was not.
The nurse anesthetist also left for lunch 15 minutes after the chief anesthetist left. Another nurse was called in but s/he didn’t know how to operate the equipment. The doctor (chief anesthetist?) was also unavailable by phone, inexcusable with cell phones and pagers.
Also, aren’t some of you supposed to be lawyers? Try reading for detail, folks. Just noticed mespo seems to have misunderstood the specialty of the doctor, a pretty critical error.
The description of events makes no sense. If the anesthesiologist left, the surgeon was still there. That means the patient was under physician supervision throughout; no reason he should have had no oxygen for 8 minutes. If a nurse anesthetist was present, then regardless of the type of procedure she should be competent to monitor vital signs and equipment – and in any case, the health of the patient is ultimately the responsibility of the surgeon performing the operation.
What that doctor did is beyond idiotic. They left the guy on the table as if he was a lifeless slab of steak..
Bron 1, September 6, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Idealist707:
are you still here?
=====================================
Yeah, 707 … what was that you were saying yesterday about my hubris bro?
A health malpractice litigation system would help however at best this seems like a negligent homicide or recles indifference murder to me.
Long story short when humans are shielded from oversight and the consequences they go to lunch when some one’s life is on the line.
When you can barely sue the surgeon for malpractice why should he stay into his lunch hour? Professional ethics? Apparently not a big concern in Sweden.
This doctor should lose his license.
If I were to point out Sweden is government healthcare would that be inappropriate? You know those DMV employees are out the door for lunch much quicker than any other activity during their work day.
they probably are entitled to a lunch break, I guess they think they are mechanics.
Idealist707:
are you still here?
“The National Board of Health and Welfare criticized the doctor’s actions.” Then what? Were they suspended? Had their medical licenses yanked?
Once they put the patient “under” they had the medical responsibility to bring him “out” without harm. I agree they should be in prison.
Sweden wants Julian Assange returned to be tried for a consensual sex “rape.” Maybe they should spend more time on their doctors since they KILLED someone.
John Edwards got on the first flight to Sweden after hearing of this.
The article says ” The National Board of Health and Welfare criticized the doctor’s actions.” If this is all that was done to this doctor than that system needs to change
LK…. And they should suffer having to eat Swedish fishes for lunch……
The anesthesiologist and head anesthesiology nurse should be taking their lunches in prison for the next 20 years.
How is this not criminal?