Wife of ex-Cowboys RB Springs sues after husband slips into coma

[slinky]

Wife of ex-Cowboys RB Springs sues after husband slips into coma

" DALLAS — The wife of former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs is suing two doctors she accuses of letting her husband slip into a coma last October, just months after a new kidney donated by ex-teammate Everson Walls appeared to save his life.

The medical malpractice lawsuit filed Tuesday by Adriane Springs seeks unspecified damages.

Named in the suit are Dr. Joyce Abraham, Dr. David Godat and the Texas Anesthesia Group. They could not immediately be reached for comment."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5475068.html

[kuraitengai]

But the lawsuit alleges that Springs began having difficulty breathing as he received anesthesia, and that doctors used drugs to induce him into a paralyzed state in order to intubate him. The intubation failed and Springs went into cardiopulmonary arrest before being resuscitated, according to the suit.

is this is the case. it sounds like the springs' family may have a case. but im sure the doctors could argue that they thought it was in the best interest of the patient, too.

[Stophovr6]

Anesthesiologists have some of the highest insurance rates and best lawyers of any group of doctors.

I don't know the specific circumstances beyond what this article quoted, but this is a very difficult field and things don't always go as planned. Suing isn't the answer to this. One day there won't be anesthesiologists because we will have run the profession broke or no one will be able to afford it because they will have to cover their costs for sky rocketing insurance.

I feel bad for Ron and his family, I do. But this isnt going to bring him out of a coma, and unless you're just being selfish, I don't know what other reason there is to sue. If these guys are consistently bad at their profession, then maybe there should be a malpractice suit brought upon them by all the families.

[pjfootballer]

Thanks for jacking up the rates for everyone with your suit Mrs. Springs. I'm sure all the money you get will take away the pain. The guy had multiple issues when he had the transplant. It's a miracle he's held on this long.

[Special K]

For hell's sake. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't for physicians these days. I'm sorry for the Springs family, but any general anesthesia procedure carries with it an inherent risk...and that risk skyrockets when there are compicating factors, such as...say...needing an organ transplant in the first place.

[jnhay]

For hell's sake. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't for physicians these days. I'm sorry for the Springs family, but any general anesthesia procedure carries with it an inherent risk...and that risk skyrockets when there are compicating factors, such as...say...needing an organ transplant in the first place.

They're saying his coma has nothing to do with the kidney transplant.

If the anesthesiologist is incompetent and should have not been working with Ron Springs, something has to be done.

[Special K]

They're saying his coma has nothing to do with the kidney transplant.

If the anesthesiologist is incompetent and should have not been working with Ron Springs, something has to be done.

I think you may have misinterpereted my original statement. Mr. Springs was in poor health, suffering from diabetes (requiring an amputation), kidney problems, and most likely other health issues. When a person in that state of health undergoes a surgical procedure, there are inherent risks. From the sounds of it (although, mind you, I'm not an anesthesiologist) Mr. Springs became unstable during the procedure and when intubation was attempted, he probably had laryngeal spasms making intubation difficult. It is common procedure to paralyze a patient to make intubation feasible. If intubation was not successfully performed and the patient was not immediately stabilized, there could certainly be brain injury.

There are MANY reasons aside from medical malpractice that a breathing tube was not successfully inserted. Clearly I don't know the details of the case, but I generally hate jumping the gun when it comes to suing doctors...this could be due to the fact that I'm in healthcare or that most of my relatives are physcians, so I happen to get a little defensive.