On confidentiality
Carl-Erich Kruse
September 6, 2019
Defendants nearly always require confidentiality when settling claims. While it benefits them, it most often does not benefit the safety of all patients.
Over the years surgeons have developed a number of safeguards to prevent operations on the wrong place. They take time-outs in the operating room, mark the correct site with a marker, or even have patients mark the correct areas themselves. And yet, wrong-site surgeries still occur and patients have unwanted operations without getting the procedure they asked for and needed.
Bill was a machinist who injured his right ankle at work and was scheduled for ankle surgery at a free-standing surgery center. Unfortunately, the podiatrist performed the planned surgery on the left ankle instead of the right. Legal issues in the case included apportioning fault between the nurse and the physician but the major issue was that of causation. The defense contended that his left ankle problems were not related to the wrong-site surgery but rather to pre-existing ankle problems that had not been diagnosed before. After extensive litigation with experts on both sides, the case settled a month before trial.
Defendants nearly always require confidentiality when settling claims. While it benefits them, it most often does not benefit the safety of all patients.
At least in Eastern Washington, the courts have determined the standard of care to be applied to medicine provided to patients may differ from everyone else in the U.S.
Because it’s often impossible to properly assess a medical malpractice claim without knowing what the long term damages are, typically it is premature to involve an attorney until the injured person is "fixed and stable," and not still recovering.
