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Tue Apr 22 18:29:31 BST 2008

 Gee, I didn't hear any indignation about "passing judgment in a
situation where we have very limited information" directed towards the
other comments that were uniformly condemning lawyers and praising the
"good guys." 

That's because until your comments nobody had been indignant calling the
procedure unwarranted, unnecessary and hogwash, again based on only one
limited side of the story. All conclusions that no one other than those
close to the case with all the information should make.

-----Original Message-----
From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org
[mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org] On Behalf Of Jeffery Hammond
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:01 PM
To: 'Trauma &amp; Critical Care mailing list'
Cc: 'CCML'
Subject: RE: [ccm-l] RE: Rectal Exam Lawsuit DENIED

Replies below to Dr Myers comments... 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Myers, D.O., Ed.M. [mailto:myersj at alum.rpi.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:38 PM
To: Jeffery Hammond
Cc: 'Trauma &amp; Critical Care mailing list'; 'CCML'
Subject: Re: [ccm-l] RE: Rectal Exam Lawsuit DENIED

Remember all, we are getting the lay press' report of the events and
armchair quarterbacking the incident.  

	   -->>Agreed

All I glen was that this patient was struck in the head at a
construction site.  Was the treating team concerned about a head and
c-spine injury?  

        -->> You don't need a rectal exam for an injury limited to the
head in a patient moving all 4 extremities.

Were they concerned the patient was combative / ? altered from the head
injury?  

	  -->> He was apparently talking to them. He didn't become
combative until they tried  to bugger him.

The patient was not only sedated but intubated (according to the
description) - doesn't this scenario occur across the country when we
are taking care of altered trauma patients so we can obtain timely
imaging and intervene rapidly? 

	  -->> Yes, in heavily intoxicated patients or those with major
TBI.
But, in this case (agreeing that we have only part of the data) I would
counsel any trauma team member who intubated a patient just to do a
rectal exam.

I just ask you all to reflect on situations where you may have done the
same thing as reported because you were doing the right thing for the
patient before passing judgment in a situation where we have very
limited information.

	   -->> Gee, I didn't hear any indignation about "passing
judgment in a situation where we have very limited information" directed
towards the other comments that were uniformly condeming lawyers and
praising the "good guys." 

Jeffrey Hammond MD, MNPH
New Brunswick, NJ

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[ccm-l] RE: Rectal Exam Lawsuit DENIED