Suing doctors over a miracle baby is just plain wrong

• 

I am in shock over the story of a woman in Ohio suing a clinic over a failed abortion – after she delivered a healthy baby.

This lawsuit is of particular interest to me, because as a high-risk obstetrician, I have had many complicated obstetrical cases. But I still can’t swallow how a physician gets sued for a wrongful birth.

RELATED: Woman sues Ohio clinic over failed abortion after delivering healthy 'miracle' baby

A wrongful birth suit occurs when a doctor, without causing any health risks to a fetus, is charged with negligence after a full delivery of the living child.  In this particular case, the patient alleges that the doctors failed to abort her fetus during her initial abortion.  The woman was told her pregnancy could put her life at risk, because she had been diagnosed with uterine didelphys – a condition which results in a double uterus with individual cervices.

Let’s look at a couple of facts:  A didelphys uterus does not necessarily mean that a pregnancy or a mother’s life is at risk.  There have been many successful pregnancies in which the mother has had a double uterus.  Yes, there are risk factors involved, especially when it comes to premature delivery.  However, to high-risk obstetricians, this condition is well understood.

Even though I have limited knowledge of all the facts in this case, a failed termination – especially during the first trimester – is quite common.  The chances are also heightened when, like in this case, the anatomy is distorted, or there are issues of obesity.  

It’s not clear to me if the patient wanted to follow up with the clinic to pursue another procedure.  According to a statement, she failed to show up for a second appointment.  Regardless, lawyers are still pursuing this wrongful birth suit, which in my opinion is unethical and immoral.  The reason it will move forward is because there are doctors willing to testify against this clinic for a hefty fee.

I am all for patients receiving compensation when there is negligence or maleficence on behalf of physicians or hospitals.  But when you have a healthy mother and a healthy baby, and the only charge is the inconvenience of giving birth to a miracle, then that’s just plain wrong.

Dr. Manny Alvarez

View the original article here

Dr. Manny: Forcing employees to undergo health screenings for insurance is wrong

By Dr. Manny Alvarez

Dr Manny's Notes

Published March 20, 2013

FoxNews.com

• 

Should employees be forced to undergo health screenings to get coverage under their employer’s insurance plan?

I say "No." However, this trend is on the rise, thanks to health care reform.

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, many companies are forcing its employees to undergo a physical examination in order to get health insurance, or be levied with a surcharge. I received a letter from my employer at the hospital stating that I needed to see a physician in the human resources department, or I would be forced to pay a penalty of $50 extra each month.

Companies like CVS Caremark are also asking workers to undergo health screenings to measure weight, body fat, glucose levels and other vitals, or pay up to $600 more a year for their health insurance. The reason this is happening is because companies are desperate to try to find ways to cut costs, or perhaps, disqualify some employees from standard policies and recommend they instead look for coverage through a public exchange.

In my opinion, this is fundamentally wrong. It takes away the privacy of the individual, and it’s a form of discrimination. I don’t have a problem with companies promoting healthy habits for its employees – which happens sometimes, almost to the point of harassment.

Yes, people should lose weight, eat healthier, stop smoking and incorporate exercise into their daily routine – we’ve been telling them that for years. But to force them by making them pay, knowing full-well that financial penalties could compromise an individual’s ability to provide for their family is just plain wrong.

Unfortunately, I know this will one day be the norm in our country as we watch our freedoms disappear.

Dr. Manny Alvarez

View the original article here

Wrong woman buried as husband's objections ignored

INGLEWOOD, Calif. –  Evan Davidson lived with his wife for 51 years. But when he told morticians that the woman in the open casket wasn't Darlene Davidson, they politely told him he was mistaken.

"I looked at her and said, `Well this don't look like my wife at all,"' Davidson, 73, told KABC-TV. "They kept telling me it was, but it's just because she had been embalmed and she was sick."

They were wrong.

Simpson Family Mortuary of Inglewood acknowledged Monday that the woman it buried on March 1 was not Davidson's 82-year-old wife.

Three days after the funeral, an employee called and asked Davidson to come and identify a body. The worker said a woman was "jumping up and down" and claiming that a body on view wasn't her departed mother's, Davidson said.

He went to the mortuary.

"I saw my wife, and the shock just knocked me down," he said.

The mortuary has offered to exhume the body and to pay the costs of burying both women. Davidson's wife was scheduled to be reburied on Wednesday.

"Our main concern is for these people to receive the dignity and respect they deserve, and put the individual to rest. We are not sweeping it under the rug," mortuary spokesman Reginald Black said in a statement. "We made an error and we want to rectify our error and do whatever we can do to make them feel better."

Davidson has obtained an attorney to ask the state Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to investigate.

View the original article here