ULPT Request: How to get justice for a doctors lie

Posted by samhull061200@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 40 comments

So my dad who is a physician had a massive heart attack and when rushed to the hospital he said “I’m having a aortic dissection” due to it being a known genetic issue as his brother had one as well. The doctor shrugged him off and my mom kept trying to get help saying it was an emergency but the doctor kept saying it wasn’t anything serious but booked a scan. Four hours later he went into critical condition and got airlifted to a bigger place in DC for emergency surgery. The surgeon said if he came in 5 minutes later he would have been dead. When they asked for the scan from the original doctor he didn’t send it fully and took a while to send all of it. My dad is home now and recovering and in the report the original doctor said that he diagnosed the aortic dissection right away and sent him to get airlifted. I asked my father if it’s worth reporting him and he said it’s his word against his and won’t go anywhere. My mom is obviously livid but has too good of ethics to do anything but write a letter to the hospital. I on the other hand am willing to try to get some type of justice (or revenge) even if it is immoral. Is there anything I can do to try to hold this doctor accountable/heavily inconvenience him?

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realdappermuis@reddit

You personally could see if you can do some anonymous g00gle reviews and such. Look up the Dr and the hospital and get some fake accounts and vpns going (on maps, dr review sites, fb, wherever they're listed). Doing it all at once will overwhelm them no doubt, though they'll probably track that back to you. Long game of commenting something negative every so often will probably do more harm to you than them

Other than the reviews, your dad is right - nothing will likely come of it..because he no doubt knows what he's dealing with. For his sake and his recovery it's best you let it go or do the reviews once then move on. I'm really happy for you that your dad is ok

People who are saying lawyer up don't seem to realize that this is a normal occurrence

Doctors hate being told what to do, they hate being told they're wrong, and they absolutely hate if they get told what condition they should look for. It's an ego problem

If you can imagine the amount of people who go through similar and then die - without knowing a Dr messed up. Half the time the Dr will know they messed up and the other times they won't even

I've seen it happen, saw a man die from a heart attack because the Drs wouldn't take him seriously (saw it happen at the ER)

Had experiences myself of being treated for conditions I don't have - multiple times, because that's what Dr 'thought I had' and then insisted I continue seeing them and continuing the treatment after tests proved I didn't have that /had something else (I think this is a mixture of hubris and client retention)

Then there's also a large majority of people when upon checking their medical notes after the fact find out they were never treated for their conditions, told about their conditions, treated for the wrong condition or what they reported 3hat was wrong physically was notes as a mental health problem or overreaction etc etc

I think the reason alot of Drs are so apathetic is because they have to not care to accept that they constantly make mistakes (in addition to deliberate defiance because of hubris), and people die because of it every day

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PandaGerber@reddit

"Doctors hate being told what to do, they hate being told they're wrong, and they absolutely hate if they get told what condition they should look for. It's an ego problem"

... It's not an ego problem. Doctors are trained professionals, and patients are not. There are experts for a reason. Doctors literally spend half their lives going through rigorous training to benefit their patients. If you proclaim your lack of trust in your doctors competence, you harm the doctor-patient relationship. It's akin to showing up the airport and telling the pilot you should fly the plane because you know better than them.

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fook75@reddit

It was a doctor telling another doctor he had a dissecting aneurysm. Not a rando

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PandaGerber@reddit

I never said it was a random person

Altruistic_Mirror_96@reddit

Tell your mom to arrange a meeting with the ethics board. Bring a lawyer and the report.

Skeggy-@reddit

Report malpractice to the licensing board

KaiserKid85@reddit

If another dr reports another dr to the board, the first one will be black balled even if it's valid....depending on the board makeup. It may involve committing career suicide is what I was told by a lawyer.

Pleasant-Regular6169@reddit

The thin white line. America is filled with gangs.

leatherlord42069@reddit

It sounds like your dad got the imaging he needed and got to the right place. No law suit would go anywhere. This sounds more like youre just mad that the doctor didnt initially think the rare thing was happening but did all the right stuff

nittanygold@reddit

I love how you're getting downvoted for being right

Because people who aren't in Healthcare don't understand how his care was more than likely appropriate 🤦‍♀️

Salty-Ambition9733@reddit

the doctor kept saying it wasn’t anything serious but booked a scan

It sounds like he did exactly what he was supposed to do. The initial tests (EKG, labs) were normal. Then he ordered additional tests (probably a CT) that showed an aortic dissection.

What more would you have wanted???

The doctor evaluated your dad appropriately. And he was treated appropriately and lived. No one is going to admonish the doctor for following algorithms appropriately.

Everyone down voting have no idea how the ED functions or how work-ups are performed. People, it's a series of tests, each of which take TIME, and may not give immediate clarity on a diagnosis.

In many places, a radiologist has four hours to post the report after a diagnostic scan has been completed. The case may be that, in fact, the treating physician did arrange treatment as soon as the official report was released. This is not to invalidate your or your father's experience, but your interpretation of the timeline may be missing very important variables. Don't act rashly until you have all the information.

AKA_June_Monroe@reddit

Nobody took out their phone to record?

DaddysPrincesss26@reddit

This is how my Aunt Died last Year, No Joke. She died on the Plane 🥺😔 So Grateful your Dad Made it 🙏

That-Efficiency-644@reddit

Oh my God I'm so sorry

Thank you, It’s been a tough year.

💛

Adventurous_Ad8526@reddit

Well, be thankful your father survived. You would be locked up had the surgeon got there six minutes rather than five.

farkner@reddit

Healthgrades and rate_my_doc.com. But if this guy is an ER doc, it won't matter much what you say on these sites. But the HCA (administrator) at the ER's Hospital should be aware of the untruth for future reference.

lebookfairy@reddit

Report him, report him, report him. No need to do anything unethical. Enough reports pile up against the negligent Dr. and something will happen.

DipreG@reddit

Lawyer up is the right course of action

BoneDoc624@reddit

Reasonable to discuss the case with a lawyer. But this whole thread is absurd. Any good lawyer will tell this family there is nothing to pursue. What are they going to sue for, delay in dx? He was getting the aneurysm repaired sooner rather than later. It was a time bomb. He had the surgery. Life was saved. He’s home recovering. What exactly were the damages?

The story told here certainly raises questions about the ability of the ER doc. And he should be reported to the hospital so they can assess further. And to the state medical board. But there is no lawsuit to win here.

Negligence in care is a real thing. If they have to airlift him somewhere else to receive care that could have reasonably been provided at the initial care facility because the attending physician ignored critical information provided by the patient himself, that is gross negligence bordering on malpractice. My idea to tell OP to lawyer up comes from a research paper from a law student I helped develop a couple years ago (note: I am a lawyer, though not US based, although our civil framework for medical malpractice proceedings are very similar. Research shows these cases do not progress in 9/10 cases, but the cases that do prosper are usually similar to this one, where it was not a differential diagnosis issue (sp?), but rather ignoring specific, readily available and easy to confirm information provided by the patient himself.

However, I am not an expert on the matter as I am not US based, but I believe there is a rrasonable enough assumption of negligence to at least comsult a lawyer instead of dismissing the concerns of the patient and his fanily outright, if only because this may be a problematic (if not outright dangerous) individual.

Apologies for any grammatical and/or contextual errors as english is not my first language.

PardonMyNerdity@reddit

My mom died from an aortic dissection. Report.

Dangerous-Gift-755@reddit

If your dad is a physician, ask him. They spend a lot of time training about liability. But drs. make mistakes all the time.

HarryCoveer@reddit

A successful malpractice claim requires bad outcome, I.e., your father's death or severe debility based upon delayed treatment at the hands of the original physician. Since, thankfully, neither of those outcomes occurred, your father (not you, by the way) has a specious claim that malpractice occurred. An ethics complaint against that doc with the treating hospital or state board will be recorded, and it will act as a cumulative cudgel should that type of neglectful behavior be repetitive.

sungpark1965@reddit

Request the full electronic medical records with timestamps to build a clear timeline of events. Then file a detailed complaint with the state medical board using that documentation.

MermaidSapphire@reddit

Lawsuit. Also, piss disk him,

EusticeTheSheep@reddit

Not unethical but the truth and something you will likely need to do. https://ilanajacqueline.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Secret-Medical-Records.pdf

Silent-Usual-556@reddit

I wish you all the best! Here in the state of Wisconsin. Doctors are licensed to "Practice Medicine" and they get away with so much. I was misdiagnosed for over 15yrs. I was told I had an MS lesion on my spinal cord. They would only tell me it moved a little. Finally my health deteriorated till I could no longer work. Could barely breath. Neurologist kept sending the referral for treatment back to my family doctor stating we dont treat that here. I was thinking what do they mean they dont treat that here. I finally went to Milwaukee to a larger hospital and found out I had an 8inch Schwanoma tumor growing on my spinal cord and there was barely any room for spinal fluid to move around. Had emergency surgery that left me paralyzed from the waist down for over 1yr. Still have balance problems. Swear I had a stroke or something because my memory is basically gone. Even short term is bad. Can't file a law suit against anyone...because no attorney will take the case.

xilex@reddit

Complaint to the medical board. Then you find the time the first radiology report was read and reported to the doctor (critical results always get notified), and when airlift was called and when they arrived, and see if times make sense.

stabbingrabbit@reddit

Request all records including video of when he came in, and look at the time stamps. Unless the whole hospital admin is in on it to alter records. May need a lawyer.

Jaaaxdraaaabaaaa@reddit

Get all your fathers medical records from both hospitals. Create a record of your father's and your account. Discrepancies will favour the truth tellers. File a complaint with the first doctors college. Otherwise contact s lawyer for malpractice advice.

Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

~~Otherwise~~ [ALSO] contact s lawyer for malpractice advice.

And yeah, all together it's bang on.