Scared Patient wrote on February 15, 2009 08:47 PM: First and foremost, my condolences and heart go out to Elisa's family and her young daughter. To Elisa's mother: I am a mother of 2 young daughters and I am heartbroken for your loss.

My greatest concern is that I am a patient of Dr. Lampinen and I have now immediately decided to seek alternate care. I had no idea about this case until I came across the article by accident last night.

As a young woman who has experienced her share of dismissive treatment by hospital and doctors over the years, I have learned that I must be my own advocate for myself and my children. NO ONE is going to do it if I do not. If I do not feel that I've received sufficient treatement, I voice that opinion! I've learned this the hard way!

I am fearful of the future and what may happen to my or a family member should we become very ill. Who can we trust to care for us any longer? I always thought that I could trust Dr. L and I went to him on referral. Now I am saddened, frightened and angry.

Again, condolences to the family.

Bri wrote on February 02, 2009 09:55 AM: I didn't look at this for a couple days, I guess I missed out.

UMC RN- You are the definition of a pompous idiot! It is each and every Americans duty to be on a jury if called. Only selfish people would shrug that responsibility. As far as the question of their status as American citizens, that had never crossed my mind. Their status as human beings is all that matters regardless. All nine of us are good people and you can only hope that if you are ever in this situation you will have a jury like us.

To Elisa's mom- I can not tell you how sorry for your loss I am. As a mother myself I cannot even begin to imagine the pain that you suffered watching your daughter struggle. I know you will take care of your Grand Daughter and teach her to ignore idiots like UMC RN.

To everyone else- I sincerely hope that if you are ever selected as a jurror that you will listen to the facts only and ignore the possible reactions you will get from people who only get a 3 paragraph view of what it took you weeks to decide. It is a shame that people like UMC RN are out roaming the world freely.

silly doctor wrote on February 01, 2009 11:29 PM: I must assume that there were in fact unbiased doctors brought to the stand to testify that the Dr. in this case did not do everything properly. I mean surely they do not just let the jury deliberate without hearing testimony from other very reputable (I must assume) Dr.'s who are in fact very well versed medical personnel.

Dr.'s are such premadonna's what a ridiculous suggestion. Imagine actually succeeding in getting an entire panel of Dr.'s to sit in on a trial and then on top of that having to prove that they are not biased. Not the way it works.

And to UMC RN I hope the mother of this woman finds out who you are. Sounds like something very fishy going on over there. How dare you make such false accusations. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and should go crawl back into the hole you came out of.

To the mother I am very sorry for your loss.

mom wrote on February 01, 2009 07:17 PM: I am Elisa's mother and I am angry at the misinformation that has surfaced through this comment page about her and her family being in the country illegally. I don't know where this information came from; however,if it came from the UMC hospital or hospital staff, then UMC has a definite issue with breaching HIPPA regulations. My daughter was born in the United States and was a citizen. So to you UMC RN, you need to review your facilities' policies regarding patient confidentiality and HIPPA regulations and think before you speak out about other patients inappropriately. As for those of you who have made comments regarding the case and the verdict without being in the courtroom, I can only pray that you never are in the situation to have to watch your child suffer the severe pain and agony that accompanies the type of cancer my daughter had. I will not however, dishonor my daughter's memory by responding to any of the comments as everyone is entitled to their own opinions. My family and I did and will always appreciate each of the jurors who gave of their time to deliberate the information which was provided during the trial.

Tazzysoze wrote on February 01, 2009 06:54 PM: My entire point to all these postings was that it is extremely difficult for non-medical personnel to determine if a medical error has occurred. Ideally, 12 unbiased physicians would be gathered to judge their peers. Physicians, and only physicians, truly know what the standard of care is, and how best to judge if colleagues have failed to meet that standard. I am not a physician, but I see how difficult it is for non-physicians to relate to and judge them.

I am not passing judgment on the jurors in this trial, but it is unfair to expect them to understand the complexities of diagnosing and treating cancer. Even the best doctors struggle with this, as evidenced by the trial. How can a civilian understand when a doctor should suspect malignancy?

silly doctor wrote on February 01, 2009 12:23 PM: Help me understand one thing. Dr.'s in Nevada have been free of even having to worry about being negligent because juries just do not award these people anything. As soon as one case gets through everyone "gets their panties in a bunch." Tazzy sounds like a Dr. trying to straighten things up. Good luck buddy.

I do not know anything about this case but I must assume that the jury heard all the evidence and made a proper verdict. I do not believe that the verdict was over the top. I mean you hear about juries awarding obscene amounts of money. You hear about it in the news and wonder how they came to that number.

Just from living in this state, after living elsewhere, I feel proper medical care is truly lacking. Explain to me how it is that a person has a 1:00 Dr.'s appointment and does not see the Dr. until 3:00. Why do Dr.'s feel that their time is more valuable than others?? Well this is what happens when you overbook and do not get to give the necessary time and attention to each and every patient. I think it comes down to Dr.'s being greedy.

I say good for the family of this woman and hopefully this Dr., after this will manage his practice differently. I wonder after it is all said and done, if he would have done something differently.

luckyseven wrote on January 31, 2009 08:04 PM: I didn't say by them being illegal aliens that it affected the level or type of care they would receive by you. My question was this, do you believe you should not be subject to litigation or be held accountable at all if you were to cause harm or injury to that person either by something you did, or failed to do as part of your job. If you believe you should NOT be held accountable then isn't it unethical for you to be treating them? That's all I'm saying. If you tried sitting on a jury sometime you would know there are only certain things you're allowed to base your decision on. Personal beliefs about whether or not someone belongs in this country not being one of them. Please explain to me how you can believe the legal system was "abused" in this case. None of the jurors tried to get out of this with the exception of a no show on the first day of testimony. That juror was replaced voluntarily by a previously excused juror at the request of the judge. That definition was written and quoted by someone who has no respect for the judicial system. May they never have the need to plead a case to a jury of their peers. Just like voting, if your not willing to do it then don't complain about the outcome.

UMC RN wrote on January 31, 2009 06:45 PM: Wow, for someone who started to cry about others assuming things, you seem to be full of them! Yes the family was in the US illegally (this came out when knowledge of the lawsuit circulated around the hospital). I’m sure it didn’t come up at trial because something like might have caused a thinking person to pause for a moment and go “Hmmmmm.” That is simply something the petitioning lawyer would never allow. However that presumes there would be a thinking person on the jury… something that obviously proved not to be correct.

Yes, I provide medical treatment for illegal aliens all the time at the hospital, and no, a person’s legal status does not affect the level or type of care they receive. However this was never the issue (no matter how much you would like to twist it into that). The issue is how can someone with no legal basis in this country use and abuse the legal system? We have seen the answer is “with the help of Bri and luckyseven.”

Definition of a jury: a group of people too stupid to get out of it.

luckyseven wrote on January 31, 2009 01:23 PM: UMC RN If that is even true it was never brought up at trial. If you are an RN let me ask you this. Do you ever have to provide medical treatment for illegal aliens? By your reasoning if you cause injury by doing something or failing to do something to one of them I guess you're not responsible for any wrong doing. I suppose because they are "illegal" they are fair game to do with what you want. Is that it? If you really are an RN, you shouldn't be.

UMC RN wrote on January 30, 2009 10:30 PM: My favorite part of this whole thing: the family is in the US illegally. I guess I just don’t understand how illegal aliens can sue American doctors in a US court. Maybe Bri and luckyseven can explain how an illegal alien was going to legitimately earn two million dollars here.

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