Vt. Surgeon Ordered to Pay $1.1 Million

February 21, 2007

  • February 21, 2007 at 8:59 am
    farful mctavish says:
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    are you kidding me? who is the medical expert, the doctor or the patient— here the patient did what he was told and treated the way the medical professional recommended– the doc screwed up and the guy lost his leg because of it– as far as the policy limits are concerned he should collect against the doc personally–why? because the doc was using the \”hope\” defense– he hoped that he\’d get a jury made up of people like you that would blame the patient despite the clear negligence. Next time, he\’ll be more careful or it not, maybe the good doc will have the common sense to consent to settle within the policy limits so that his personal assets don\’t twist in the wind— he did not choose wisely

  • February 21, 2007 at 12:48 pm
    hmmmmm says:
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    Wonder if they can go after the orthopedist who referred him to Bookwalter – can they make a case orthopedist should have told patient to go immediately to the emergency room of a hospital???

  • February 21, 2007 at 1:44 am
    AzAz says:
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    hummmm – obesity – diabetic – … aren\’t these people predisposed to certain gangrinous conditions if any cut, burn, or other skin irritation isn\’t properly treated? And this man has been a diabetic for how long??? And he has no regular family physician or at least someone who is treating his underlying illness? And he has never heard of seeking out additional therapies if what he is being treated with isn\’t working… What – he can\’t see his toes? Give me a break – you have to be an idiot not to take responsibility of your own health – oh wait – he\’s a million-dollar idiot…

  • February 21, 2007 at 2:28 am
    Chris G says:
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    I couldn\’t agree more! this million dollar idiot (perfectly put so i won\’t change it) didn\’t have enough smarts to say hey, this isn\’t working. i need more help? another win for the bottom feeding lawyers!

  • February 21, 2007 at 2:39 am
    Smitty says:
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    the risk is too great, it\’s a fatal degenerative disease. Your whole body rots & destroys it\’s self.

    Diabetes amputations are very common, along with blindness, amputations, kidney, heart, liber disease. Athletes foot can take the legs of diabetics.

  • February 21, 2007 at 3:34 am
    MedMalGuy says:
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    The real story here is that the award is 100k excess of his limits.
    It will be interesting to see if the judge reduces the award. It\’s rare for a plaintiff to go after a doc\’s personal assests once they get policy limits.

  • February 21, 2007 at 5:09 am
    Jeff says:
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    The article indicated the man went back several times to the doctor before he passed out, and had to have his leg amputated. So, let me ask you…what exactly would a doctor need to do in order to be liable in your eyes? The man is an idiot because he sought medical help, followed up with the doctor several times, and then was permanently injured?

    This isn\’t somebody suing because their local grocery was out of chunky peanut butter, his leg had to be amputated! If the facts in this story are correct, this man had every right to sue and win.

    I\’m not exactly sure what you folks that slam lawyers do when you are legally wronged. From the posts, I guess you must defend yourselves in court.

  • February 22, 2007 at 7:28 am
    Chris G says:
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    I don\’t see where the question is here. The guy got burnt, didn\’t have the common sense to say the treatments aren\’t working and maybe…go to the hospital or another Dr! i guess being 460lbs he was pretty tired after he got done with his hour visit at the dr\’s and had to go home and scarf down some twinkies and ho-ho\’s! if you don\’t have the self awareness to say, im over weight, how could we expet him to have the common sense to say, hey this isn\’t working, i need a second opinion. im sure any lawyer would be on this like stink on $hit.

    this is a self inflicted wound and i don\’t see why the Dr is responsible. if anything the Dr should counter sue him for lacking common sense.

  • February 22, 2007 at 9:07 am
    Jeff says:
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    He did have the common sense to say things aren\’t working…that\’s why he followed up with the doctor. Maybe the doctor told him to give it some time.

    Also, nice tactic on attacking the victim. I guess those rape victims were just asking for it too, huh?

    It must be nice Chris, to be a doctor, lawyer, and insurance professional all roled up into one.

  • February 22, 2007 at 10:29 am
    Chris G says:
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    It is nice, i should be getting paid a lot more. You can leave the lawyer part out though. I just like to help people and make sure they are covered when a scum sucking lawyer trys to sue for a frivolous self inflicted wound. Leave it to a lawyer to go from one extreme to another. Rape has nothing to do with a lazy fat guy who can\’t take care of himself loosing a leg. No rape victim is asking for it, but again, common sense says, if you wear a skimpy shirt and mini skirt so short you can see the fur and morning dew, you are more likely to be targeted.

    Attacking the victim…..there\’s no need for that, plenty of them do it on their own just fine with out my help. Then they call a lawyer to sue someone one for their own stupidity. Its like Liposuction. Your fat, you get skinny, and you don\’t have to work for it.

  • February 22, 2007 at 4:08 am
    farful mctavish says:
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    lazy fat guy my a$$. What we have is a careless health provider– my guess would be the kind that runs from office to office and spends virtually no time examining or speaking to the patient-that cost this guy his leg. My suggestion Chris is next time you have something wrong with you or a member of your family- you run right right out to this doc for treatment– after all according to you -it was the patients fault for following the docs instructions and you wouldn\’t make the same mistake given your medical knowledge training and experience–so there would be nothing to worry about. And by the way 1.1M for a lower leg amputation seems kind of light– the jury took it easy on the doc– Would you let us cut your lower leg for 1.1–? I\’d guess not

  • February 22, 2007 at 6:17 am
    mary b. says:
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    chris, you are completely on target here. don\’t let the bleeding heart libs get ya down. they expect entitlements and freebies from everyone and have NO concept of personal accountibility or responsibility.

  • February 22, 2007 at 6:26 am
    farful mctavish says:
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    no, no no!!! personal responsiblity would entail the wrongdoing party standing up and accepting responsiblity–which obviously didn\’t happen here. Accepting personal responsibility would be the doc admitting a mistake rather than blaming the patient for negligent medical care. Here the doc wouldn\’t accept responsibility so he was forced by a jury to accept it—

  • February 23, 2007 at 7:49 am
    Chris G says:
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    Thanks for the support Mary B.

    First I’d like to say the article doesn\’t specifically state what advice the Dr gave him. Again with the common sense thing, (seems to be something a lot of people over look) if I am 460lbs and have diabetes, heart disease, the first sign of trouble and I’m at the hospital regardless of what the Dr says. If you want to talk about taking responsibility, try taking care of a problem before you have to get your leg cut off. And people in my family are sick. My mother has cancer and her Chemo was postponed due to one of our wonderful home nurses left an inch and a half of gauze packing in her wound and she got a horrible infection and had to get IV antibiotics. Did we go running to a lawyer…..NO!!! The hospital apologized and she is scheduled for Chemo on 2-28 an 3-1. Problem solved, no lawyers needed.

    It all comes down to taking care of your self and if you make yourself more vulnerable to injury, i.e. being 460lbs with diabetes and heart disease then you need to be a little more attentive to wounds regardless of what the Dr says.

    Oh, Farful , sorry for the confusion with the name, the patient has a responsibility to communicate and work with the doctor. Medicine alone does not satisfy or address the need. The doctor needs feedback from the patient. I am not diabetic, but know the severity of foot related issues. What was this individual doing to help themselves? At 460 I would assume not much. People need to be aware of things and take care of themselves, even a 460 pound time bomb.

    Also this article, like most we see in the press today, provides little value in the way of information. It is high on shock value, which is why it is polarizing.

  • February 23, 2007 at 8:08 am
    farful mctavish says:
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    Chris, sorry about your mother and I really mean that.

    You seem obsessed by this guys weight. the doc knew his weight, the doc knew whether the guy was diabetic and all that entails and the doc should have taken all this into account when treating this fellow–I might add if he didn\’t follow the docs instructions to the letter you guys would be critizing that say he was negligent for not following doctors instructions

    –he tried to take care of the problem before he had to have his leg amputated– that is precisely why he went to the doc on multiple occassions-

    If you follow the same logic– its your moms fault that a gauze pad was left in her wound– and none of us really believe that

    I\’m glad that things worked out for her– but would you feel the same way if that cause pad caused and infection that killed her (god forbid) or requiring the amputation of her leg?

  • February 23, 2007 at 9:57 am
    Chris G says:
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    Thanks for the sincerity.

    This guys weight just shows how much he lacks initiative. if you can\’t take initiative to take care of your weight, whats that say about how you are going to take care of a wound.

    I have a friend in VT. his home is not the cleanliest. so im sure if this guy doesn\’t take care of his weight, he probably doesn\’t take care of cleaning, which would make his foot more susceptible to becoming infected. Its the whole picture we have to look at.

    as I said in my last post. The article doesn\’t provide many details on what exactly was done for him by the Dr. Its just the highlights and not the who story. so there is no way you can say for sure this guy tried to take care of his foot. Yes he went back to the Dr\’s, but did he really follow the Dr\’s advice when he got home? only he and his foot will really know.

  • February 23, 2007 at 10:39 am
    Anonymous says:
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    Chris…if the details are so sketchy, how can you call the man an idiot as you did in your first post? You\’re also making a whole lot of assumptions about a person you\’ve never met (not keeping a clean house, not following the doctors orders…). Not every overweight person is dirty and not every person that sues is underserving and money-grubbing.

  • February 23, 2007 at 11:55 am
    Chris G says:
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    Well since he lost his bottom part of his leg due to a minor thing like stubbing his toe and burning it with a heating pad, you can clearly tell he is an idiot. He is obviously not an Ivy League Graduate.

    Hey, you\’re a diabetic, your hurt your already delicate foot, are you going to just keep going back to the same guy, or are you going to go to the hospital or someone else before it gets worse? \”Hears your sign.\”

    I was up to 280lbs and I said WHOA! This is getting out of hand, and you know what, I eat fruit and veggies and drive past the drive thru\’s. I didn\’t wait to step on the scale and have it say \”to be continued….\”

  • February 23, 2007 at 1:49 am
    Jeff says:
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    I guess we\’ll have to agree to disagree. You\’re absolutely right that weight affects people horribly. I could stand to drop a little myself. And you\’re also right that the man probably should have went to another doctor…and he should not have let himself get to that weight.

    Those are all valid points, but that still doesn\’t give the doctor immunity. I wasn\’t there, so I can\’t say for sure the doctor acted improperly, but if he did, he\’s still liable. The weight seems to be a contributing factor, and maybe that was taken into account during the penalty phase, I don\’t know. But, the doctor cannot simply wash his hands of it because the guy is morbidly obese.

  • February 26, 2007 at 3:56 am
    David says:
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    Yea, but from waht I understnad the fat guy actually did the amputation himself – Is that right? I havnt read the article, I just heard that somewhere.

  • June 25, 2007 at 9:54 am
    Celene says:
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    It is obvious from reading many posted comments on this site and others that many people are prejudiced against obese people. In this case the “fat guy” was not at fault, he was doing everything ordered by his doctor. As far as going to another doctor, if you trusted a doctor for twenty-odd years…would you believe in what he was telling you? Probably. The doctor on the other hand was at fault. And the answer the question everyone has been asking, the patient did not want to sue..all he wanted was an apology. It was a horrible time for Mr. Olanyk and his family. Trust me, I was there. And furthermore the man did not amputate the leg himself, it was done when he came extremely close to dying. And his organ systems shut down because of the gangrene, not from his extra weight. Maybe some people need to look past appearances, like I have learned to do. I have to say that eventhough my father has been “obese” most of my life, he was a better father than most I know. And he was out there playing soccer and catch with me whenever I asked.

  • June 25, 2007 at 9:57 am
    Celene says:
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    And furthermore Drive thru’s were never in the picture. Maybe if you knew the whole story of how the weight was put on..then maybe you would have a little compassion. But from reading these posts, probably not! And try not knowing that you have diabetes, that was the real heartbreaker. Look at the facts before you open your mouth!



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