A Doctor Who Wouldn't Listen: A Personal Footnote

I don't use the word "malpractice" lightly.

I've been in cancer treatment for most of the past 10 years, both at SCCA and at other cancer centers in Seattle. And during that time, my doctors have made mistakes in my care.

See: Medical Mistakes—They Will Happen

I do not consider those mistakes to be malpractice, and I have never considered suing them.

But Sandy's story about a doctor who repeatedly ignored her reports of severe pain and her requests for further scans is beyond incredible. A court will decide if Dr. Park's actions did indeed constitute malpractice, which is why I've used the word with a question mark after it.

Tales like this one of doctors who refuse to listen to their patients make me cringe. In my opinion, this guy should not be practicing medicine. Because his treatment of Sandy goes beyond missing the tumor that had broken her left femur.

He also has no idea how to give a patient bad news. This is a hot button of mine, as regular readers of this blog well know, and it's something that is finally coming into the oncology mainstream, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Tony Back and others.

So, a counter-example, from Dr. Sangtae Park, as reported by Sandy Garvin.

How NOT to Give Bad News
When I was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma on October 30, 2006, Dr. Park scheduled the surgery to remove my right kidney and mass for November 6.

When I went back to have him examine the incisions, 10 days later, and asked him what the heck was that, he told me that he got it all, it was encapsulated, and not to worry for five years. "At five years, have a party, because between five and eight years, the tumors would come back with a vengeance, 15 to 20 of them." My body will not be able to handle it. I will die.

You might be wondering, WHERE did this guy go to medical school? Didn't they teach him anything?

Well, I checked, and Dr. Park went to the medical school at the University of California at San Francisco, which happens to be where Younger Son's father has his research lab. Younger Son is there right now, working in the lab for the summer.

Small world and all of that ...