OB/GYN Question

I had asked for a gynecologist recommendation on the boards and have been seeing the woman I was referred to by several brides. I really like her. But, in researching her, I've found out that she was the defendant in a medical malpractice claim that resulted in the biggest med mal jury verdict in Long Island's history (in excess of $100 million - luckily for her, plaintiff agreed to take the maximum amount of her malpractice insurance which was only $6 million).

The medical malpractice action was for an obstetrics case. A baby was born with severe disabilities, will never walk or live on its own, can barely talk, etc. This doctor no longer practices obstetrics at all, just gynecology, and I assume this lawsuit is the reason.


My question is....would you feel weird about seeing a gyno in this situation? She is very warm and personable, etc.

ETA: Just to add - it was not a frivolous lawsuit. A woman came to her during her final trimester and said that the baby had stopped moving. She did two tests, one came back OK and the other came back abnormal, but she said she wasn't worried and sent the woman home. A week later, the woman was freaking out b/c the baby still had not moved, so she went to the hospital and had an emergency c-section and it turned out that the baby had been in distress that entire time.

ETA2: In one of the articles about this online, I read that she was brand new to private practice (7 months after her residency ended) at the time this occurred.

no i would not feel weird.

i think people forget that the doctor didn't cause your child to be disabled. i think people just want to put the blame somewhere or get compensation for what changed their lives. some parents even think the doctor really did do something wrong. IMHO i guess thats why ob/gyns have such high insurance policies

but since she is not an ob/gyn i am guessing you arent planning on having a baby soon and it is safe to say she will be a great doctor for doing just her normal jobs of check ups etc. and it had nothing to do with her case

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Posted by Kerin2804

That is a tough question. WWho knows what really caused the problems.....settlements are sometimes just that. I work in the insurance industry. However, I personally would go to a different Dr. only because I plan on having children and would not want to switch Drs once I became prego.

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It wasn't a settlement - it was a jury verdict but they had entered into a high/low agreement after summations but before the verdict.

I have to FM you- I think its my gyno- i heard that she stopped practicing obsetrics

not sure how I would feel about it though, I know that there are more malpractice lawsuits for obstectrics than any other practice- there are more things that can go wrong and it may be completely unrelated to how good of a gyn she is

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Posted by lillprincess54

i would probably find a new one for only 1 reason, let say you like her and everything is all well, and in a few years you and dh decide to try for a baby now you have to find a new doctor and start the relationship all over again, i hate changing dr especially my gyn, so i want one that can do everything, someone that kinda knows me

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I totally agree. You might as well find one that practices obstetrics so you can be preggers and deliver with someon you know very well.

i think you have to do what makes yuo feel most comfortable.

My gyno is not practicing obstertics anymore either....the place I go to is called 'A Woman's Way' in E. Islip (is that the place you are thinking of going to?)

I love it there but I will change prob within the next year or two since I want a doctor who delivers. So also think about that. You might not want to get comfortable with her and then have to change 4 yrs downt he line to find someone else to establish a repoir with.

but...i do want to say although the doctor sent the woman home and the baby was in distress it doesnt mean it was her fault either. yes the parents might have and said hey if you took the baby out sooner it would have been fine. but also there are so many other factors to take into consideration- such as how far along she was in her last trimester- if she was only at 24 weeks or a little bit more the doctor prob felt the baby needed more time to grow etc in the womb because of such things as lung defects etc. plus the child could have been developing incorrectly since the start and the distress she was in from the time the woman told the doctor to the time the baby was born may have not made a difference -so i wouldnt be too hung up about the lawsuit but thats just my opinion

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Posted by lillprincess54

i would probably find a new one for only 1 reason, let say you like her and everything is all well, and in a few years you and dh decide to try for a baby now you have to find a new doctor and start the relationship all over again, i hate changing dr especially my gyn, so i want one that can do everything, someone that kinda knows me

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Yeah this is pretty much exactly where I'm at thinking this over in my mind. A baby is not happening anytime soon, but 4 or 5 years from now it's going to happen. The other doctors in her practice do practice obstetrics so I suppose I could go to one of them.

And, I do really like her. This is the first gyn I've ever liked actually. I had a really terrible experience where I was having yeast infection like pain but yeast infection meds were not working. My gyn at the time told me that the only infection that can cause pain is yeast, and since I didn't have any, I must have vulvodynia. I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with this, but it's basically vulvar pain with no known cause, and some woman suffer for decades with this and end up having surgery to remove parts of their vulva because no one knows why they are in pain. I then switched over to this new female gyn, and she thought that was insane because there ARE other infections that can cause pain - like bacterial vaginosis, which is like a yeast infection but it is caused by bacteria not fungus. Sure enough, that's what I had. If I had stuck with the other guy, I would've been writhing in pain with bacteria that could possibly have ended up causing PID.

UGHHHHHHHH doctors.

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Posted by cbcf

i think you have to do what makes yuo feel most comfortable.

My gyno is not practicing obstertics anymore either....the place I go to is called 'A Woman's Way' in E. Islip (is that the place you are thinking of going to?)

I love it there but I will change prob within the next year or two since I want a doctor who delivers. So also think about that. You might not want to get comfortable with her and then have to change 4 yrs downt he line to find someone else to establish a repoir with.

but...i do want to say although the doctor sent the woman home and the baby was in distress it doesnt mean it was her fault either. yes the parents might have and said hey if you took the baby out sooner it would have been fine. but also there are so many other factors to take into consideration- such as how far along she was in her last trimester- if she was only at 24 weeks or a little bit more the doctor prob felt the baby needed more time to grow etc in the womb because of such things as lung defects etc. plus the child could have been developing incorrectly since the start and the distress she was in from the time the woman told the doctor to the time the baby was born may have not made a difference -so i wouldnt be too hung up about the lawsuit but thats just my opinion

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Nope, that is not the place I go to (lol you can breathe a little sigh of relief now).

And as far as the other thing, this woman was 3 weeks away from being full term. I don't think there is much of a question as to whether or not she was negligent....she was. It just seems like it was probably a onetime thing by a very young, and inexperienced doctor.

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Posted by JB1122

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Posted by cbcf

i think you have to do what makes yuo feel most comfortable.

My gyno is not practicing obstertics anymore either....the place I go to is called 'A Woman's Way' in E. Islip (is that the place you are thinking of going to?)

I love it there but I will change prob within the next year or two since I want a doctor who delivers. So also think about that. You might not want to get comfortable with her and then have to change 4 yrs downt he line to find someone else to establish a repoir with.

but...i do want to say although the doctor sent the woman home and the baby was in distress it doesnt mean it was her fault either. yes the parents might have and said hey if you took the baby out sooner it would have been fine. but also there are so many other factors to take into consideration- such as how far along she was in her last trimester- if she was only at 24 weeks or a little bit more the doctor prob felt the baby needed more time to grow etc in the womb because of such things as lung defects etc. plus the child could have been developing incorrectly since the start and the distress she was in from the time the woman told the doctor to the time the baby was born may have not made a difference -so i wouldnt be too hung up about the lawsuit but thats just my opinion

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Nope, that is not the place I go to (lol you can breathe a little sigh of relief now).

And as far as the other thing, this woman was 3 weeks away from being full term. I don't think there is much of a question as to whether or not she was negligent....she was. It just seems like it was probably a onetime thing by a very young, and inexperienced doctor.

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haha yeah i love my doctor i actually she the PA not the actually Dr. But i am so pleased with her and now in about a year need to find a new one :(

but i got ya about the lawsuit....it does sound like a possibly inexprienced young doctor

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Posted by missexcited

I would feel weird but the reality is, if you look up all the doctors you got to they probably have all been involved in malpractice suits

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Yes, I totally understand that. I worked for my dad for a long time and saw many suits of doctors I know. I point this out because it was the biggest verdict in LI history - meaning some jury out there said WOW this was egregious and these damages are insane.

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Posted by cbcf

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Posted by JB1122

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Posted by cbcf

i think you have to do what makes yuo feel most comfortable.

My gyno is not practicing obstertics anymore either....the place I go to is called 'A Woman's Way' in E. Islip (is that the place you are thinking of going to?)

I love it there but I will change prob within the next year or two since I want a doctor who delivers. So also think about that. You might not want to get comfortable with her and then have to change 4 yrs downt he line to find someone else to establish a repoir with.

but...i do want to say although the doctor sent the woman home and the baby was in distress it doesnt mean it was her fault either. yes the parents might have and said hey if you took the baby out sooner it would have been fine. but also there are so many other factors to take into consideration- such as how far along she was in her last trimester- if she was only at 24 weeks or a little bit more the doctor prob felt the baby needed more time to grow etc in the womb because of such things as lung defects etc. plus the child could have been developing incorrectly since the start and the distress she was in from the time the woman told the doctor to the time the baby was born may have not made a difference -so i wouldnt be too hung up about the lawsuit but thats just my opinion

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Nope, that is not the place I go to (lol you can breathe a little sigh of relief now).

And as far as the other thing, this woman was 3 weeks away from being full term. I don't think there is much of a question as to whether or not she was negligent....she was. It just seems like it was probably a onetime thing by a very young, and inexperienced doctor.

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haha yeah i love my doctor i actually she the PA not the actually Dr. But i am so pleased with her and now in about a year need to find a new one :(

but i got ya about the lawsuit....it does sound like a possibly inexprienced young doctor

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Are there any other doctors in the practice that maybe you coudl switch to?

I have to agree that I would switch doctors. All dr.s have there issues or patients who maybe didnt like them but this is big...to me. My whole life all I have wanted is to get married and start a family. I want to be 100% confident that my gyn is giving me and my future children the best possible care. Not to mention all the girls I know who CANT conceive lately...is it just me or does everyone know at least 1 friend whose had trouble? I think by doubting at all it answers your question.
PS.
I have a fabulous ob/gyn that 5 of my other friends go to. He is a man but wonderful...used to practice with his wife. He s in Nassau so FM if you want a referral