Do I have a case against a surgeon for telling me that my abdomen pain was in my head when if factit was a medical condition?
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Do I have a case against a surgeon for telling me that my abdomen pain was in my head when if factit was a medical condition?
During a consult with full medical record copies of all test’s, a surgeon told me that pain in abdomen was in my head sending note to general M.D. for psychiatrist in front of my husband. This made me very upset stating there isn’t anything wrong medically just mentally. Hard concrete evidence that I have diverticulitis, hiatal hernia and an interstitial cyst. Defamation of character? Malpractice? Primary doctor says surgeon is wrong; we have clear evidence of medical acute conditions.
Asked on November 13, 2011 under Malpractice Law, Oregon
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Defamation is the making to third parties of false statements of fact that damage a person's reputation. So if the statement was made to you, not to third parties, it could not be defamation; nor would it likely be defamation if the physician was in good faith making a statement based on the evidence at that time, even if he later turned out to be wrong, since if true to the best of his knowledge at the time, it is probably not defamation.
Malpractice has to involve some injury other than just being "upset." If the misdiagnosis caused your condition to worsen, causing you pain and suffering, lost wages, or additional medical costs, then you may have a malpractice lawsuit. But the legal system does not compensate people simply for being made upset.
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