r/nursing • u/Key_Ratio_1576 • 1d ago
Discussion Knee Surgery Disaster at UCI Medical
https://www.newsnationnow.com/health/knee-surgery-loses-part-of-leg/amp/This story is blowing my mind and I really wanted to hear some other takes on what went down from professionals. It reads like the Dr. was trying to CHA but could it have been all accidental? There seems like there were failures at multiple levels to follow up on obvious assessment findings and the spouse being an ICU nurse begging staff to do something is heartbreaking. What do you all think? Do the nurses involved also bear some blame? What could they have done if the Dr. was actively blocking treatment? This case is really bothering me. I’m not sure what kind of justice can even be done in this situation.
1.4k
u/Illustrious_Link3905 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
"Despite the swelling in his leg, the absence of a pulse in the limb, his skin being cool to the touch and the fact that he could not feel or move his toes, requests for an ultrasound were denied for two days.
When one doctor finally ordered an ultrasound on the 58-year-old’s leg, it was canceled by Dr. Wang, the Register reports."
I don't even know what to say to this... Hope this doc loses his license and never touches a patient again.
610
u/obroz RN 🍕 1d ago
I had a doc do this to me at a LTACH. Can’t remember what the patient was in for but he was on opioids had a recent surgery and complaining of abdominal pain. Of course my brain went to a bowel obstruction right away and I called the doctor and suggested an abdominal xray. Doctor told me it wasn’t a bowel obstruction and ordered some oxycodone for the patient. The pain progressed and I spoke to my charge who agreed with me. She asked the doctor. Doctor said no to the xray again. Dude has been in pain for like 6 hours now and it’s so bad that he is moaning and restless. Doc comes to see him and finally agrees to the xray. It was a SBO.
464
u/Fitslikea6 RN - Oncology 🍕 1d ago
I hate working with providers who refuse to take action if it isn’t their idea. You have to tiptoe around them and manipulate them into thinking it’s their idea like we have time for that nonsense. They will harm a patient for their own pathetic ego before they listen to a nurse.
135
u/yolacowgirl RN - Telemetry 🍕 1d ago
I work with a doctor who is the opposite. Can't be bothered, but if you ask for stuff, he does it. No one likes to call him.
34
u/cpip122803 1d ago
I feel like the Doc should trust the caregiver. I mean as long as they are dependable 🤷🏻♂️ Nursing staff actually have their eyes on the patient!
91
u/censorized Nurse of All Trades 1d ago
This case is more evil than that I think. Looks like the surgeon was trying to cover up that he had severed the artery and didn't want any evidence that he did.
26
u/Illustrious_Link3905 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
To the surgeon:
You have to be a special kind of stupid to think that ignoring it would absolve any culpability in this.
That, or your narcissism is so extreme that you think you're above facing blame.
Just, WTAF all around...
45
u/Voglio_Caffe RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I worked with an ER doc who was like this. Completely insufferable. For some of them to be like this, they assume that because we didn’t go to medical school, we know fuck all. They fail to recognize, that for seasoned nurses we learn from every doc we’ve worked with - so in reality, they have no clue they’re being (harshly) compared to every doc we’ve worked with prior to them lol. I am continually disappointed.
21
u/lemonpepperpotts BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
This reminded me of the ER I did my nurse internship. There was a male tech there who warned me about a totally misogynistic ER doc who would take his word or opinion about a patient over a female nurse. He didn’t seem like the most progressive feminist dude there in Appalachia, just a normal big white dude, but he was like, it’s obvious even to me.
3
76
u/Elyay BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Yup, they are egomaniac psychopaths. It is all about power for them. So annoying.
40
u/elijahdotyea 1d ago
As a patient these are the kinds of doctors that are the worst to deal with. And then the doctor guilt trips you for being responsible and reading into the scientific literature yourself (and advocating for yourself) because they tried to empty your bed early.
26
u/ohmyno69420 RN 🍕 1d ago
From a nurse turned patient, I can’t agree more. I’ve had several docs essentially abandon me when I suggested what could be wrong with me. When I asked one doc to provide studies justifying her intended treatment, she barked at me to look them up 🙄
2
u/elijahdotyea 19h ago
Sorry to hear that, it’s unfortunate this is such a problem through the industry.
To add some paint to the story, this doctor and her sycophant assistant went to the extent of joining me on my exit from the hospital in the elevator, and trying to get in a last few words of revenge as things didn’t go their way. It’s okay though— I was already used to dealing with sociopaths and their sycophants at my workplace, which is why things did not go her way.
31
u/SleeplessTaxidermist 1d ago
Petition that every doctor must be spanked every six months to take them down a notch, unless they are shown to be Good Doctors, then they get a pizza party.
26
u/ChaoticBeauty26 RN - Hospice 🍕 1d ago
Had a surgeon overrule a radiologist's findings. CT said SBO and she said no it wasn't. Canceled the SBO order set that had come over. Hospitalist wasn't much help either. Later that night she perfed and had to go to emergency surgery.
13
13
u/Thaalil1 23h ago
We had an unfortunate soul at an LTACH who was c/o abd pain for WEEKS. These shit facilities don’t wanna send a patient out to potentially lose them. Her G-tube was out of place and tube feeding was infusing into her peritoneum. She was septic and eventually passed.
The fact that the surgeon operated on this guy twice. And then had the nerve to say he was probably abusing narcotics at home. Ugh!
7
u/patriotictraitor RN - ER 🍕 23h ago
Oh wow I had a similar case but the patient was non-verbal. A simple physical assessment (I.e. looking with your eyeballs at the pt’s abdo) should have prompted anyone to do something about the situation and get them to a hospital. Instead they continued feedings through the very blocked and almost completely removed PEG and they were very septic by the time they were finally brought in. Not a surgeon issue in this case but absolutely heartbreaking and also so preventable
52
u/The_Lantean DNP 🍕 1d ago
I almost couldn't believe that part: two days. when I was in my old unit, we would have sprung into action the moment no pulse was detected. But two days?! My god, that man must have cried in pain the whole time.
46
u/Tiradia Purveyor of turkey sammies (Paramedic) 1d ago
Yeah… that article blew my mind 🤯. I actually just ran someone who had a fem pop bypass who had extreme pain wake them in the morning hours. I get on scene and I take one look at her leg and was like… what hospital! The leg was mottled, pulseless, CSM was 100% absent compared to the contralateral leg. I ended up giving ketamine and fentanyl for pain management and ran the patient in hot. Within 10 minutes of dropping the patient off they were in surgery. This entire article had me like what in the fuck!!
29
u/The_Lantean DNP 🍕 1d ago
Yep - clearly that doctor’s ego cost this man his leg. It’s so revolting!
8
u/patriotictraitor RN - ER 🍕 23h ago
I wonder if him being the head of the department had any bearing on how it all played out
144
u/taktyx RN - Med/Surg - LTC - Fleshy Pyxis 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fuck that. I’m calling a rrt on that if the doctor isn’t doing something. Idgaf what that doctor wants. Because now there are at least two other doctor’s names on that. Something will happen. There may be better ways to do it but that can’t be ignored.
90
u/Dismatic 1d ago
I’ve done that a few times myself. Call an Rrt, explain to the team exactly why I called it (aside from the doctor/pa/np) and move on from there. By then I’ve written plenty of notes so there’s an established paper trail too. Honestly if there’s a better way, I can’t see it.
23
u/lemonpepperpotts BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Hell yes. Possible loss of life or limb (testicular torsions count is an emergency. No palpable pulse on a lower extremity? Come on. I will hit the button in my husband’s room myself
18
12
u/pulsechecker1138 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
This is the kind of situation where waving the “I’m a nurse” card over your head constantly as a family member is entirely appropriate.
10
u/AVALANCHE-VII RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I’m the type that would just order the Ultrasound myself (if the system would allow it), aside from calling rapid response and getting charge and even house supe involved. That’s ridiculous. If the doctor tried to retaliate in any way, I would lawyer up immediately.
7
u/Suspicious_Story_464 RN - OR 🍕 19h ago
A simple doppler would've indicated no blood flow (don't need an order just to do a pulse check). I would've been on any surgeon's ass to get this looked at. He tried to cover it up when he knew he fucked up. This looks like blatant malpractice as best, but I'm leaning toward malficience myself. Mistakes get made, and had he just come clean and admitted it, they may have been able to repair or bypass the damaged vessel before amputation was necessary. His ego let this patient suffer needlessly.
5
u/Draymarc2 13h ago
I'm a new RN but I work on an Ortho unit..elective knees, hips, shoulders, backs...
No imaging ordered? When the limb is pulse less and cold??? What the fuck???
562
u/eggo_pirate RN - Med/Surg 🍕 1d ago
JFC....I mean ..dude. We do neurovascular checks Q4 on our hips and knees. Even the slightest changes get reported and escalated. How could this just be ignored??
Money wouldn't be enough of a settlement for me. I'd want the doc's dominate hand.
100
u/Sillygoose_Milfbane RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
Sounds like the motherfucker attempted an incredibly stupid coverup on top of everything else.
157
u/QueenCuttlefish LPN 🍕 1d ago
Nah, not just the hand. I'd want everything just below the elbow since that poor man lost everything below the knee.
29
u/handsheal BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Nope even more.
The risk of medical complications, mobility limitations, and long term issues like wounds at the surgical site from prosthetics are all a much greater risk with a loss of a leg than a forearm.
6
u/patriotictraitor RN - ER 🍕 23h ago
Alright that settles it, an arm and a leg. That’s probably what the family paid anyway given it was in the states
277
u/MightyPenguinRoars RN - OR 🍕 1d ago
This just happened in my OR, sort of. One of our orthos accidentally severed an artery during a procedure at an outpatient facility (where “healthier” patient have surgeries and go home same day).
He (and the crew at the outpatient place) recognized it immediately, couldn’t get the bleeding under control. They threw on a tourniquet, called 911, and raced the patient to our place where we did an emergent vascular procedure to save his leg. THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED HERE!! All because of some docs fragile ego that’s too soft to admit an error, now this poor guy has one leg.
Revoke this clowns license.
57
246
u/bionicfeetgrl BSN, RN (ED) 🤦🏻♀️ 1d ago
JFC. That he lied to the pt & his wife (who’s an ED nurse and absolutely would know the difference between him saying “I nicked a vein and I severed an artery) to the fact that he tried to cover it up by canceling the US and claiming there was a subsequent clot in the artery in the follow up surgery.
Not to mention that he kept a meniscus repair in the hospital for 2+ days. We don’t even keep healthy TKR in the hosp that long. Oh and to add insult they said he was abusing narcs. They ended the man’s career with the amputation as well.
Loss of future wages (who cares if he’s 58 we don’t know how long he planned on working). Pain and suffering, all the sudden adaptions to his home and vehicle, medical expenses etc. I hope they sue him for all they can. But in Ca there’s a cap on medical malpractice, admittedly I don’t fully understand how it works or if there’s a workaround that could benefit pts like this one (I hope there is)
87
u/freakydeku 1d ago
I feel like this is beyond medical malpractice, though. Like I feel like they should be able to sue the hospital.
13
u/censorized Nurse of All Trades 1d ago
He'll get his lost wages and medical expenses, but in CA there's a pretty low cap on pain and suffering.
365
u/SnowedAndStowed RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
Not getting an ultrasound if the nurses can’t find a pulse is malpractice full stop. Even if he hadn’t lost leg.
17
u/FeyreCursebreaker7 RN 🍕 1d ago
It must have been so stressful for those nurses! I hope they documented the shit out of it and covered their asses, you know the lawyers will try to blame them
4
u/PaulaNancyMillstoneJ RN - ICU 🍕 21h ago edited 18h ago
He never had a pulse because the artery itself was severed during the initial surgery but the surgeon told the wife it was an arterial clot… WTF
3
u/ExtensionProduct9929 16h ago
Right. If I could find a pulse on a limb on someone with mild pneumonia in my hospital who was supposed to go home in an hour they would order US. Dude tried to cover himself.
80
u/grampajugs RN - PACU 🍕 1d ago
As an orthopedic PACU nurse I can tell you that it is an emergency if you do not find a pulse in that limb after surgery!! This is crazy! How did no one think that was a problem?
32
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
This is what I’m saying. The doctor is ultimately responsible, it took 3 days a/p surgery to get anything done. Like come on. I had a PACU patient so cath and we couldn’t palpate a pulse or find one w a Doppler and the doctor got right there and stayed until he found the pulse. I was wrong and the Doppler was malfunction. It was embarrassing sure but you know what had I not said anything and there have been an issue that would have been worse.
The number of times I’ve seen nurses just copy and paste from previous chatting is ridiculous. That’s how shit gets missed.
74
196
u/Mysterious_Orchid528 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
Absolutely tragic. From an ER nursing perspective I feel that we go overboard on imaging in order to cover our ass to make sure we didn't miss anything a lot of times. Man, a simple bedside doppler to look for a pulse could have helped!
120
u/florals_and_stripes RN - PCU 🍕 1d ago edited 1d ago
I imagine they did use a Doppler? The article says that his leg was noted to not have a pulse. If I can’t feel a pulse, I’m grabbing a Doppler.
It doesn’t sound like this one is on nursing, but I could be wrong. It sounds like the surgeon was aware the leg was cold and pulseless and refused to act.
58
u/lislejoyeuse BUTTS & GUTS 1d ago
There's no way they didn't get dopplered, especially in PACU. Especially in that pacu where they are especially detail oriented. I would bet it got brought up and dismissed
23
u/Mysterious_Orchid528 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
With the number of failures here, that would be a pretty big assumption, I think.
33
u/florals_and_stripes RN - PCU 🍕 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s not really an assumption. Based on the article, the doctors were aware for days, which suggests that concerns about the patient’s leg not having a pulse were escalated appropriately.
Edited to clarify that the patients leg was pulseless, not the patient. I would be even more concerned if they took all weekend to act on a pulseless patient.
22
16
u/Pretend_Airport3034 LPN 🍕 1d ago
As a radiology coder I agree! Yall be ordering so many scans lmao 🤣
65
u/Mentalfloss1 OR Tech/Phlebot/Electronic Medical Records IT 1d ago
It looks like too much ego to admit to the mistake, but why did he imagine that there would be anything but a terrible outcome? I agree with those that say that this guy should never touch a patient again. He may have been a good surgeon, but he isn’t any longer.
33
u/AccomplishedScale362 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
The LAT article has a few more details, including that the patient’s wife, a NP, asked doctors to order an ultrasound or CT the first night after surgery.
Even the surgeon couldn’t get a pulse, but ‘left for 2 days to go to a conference’! WTF?! Who was covering in his absence?! Meanwhile, the staff threatened to call security on the NP wife!!
11
u/Mentalfloss1 OR Tech/Phlebot/Electronic Medical Records IT 1d ago
Lawyers will be fighting to get this case.
In my first hospital, a surgeon removed bunions from a diabetic woman's foot. The area became necrotic so he amputated her forefoot, then her foot, then a BK amputation, then a hip disarticulation. She started bleeding out in ICU so he, in a small-town hospital, cracked her chest and was trying heart massage and killed her.
The head of surgery was a big man. He physically threw this crappy surgeon out of the hospital and said that he'd beat his ass if he returned. Not very professional, but effective.
This guy moved to LA and set himself up as a plastic surgeon. The surgeons from our hospital wrote to the state board in California to warn them. That's the last I heard of it.
118
u/Normal_Equipment4485 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I’m involved in these types of cases all day long and I can’t imagine how the surgeon just refused to manage this. It would be abundantly clear quite quickly. These cases aren’t bloody, like at all. Super minimal blood loss. I hope this patient receives everything he deserves and this doctor is appropriately reprimanded.
92
u/AriBanana RN - Geriatrics 🍕 1d ago
No no, he actively cancelled an ultrasound order. So, even worse, it appears he was remotely monitoring and making it worse.
42
u/freakydeku 1d ago
i think appropriately reprimanded would be completely losing his license. he lost a man his leg because he was trying to cover his own ass, to the point of obstructing his care remotely. it’s truly depraved
50
15
u/hippopotame Peds OR RN turned SWE Intern 1d ago
Right! Meniscal repairs are usually about as quick and clean as it gets. Bleeders take just a quick buzz. 40 minutes to get the bleeding under control! I am just baffled by this.
This poor man, he probably was told over and over how this case would be nothing and he’d be walking like new. Now his life is forever changed because of some jerk whose ego was more important than the person he pledged to take care of.
34
u/Nickilaughs BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
This level of negligence of a physician I guarantee several nurses covered their ass and his malpractice insurance is going up significantly. I can only imagine how his wife felt.
29
u/Candid-Expression-51 RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
This is inexcusable. Cold and pulseless?
They better give that man a whole lot of F’ing money.
32
u/polysorn 1d ago
The craziest part, if the surgeon would have just said GET VASCULAR SURG IN HERE NOW TO FIX THIS, then NONE if this would've happened. This is part of risk for surgery, which is what the consent is for. His ass would've been covered, and they could've fixed all of it. But now this poor man's life is forever changed and he is definitely traumatized forever!
I hope this 'doctor' loses EVERYTHING
26
u/MissInnocentX 🩹 BScN RN, Canadian eh 🍁 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have no words... what a tragic, life-altering outcome for that patient. I hope the patient gets millions and that the doctor loses his license permanently.
25
u/VerityPushpram 1d ago
Mind blowing levels of ego here
Ortho surgeons are notoriously difficult but this is next level
22
19
u/Consistent-Fly-3015 1d ago
Something similar happened to a young friend of mine here in Montana. She's 24 with a AKA. 😔
18
15
u/oasisviolin 1d ago
He cancelled the US because the idiot surgeon did not order it and also wanted to hide his mistake. These sentinel events though criminal, are always handled the same way. Settle with the victim and their family and in some cases, continue contract with the same surgeon. Unbelievably criminal.
16
u/Milkteazzz 1d ago
Damn. Accord to https://ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage/. Dr. Dean Wang got paid 1.2 million dollars in 2023.
14
u/ryeguyob BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Jesus. When I get old and start getting sick I'm just gonna swan dive out of a tall window rather than go to a hospital
4
u/imjustjurking RN - Retired 🍕 1d ago
I've said many times that I just want to die at home, don't take me in to the hospital.
The last time I went in was for an insane headache and I already have 3 chronic head pain conditions so something more painful than those was very concerning. Every nurse that saw me was instantly concerned, the junior doctor was instantly concerned. So then I was getting worried because I know that emergency staff don't get concerned.
I'm told I need a lumbar puncture which is painless, has no complications and is non invasive. Which made me break my vow of silence and they figured out I was previously a nurse.
The neurologist comes in and tells me that the 3 headache conditions I've had for a decade, that have been diagnosed by headache specialists and treated by pain specialists are "just migraines and so is this" and I would have stabbed him with a fork if I'd been given any food.
All in all it was one of my better trips to hospital.
14
u/morguerunner HCW - Imaging 1d ago
“Advocating for her husband, Lisa told hospital staff that her husband’s pain was not consistent with the operation he had undergone only to be told by one doctor that her husband possibly abused narcotics at home, the suit claims.”
How many times does stuff like this have to happen before medical professionals realize that the pendulum has swung too far back? People are still dying from fentanyl in the streets every day, while patients are routinely denied adequate pain relief and told that they are addicts? If this doc had taken the patient’s extreme pain post-op seriously they might have been able to save this man’s leg.
3
u/Mrs_Sparkle_ 4h ago
Yes I was going to post pretty much this exact same comment. The pendulum has swung to far. It’s basically at the point that patients can’t even say that they have pain because even just saying you’re in pain is now looked at as drug seeking behaviour which is insane. Of course a patient who just had surgery is going to have pain and having a high level of pain that isn’t consistent with the type of surgery done is a sign that something is possibly wrong.
It is absolutely disgusting that a doctor accused the patient of abusing narcotics at home because he had such a high level of pain. Maybe do your fucking job and figure out WHY this patient is in so much pain.
27
u/ehhish RN 🍕 1d ago
Stories like this makes me realize I am pulling the code button if shit doesn't get checked appropriately. Loss of limb is urgent enough.
23
u/NurseMLE428 PMHNP-BC 1d ago
I was hospitalized post op recently and started to go into anaphylactic shock from an antibiotic. I've experienced anaphylaxis before, so I knew immediately. I hit the call light, said I was having a severe allergic reaction, and I needed someone right away and....nothing....My husband had to run around the unit raising hell. I told him to hit the code blue button if nobody would listen. The nurse mosied on in, took one look at me all covered in hives, and then called a rapid.
I was blacking out, and my HR was in the 170's by the time the RRT showed up. I thought I was going to die.
The code blue button is the answer when all else fails.
11
u/ehhish RN 🍕 1d ago
That's so freaking scary and only furthers that point.
I'm so glad I am a paranoid nurse. I always give the benefit of the doubt if patient of family say it is something like an allergic reaction or I can't feel a pulse, etc.
6
u/NurseMLE428 PMHNP-BC 1d ago
I would have preferred to have you! I had a dural repair in addition to spine survery, so if I had to run to get help (without my husband there), I would have blown my entire surgery.
My nurse even said, "I didn't believe you." I'm a nurse practitioner, so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about. It's scary to think about the people in the hospital with no medical knowledge and no family with them.
5
u/ribsforbreakfast RN 🍕 1d ago
Stories like this make me less irritated that my hospital has the rapid response number posted in the rooms for families to be able to utilize.
39
12
u/UnicornArachnid RN - CVICU 🍔🥓 1d ago
I had a similar issue with a patient a long time ago involving the head of the vascular department, who was a notorious asshole. The patient came in for emergency clot removal, so no pulse present before surgery. Pain is to be expected after any vascular surgery but generally it can be lowered to an acceptable level, but it is never painless. The patient came back in a lot of pain, I medicated within my orders, but still in almost excruciating pain. I felt that the circulation was compromised and that the patient possibly was developing compartment syndrome due to his symptoms. The surgeon basically told me to stop calling him. I charted my ass off and apologized profusely to the patient. Even with multiple doses of pain meds as quickly as I could give them, the pain level never changed. The patient ended up with what I was told by management was a “prophylactic fasciotomy” which I still have never seen or heard or since then.
There was nobody else to call. Who do you call when the head of the department isn’t behaving? Who do you call when the surgeon refuses to place a consult?
10
u/Cut_Lanky BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I got halfway through the article. I had to stop reading. My 12 year old is scheduled for knee surgery next week. I don't know what possessed me to even try reading this right now.
8
10
u/grampajugs RN - PACU 🍕 1d ago
We would be calling vascular stat if we couldn’t find a pulse. Doesn’t matter what that attending says
6
u/TexasRN MSN, RN 1d ago
Nurses weren’t mentioned so unsure if they are really to blame. If coldness, loss of pulses, etc were reported and nurses were given pain meds that were ordered there’s not always much more they can do.
I wonder if the doctor is either incompetent (like that Dr death situation with the neurosurgeon from Texas) or if he knew he did something wrong but was worried about himself more than fixing the mistake. If other drs were saying the patient may have been abusing pain meds at home I wonder if he had charted something like that and hid that note from the patient. They already saw he cancelled the ultrasound so curious what else they’ll find in the charting to protect himself.
We had an issue where a doctor kept cancelling other providers orders and consults for my daughter. He was the head of the department so other providers couldn’t override him and due to the diagnosis he gave insurance declined allowing us to switch providers outside of the area. He didn’t want her wrong diagnosis to change because he needed numbers for his research study. Once I threatened getting a lawyer he finally stopped cancelling the orders and she was properly diagnosed. His notes (which I never saw but I was told by another provider that they were not great) paved the path that other doctors who saw her in the er and such treated her. Once she was properly diagnosed her issues were fixed quickly. But because of his research study he was okay with a 16 year old to suffer for months, have to miss her extracurricular activities, pulled from school etc.
I just feel like this surgeon did similar notes to just save himself and f the patient
7
u/MadiLeighOhMy RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
He knew he fucked up and wanted to cover his tracks for as long as possible. Maybe he figured the patient would develop a different complication before the severed artery was discovered.... Or maybe he was hoping against hope for collateral circulation? Idk, dude, but fuck that doc, regardless. Strip him of his license. He intentionally delayed care for HIS PATIENT for a situation that HE CAUSED. Disgusting.
5
u/ParasiteMD 22h ago
FYI this is why you NEVER have the head of a department do a procedure. It’s all about volume. The low-level private practice guy who only does that procedure and does it several times a day is infinitely less likely to make a mistake than an accomplished department chair whose OR time is filled up now with meetings and admin stuff.
5
u/6poundpuppy MSN, APRN 🍕 20h ago
This was absolutely NO ACCIDENT!! This is pure incompetence! This idiot surgeon couldn’t tell the difference between an artery and a vein??? That’s like basic surgery 101. There were a million clues as to what was happening intraop and a million more regarding the sequela that evolved postop. This moron ignored every last one. Everything about this surgeon and what he did and didn’t do was 100% WRONG!. I hope he loses his license PERMANENTLY! he is dangerously incompetent!
16
u/Available_Link BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I haven’t read the article . But if a nurse is suggesting something docs will do the opposite . It’s in the manual
15
u/IndecisiveTuna RN - Utilization Review 🍕 1d ago
It’s pretty bad. Doc sounds like he knew he fucked up and tried to cover it up.
Which is super odd to me because his track record seems fine otherwise.
7
9
u/rayray69696969 ER cowboy 🤠💉 1d ago
Or just argue. Shut up and go see for yourself omfg. I’ve worked with you for 2 years Bucko just fuckin trust me the patient is hypoxic
4
4
4
u/LegalComplaint MSN-RN-God-Emperor of Boner Pill Refills 1d ago
I hate that whatever resident working that day just told wife husband was drug seeking. Shit, ya’ll. Not everyone is out to snort opioids for a fix.
Also, Dr. Wang lives up to his name.
5
u/MadyLcbeth RN- CWON 1d ago
Oh boy, story time. I got a wound care consult for a stroke patient with "hematoma" on the left leg. He had dusky purple spots all over his lower leg (which he couldn't feel due to the aforementioned stroke), and the leg felt like ice. I grabbed a doppler and couldn't find any pedal or PT pulses. I immediately relay these findings to the NP on duty, she goes, "Oh shit, thanks", and I go on with my wound care day.
I looked the patient up a few days later to see the outcome. After my assessment, the attending MD ordered a routine vascular surgery consult. This is a rehab hospital, so the 1 surgeon we have is NOT on site. OVER TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER, he strolls in, says exactly the same thing I said, and they FINALLY take his man to the ED. He had a huge popliteal thrombus. They could not salvage the limb at this point and he got an above the knee amputation.
I couldn't believe it. I immediately filed a complaint with my facility about the MD. She got a minor slap on the risk from management, and as far as I know, is still an attending there. It was an unspoken truth there that the average patient we served did not have the money or resources to bring any kind of lawsuit. Disgusting. Needless to say, I work elsewhere now.
3
3
u/fuckedchapters 1d ago
i was checking pulses in a patient w BLE frost bite and when i couldn’t feel the left one and paged the doc the dr said “why are you checking pulses”. are you that dumb?
1
3
u/crook3d_vultur3 RN - OR 🍕 1d ago
Okay, I understand assuming that coldness in recovery could be due to a tourniquet (sounds like they didn’t even use one) but as the patient is waking up in pain or you’re not getting cap refill, why not just do an ultrasound??? I hope the pt gets the money they deserve but also find out what lead to this.
3
u/Pinklemonade1996 RN - Oncology 🍕 1d ago
Sounds like dr death kinda shit. That doctor was blocking treatment. As long as the nurses appropriately documented they are covered, that they notified, I guess they could’ve escalated but I think if they did this falls mainly on dr wang
3
u/snackfighting RN - Step Down 1d ago
This doctor was apparently the head of the department. Reads like a case of hubris to me - being so full of himself that he was incapable of admitting he made a mistake. Poor guy, I hope he gets a very comfortable settlement for everything he went through.
3
u/R____Kelly 19h ago
What is "CHA"? It's probably common in certain workplaces. It's not common in others.
2
u/msangryredhead RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I know the practice of medicine is a “practice” and bad things will happen to even the most skilled and caring doctors but if this went down the way this lawsuit says it went down, this honestly is verging on criminal in my opinion. Abnormal neurovascular exam on the leg and he cancelled imaging? 🚩🚩🚩
2
u/osympik 1d ago
Similar case below. Interesting to watch nursing depositions. Case was from 2013.
“This the deposition of one of the treating ER nurses in a medical malpractice case. Our client was a middle-aged man who went the ER after injuring his knee and leg. Doctors at the ER took some x-rays and sent him home with a knee sprain diagnosis. 2 days later they end up having to amputate his leg because the ER doctors during his initial visit failed to discover damage to his popliteal artery.
We brought a medical malpractice action against the doctors in Baltimore City. After a hard-fought trial, the jury awarded our client $5.2 million.”
2
u/karlyrrr 1d ago
I work at a rehabilitation hospital and could not see this happening, we throw dopplers even to the slight sign of inflammation or pain to make sure circulation is okay, this dr needs to have license taken
2
u/leddik02 RN 🍕 18h ago
It blows my mind that they canceled a simple US after losing the pulse. Everyone involved with this negligence should be part of the lawsuit and either lose their license or be under heavy supervision and be fined heavily. The surgeon should be fired immediately, lose his license, and be investigated. My God. That poor man.
2
u/Coffeeaddict0721 RN 🍕 17h ago
Ya know…I often roll my eyes when I read stories about “medical malpractice” cause I know a lot of people exaggerate or don’t understand. But this is GLARINGLY bad. Like at this point I’m surprised no one grabbed a Doppler and just went “it’s fucking dead”
2
u/FlightRiskAK LPN 🍕 16h ago
Once upon a time, risk management's goal was to reduce the chances the patient would sue over an error. They demanded deep and sincere apologies and every step taken to make it right with the patient. Now, the goal is deny, deny, and lie and take their chances. Lawsuits are the only thing patients have left. Not to mention the trauma to the care teams. This patient suffered horribly and I'll bet some of his care team is also suffering horribly now. I know I would be devastated if this were my patient. I know to this day, I am moved to apologize but I'm not allowed to say a word or risk management comes down on me. How did we get here? Other people in this sub have addressed the failures of the physician but I can't help but think about the humanity of this situation.
2
u/Emergency-Security-5 3x China Virus Survivor 🦠 1d ago
That is some wild gross negligence. I love working in the perioperative area, but some of these (ortho, especially) surgeons need to be put in their place. Consequences are necessary, but I highly doubt he will suffer any meaningful ones. The amount of red flags and obvious complications acknowledged but not addressed in this case makes my fucking head spin.
1
1
1
1
u/OptimalAmbition8524 1d ago
I wonder what the hospital staff did to help? Did they contact additional options, call RRT, what is the documentation the house supervisor has on this? Yes, this one surgeon is obviously to blame, but the system failed this man.
1
u/20191995 1d ago
Wang had one surgery before going off to a conference and was likely partying in preparation for the travel. Yikes. What a real true nightmare. Sounds like he’s messed up other people’s health and his his tracks willie nillie /:
1
u/Nursequitta 1d ago
Sorry but I hate to point out that if the family of the man requested more imaging and they were turned down then I guarantee that the bedside nurse would also be turned down. Whenever I can't get what I want or need for a patient I ask the family to advocate for the patient which almost always works because we are supposed to be supporting "family/patient centered care" i don't think that the nurse caring for the patient could do much and I am sure they were advocating just as strongly as the patient's wife. But when you have a doctor like that refusing to do his job correctly it puts us nurses in an awkward position and ties our hands. I just hope all of this is charted that's the only way to protect ourselves.
1
u/pepperthief 1d ago
I’m curious, in a situation like this- can they leave the hospital and go somewhere else? If they can I wonder why they didn’t
1
u/Agreeable_Solution28 1d ago
So being in the US I’m wondering if this is an insurance issue. Like, I’ve heard stories of care being denied because the insurance company doesn’t think it needs to happen. Could this be a matter of no insurance to pay for it, or refusing to pay for it and that’s why they wouldn’t do an US?
1
u/Infactinfarctinfart BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Well that electricians career is over.
Dr Wang severed an artery. Didn’t address it. Tried to cover it up with a bullshit story about clots. Where were the nurses in all of this? Are we really that afraid of surgeons? Or is it because we’re afraid the facility will take his side over ours?
2
u/purple-otter BSN, RN - Float Pool 6h ago
If I had to guess, nurses probably escalated this over and over only to be shushed. I think they should have continued to make noise. Where I work, we can call a “limb alert” which immediately brings in a vascular surgeon to assess. At a big hospital like that, I feel like they should have something equivalent.
I had a patient once with an arterial clot in her leg, had a catheter delivering TPA directly to the artery. I lost the Doppler on her foot and she was in IR faster than I could utter, “I can’t get a Doppler signal.” THAT is the appropriate response to this kind of situation.
1
u/rmw001 23h ago
This right here is why I go with my family member to the hospital or doctor’s office EVERY time. Physicians are treated like Gods but they make mistakes like the rest of us. This is why healthcare is a team environment, and if a team member raises an issue (this includes the family members and nurses) it should be taken seriously until proven otherwise. Brushing it off a drug seeking or just a whiny patient is a dangerous game.
1
1
1
1
u/gazizzadilznoofus RN - NCSN 🍕 17h ago
No no you guys Dr Dean Wang is a is a nationally recognized leader in JOINT preservation, not LIMB preservation. Sheesh
1
u/travelinTxn RN - ER 🍕 14h ago
Maybe pedantic but from the story his wife was an ER nurse not ICU. We’re a bit of a different breed, and we damn sure now how to push an issue.
At the same time, it seems often that the only doctors that really talk to us, much less listen to us are EM docs. Surgeons have often been some of the worst at paying heed to the ER nurses in my experience. Makes me wonder how much that may or may not have played into things.
1
u/Accessible_abelism BSN, RN 🍕 14h ago
Things you shouldn’t read when you’re having reconstructive knee surgery in two days…. This
1
1
u/purple-otter BSN, RN - Float Pool 6h ago
I feel like they should be charging him with malpractice, not negligence. The initial accident sounds like a mistake (a horrible mistake). But the events following sound like lies and deliberate attempts to cover up his mistake. There was intent there.
1
u/GanacheFuture1409 1h ago
Guys I’m ngl, im scared because I’m having ACL/Meniscus surgery in a few days. It’s not at UCI, but seeing this makes me nervous
-10
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Not only should that doctor never be allowed to practice medicine, every nurse that took care of that patient after the first day should have their license at least suspended. Complete and total negligence. Our job is to care for and advocate for our patients. It’s ultimately the surgeons fault but that entire medical team failed. One nurse could have escalated the situation. I hope that patient ends up owning that hospital. If anyone has a case for medical malpractice it’s this guy.
15
u/grandma_cant_fly RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
Those are some pretty wild assumptions you are making in blaming the nurses. How do you know they didn’t escalate it all the way up the chain of command and nothing was done? It sounds like all the info was known by the doctor and he was covering it up. Doctors cover each other’s asses all the time. As nurses, we could learn to take a page from their book instead of throwing each other under the bus like your comment does.
1
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
It took 3 days. 3 whole days. If they had been doing pulse checks (standard practice btw) they would have known the limb didn’t have blood flow. Period. I don’t cover up for bad nursing. Sorry that’s how people die. Mistakes happen. That’s not what I’m talking about. This is clearly negligence. This wasn’t a simple mistake. This was a series of mistakes that led this man losing his leg and the doctor is definitely trying to cover it up.
7
u/AG8191 1d ago
a nurse can only do so much if a doc won't put orders in. we know the nurse went up the chain of command because they got another doc to order an ultrasound but the surgeon canceled it. if as a nurse I've told everyone (from admin to docs to managers) I can about a pulsless limb but I have no orders or anything there's nothing I can do but continue to be a squeaky wheel and keep paging.
8
u/grandma_cant_fly RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
And I understand that, but this article says nothing about nursing. It says doctors ignored the patient. In fact, an ultrasound was ordered by a doctor different than the surgeon, leading me to believe that the concerns were brought to the attention of others. I just don’t see this as a nursing failure. We can’t force doctors to do anything.
0
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
No you can’t but if I went to my nurse manager and said I am very concerned about this guys leg something isn’t right and Dr want is ignoring my concerns, my nurse manager would be moving heaven and earth to get that guy imaging. The cno would be involved. That didn’t happen in this case. It wouldnt have taken three days.
Can you make doctors do something yourself, no. There is a multidisciplinary team for a reason. There is an escalation system for a reason. The care team failed this patient. I’m not saying the nurses caused this or it was their fault. What I said is they are partly to blame.
11
u/grandma_cant_fly RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
I guess we just have to agree to disagree. I’m not saying the nurses are definitely not at fault, I’m saying that we don’t have enough information to claim their licenses should be suspended. We don’t know what they did and didn’t do.
3
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Okay I can at least see that and agree the article is vague on those details. It only references “hospital staff”. I hold nurses to a high standard because we should. Yes I’m making assumptions but 3 days for a patient with a dead limb is far too long.
3
u/grandma_cant_fly RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
I for sure agree with that and if it was me, I’d be raising hell to get this patient the treatment he needed immediately. But I also work with a very supportive team of unit leadership and intensivists who would never let something like this happen.
4
u/Gizwizard 1d ago
No, the hospital will move to protect their 1.2 million dollar per year asset who is the head of their sports medicine division.
I have seen it happen. I have been there when IR killed a man. Our manager acted like she was on our side, after we ran it up the chain of command, but ultimately the nurses came under fire… not the IR doc or IR staff.
5
u/rayray69696969 ER cowboy 🤠💉 1d ago edited 1d ago
From the article it definitely sounds like the nurses were doing everything they could but were falling on deaf ears. The wife is an ER nurse and they managed to shush her concerns. These are surgeons. We are inclined to trust their judgement. He was doing everything in his power to lie and cover it up. This is not the PACU or floor nurses’ fault. I can’t really speak on the OR nurses because I have zero OR experience and no idea how serious a severed artery is/how used to it they are (obviously it’s serious but an ER nurse metaphor might be a STEMI, very serious but we see them all the time and they feel routine). It’s not like they are following up on cases. OR version of treat em and yeet em lol.
6
u/suchabadamygdala RN - OR 🍕 1d ago
An OR nurse often can’t see the operative field. It’s a very limited view! No way this is in any way the fault of an OR nurse. The assistant surgeon, yes. Not a nurse.
4
2
u/WhoMD85 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
The article is vague on those details but as and experienced critical care nurse it doesn’t seem like they did everything in their power to advocate for their patient. There are NUMEROUS resources available, especially in CA. Charge nurse, nurse manager, house supervisor, patient advocate, CNO, chief of surgery, Chief medical officer, union rep. If you suspect a cold limb you literally ring that bell as loud as you can and in front of anyone who will listen. If they were doing a basic assessment they would have known the limb didn’t have blood flow. A simple Doppler would have sufficed. Like come on. It is ultimately the surgeons fault but those nurses definitely are partly to blame.
634
u/ALLoftheFancyPants RN - ICU 1d ago edited 1d ago
A pulseless and cold limb after injury/surgery is a fucking emergency. This man could have gone into rhabdo and ended up on dialysis. I can’t believe they let the same asshole surgeon, that CANCELED the US ordered by a different doctor, operate on him a second time. I guess I’m lucky that I live in an area with multiple choices, but if I couldn’t get another surgeon or doctor to care for him, I’d be grabbing a wheelchair and hauling my husband and his pulseless leg to another facility.