Oh yeah, and as for the lawsuits...yeah, on the one hand, it was your *daughter*, on the other, it does just cause indirect problems. My eye doctor was involved in a car accident, and lost his surgery certification after having one of his hands injured. He has since regained 100% mobility in his hand, and can now perform surgery, and was passed as such by a fellow doctor, but the doctor won't officially sign off on it, for fear of being sued. The idea is if my doctor f's up, the patient sues him, then sues the doctor that passed him.

And then there's that debacle in texas or whatever, where the doctors have now created a database of patients, like their version of America's Most Wanted, where if you're on it, they don't treat you because of past suing history.

But I think it's commendable that you at least tried to settle it out of court, and gave him a chance to just pay the bill. If not...I'd sue, and yeah, personally, 10-20k seems reasonable to me. If you were asking for 100 million, or something ridiculous like that judge in DC over a pair of POS pants...
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsO...45313320070814

 

Ultimately, everyone is responsible for their own health decisions.

For now, you are your daughter's guardian. Your keen awareness and wisdom to seek help may have prevented a severe tragedy. On the other hand, you initially selected the dentist and agreed with his/her diagnosis and treatment until the fever persisted. Every medical/legal text book references cases that are abnormal. Remember, there is always more than one side to every position.

Does that mean the dentist errorred in his/her treatment? Depends on a host of things. What are the damages? Out of pocket deductible medical expenses?

Initially, it appears that you are seeking a ride on the gravy train. If your daughter is healthy, spend the time with her as opposed to time responding to interrogatories, court hearings, and paying for court and out of pocket costs (assuming you can retain a lawyer on a contigency basis in this case.)

Best advice - as previously stated by GT2003 - seek the advice of a qualified attorney as opposed to the net.

 

like someone stated previously no doctor is perfect, remember they're human beings too. don't be so quick to jump on the suing bandwagon to get money out of someone who has actually worked hard for it. sounds like to me you're jumping at the opportunity for quick money more than anything else. maybe that's not the case but you're really making it sound like it. another thing is if you've let your daughter's teeth get so rotten to a point that it caused a huge swelling, you're not doing such a great job taking care of your kid. if could afford to own an s2000 i'm sure you could've afforded to take your daughter for regular checkups loooong before her teeth got so bad.

 

once you get this all settled / figured out please post back on how it went.

 

Sounds like you might have a good case for the expenses incurred and some pain/suffering. Just be aware most business liability excludes punitive damages specifically. So... you'll never collect anything more than what can be gained from his personal assets even if you'd win. Or, depending on state law, you might not even get any of that. Plus, you'd have to prove near intentional negligence. That's not as easy as it sounds.

I'd threaten to sue, go through the motions, and see what his insurance offers to write the matter off. Odds are it'll be more than what you paid out, plus some trouble for your suffering. However, I would NOT act yet... as all settlement offers close the matter if there are future medical visits/problems from the accident. My sister had something similiar happe, but I think a bit more severe, and had to wait 4 years to collect until she knew her doctor visits were finished.

 

[QUOTE=kumainu,Aug 12 2007, 02:03 AM] His wife is a medical doctor, and together, they are filthy rich.

 

While I don't think this is a clear "should sue" situation, I can understand the frustration of having a family member suffer because of a mistake. If he's taking things too far, I'm sure it's for that reason and no dubious cause.

The fact people only sue people with money is sad, but true. Unless you have obvious liquid assets, you're never going to pay a red cent. Why do you think OJ still hasn't coughed up a dime of his judgement?

If the OP was a friend, I'd tell him to best make sure this doesn't happen to any other kids, file a grievance with whatever governing boards he can. Try to recover the $6k as a private matter if you don't have insurance to cover it, and be thankful nothing awful happened.

 

One last thing... sorry for mucking up the thread with like five posts. I promise this is it...

Before every parent screams bloody murder for not getting antibiotics, realize there is good cause for many doctors trying to avoid their use, especially in children. Growing up most people my age were given antibiotics whenever they had a sore throat or fever. 20 years later, when I got strep last year it took 5 different medications to find one I wasn't resistant to. It's a real concern.

 

[QUOTE=Ubetit,Aug 15 2007, 04:14 AM] Are you sure this isn't your real problem with him and his family?.

Maybe your daughter should sue you for negligence.

 

Will do!