Surgeons operate in a tough environment

I was immensely pleased with the results. Not only did my reflux go away, but I also suffered zero pain and lost 20 pounds.
I’ve recommended Dr. Ash and the surgery to anyone suffering reflux.

Would I have undertaken that surgery had the lawsuit filed recently against Dr. Ash been filed in early 2006? Probably not.

Intellectually, we know that not all outcomes of even routine surgery are successful, but when it is not, we quickly lose faith in the doctor. Close to three percent of appendectomies have complications. Sometimes people die. Every time you are administered anesthesia for surgery, you sign a form admitting that you understand you can die. I had a bone graft for a dental procedure a year ago, an outpatient event, but I signed a form acknowledging the possibility of, among other things, death.

In reality, though, we expect the best possible outcome from surgery every time. Anything less, we think, constitutes incompetence.

We trust doctors with our health, our lives, and when outcomes are bad, they are sometimes very bad.

I make no judgment on the merit of the suit by four people against Dr. Ash, but something is decidedly unfair for physicians that their reputations can be ruined by a bad outcome, whether it’s from a mistake or just the statistical average, no matter what their overall track record is.

All I can say is my personal experience — the Nissen fundoplication and a colonoscopy — with Dr. Ash is very good, from the manner in which he operated his office (in and out quickly and answers to all questions) to the procedures themselves. Likewise, I have boasted and will continue to boast to anyone foolish enough to inquire about my experience in BJC Hospital (attentive and competent personnel and great drugs for pain).

It doesn’t matter how many success stories there are. A doctor’s reputation, particularly in a small town, is damaged with a single mistake, a single allegation of a mistake or even a rumor of a mistake. It doesn’t help that when a lawsuit is filed, often the insurance company will settle the case, even it the evidence says the physician did not err, instead of fighting, because settlement is cheaper than defending the case.

It’s a tough climate in which to make a living. Every time a surgeon operates, he or she is subject to a lawsuit if the outcome is not good. Statistically, for every procedure, there is a percentage rate for failure. Sometimes doctors make damaging or fatal mistakes, and on those occasions it is appropriate that damages be awarded, but even when the doctor and hospital do everything right, things can still go wrong.

In a recent discussion of the suit against Dr. Ash, I mentioned that he’d successfully repaired my hiatal hernia.

“You were one of the lucky ones,” she said.

Possibly, but an overwhelming majority of Dr. Ash’s patients were similarly “lucky.” Sadly, it’s the others the public will remember.

Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce News