ABANA wrote on March 17, 2008 10:10 AM: I AM TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A PLATFORM FOR DOCTORS NOT INVOLVED IN THIS CLASS ACTION SUIT TO SHARE THERE INVOLOVEMENT IN SAFETY PRACTICES HERE IN LAS VEGAS.THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO TELL THERE STORY ON HOW THEY INTEND TO KEEP THEIR OATH OF FIRST DO NO HARM.AND I BELIEVE IT WOULD START A HEALING AND RESTORATION PROCESS SINCE AT THE MOMENT WE THE PATIENTS DO NOT TRUST OUR DOCTORS.I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT CHANGE.I AM A VICTIM OF THE HEP SCARE IN LAS VEGAS I PICK UP MY TEST RESULTS TODAY PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH INFORMATION TO HELP ME PUT THIS TOGETHER I NEED DOCTORS WILLING TO SPEAK.MY EMAIL IS abana@freezina.com

Thank you!!! wrote on March 15, 2008 08:30 AM: Thank you Dr. Poon. You all that signed the letter to the community shows that you truly care about people. Looks like you all took the Oath, and stand by it. I have lived in LV for about 25 yrs, and these Dr's, on this letter are fantastic. I too have worked in the field for 20yrs. Again, thank you for taking the time and showing that you DO CARE!!!! And the best sentence "we are patients also".

Rick wrote on March 14, 2008 08:03 PM: If doctors want to increase their image, why don't they try treating people like humans?

Things like answering the phone without being put on hold and keeping appointments will do far more to increase reputations.

I can't think of anything that sounds more guilty than somebody who hasn't been implicated going out of their way to say they're innocent.

RJ is Major Threat to Public Health wrote on March 14, 2008 03:20 PM: To me, the wingnuts at the Review Jounral represent one of the biggest threats to the quality of healthcare in Las Vegas.

The RJ's decision to "punish" healthcare workers with their full-page spread on the doctor accused of wrongdoing will have a very negative effect on discovering any other poor practices among healthcare providers in the area.

The RJ ruined that physician's life and career in one day, for no good reason. If the State had determined that his patients were at risk, they would have recommended testing. Yesterday's self-serving editorial by the RJ was a lame attempt to cover their own behind after the fact. By demanding that the State test his patients, they had hoped to justify their libelous smear campaign. It didn't work. There are no infections associated with his practice, despite the accusations by inspectors and the RJ that he didn't follow aseptic protocol.

The result of the RJ's article is that now, only a healthcare worker with a severe head injury or an IQ of 40 would discuss their practices with inspectors. No doubt, inspectors will now hear only that everything is done by the book, whether it is or not.

Epidemiologists learned years ago that "punishing" bad behavior isn't the way to deal with suboptimal clinical practices. Punishing bad behavior, particularly in a malicious and public way, decreases the reporting of bad behavior but not bad behavior itself. The RJ is long on sensationalism and short on common sense.

The RJ has significantly compromised the integrity of the investigation into poor clinical practices in Nevada State. In the process, they have put everyone's health at risk. Nice work guys!

Mara wrote on March 14, 2008 03:19 PM: I don't feel bad for any doctor in this community. They work hard and get paid better than most Americans. Additionally, I certainly would not lump every physician in the same barrel with the rotten few that have devastated the lives of so many people. However, I will say that if the Medical Board had done their job and actually gone after and revoked the licenses of the bad doctors a lot of this could have been avoided. Dr. Desai the evil mastermind behind the Endoscopy scandal was already on the Board's list of discplined doctors, but his license was not revoked. WHY??? If the Board had taken his license when it should have, the lives of 40,000 people could have been spared this devastation. Shame on the Medical Board....Stop protecting the scum of your profession and everyone will be better off!!!

Debbie Q wrote on March 14, 2008 03:11 PM: This is the most horrific health scandal known to any person. Worse than this, is the idea that some people had a procedure done for "preventive health screening" and in return they may now have a serious disease. And, how does anyone know that this is all they may be susceptible to? What about other symptoms, illnesses, ie: staph infections, flesh eating diseases, STD's, etc. Why didn't ANY employee of the facilities blow the whistle??Didn't any of them also take an "oath" for patient care? And what about "remaining anonymous"? We can do it for criminal information on suspects and yet it seems that no one thought to report & remain anonymous? Is that not allowed in the medical profession? I mention the flesh eating disease as my husband had a procedure done in June 2006 @ Shadow Ln & by Nov 2006 he is laid up inthe hospital with this "yellowish mucous" gushing from his leg (front shin area). I wondered how in the world he would get some "bacteria that eats from the inside out" and in the hospital for Thanksgiving weekend and they stated he is lucky as they would have to amputate if this had gone to the bone.Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think so anymore. How could they--anyone one of them--and how did they sleep at night. I hope they all are sleeping real good NOW...we aren't anymore.

Kel wrote on March 14, 2008 03:03 PM: It's good to see these people reaching out to the community and I applaud them for it. As usual the vast majority is hurt by the small minority but I think this community can recover from this because of these kinds of doctors that still choose to practice in this community. Good luck all and thanks.

As far as the doctor/lawyer conflict goes: Neither will go through their lives without the need of the services of the other. More than likely, the rest of us won't either.

aaron wrote on March 14, 2008 02:16 PM: A nice sentiment, but real progress will be made when the silent majority of good doctors demand that the bad seeds be removed from the profession.
By allowing bad doctors to be shielded from public scrutiny or escape the consequences of their mistakes, you hurt yourselves and your profession. (and your malpractice rates)

Tjuarez wrote on March 14, 2008 01:47 PM: I have worked for 18 years in either a front desk or scheduling capacity. The patients are very lax when going to the doctor, most of the time they don't know who their doctor is or why they are ordering studies, labs etc. They ask the front desk or schedulers to explain issues they should have discussed with their providers.They don't bring their insurance cards or referrals they want someone else to do it.
This is a hell of a wake up call for Las Vegas public but they needed it.
It's sad that a crisis of this magnitude would finally have the public take more responsibility for their own health. I'll bet they direct the appropriate questions to their doctor's now.

RN wrote on March 14, 2008 11:17 AM: Having worked in Vegas medical for many years, I know there are good docs out there, but the scary thing is the number that go WAY beyond these affronts mentioned, The low standards for doctors that allowed one to be charged with murder. He is only at fault because ANY doctor can start calling himself a "pain specialist" without ANY specialized training.
There are offices where "good doctors" (the ones you wouldn't question) with NO ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE, perscribe large numbers of meds, often knowing patients resell. Some think they are "cutting edge" others just do it because no one pays attention, the end product is the same. Doctors, unlike nurses are protected by image and a powerful support organizaion,

As for lawyers protecting you. That was meant to be commical I trust. And "lawyers prevent you from killing each other" not if they can CHARGE to do your case. Please, you either aren't one, or you haven't gotten out of school yet to see the real world. Let's discuss lawyers (not the subject of this post) AFTER we see what, if anything, happens to these doctors, not the first one on the trumped up murder case, but the REAL dangerous ones in the scam and the clinic scandals, that should be interesting.

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