Do you know who is treating you? Patients are often unaware that the professional treating them is not a physician. Here is a situation of which I became enlightened to in my practice defending hospitals, physicians and nurses. Hypothetically speaking: Patient goes to the hospital for a routine outpatient procedure under which they are to be sedated with anesthesia. The anesthesiologist M.D. (MDA) greets the patient briefly and asks some history and may perform a short examination. This takes place after another professional, likely a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and/or a nurse has taken a history from the patient. The MDA may not do a real thorough job taking the history or performing an examination because he assumes this has been done by the nurse and/or CRNA. He is present to sedate the patient and once sedated, leaves the operating room giving control over to the CRNA. The patient may have no idea that this is taking place and that they are not being cared for by the MDA. If something goes wrong during the surgery with the anesthesia, the CRNA is allowed to use discretion to take care of the patient and may give more anesthesia without speaking with the supervising MDA.
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All of them. Everyone who was involved should get a timely notice of intent to sue. The main purpose of this item is to inform the public about the way hospitals are set up, which is a topic of which I had no knowledge prior to practicing as a medical malpractice defense attorney. Prior to that time, I had no knowledge whatsoever that the emergency departments, radiology departments, anesthesia departments, and various other departments are NOT employed by the hospital. More specifically, the ER Dr. treating you when you walk in the emergency room is probably not an employee of the hospital, but rather is employed by
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