New healthcare thread (part II)

[selmaborntidefan]

Good night……

Florida doctor indicted and accused of removing patient's liver instead of spleen in fatal surgery

A grand jury indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[arthurdawg]

Good night……

Florida doctor indicted and accused of removing patient's liver instead of spleen in fatal surgery

A grand jury indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man.

www.nbcnews.com

Talked to some of our general surgeons about this back when it happened.

It, uhh, should not have happened. The gentleman probably died when he transected the vena cava causing him to bleed to death. Even worse, the op report was leaked and he took the liver out in about 30 minutes... One of the surgeons worked a good bit of liver transplant back in the day and noted this procedure took hours when done properly.

 

[92tide]

Good night……

Florida doctor indicted and accused of removing patient's liver instead of spleen in fatal surgery

A grand jury indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Bodhisattva]

Good night……

Florida doctor indicted and accused of removing patient's liver instead of spleen in fatal surgery

A grand jury indicted Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man.

www.nbcnews.com

I'm starting to wonder if Hollywood Upstairs Medical College might not be one of the best.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Talked to some of our general surgeons about this back when it happened.

It, uhh, should not have happened. The gentleman probably died when he transected the vena cava causing him to bleed to death. Even worse, the op report was leaked and he took the liver out in about 30 minutes... One of the surgeons worked a good bit of liver transplant back in the day and noted this procedure took hours when done properly.

How does this even happen? The "doctor" wasn't the only medical professional in the room. Not one person said, "hey doc, that is not his spleen. That is his liver. I am pretty sure he needs that, hence the name."

 

[selmaborntidefan]

How does this even happen? The "doctor" wasn't the only medical professional in the room. Not one person said, "hey doc, that is not his spleen. That is his liver. I am pretty sure he needs that, hence the name."

It’s almost like every doctor in the room was a Facebook infectious disease expert and knew about as much as those “experts” know.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

It’s almost like every doctor in the room was a Facebook infectious disease expert and knew about as much as those “experts” know.

After this, I will forever be paranoid about any surgery I might have.

I know when I had surgery on my hand, they asked 3 different times which hand, including right before knocking me out.

 

[arthurdawg]

How does this even happen? The "doctor" wasn't the only medical professional in the room. Not one person said, "hey doc, that is not his spleen. That is his liver. I am pretty sure he needs that, hence the name."

No idea really... Not a surgeon myself, but the guys I discussed it with feel he had to be impaired when he went in for surgery. I mean... The liver is usually much larger and looks entirely different. At the time I think there were rumors the surgical team questioned him and he dug in, but who knows.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

No idea really... Not a surgeon myself, but the guys I discussed it with feel he had to be impaired when he went in for surgery. I mean... The liver is usually much larger and looks entirely different. At the time I think there were rumors the surgical team questioned him and he dug in, but who knows.

"Impaired" was my first guess. My coworker said the same.

 

[Bodhisattva]

No idea really... Not a surgeon myself, but the guys I discussed it with feel he had to be impaired when he went in for surgery. I mean... The liver is usually much larger and looks entirely different. At the time I think there were rumors the surgical team questioned him and he dug in, but who knows.

I'm thinking "impaired" as well. And/or potentially something else based on my wife's experiences in the OR a couple of times.

Some surgeons are extremely arrogant and they want things done a certain way ... their way. The patient's needs are secondary. A surgery can't commence until the patient is under. Now, most of the time administering anesthesia is a pretty routine event. But sometimes the patient is particularly sick and putting him/her under is a slower, more delicate process. There are a couple of surgeons Lan has worked with who are very impatient. They've stacked their cases like they are on a surgical assembly line, or they've decided they want to end their day in time for lunch. Either way, they loudly and profanely let it be known that the patient needs to go under ... now! Well, Lan's concern is for her patient and the surgeon can go pound sand until said patient is stable before being cut open.

Maybe this surgeon has a tyrannical demeanor in the OR and everyone else is too scared to confront the boss. I hope that's not the case. The well being of the patient is supposed to be paramount.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

After this, I will forever be paranoid about any surgery I might have.

I know when I had surgery on my hand, they asked 3 different times which hand, including right before knocking me out.

Here’s the thing: I’ve said many times that it’s really only 5% of the members of any profession (or group) that give folks a bad name. The vigilante or racist cop is 5%, the bad lawyer is 5%, the bad surgeon (sadly) is 5%. Same with the airline pilot. What lowers the risk in each of these cases is the fact that very few of these people work by themselves. So a copilot bails out a pilot, etc.

And let’s be honest, I’m sure most of the crimes whether committed by black, white, purple, or green are from a 5% sliver of each group‘s population.

That’s why when they screw up, things really go wrong.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

 

[crimsonaudio]

In 1986, a 3-foot parasite was emerging through the skin of 3.5 million people a year. In 2025, the number was 10.

Guinea worm disease is about to become the second human disease ever eradicated, after smallpox. And it's being done without a vaccine and without a single drug.

The worm takes a year to mature inside your body. Then it tunnels to your foot or leg, forms a burning blister, and begins emerging over several weeks. The pain drives people into water for relief, which releases thousands of larvae and restarts the cycle in whoever drinks from that source next.

The Carter Center broke that loop with pieces of cloth. They taught villages to filter their drinking water through fine mesh. They paid cash rewards for reporting cases. In 2025, national programs investigated over one million rumors of the disease, nearly all within 24 hours.

Jimmy Carter took this on after he left the White House and said he wanted to outlive the last Guinea worm. He didn't quite make it. But the 10 cases in 2025 showed up in just three countries: four in Chad, four in Ethiopia, two in South Sudan. 200 other countries are already certified clean.

A parasite that infected 3.5 million people a year is being wiped off the planet by pieces of cloth and a million phone calls.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045574087150604367

 

[arthurdawg]

It shows what you can do with a good program and teaching people how to do it!

If you want to see Ivermectin really work, check out the continual campaign to wipe out onchocerciasis that is gradually resulting in clearance of a previously endemic issue.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial. Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045696738460115212

 

[92tide]

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial. Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045696738460115212

that's great news. pancreatic cancer is nasty

 

[arthurdawg]

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial. Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045696738460115212

There are some crazy cool things that can be done with mRNA... Should we continue to develop it and not let RFK shut it all down...

Also just had a small molecule drug present data with a 13 month median OS as a second line therapy for pancreas cancer targeting RAS. That is better than the best frontline chemotherapy!

 

[JDCrimson]

In 1986, a 3-foot parasite was emerging through the skin of 3.5 million people a year. In 2025, the number was 10.

Guinea worm disease is about to become the second human disease ever eradicated, after smallpox. And it's being done without a vaccine and without a single drug.

The worm takes a year to mature inside your body. Then it tunnels to your foot or leg, forms a burning blister, and begins emerging over several weeks. The pain drives people into water for relief, which releases thousands of larvae and restarts the cycle in whoever drinks from that source next.

The Carter Center broke that loop with pieces of cloth. They taught villages to filter their drinking water through fine mesh. They paid cash rewards for reporting cases. In 2025, national programs investigated over one million rumors of the disease, nearly all within 24 hours.

Jimmy Carter took this on after he left the White House and said he wanted to outlive the last Guinea worm. He didn't quite make it. But the 10 cases in 2025 showed up in just three countries: four in Chad, four in Ethiopia, two in South Sudan. 200 other countries are already certified clean.

A parasite that infected 3.5 million people a year is being wiped off the planet by pieces of cloth and a million phone calls.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045574087150604367

Is this the worm they pulled out of RFK's head?

 

[arthurdawg]

Is this the worm they pulled out of RFK's head?

Naw... he has a tapeworm from eating dead animals of the road.

Neurocysticercosis!

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I'm not sure this fits here, but it's the closest thread to it so I won't have to start a new one. From a consumer's standpoint, here's one of many issues average people like me have with healthcare.

My wife goes in for a mammogram, then a biopsy two weeks later. We've already met our deductible for the year. We had to pay $675 dollars out of pocket for uncovered costs, which was a "facility fee" administered by the building that had nothing to do with the providers.

We receive a bill in the mail for an additional $670 weeks later, so I call and this is what I find out. While on the phone with the representative, she told me the total billed to my insurance for my wife's two visits. My jaw absolutely dropped when I was told the following:

For a mammogram, biopsy and reading of the labs, my insurance was billed $24,000 and immediately paid $19,000 of the $24,000. They are now going back and forth over the remaining $5,000. Granted, I'm an accountant, not a doctor or someone in the medical field. But, I just couldn't understand this type of bill when I look on the internet to see the average cost of a mammogram and found this.



Can someone in the medical field explain this for me?