Friday, August 31, 2007

Brain Pain

Well, yes, having your skull replaced with a piece of plastic could indeed cause pain and suffering:

A German court has awarded 3,000 euros ($4,100) in damages to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge.

Doctors removed the top of the man's head and put it in cold storage while they operated on his brain, the court in the western city of Koblenz said Tuesday.

Because the refrigerator was defective, the section of skull was not kept cool enough and could not be reattached. Doctors replaced the bone with a plastic prosthesis.

As has been noted elsewhere this helps to explain the massive cost of US health care. Can you imagine the damages he would have won over there? Start at $ 10 million and move north I would have thought.

No comments: