Misdiagnosed man spends all his money

[HelloHockeyFans]

LONDON -- A British man who went on a wild spending spree after doctors said he only had a short time to live wants compensation because the diagnosis was wrong and he is now healthy - but broke.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...tional/Europe/

[ken0042]

The scary thing about that story; I could see myself doing the exact same thing.

Well, maybe leave a bit for my nieces.......

[HelloHockeyFans]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The scary thing about that story; I could see myself doing the exact same thing.

Well, maybe leave a bit for my nieces.......

Yup. You're told you have less than a year to live... why in the world wouldn't you spend as much money as you could?

[Dion]

I'm with Ken on this one. Chances are i'd be spending my money and donating the rest to charity and family.

[Burninator]

While I have sympathy for the man, I don't think the hospital owes him anything. A misdiagnoses that causes you harm, either because of lack of treatment or the wrong treatment is one thing. But a misdiagnoses that doesn't hurt you is hardly worth suing over. I can just imagine the conversation he had with the doctor.

"You don't have cancer."
"What? I spent everything."
"But your health is fine, you'll be ok."
"You are so sued."

The hospital doesn't tell you to go and spend all your money and sell all your belongings. If the guy had known anything he would know that when a doctors says you have a certain amount of time left that it's an educated guess. It's not like a countdown starts when you leave the doctors office. It could be 6 months, it could be 2 years. Unfortunately for this man he exercised very poor judgement, but probably had a really enjoyable year, and is now faced with probably several very un-enjoyable years.

[Ford Prefect]

NM ... hit the submit button too soon.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Burninator

While I have sympathy for the man, I don't think the hospital owes him anything. A misdiagnoses that causes you harm, either because of lack of treatment or the wrong treatment is one thing. But a misdiagnoses that doesn't hurt you is hardly worth suing over. I can just imagine the conversation he had with the doctor.

Aside from the financial repercussions of such a misdiagnosis, what about the mental anguish the guy would have gone through? He would have spent a year or whatever believing he was headed for the gas chamber, so to speak. Not exactly a happy head space. If the misdiagnosis was due to the doctor's incompetence or lack of due diligence, I think he's owed something for his mental anguish if nothing else.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Burninator

While I have sympathy for the man, I don't think the hospital owes him anything. A misdiagnoses that causes you harm, either because of lack of treatment or the wrong treatment is one thing. But a misdiagnoses that doesn't hurt you is hardly worth suing over. I can just imagine the conversation he had with the doctor.

"You don't have cancer."
"What? I spent everything."
"But your health is fine, you'll be ok."
"You are so sued."

The hospital doesn't tell you to go and spend all your money and sell all your belongings. If the guy had known anything he would know that when a doctors says you have a certain amount of time left that it's an educated guess. It's not like a countdown starts when you leave the doctors office. It could be 6 months, it could be 2 years. Unfortunately for this man he exercised very poor judgement, but probably had a really enjoyable year, and is now faced with probably several very un-enjoyable years.

Well if someone told me I was terminally ill, I'd drop out of school/quit my job in a new york minute.

What would you do Burn?

[CaptainCrunch]

Anyone ever heard of a second opinion.

If somebody tells me that I'm going to die, I'm off to another doctor to make sure.

If that Doctor tells me that I'm going out, I'm finding a Meg Ryan clone and throwing myself into a live volcano.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The hospital doesn't tell you to go and spend all your money and sell all your belongings. If the guy had known anything he would know that when a doctors says you have a certain amount of time left that it's an educated guess. It's not like a countdown starts when you leave the doctors office. It could be 6 months, it could be 2 years. Unfortunately for this man he exercised very poor judgement, but probably had a really enjoyable year, and is now faced with probably several very un-enjoyable years.

When my late father was diagnosed with Colon cancer in 2000 he was told he had 2 years but expect alot less. It ended up being 7 months. He spent the rest of his time getting his affairs in order. Made sure the winter home in Phoenix was sold before he died so mother wouldn't have to deal with probate. Planned his own funeral.......etc.

So tell me Burninator, did my late father exercise very poor judgement?

[iggypop]

That’s really not the reaction this guy should have. I’m sure there are millions of sick people out there who would tell you they would give up all the money in the world just be healthy again. That’s basically what happened here. This guy should be ecstatic he can continue to live a long healthy life, and stop 'sweating the small stuff' such as money.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Aside from the financial aspect of such a misdiagnosis, what about the mental anguish the guy would have gone through. He would have spent a year or whatever believing he was headed for the gas chamber, so to speak. If the misdiagnosis was due to the doctor's incompetence or lack of due dilugence

I still think the financial part is not the hospitals fault. I suppose the mental anguish could have some sort of damage. If a person finds out he is dying within a year and kills himself, is that the hospitals fault because he was misdiagnosed? If a person finds out he is dying within a year and goes on a killing spree, is that the hospitals fault because he was misdiagnosed? I wouldn't think that it's the hospitals fault. It just doesn't seem fair to the hospital. They should be held accountable at some level, but you can't control what people are going to do. This article is very vague, but I think a second opinion should have been exercised.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by iggypop

That’s really not the reaction this guy should have. I’m sure there are millions of sick people out there who would tell you they would give up all the money in the world just be healthy again. That’s basically what happened here. This guy should be ecstatic he can continue to live a long healthy life, and stop 'sweating the small stuff' such as money.

That's not what happend here at all. The guy would have been healthy either way, but because his doctor told him some false information he made a bad decision.
The doctor is in a position of trust, and if he makes a mistake (such as telling the patient that he is going to die in a year), then he should be held accountable. The guy made his decision to spend all his money based on the doctors information. To say the doctor has no responsiblity to the man is not right in my opinion.

[IntenseFan]

There was a case in Ontario (Budai I think it was called) where a guy who was told he won the lottery went out and spent a lot in celebration only to find later on that there was a mistake made and he had only won a pittance. $2 or something. He then sued the lottery corp. claiming he never would have spent anything if there hadn't been a misrepresentation that he had won the lottery.

He actually won the case. Hilarious.

I suspect this guy's suit to be along the same lines.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Well if someone told me I was terminally ill, I'd drop out of school/quit my job in a new york minute.

What would you do Burn?

To be honest I wouldn't blow all of money, I would probably leave it for someone I cared about. Taking people out to lavish dinners is great in all, but that money could be used for a much more useful purpose, such as an education fund or home for someone or something along those lines.

Originally Posted by Dion

When my late father was diagnosed with Colon cancer in 2000 he was told he had 2 years but expect alot less. It ended up being 7 months. He spent the rest of his time getting his affairs in order. Made sure the winter home in Phoenix was sold before he died so mother wouldn't have to deal with probate. Planned his own funeral.......etc.

So tell me Burninator, did my late father exercise very poor judgement?

Of course he didn't. In fact I would say your father enacted very wise judgement. I would hope most people would do something similar.

The difference between your father and this man is the extent they went to, really I don't see how they are even comparable. This guy was left with basically the clothes he was expecting to be buried in. As I am sure you will agree with, as I already stated, that a doctors diagnoses is an educated guess, not a sure thing by any means. The life expectancy can be shorter or longer than diagnosed. This guy had good intentions but unfortunately for him he got carried away.

[Superflyer]

Just because you are told that you have x amount of time left means nothing. My uncle was told that he has 6 months left because of a brain tumor, that was over 10 years ago. He still had it and it cannot be removed but it has not killed him yet.
If I was told that I only have a few months left I would not go crazy but I would do things that I always wanted to do but was scared to, like bungee jumping and sky diving.

[Jade]

Really hard to say what happened based on the article. Although maybe they are still working on getting more information.

The hospital has said that while it sympathizes with Mr. Brandrick, a review of his case showed no different diagnosis would have been made.

Looks like either they came up with a better diagnostic method, or something changed in his case. Could be interesting to see the follow up. As much as we have learned about cancer, we still have a long way to go.

[Slava]

Buy some critical illness coverage; then you could have more money to blow and a second opinion all wrapped into one.

[FlamesAddiction]

That exact thing happened to my friend's grandfather. They told him he only had 6 months to live, so he spent all his money on liquor. He ended up being broke and drunk for the next 10 year until he finally did kick the bucket. The sad thing was, by that time, the family was so sick of his drunkeness, they didn't mind seeing him go.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by Slava

Buy some critical illness coverage; then you could have more money to blow and a second opinion all wrapped into one.

Probably hard to qualify for it after you've been diagnosed with a... critical illness.