Save a life and get sued!

Osem · 06-03-2009, 15:22

What's your take on this?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/l...re/7928278.stm

cimt · 06-03-2009, 15:28

I wouldn't give him anything. He doesn't deserve it at all. Ungrateful little...

LondonRoad · 06-03-2009, 15:29

The man was ill. Doctors are in the business of saving lives. They erred. The man deserves compensation for the damage caused by the medical incompetence. IMHO

jamiefrost · 06-03-2009, 15:45

I agree ungrateful .....

Personally I think they should send him a bill for Ã‚Â£90,000 for the cost of his care.

This country becomes more and more like the USA. There is no longer such a thing as an accident.

Yes they made a mistake, but there was no intent to cause harm on the doctors side. Unless procedures were not followed or intent can be found then there should be no payout.

We have gotton to the stage now we have to blame everything on someone else. What happened to personal responsability, he was the reason he needed treatment in the first place

JJ

boroboi · 06-03-2009, 16:05

I hope he gets mugged the ungreatful Bas****

TheDaddy · 06-03-2009, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamiefrost

I agree ungrateful .....

Personally I think they should send him a bill for Ã‚Â£90,000 for the cost of his care.

This country becomes more and more like the USA. There is no longer such a thing as an accident.

Yes they made a mistake, but there was no intent to cause harm on the doctors side. Unless procedures were not followed or intent can be found then there should be no payout.

We have gotton to the stage now we have to blame everything on someone else. What happened to personal responsability, he was the reason he needed treatment in the first place

JJ

He wasn't there by accident, if he hadn't necked a load of pills and booze in the first place he would never have been there for the medics to make a 'mistake' in the first place.

Presumably he was given legal aid to pursue this case as well, double whammy for the tax payer.

Incidentally procedures weren't followed, the normal dose is 50ml and he was given 4 times the amount, you make an argument stating he should get nothing and then spoil it with that sentence.

Personally I think he should be grateful they treated him at all and I have said for years that I dont think you should be able to sue the NHS, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable for their actions though nor that compensation shouldn't be paid for any mistakes, just that claims should be held before an independent board rather than lawyers milking the system to such a degree it's cheaper to pay out rather than fight actions.

idi banashapan · 06-03-2009, 16:18

I think there's more to it. taking pills as a way of suicide is not the best way. they can be slow to affect and the act of taking them is also very manual and gives enough time for the person to contemplate what they are doing.

this man was crying for help, not trying to kill himself. if he wanted to die, he would have done it in a way there was no chance of being saved. the fact he 'attempted' suicide again 3 years later, and that this case is has been brought up is just an extention of his cry. he is yearning for attention and the need to feel he has a purpose.

depression can isolate and alienate in the minds of those affect by it. there can be a total loss of self esteem, worth and purpose. he doesn't need money, he needs help.... imo!

Pierre · 06-03-2009, 16:20

If he hadn't had taken the overdose and this had happened then everyone would say, I assume, that he's entitled to compensation.

If you take out the fact that he was tring to end his own life, the fact is the hospital was negligent and therefore he is entitled to claim.

Do I agree with it? No.

Quote:

he doesn't need money, he needs help.... imo!

Ã‚Â£90,000 would help my self esteem.

Russ · 06-03-2009, 16:20

I might be missing the point here but as well as saving his life, the doctors did screw up, potentially costing him his life. There are set procedures in place if that sort of thing happens and I'm not aware of any exceptions.

LondonRoad · 06-03-2009, 16:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bender

I think there's more to it. taking pills as a way of suicide is not the best way. they can be slow to affect and the act of taking them is also very manual and gives enough time for the person to contemplate what they are doing.

this man was crying for help, not trying to kill himself. if he wanted to die, he would have done it in a way there was no chance of being saved. the fact he 'attempted' suicide again 3 years later, and that this case is has been brought up is just an extention of his cry. he is yearning for attention and the need to feel he has a purpose.

depression can isolate and alienate in the minds of those affect by it. there can be a total loss of self esteem, worth and purpose. he doesn't need money, he needs help.... imo!

I agree. I don't understand why people think he should be grateful. He was (perhaps is) a sick man. I would imagine that the physical problem caused by medical incompetence would not have helped the mental condition that took him to the point that he wanted to end his life.

Mental illness sadly continues to have the stigma attached that we as a modern society should be moving away from.

If a patient had his life saved as a result of a physical condition, would we be condemning him for persuing compensation as a result of medical incompetence? I think not.

idi banashapan · 06-03-2009, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre

Ã‚Â£90,000 would help my self esteem.

and if you were clinically depressed, I would imagine the attention and purpose you had been given by fighting for something would do the same thing. the trouble is, from what we know in the report, no one is telling him he is focusing his energies in the wrong direction.

It seems fairly obvious that this guy is looking, needing even, for a goal, a purpose - something to take up his time and show an end result so that he feels he can achieve something. unfortunately, this is not the way to go about it, and without the guidence to show him that, his mental condition means he is unable to take a step back from it all and see what he is doing. he is now locked in and focused on this. he really needs someone to tell him this is not going to help.

if he losses, he'll feel worse. if he wins, the focus will suddenly be gone as it's all over. where does that leave him? back to an emptiness. the cycle will continue.

placing some kind of blame for the things in his life that have gone wrong (according to him) is not the way to go.

alferret · 06-03-2009, 18:38

The bloke is an arse, has he no shame?

lucy7 · 06-03-2009, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

I might be missing the point here but as well as saving his life, the doctors did screw up, potentially costing him his life. There are set procedures in place if that sort of thing happens and I'm not aware of any exceptions.

I must admit, this is my take on it to.

The mans moral consience of if he should of claimed is more important I feel.
If he felt ok to go ahead with the claim, well then fair enough.
A system is in place for him to do so, and he went ahead, who are we to jugde?

I will not judge, but will type I personally would of not claimed!

(Hope that is not judged as fence sitting

)

**Damien** · 06-03-2009, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by alferret

The bloke is an arse, has he no shame?

Yup. But the payout is justified. We find ourselves in one of those grey areas people keep talking about..

LondonRoad · 06-03-2009, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

Yup. But the payout is justified. We find ourselves in one of those grey areas people keep talking about..

I really don't see the grey area in this. The patient in question was permanently damaged by medical incompetence and hasn't worked since. He deserves compensation. It happened over 6 years ago. Ã‚Â£90000 isn't a lot if he can't work.