Comments on: Woman awarded $9.8 million in malpractice case

By: Ron

Ron — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:50:26 +0000

Momma of 3
To die or not to die? You make that decision

By: Momma of 3

Momma of 3 — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:23:36 +0000

I don’t know about you but I go to doctors because I don’t know what to do about my health sometimes. They know because they went to school etc. If a doctor tells me I need a procedure done I would probably do it. The doctor knew of her high blood pressure, cholesterol etc. that made this surgery especially risky for her, yet he still recommended it. The surgery itself went well but by his mistake something went wrong. It was his mistake (according to the jury) that made her this way. He knew the proper placement of this tube yet he made a mistake and improperly placed it. He should have to pay.

By: Phyllis Catching

Phyllis Catching — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:56:37 +0000

I have had two open heart surgeries both done by Dr. Sekela. I had my Aortic valve replaced in 1998 and again in 2004. In 2007 I had a pacemaker implanted by Dr. Sekela. He is a very competent surgeon and if I had to have a 4′th operation, Dr. Sekela would be my first choice. I trust him completely. I feel in my heart that he is not at fault for what happened in this malpractice case. He is just too precise and his expertise is well known in the community. I highly respect him and I hope he continues to practice.

By: a patient of Doc

a patient of Doc — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:34:35 +0000

First of all, my heart goes out to Ms. Satterwhite. I cannot imagine what she has gone through or will go through in the future. I do know firsthand however about Dr. Sekela. He has done two different heart vavle replacements on me and I would not have had it done by anyone else. He was completely thorough and professional. I would still recommend him to anyone in my family and I hope that he doesn’t give up the profession after this. I don’t know the specifics of the case - I just know that I trusted him not once but twice to operate on me and I would do it a third time if necessary. We are ALL human and mistakes are made on a daily basis. It is a fact of life and it is horrible that it happened with Ms. Satterwhite. We should remember that the mistake (or whatever happened) was not intentional or criminal and compassion should go to Dr. Sekela as well as Ms. Satterwhite.

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By: Carla

Carla — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:53:10 +0000

To all of you that have any doubts about Dr. Sekela’s credentials ,He is one of the most talented cardio-thoracic surgeons I ever had the privelage to work with. Dr. Sekela was one of the rare breeds that asked that you call him directly at home any time of the night if there were a problem and if not the most, one of the most highly respected in our area. He has about 25-30 years experience under his belt.
I have been a cardio-thoracic nurse for 16 years now and I chose Dr.Sekela out of a number of C.T. Surgeons and it proved to be the right decision, despite complications, having nothing to do with his surgery.
I am sorry for this unfortunate occurence in O.R., howevever, given circumstances bad things happen to good people, no wonder, there is such a large nursing shortage, everyone has to worry about getting sued.
Please do not disparage Dr. Sekela, as he is one of the finest Doctors I have ever worked with.. Sincerely, Carla, RN.

By: an anesthesiologist

an anesthesiologist — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:49:36 +0000

First of all, I feel awful for this woman. While I do not know the details of the case, the outcome is obvious. No one would argue that what happened to her is terrible and that her life will never be the same. Tort reform is not so doctors can practice negligently and let the tax payers pick up the tab. It is to prevent frivolous lawsuits that drive all of our costs up. One thing I want to make clear is that over and over again we see that even though a jury of our “peers” makes a large award or a case is settled, that does not necessarily mean that anything was done wrong or out of line with the standard of care. A lot of times a poor outcome leaves the jury feeling that the patient deserves something, even if there was no medical malpractice. I’m not saying that those involved in this particular case did nothing wrong, but it is a reality that many doctors, who know they didn’t do anything wrong, will settle cases because of the legal expenses and the time it takes away from their practice to defend a lawsuit. Also, we in the medical profession realize that a jury is not made up of OUR peers and is easily swayed by the flashy plaintiff’s attorneys who will convince them that the physician is somehow at fault. The reality is that medicine is a field with still evolving knowledge and with risks. People having heart surgery are routinely counseled about the risks of heart attack, death, stroke, paralysis, etc. These risks are real and may be as high as 5%. If you are one of the 1 in 20 it happens to, it’s unfortunate but not necessarily malpractice. If I told you there was a 1 in 10,000 chance you could be hit by a car when you crossed the street and you agreed to take that risk, would you sue me after you got hit? Imagine all your schooling and years of hard work and debt to become a doctor and then establish a practice, start a family, pay back loans, and save for retirement being taken away by one lawsuit without merit.

By: RN in the business

RN in the business — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:35:26 +0000

Regardless whether or not you are the best around things can still go wrong. Do you really think that Sekela would get on the stand and testify if he thought he had caused this woman harm? Not any doctor that I know. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do things happen and sometimes it is unexplainable. This woman must have thought Sekela would do a good job or she would have asked for another physician or declined going forth with her procedure. Hands down if I had to choose a CT surgeon today my choice would be Sekela. He cares about his patient not only before retaining them, but also during the procedure, after the procedure, and years down the road. I’m sorry to Dr. Sekela for having to endure these events. I can sympathize with the emotional toll that it must have had on him. Some people are looking for a quick way to get rich. I’m sure that this woman was a hard worker, but no 401K could ever pay her out what Sekela has had to.

By: Another Nurse

Another Nurse — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:36:40 +0000

The outcomes of this case do not change my opinion: I still maintain my beliefs that THE ONE you want to see coming around the corner when you (the nurse) are struggling to keep a patient alive is Dr. Sekela.

Let’s not forget the countless patients that are alive today because everyone else said “no” and Dr. Sekela said “I will try.”

It is Dr. Sekela that provides the calm guidance during a code.

It is Dr. Sekela that stays until “all is well” - that works throughout the day and night until the job is done.

Many times Dr. Sekela will sit in the recliner at my patient’s bedside for hours until the wave has passed and the patient is stable.

Dr. Sekela is highly respected by his peers - not because he demanded it, but because he earned the respect.

It is Dr. Sekela that does NOT allow mediocrity.

Dr. Sekela has always based his actions on the right thing for the right reason.

Dr. Sekela doesn’t take a short cut.

Dr. Michael Sekela has cried with children because he couldn’t save their mother.

That is the surgeon I want at my bedside if I ever have heart surgery.

By: John Adams

John Adams — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:25:49 +0000

I am a doctor. Foremost, I feel very badly for the patient. We docs go into medicine to help people and no one feels worse when something like this happens than the doctor. That said, people have to understand that a physician can perform a procedure flawlessly and something bad may still happen. Consider something as simple as treating a headache. Give one person some aspirin and the headache goes away quickly. Give it to another and it doesn’t help at all. Give it to a third and the guys dies within five minutes of an anaphylactic allergic reaction. What’s the difference in the 3 cases? Do you think it’s the way the doctor handed the aspirin to the patient or the patients’ own unique chemistry that made the difference? Sometimes doctors just can’t predict how a patient will respond to a certain treatment, which is why discuss the possibilities with patients before every case we do.

If this woman had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoked and was overweight, she was a set-up to have a stroke. What does society want doctors to do when patients like this walk into our office and ask for our help? What’s going to happen more in the future is that doctors will read this story and simply refuse to help anyone that’s higher risk.

I can tell you that doctors cannot buy enough insurance, even if they wanted to, to cover some of these huge awards. The insurance companies simply don’t offer policies that would pay these astronomical amounts. So, what happens to physicians when something like this happens? They lose everything….everything that they spent 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, 3-7 years of residency and 60 hours a week working for.

The malpractice lawyer? They usually get half of the award, so somewhere around $4,500,000 for this one case.

A doctor works his entire career saving hundreds or thousands of lives, “makes one mistake” (but not really), and loses everything. A lawyer hoodwinks a jury one time and spends the rest of his life playing with his Ferraris and yachts. Wonder why lawyers are so opposed to tort reform?