Integrated Medical Education Resources: B.) WORKSHOP DISCUSSION CASES

GROUP #5 (CASES ON NEGLIGENCE & MALPRACTICE 1)

Case #18: A patient with no obvious injury after a minor accident was discharged without X-ray investigations. He developed back problems 3 months later leading to leg paralysis. He sued the hospital for negligence.

Case #19: A 45-year old mother of 5 grown up children had hysterectomy because of prolonged, heavy, and irregular menstruation. The surgeon took care to preserve the ovaries and therefore saw no need to put her on HRT. Three years later she had a hip fracture due to osteoporosis treated by hip replacement and she was started on HRT. Six months later she developed pain in the right groin and investigations revealed cancer of the ovary which had to be removed. Her daughter who was a nurse in the hospital argued her to sue the hospital for malpractice but she herself was not very sure of what had gone wrong.

Case #20: An aspiring actor was advised by her media consultants to change her facial features in order to succeed in landing major and lucrative acting roles. She went to a doctor who advertised his cosmetic surgery services on the television and women’s magazines. She signed a consent form for surgery but did not see a notation in the footnotes that the operation was entirely at her own risk. Six months later and after a series of operations she was angry. Her face was asymmetric and her eye lids drooped. She asked for his license as a plastic surgeon. He told her he was a general surgeon who had interest in plastic or cosmetic surgery. With her career ruined she decided to take him to court.

Case #21: A patient with epilepsy well controlled on drugs for the past 10 years, experienced a minor epileptic seizure. His physician increased the drug dosage and told him all would be well and that he could go back and resumes driving the school bus. The patient asked for an MC to explain his day’s absence to the manager of the school bus company. The next morning the patient crushed the bus into a wall as he was driving it out of the garage. He explained that he felt sleepy at the time of the accident.