Help, MD not removing polyps

For good or bad, determining treatments is the realm of MD's. Every OR has good and bad surgeons. It is not our job to second guess their job. Now if someone were to ask for a referral, you know where NOT to send them.

I feel your pain. Some surgeons seem to be absolute psychopaths. I don't know how they sleep at night. Sometimes I pray that someday they are operated on by a surgeon as horrible as they are!

Is he a person you can approach with (out of earshot of the pt) "I noticed there appeared to be a polyp - could you help educate me as to why that one wouldn't be removed?"

Do you feel this is a question of outright incompetence, laziness, or fraud?

Leave it alone, for now. Admin and other MD's will back him up at your expense. Anesthesiologists are about the only people (other than lawyers) that can affect a surgeons practice. And they usually wait for extreme circumstances before they refuse to provide anesthesia. We had a new surgeon with 4 deaths in 8 cases before anesthesia got rid of him by refusing to provide care.

What he is doing is malpractice and should be addressed. You mention management knows but does this mean they are in the process of doing something or nothing? As you know polyps can become cancerous. Do you want that on your conscious? Easy for me to say but I realize it is not easy to do. You may want to at least confront him. Sometimes that is all it takes to wake them up. Good luck

I will have to disagree with confronting the MD with this. You already asked in a way to appear as if you were "gathering" information about how to tx polyps. You would be, as a nurse, questioning he, the MD and, probably he would take offense and possibly make trouble for you. Stay away. IMHO>

Now, you need to take the next step. That might include "blowing the whistle" to the federal government. If he is being reimbursed by Medicare/medicaid, then, you can call their offices to turn him in. They pay him to treat "their" patients and would dearly love to hear that he is not practicing in the patients best interest.

You can also call the AMA.

If you truly believe, and, I believe you do, that he is practicing negligent medicine, committing malpractice and, placing the health and welfare of the patient at risk, you really have a moral and ethical obligation.