This story, with the hard copy headline, “Agonizing $4 mil goof,” from Dareh Gregorian at the Daily News, is painful. For one thing, as a close relative of physicians, I really don’t like hearing about medical malpractice cases. And I especially do not like learning about what reads like a really good, i.e., bad tale of medical malpractice.
This one will make you wince, despite the $4 million jury award (which might, as I’ve noted previously, be reduced by an appellate court, or the judge). And, indeed, here are the last couple of paragraphs:
Lange’s lawyer, Craig Fenno, said he plans to “vigorously appeal” the verdict.
“The medical judgments and the treatment recommendations made by Dr. Lange were sound and made in accordance with accepted established practice,” Fenno said.
I’m wondering why Dale Lange, MD, the neurologist in question, did not specifically recommend that his patient, Robert Wyble, get a second opinion, or why Wyble didn’t ask to have a second opinion before being launched into treatments for a disease he didn’t have.