US lawsuit by Stenum ADR patient.

trkdoc714 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-05-2009, 12:27 AM

It's pretty hard to take sides when only one side has been presented (through an attorney).

There's an old Scot saying: "tis bad enough if it were true than to wish it so".

Judgement should be left to judges and juries only after evidence has been presented don't you think?

I hope this reply doesn't reflect a bias toward Stenum.

dshobbies · #2 (**permalink**) 09-05-2009, 12:38 AM

Thank you Bob, you presented a reasonable argument and I agree with you. I do wonder however, if other than their US representatives, Germany or any other country would be subject to our laws? I think a malpractice lawsuit in this country is hard enough but can a Stenum or any other doctor/hospital practicing internationally be held to our standards.

One of the elements of this suit is surgery not legal in the US. What does that have to do with Germany?

Needless to say, I know little about US law and nothing internationally!

mmglobal · #3 (**permalink**) 09-05-2009, 02:02 AM

I agree, people should not make jugements based on info posted on websites. I would hope that readers would discern that a press release from the plaintiff's lawfirm is not a place to get both sides of the story.

I post information as it becomes available to me. Look in articles for recent bad press about Synthes.

Mark

fuzzy · #4 (**permalink**) 09-05-2009, 04:04 AM

The only thing I do know about this has to do with marketing a service in the US which is legal in the country it is practiced in, but not in the US. There is nothing illegal about a spinal surgery in the US of A. In this case only devices non approved in the US and that is only partially true as well. When one undergoes a surgery one is made well aware of the risks in Germany, just like here. This suit as no merit and will be totally unenforceable in Germany. It is a waste of money and time. So typical of this country and a reason why healthcare is so expensive (sorry to break this news). If the attorneys are working on a retainer they are wasting this patients money.

Edit,

I am guessing here but if the patient could prove in Germany that the surgery was totally un called for (not medically nessesary) maybe then there would be a case in Germany. I am sure there was a good enough reason for doing the surgery otherwise Stenum would not do it. Especially not after the disaster at the Alpha Klinik.

trkdoc714 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-05-2009, 10:39 AM

I must have misunderstood your post Mark. In your commentary you stated "While I believe this case has merit". I took it as you having some sort of evidence that Stenum was guilty.

From my experience at Stenum, they cautioned me about the risks and their action plan if something did go wrong. I wasn't pressured to go forward until they were comfortable that I understood the risks and accepted them.

It lends me to consider the plaintiff as the next level "Whiplash Willie".

Maria · #6 (**permalink**) 09-06-2009, 05:42 PM

The complaint further states that the defendants were grossly negligent in initiating these high-risk procedure on the plaintiff due to her advanced osteoperodic condition, which according to US and German standards precluded her from being a candidate for such a surgery.

The piece states quite a bit however re merit in terms of should or should not have performed surgery at all ~ if the patient actually had advanced osteoporosis re values accepted both here and abroad and it was known.. why was surgery done at all if risks were explained pre op.. was that overlooked?

I'm not saying this case has merit.. but that one point if actually true seems like a reason at least not to do surgery even if there's no actual case.

BTW, I think a case can have a degree of merit even if it's not going anywhere~ of course that depends on the actual facts/findings.

zfontana · #7 (**permalink**) 05-14-2012, 04:12 AM

[quote=fuzzy;10986]The only thing I do know about this has to do with marketing a service in the US which is legal in the country it is practiced in, but not in the US. There is nothing illegal about a spinal surgery in the US of A. In this case only devices non approved in the US and that is only partially true as well. When one undergoes a surgery one is made well aware of the risks in Germany, just like here. This suit as no merit and will be totally unenforceable in Germany. It is a waste of money and time. So typical of this country and a reason why healthcare is so expensive (sorry to break this news). If the attorneys are working on a retainer they are wasting this patients money.

I am guessing here but if the patient could prove in Germany that the surgery was totally un called for (not medically nessesary) maybe then there would be a case in Germany. I am sure there was a good enough reason for doing the surgery otherwise Stenum would not do it. Especially not after the disaster at the Alpha Klinik.[/QUOTE

Maria · #8 (**permalink**) 05-14-2012, 02:00 PM

To use profanity here. Everyone else made their point w/o doing so keeping things civil while stating their opinions.

Spine Advocate · #9 (**permalink**) 05-18-2012, 05:17 AM

Stenum advertizes to Americans and there is a website called Stenum Nightmare by another patient who got bad treatment there. He was supposed to get the M6 but he got a Depuy disk that messed him up.

Let's face it, even in Germany it's about the money.

It sounds like the suit has merit and that there was gross misconduct.

What happens is the device companies kickback money to doctors. Medtronic was fined several times for doing it and in the case of Infuse bone morphogenic protein clinical trials over 100 doctors lied to FDA investigators after being bribed by Medtronics. This resulted in death and injury and huge profits for Medtronics.

Medtronics also marketed stents for heart use that were only approved for bile duct. Quite a few patients were injured and killed.

If a surgery practice uses Medtronic products then you can bet that they are unethical.

Let's not fool ourselves, doctors are greedy and Bertignalli is probably no exception.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Edit by mmglobal <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I have removed a reference to a site called medical holocost. While I do not mind people coming here and posting negative information about spine, I do mind the hyperbole that equates failures of our medical system with genocide and is loaded with pictures hanging corpses and mass graves filled with emaciate bodies. I don't believe that this 'over the top' kind of expression helps to foster the type of dialog that people come here for. Again, I don't mind the negative stories. This is not about focus of the medical holocost website... it is about offensive material that is completely unrelated to the subject at hand. If that website gets cleaned up... leaving the major content and deleting the offensive material... I'll not object to seeing it linked here. (Not endlessly, but when it's appropriate in context.)
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