southsider2k5 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...&type=printable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Man's HIV Diagnosis Reversed after 8 years SAN FRANCISCO (Aug 30) - A California man who once tested positive for HIV has learned the diagnosis made eight years ago was mistaken and he never had the virus that causes AIDS. Jim Malone spent years battling depression and losing weight, expecting to die at any time. He attended support group meetings and accepted free meals from an AIDS charity. Malone's main doctor, Richard Karp, acknowledged the error in an Aug. 4 letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic where Malone was treated. "As his primary care provider, I take full responsibility," the doctor wrote. Malone, who is gay and has lost friends to AIDS, said he is relieved but angry at his doctor. "He told me, 'We made a very big mistake. We did not do our job,'" he said. "I said, 'You mean to tell me that all you have to say is you are sorry? Sorry that I lived for all this time believing I was going to die?'" The Oakland Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating. The error may have occurred because Malone arrived at the clinic in 1996 with lab results from a testing firm showing he had HIV, said Karen Pridmore, spokeswoman for the VA's Northern California Health Care System. The clinic performed its own HIV test on Malone to confirm the first set of results and it came back negative, but that information was never shared with the patient, Pridmore said. The mistake was uncovered by the VA's computer system, which tracks HIV patients and conducts a periodic review of cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Damnit, Southsider beat me to it...mod please delete this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 30, 2004 Author Share Posted August 30, 2004 Damnit, Southsider beat me to it...mod please delete this I merged it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 gracias amigo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Prawn Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I merged it Ya beat me to it by about 5 seconds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 30, 2004 Author Share Posted August 30, 2004 Ya beat me to it by about 5 seconds! Practice young one, practice and you too will be one with the control panel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I fully understand that guy's anger, but really what else can the doctor say other than to apologize? He can't give back the 8 years, and I'm sure the guy feels s***ty, so what's he supposed to do? I'd be pissed off too, for sure, but "I'm really sorry" seems to be the extent of what can be said. I'm sure that there's gonna be a lawsuit and some money changing hands, but will the money give the guy back his 8 years? No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Practice young one, practice and you too will be one with the control panel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I fully understand that guy's anger, but really what else can the doctor say other than to apologize? He can't give back the 8 years, and I'm sure the guy feels s***ty, so what's he supposed to do? I'd be pissed off too, for sure, but "I'm really sorry" seems to be the extent of what can be said. I'm sure that there's gonna be a lawsuit and some money changing hands, but will the money give the guy back his 8 years? No. critic's Doc: dude, remember eight years ago when i told you that you had a life threatening disease? critic: yeah doc, i remember, i went through some really horrible times after i found about said life threatening disease. critic's Doc: well, i feel like a jackass but i screwed up. you are healthy as an ox. really sorry about it though. critic: dude, i am hella angry right now, but at the same time i understand that there is little more than you can do but apologize. critic's Doc: that is very big of you. for being such as stand up guy. here is a large bag of money. critic: thank you for the huge wad of cash. i appreciate it, but i am also aware that this large sum of money can never replace the eight years that i lost, ya know, due to the fact i thought i was dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 critic's Doc: dude, remember eight years ago when i told you that you had a life threatening disease? critic: yeah doc, i remember, i went through some really horrible times after i found about said life threatening disease. critic's Doc: well, i feel like a jackass but i screwed up. you are healthy as an ox. really sorry about it though. critic: dude, i am hella angry right now, but at the same time i understand that there is little more than you can do but apologize. critic's Doc: that is very big of you. for being such as stand up guy. here is a large bag of money. critic: thank you for the huge wad of cash. i appreciate it, but i am also aware that this large sum of money can never replace the eight years that i lost, ya know, due to the fact i thought i was dying. Yep, that pretty much sums up what I think can be said about it, minus the LOL-hitting smiley. Let me ask, seriously: If I punched the Doctor instead, what changes about the rest of that scenario? If I killed the Doctor instead, what changes? It REALLY sucks about that guy thinking he had AIDS for 8 years, but once the mistake is realized and acknowledged, what should happen? What CAN happen to satisfy the guy and his "lost" 8 years? Please tell me, so I can understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Yep, that pretty much sums up what I think can be said about it, minus the LOL-hitting smiley. Let me ask, seriously: If I punched the Doctor instead, what changes about the rest of that scenario? If I killed the Doctor instead, what changes? It REALLY sucks about that guy thinking he had AIDS for 8 years, but once the mistake is realized and acknowledged, what should happen? What CAN happen to satisfy the guy and his "lost" 8 years? Please tell me, so I can understand. well, i just think that the doctor apologizing is not near enough for the guy to be ok with it. i'm not really sure what you are saying though, because you say you understand why the guy is so upset, but then you are saying there is not much more the doctor can do but apologize. i mean we are talking a woops, you lost eight years of your life needlessly worrying type of error here. i'm not saying it would help to inflict harm on the doctor, but because this is such a huge life altering error he should have to pay for it. yeah a s***load of money might be a small consolation, but it's the least they could do for such a huge f***up. just the whole thing about "yeah there is not much the doctor can do but apologize" and "the money will not get his years back" just seemed a little flippant. it is a huge mistake by the doctor and he should be punished for making a huge mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Sorry if it came across as flippant, I didn't intend for that at all. I'm not minimizing in any way the magnitude of the mistake or the level of anger/frustration that must be felt as a result. All I'm saying is that I don't know what can be done or said other than a REAL, legitimate apology and whatever cash settlement the patient can receive. If he's expecting something other than that, I honestly don't know what he could be expecting. That's all I'm saying. Outside of an apology and payout, what else can or should be done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Sorry if it came across as flippant, I didn't intend for that at all. I'm not minimizing in any way the magnitude of the mistake or the level of anger/frustration that must be felt as a result. All I'm saying is that I don't know what can be done or said other than a REAL, legitimate apology and whatever cash settlement the patient can receive. If he's expecting something other than that, I honestly don't know what he could be expecting. That's all I'm saying. Outside of an apology and payout, what else can or should be done? ok, we actually are on the same page. an apology and a payout is all he can expect, i agree. i didn't get your meaning in your first post. thank you for clarifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFanForever Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 That is really messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 That is really messed up. unless it was all an elaborately planned "you got punk'd" in which case it would highly comical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Prawn Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 It's a horrible mistake, but with all the testing that gets done once you are diagnosed, I am surprised the mistake wasn't caught earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 If he is a low risk person (aka not a lot of partners, not a needle sharer etc.) then HIV tests have false positives 50% of the time. This bit of paranoid knowledge brought to you all via Russ Kick's "50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerhead johnson Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 flippant Did you know that "flippant" was the word of the day on September 30th of 2000? I s*** you not. You guys are the first to use it since then. Word of the Day for Saturday September 30, 2000 flippant \FLIP-unt\, adjective: Lacking proper respect or seriousness; showing inappropriate levity. In the mid-1950s we both wrote for the same weekly, where her contributions were a good deal more serious and less flippant than mine. --Anthony Howard and Jason Cowley, "Decline and Fall," New Statesman, March 13, 2000 The conversations had grown more adult over the years--she was less flippant, at least. --Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sox4lifeinPA Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 critic: thank you for the huge wad of cash. i appreciate it, but i am also aware that this large sum of money can never replace the eight years that i lost, ya know, due to the fact i thought i was dying. replace 8 years in which you say he "lost" because he thought he was going to die??? WTF? no offense guy, but if I thought I were going to die because of some terminal disease, I'd try to live every day like it were my last. Each new day I woke up, I would thank God for giving me and I'd try to make the people around me happier. I would initially be angry at my doctor because you're right, he didn't do his job. and then I'd be like... WAIT?!?!?, so I'm not f***ING DYING??? AWESOME... and yeah...I don't know, maybe after the 3 or 4th year when I was still running marathons and having abundant gay sex, I'd wonder about that diagnosis...how about a second opinion dude?? I think the doctor should find a middle ground on any Fees related to this misdiagnosis. That's it. but hell no to any "my feelings are hurt" payouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 replace 8 years in which you say he "lost" because he thought he was going to die??? WTF? no offense guy, but if I thought I were going to die because of some terminal disease, I'd try to live every day like it were my last. Each new day I woke up, I would thank God for giving me and I'd try to make the people around me happier. I would initially be angry at my doctor because you're right, he didn't do his job. and then I'd be like... WAIT?!?!?, so I'm not f***ING DYING??? AWESOME... and yeah...I don't know, maybe after the 3 or 4th year when I was still running marathons and having abundant gay sex, I'd wonder about that diagnosis...how about a second opinion dude?? I think the doctor should find a middle ground on any Fees related to this misdiagnosis. That's it. but hell no to any "my feelings are hurt" payouts. yeah i would probably engage in a lot of high risk behavior too, sky-diving, extreme sports. who cares i'm gonna die soon. then i broke my neck at a party when i bet this dude i could do a backflip into the pool from the garage. the doctor said i would never have feeling below the neck. i said who the f*** cares, i got hiv, i'm gonna die soon anywhoo. the doctor said what are you talking about you aren't hiv positive. me= WTF? moral of the story. get a second opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T R U Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I dont get why the guy is complaining... he lost weight AND found out he doesnt have aids, not to mention got to free load off services for 8 years... Some poeple need to appreciate things a little more :headshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I dont get why the guy is complaining... he lost weight AND found out he doesnt have aids, not to mention got to free load off services for 8 years... Some poeple need to appreciate things a little more :headshake lol, awesome. he should also have to pay back any money his insurance company shelled out for meds to treat his "illness" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 yeah i would probably engage in a lot of high risk behavior too, sky-diving, extreme sports. who cares i'm gonna die soon. then i broke my neck at a party when i bet this dude i could do a backflip into the pool from the garage. the doctor said i would never have feeling below the neck. i said who the f*** cares, i got hiv, i'm gonna die soon anywhoo. the doctor said what are you talking about you aren't hiv positive. me= WTF? moral of the story. get a second opinion. If all he could afford was a VFW hospital, how can he get a second opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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