Need advice for my daughter.
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Originally Posted by Enthralled,Aug 12 2007, 03:32 PM
I'd ask for 20k and call it a day...
I will teach this "Chinatown" dentist to be more careful next time, especially with young children.
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From: Doh!!
Originally Posted by kumainu,Aug 12 2007, 03:18 PM
I understand what you're saying, but I and the other doctors don't consider this a mistake but carelessness. He's been in "business" for decades and should know it's a general rule-of-thumb to never administer an aenesthesia shot to a swollen infected area. I think he knew this but did it anyway, and wrote it off after the extraction. It was a quick way for him, like most of his other patients, "Bam! Bam! Thank you, maam! Please come again!" kind of practice.
All of his patients are Asian adults, mainly Vietnamese and Chinese, who pay cash, medicare, or insurance (a few), who come in for quick "bam! bam! Thank you, maam!" visits. He treated my 5 yr-old like one of those adults and was careless. Of course he knew it was a bad idea to do such a thing, but he wanted a quick transaction. I brought my daughter to him because it was convenient. American dentists would take weeks via an appointment and she needed treatment. I SHOULD'VE brought her to the children's hospital in the first place, as they have doctors and dentists. But I thought being a dentist for over 2 decades, he would've known what to do with such a fairly simple procedure. Who knew he'd be careless and want a quick transaction.
One thing about these older Vietnamese and Chinese doctors, they always treat their practices as quick transactions, preferably with cash. They are not trustworthy or knowledgeable as American doctors, or Asian-American doctors who have been 100% educated here (usually not so old). Even before I told the ER doctors, they even asked: "Is it one of those Chinatown dentists?" And kept looking and staring at each other in shock. They knew these "Chinatown" doctors are careless and not very knowledgeable and always want quick transactions, and I bet it wasn't the first time it'd happened either. One lesson I've learned for sure, no more "Chinatown doctors"! Either American doctors or hospitals only.
All of his patients are Asian adults, mainly Vietnamese and Chinese, who pay cash, medicare, or insurance (a few), who come in for quick "bam! bam! Thank you, maam!" visits. He treated my 5 yr-old like one of those adults and was careless. Of course he knew it was a bad idea to do such a thing, but he wanted a quick transaction. I brought my daughter to him because it was convenient. American dentists would take weeks via an appointment and she needed treatment. I SHOULD'VE brought her to the children's hospital in the first place, as they have doctors and dentists. But I thought being a dentist for over 2 decades, he would've known what to do with such a fairly simple procedure. Who knew he'd be careless and want a quick transaction.
One thing about these older Vietnamese and Chinese doctors, they always treat their practices as quick transactions, preferably with cash. They are not trustworthy or knowledgeable as American doctors, or Asian-American doctors who have been 100% educated here (usually not so old). Even before I told the ER doctors, they even asked: "Is it one of those Chinatown dentists?" And kept looking and staring at each other in shock. They knew these "Chinatown" doctors are careless and not very knowledgeable and always want quick transactions, and I bet it wasn't the first time it'd happened either. One lesson I've learned for sure, no more "Chinatown doctors"! Either American doctors or hospitals only.
there are bad doctors, as any profession. Those who are in to make money, not to treat patients. If they're skilled, fine. But if they are unskilled, they should be prevented from hurting others.
bad doctors shouldn't be practicing.
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From: Nashville
did you actually spend the $6k out of pocket or did your health insurance pay?
Like S2020 said everyone is out to sue.....
i had a doctor sew up my arm and it got infected.... i had 3 full days in the hospital after my arm turned red and balloned up...... I never sued the guy... He tried to clean it out, used his best judgement and it didn't work..... Be happy your daughter is fine and move on....
Like S2020 said everyone is out to sue.....
i had a doctor sew up my arm and it got infected.... i had 3 full days in the hospital after my arm turned red and balloned up...... I never sued the guy... He tried to clean it out, used his best judgement and it didn't work..... Be happy your daughter is fine and move on....
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From: Ventura, California, USA
Originally Posted by kumainu,Aug 12 2007, 03:18 PM
One thing about these older Vietnamese and Chinese doctors, they always treat their practices as quick transactions, preferably with cash. They are not trustworthy or knowledgeable as American doctors, or Asian-American doctors who have been 100% educated here (usually not so old). Even before I told the ER doctors, they even asked: "Is it one of those Chinatown dentists?" And kept looking and staring at each other in shock. They knew these "Chinatown" doctors are careless and not very knowledgeable and always want quick transactions, and I bet it wasn't the first time it'd happened either. One lesson I've learned for sure, no more "Chinatown doctors"! Either American doctors or hospitals only.
Maybe instead of sueing you should contact the dentist's version of the state medical board (unless they are under that) and report him if you feel he did shoddy work.
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Originally Posted by s2000raj,Aug 13 2007, 07:15 AM
If this guy was such a quack or from an area when the dentists treat their patients like cash cows why did you take your most precious possession to him rather to a place where the dentist is probably more honest?
Let me stress this, I'm not saying he's an incapable dentist because after all, he did pass some school and exams in the U.S. to become a dentist, even though he got his degree in Vietnam. He did have to take courses and get recertification in the U.S. However, he was just careless in my daughter's case and treated her like all his other patients, like cash cows. And now I'm gonna teach him a lesson for his careless practice. I've just learned today that he's been sued before for infection. His equipments are outdated, probably from the '70s and '80s, and probably not as sterile as should be. He should be taught a lesson to clean up his act before somebody really gets permanently sick from his careless ways.
His wife is a major in the U.S. Army as a medical doctor though. I think that's pretty cool.
These "Chinatown" doctors/dentists should be inspected heavily and fined accordingly for their practices. Besides this, most of their transactions are cash and they cheat on taxes a lot too.
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Having a mother who is a lawyer, and a father who is a doctor, I can tell you this...
If she is fine now (knock on wood) and has no permanent damage or severe post damage, chalk it up as a lesson learned. No lawyer will take this as a contingency case, and malpractice is something that is very difficult to win. This might cost you waaay more than you can win. Also, her being 5 will be impossible to claim any punitive damages. You MIGHT be able to get a little bit for pain and suffering, but again, unless you have recorded doctors visits from every time she felt ill or had an infection, that chance is gone as well. In these cases, the ONLY thing that matters, is the paper trail.
Now, as for actual damages, that should be pretty straight forward. You will get your 6K back, maybe even the money you spent with the dentist.
If she is fine now (knock on wood) and has no permanent damage or severe post damage, chalk it up as a lesson learned. No lawyer will take this as a contingency case, and malpractice is something that is very difficult to win. This might cost you waaay more than you can win. Also, her being 5 will be impossible to claim any punitive damages. You MIGHT be able to get a little bit for pain and suffering, but again, unless you have recorded doctors visits from every time she felt ill or had an infection, that chance is gone as well. In these cases, the ONLY thing that matters, is the paper trail.
Now, as for actual damages, that should be pretty straight forward. You will get your 6K back, maybe even the money you spent with the dentist.
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From: Nashville
Originally Posted by kumainu,Aug 11 2007, 06:43 PM
The hospital treatment costs $6000,
your insurance should have paid, so at this point you should be out of pocket about nothing...hopefully....???