Anatomy of a Tragedy and Healthgrades.com

Saul Elbein deserves a shout out for the article he wrote in the Texas Observer titled Anatomy of a Tragedy. If you haven’t read the article, you need to go get a cup of coffee, sit down and take it all in. I disagree with his suggestion that the problems raised in the article may have been the price of living in a “free market”, because a free market system would require more transparency, but I won’t let my disagreement with him on this point overshadow an excellent article. The article chronicles how a neurosurgeon in Texas permanently injured and likely even killed multiple patients during surgery and how the Texas Medical Board failed to timely respond to complaints that were raised. As a result, the neurosurgeon, Christopher Duntsch, continued operating on patients and patients continued having bad outcomes from his surgeries. The article also shows the down side to tort reform in Texas – noneconomic damages are limited to patients who have been permanently injured and to families whose loved ones have died due to the physician’s malpractice. One of the issues raised in the article that I wanted to expand upon was why patients kept going to Dr. Duntsch for surgical procedures. After all, this doctor reportedly maimed patients during surgeries. Who would go to him knowing that information? Obviously his quality as a physician was substandard, right? Maybe not. Check out Dr. Duntsch’s profile on Healthgrades.com. What you would h...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Tags: News Commentary Press Ganey Source Type: blogs