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Mar 21, 2007 9:59 pm US/Mountain
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Family Seeks Public Access To Doctors' Mistakes
by Jodi Brooks
DENVER (CBS4) ―
A local family wants to make sure doctors' medical mistakes are easy for the public to access. State lawmakers will debate the issue Thursday and the parents of Michael Skolnik will be there.
The Skolniks suffered an incredible loss, but they've taken their grief and turned it into something powerful. The Skolniks want to make sure patients know everything they can about their doctor.
The doctor the Skolnik's dealt with had two pending medical malpractice suits against him. That information could not have been made available until the cases were settled. Now they are, and so is their case. The Skolniks said the public has a right to know.
Michael Skolnik had all the love one little boy could get. He was an only child, healthy, strong, and at age 22, planned on being a pediatric nurse.
"Michael passed out," Michael's mother Patty Skolnik said. "And he woke up in the dining room."
Michael's parents took him to the emergency room as a precaution. An X-ray of his head showed a three millimeter dot on his brain. It was a cyst. Patty sought out expert opinion from a neurosurgeon. She said there was no time for a second opinion.
"He kept saying die. You're so lucky he didn't die. We have to do this right away," Patty said. "And it was like there was no choice. It was like a train wreck happening."
Patty said a three hour surgery turned into six hours, and when it was over, the doctor came out and said he never found the cyst. But they had every reason to believe Michael would recover.
"The doctor kept saying he's going to be okay, he's going to be okay," Patty said. "He would gaze, and he'd say with rehab, he'd be okay."
But Michael wasn't. Months passed and Michael was moved to Craig Hospital where the family learned the realistic prognosis.
"He is 50 percent blind in both eyes to the left," Patty said. "He has no short term memory. He has severe seizure disorder, and he's psychotic."
The Skolniks thought doctors had the wrong patient. What had happened to their son?
"Everything was primarily done from the deep brain operation. That's what caused all of this to begin with," Patty said. Michael had multi-organ failure. He was put on life support and pulled through.
Patty said he knew that his mother and father weren't ready to let him go. When he woke up, he couldn't talk, he couldn't walk and he couldn't eat. Yet Michael made improvements until he suffered a seizure and got pneumonia. Michael's time had come.
"On Friday at 5:35 p.m., we were there," Patty said. "He opened his eyes and he looked at his dad who was sitting right at his head and he mouthed 'I love you,' and he closed his eyes and he died."
Michael Skolnik fought 32 months. In the end, it was too much to overcome.
"It never should've happened. It was an unnecessary surgery," Patty said.
The Skolniks have filed a complaint with the State Board of Medical Examiners. The case is in review now, so CBS4 will not release the doctor's name, but he's now practicing in Nebraska, and that's the motivation for a new state law.
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