Exploding Eyeball During Va Surgery

[Berta]

Monday, May 14, 2012

VA Pays $925,000 in Bridgeport Exploding Eyeball Suit

From CTpost.com

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agreed Monday to pay $925,000 to a man whose eyeball exploded during a routine outpatient cataract operation at the West Haven Veterans Affairs hospital. The settlement, on behalf ...

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Full story at

http://eyewiretoday.com/archives.asp?c=61

[john999]

My wife and I had cataract surgery one on our eyes in the last year. We used the best eye doctor in town. The VA would not even consider doing mine even though I was 20/800 in my eye with the cataract. They did make me glasses with a lens about half an inch thick. I threw them away. I am glad they turned me down now with the exploding eyeball trick.

[Pete53]

Not a chance I will do cataract surgery at VA although one week ago I was scheduled for emergency eye surgery at Dallas VAMC until I said not a chance till I talk to optomologist

After that it was discovered that there was a mistake made by an intern. I think the VA is full of vampire interns wanting to get experience using Vets as lab rats. This is my opinion and just an opinion.

[jvretiredvet]

You realize, of course, that a great many outstanding "civilian" surgeons did training rotations at VA Medical Centers? Prolly doesn't apply to OB/GYN types though, unless they also had some general surgery or oncology training.

Not a chance I will do cataract surgery at VA although one week ago I was scheduled for emergency eye surgery at Dallas VAMC until I said not a chance till I talk to optomologist

After that it was discovered that there was a mistake made by an intern. I think the VA is full of vampire interns wanting to get experience using Vets as lab rats. This is my opinion and just an opinion.

[Pete53]

Back in the nineties I was also given spinal taps three times by interns practicing. I think that interns should not be scheduling surgery and of course I realize that most Docs train at VA or public hospitals.

[COOL BREEZE]

Another reason to avoid surgery at the VA. Plenty of interns wanting to use you for a guinea pig to further there education!

[john999]

There used to be lots of charity hospitals for the dirt poor. This is where doctors trained on poor people. Now they use VA hospitals because lots of them are for poor people.

John

[jvretiredvet]

What I was trying to intimate, perhaps too subtly, is how did these outstanding civilian surgeons become so outstanding?

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde.

You realize, of course, that a great many outstanding "civilian" surgeons did training rotations at VA Medical Centers? Prolly doesn't apply to OB/GYN types though, unless they also had some general surgery or oncology training.

[Pete53]

Oh I see said the blind man. Practice makes perfect I believe the real problem is that some of the practice is at the expense of the Veteran and violates a cardinal ethic of Doctors to first do no harm.

[Berta]

Well put Pete- the Hippocratic oath.

As much as I gripe about VA some of the best people I know work there-as doctors, lawyers, cemetery workers, nurses, canteen people, housekeeping personnel,social workers -------

people who do an exceptional job for veterans every day.

But I feel many doctors at VA are as burned out as the RO raters are, and as we can get, as claimants.

I hold no serious animosity anymore to most of VA's medical errors , with the way they misdiagnosed my husband at first, but when the cover up of all that was done, and they figured he would die anyhow, and no one would know how bad it really got,

that is when I really went after them and still have issues they must resolve on that.

It costs a few bucks to mail a certified Sec 1151 claim or even an SF95 when malpractice is either obvious or could have definitely occurred but some vets with valid cases don't do that I think, and they just make it easier for the same doctors to bugger up the next vet they treat.

Of course these days I don't advise pursuing claims like that without a strong IMO.And if the IMO reveals malpractice, and a significant resulting injury and/ or additional disability- what lawyer would want to turn down the case?

I believe the rate of negligence and medical error at VA is really not that different from that of private hospitals.

Then again VA does not always honor a NPDB mandate by hiding some of their malpractice payouts so we really don't know how many vets they harm via medical errors.

Neither does the Secretary, nor the H and S VAC or the public know..

Someday it will all come out

Edited May 16, 2012 by Berta (see edit history)