Blog Info

My blood boils whenever I read posts espousing the need to cap malpractice awards in order to lower the costs of medical care. From my personal experience and research, I know that few malpractice victims have the resources to file suits and that many victims are awarded less than necessary to pay their medical bills for injury caused by the malpractice. There are also numerous studies showing that capping awards has no effect whatsoever on rising malpractice insurance fees or in preventing doctors from practicing defensive medicine. The problem lies with the “sacred” insurance companies, which our legislators are reluctant to tackle.

I became disabled unnecessarily, while insured by Cigna HMO. Providers did nothing more than refer me from one test and specialist to the next despite my testing positive for various infections and physiological irregularities. Now on SSDI and Medicare, I am still seeking competent medical care.

It turns out I had a stool-filled colon from defecatory dysfunction that has plagued me my entire life and with which most doctors loathe addressing. The accumulation of putrefied, fermenting waste in my system caused a self-intoxication. I had multiple untreated infections (viral, bacterial and fungal) whose positive cultures doctors dismissed as microbes everyone has. Infections ran the gamut of Epstein Barr virus, Candida albicans, e-coli, staph, Actinomyces, HHV-6 — germs easily transmitted from one to another.

I was prescribed Prozac for my complaints of fatigue and was never informed that tests conducted at the time were positive for EBV, which causes mono. These infections made their way into my spine (osteomyelitis). The discs are severely degenerating and compressing. Plus I am still searching for a competent colorectal surgeon to address irregularities causing a bottleneck and back up of fecal matter in my sigmoid colon at its junction with my rectum.

The Virginia Statute of Limitations is two years. However, I believe my case would qualify for the “continuing treatment rule” that resulted from a Supreme Court case, Nunnally v. Artis, 254 Va. 247, 492 S.E.2d 126, (1997) which holds that continuing treatment for the same conditions tolls the statute until treatment ends. I just need to come up with the $25,000+ in expenses in order to retain an attorney on a contingency basis. (Rule 1.8(e) of the Virginia Rules of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys requires plaintiffs to pay the expenses of the case, win or lose.)

Because I spent all of my retirement and other resources futilely seeking competent medical care, my only income now is $2,000 in monthly SSDI payments. So I’m considering launching a campaign to cyber beg to raise funds to be used exclusively for the expenses of a medical malpractice suit against multiple doctors and hospitals in the INOVA Healthcare System. I’d be most appreciative for referrals to an attorney versed in setting up such sites, which would need to be independent of my own finances to avoid creditor attachments.

I’ve documented my experiences through the start of 2009 on my blog. Posts numbered 1-20 chronicle my interactions with the medical community. Other posts encompass commentary on health care matters and politics. I’m also featured in the last two minutes of a clip on health care produced by Fault Lines and aired on Al Jazeera English. english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2009/08/20098663722846685.html

I’m actually optimistic about my future. Last January, the CEO of the Patient Advocate Foundation helped me find a doctor familiar with actinomycosis, and he prescribed oral penicillin for my gram-positive bacterial infection. This month another doctor prescribed clarithromycin for my staph and e-coli gram-negative infections. And I finally qualified for Medicare coverage this past August.

After a failed attempt to get proper care by a local colorectal surgeon, I’m seeing one of the country’s best colorectal surgeons later this month at the Cleveland Clinic.

Some of the many doctors who treated me are also expert witnesses. I’m hoping to coerce them to testify on my behalf cost-effectively.

My trials and tribulations with the health care community are so outlandish that I believe the story would make a very interesting documentary. Among the medical faux pas was the removal of infected tonsils (a secondary condition arising from my severe, ignored gastrointestinal problems). The tonsillectomy launched an autoimmune condition that made it that much more difficult for my body to fight infection.

More recently, a colon surgeon referred me to an urogynecologist after an MRI report stated that I had pelvic floor prolapse. Upon physical examination, the MRI report was found to be in error, so I was referred to another colon surgeon. As the urogynecologist put it, specialists often only address a few conditions that interest them within their specialties and gloss over the conditions they don’t know much about.

Unfortunately, it’s often impossible for patients to determine in advance of an appointment the specialist’s sub-specialty or area of interest. The first colon surgeon I saw sub-specializes in motility disorders requiring removal of the entire large intestine. I need a surgeon who will address the problems within my sigmoid colon.

No wonder why medical care is so costly.

My story uncovers the reasons the health care system drives up costs, which no one is addressing and which won’t be cured by providing more patients insurance. Without changes to the way doctors work and are paid, much of the touted health care reform amounts to little more than a boon for for-profit health insurers (our sacred cows).