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Doctors are not responsible for future illness
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To the Editor:
I read the article by Jerome Sherman, OD, about the 66-year-old tennis player (“Optometrists should prepare for potential rise in AMD lawsuits,” November 2013, pages 14 and 15). She essentially sued her doctor because she thought she knew why her vision was declining, and she was wrong.
I do not think this doctor is culpable of any misconduct. She did not have the condition when he examined her, and she developed it months later. A fluorescein angiogram or optical coherence tomography would have been negative at the time of examination.
Patients self diagnose and self treat all the time. Had she come in when she first noticed the vision decline, the outcome probably would have been better.
As doctors, we cannot control the future. If the adjudication of this case finds this is so, then heaven help us. Everything will be on the table as our responsibility. Physicians will be responsible for future illnesses, dentists for future cavities, etc. Being alive is a risk. People should understand that.
James L. Quinn, OD