Stent story:
I told this story a long time ago but I think it's worth repeating:
My neighbor (about 10 years ago) had coronary artery disease and already had one stent. Then her doctor told her she needed another one. I gave her a ride to the hospital in Leesburg where she was to get the procedure. That morning the doctor tried but failed to get the stent to the location where he thought it was needed. That's because there was a sharp turn in her artery and the stent wouldn't go around the corner. (Imagine you're at a stop sign and about to make a sharp right turn. That's the way it was.
So, when she woke up from the failed procedure, the doctor told her he would like to try again in the afternoon. With no time to think it over she just agreed to it, figuring that he probably knew best. Well, he tried again and failed again. This is the part that's so unbelievable: After he told her that the second attempt failed, he said, "don't worry, you don't need it."
I picked her up from the hospital the following morning and she was feeling sick. What happened to the concept of "do no harm"? To make matters worse, she eventually received a bill for a little over 30,000 dollars. And medicare said they would only pay for one procedure so she was on the hook for $15,000 dollars.
Sorry, I don't remember the doctor's name. This was almost 10 years ago and I just never bothered to remember his name.
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