1. Jason is having a small pain in his leg. He assumes he injured it in his last workout. He is a healthy young man who takes care of himself. He eats right and exercises regularly. He called his doctor to get an appointment for his leg. The nurse asks some basic questions. She tells Jason she will talk to the doctor and call him back. The doctor hears the nurse’s report and becomes very concerned. She immediately calls Jason back herself. She determines that this is serious enough for Jason to go to the emergency room. She does not share her specific concerns that the pain may be a blood clot, but she tells Jason it could be serious and that he should go to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Jason really does not feel like sitting in the emergency room for hours, and since he already has an appointment the next day that he scheduled months ago, he does not go and stays home instead. He later feels the pain get worse. He calls an ambulance and he is immediately diagnosed with a dangerous blood clot. He is transported to the hospital and is treated for the blood clot. Unfortunately, the blood clot dislodges and travels to his lungs. This creates a pulmonary embolism. Jason lives through this episode but has major complications and has to stay in the hospital for a long period of time. Jason fully recovers and sues his doctor for medical malpractice.

We have read about negligence and medical malpractice. In the above scenario, do you think Jason should have been accountable for his own health, or should the doctor have been more forthcoming or forceful by telling Jason of the danger and insisting that he go to the emergency room? Explain your response.

2. Reply to post within 2-3 sentences.

For this case, Jason should still be accountable to his health. The nurse is not allowed to diagnose a patient. Since this is a tele-medicine scenario, the nurse should have asked the doctor to call Jason and inform him about the diagnosis. It is not the nurses’ job to diagnose but they can advice patients to seek further medical attention. Because Jason decided not to go to the emergency room as instructed by the nurse, it was his choice and the consequence was on him. However, the nurse and the physician is still guilty of professional negligence because once there is a patient contact Jason becomes their liability.