I am so sick of this litigious society that we live in. Regardless of what happened with his wife, he didn't "KILL" the woman with cancer. She smoked all her life and got cancer. Visiting a doctor is not a guarantee of anything. The body is mysterious, symptoms can mean anything. Doctors do the best they can. People make mistakes all the time. None of us are perfect. He didn't kill her. I think that is defamation.
With that I would always say that people should always get second opinions. It's common sense that is rarely taken.

Life happens, people get sick, people die, people make mistakes, we don't always have to blame someone for life happening. I think a crime takes intent, and I can't see how this guy had intent to KILL the smoker cancer patient.

Twenty-two counts in federal court indictment for fraud; stellar surgical fees collected for operations that were completely unnecessary; a mountain of documents indicating that he showed horrified patients gruesome but phony photos of their supposed conditions --I wouldn't dismiss all this with "people make mistakes" or "life happens."

On another note to Dateline: Your excellent reports have many devoted viewers. It's understandable if you can't upload some broadcasts because of copyright restrictions. But loyal viewers shouldn't be saddled with having to come back repeatedly hoping for shows that will never be uploaded. It's not appropriate to make advertising revenues off their backs by making them sit through countless commercials for shows they won't see. It used to be that the site stated outright, in advance, that a broadcast wouldn't be uploaded. It's was a good policy.

I fell asleep right after they brought him back to the states. Can anyone tell me the end pf the story?

This isn't PC to say but what kind of normal guy dates a transexual? His Indiana Assistant also looked like a transsexual to me (not saying she is) and I was shocked when the definitely is a transexual was introduced first. His wife in my opinion had lousy breast implants-too big and I got the impression she was a gold digger too. You would have thought Mark could have afforded a nose job for himself. 

I tend to agree with Chris V on this. The daughter has all my sympathies, but I was somewhat put off by how she kept saying that her life would be different if her mom were still around, how much this doctor had harmed her life, etc. - as if it was a given that her mom, with her serious cancer, would have definitely even been around at all if this doctor had not entered the picture. Or that the mom would have been in any kind of shape that wouldn’t have radically altered this daughter’s life anyway.

I was also put off by the lawyer bald-face saying that this doctor “killed” his client. As if the woman, with her 2-pack-a-day smoking habit and her not getting a second opinion, had nothing to do with her own death.

I think the doctor’s approach to his patients was probably too cookie-cutter, and he probably should have referred this lady to a different doctor, and he should pay the price for his neglect. But in my opinion, the approach offered by the other side was just over harsh. God forbid that I have one of these litigious lawyers coming after me. There are never two sides to the story for them.

Wow, I wish I would have gotten a million dollar settlement when my father died of lung cancer, but I didn't because my dad knew that he got cancer from smoking cigarettes. Now I am grown up and married to a man whose father and brother are both doctors and have to pay a lot for malpractice insurance. I, too, am sorry that the girl's mom died, but let's be realistic, your mom got cancer from smoking, not because her doctor failed to do a CT scan. I am so tired of this sue happy society, and I was highly indignant by the personal injury lawyer's use of the word "evil"..We are talking about a confused man here, not Osama Bin Laden or Ted Bundy. I am actually impressed that there were only 2 complaints out of thousands of surgeries, that's a pretty high success rate for doctors, who are only human. I don't have health insurance because I don't really need it, I pay as I go, but now I understand why it cost me 200 dollars to see my doctor, it would have to, imagine I saw my doctor for a wart and I ended up with ovarian cancer....SUE! He should have seen that coming. I don't know why anyone would go in to medicine these days, you can't win for losing.

Again I think you people are missing the point. She sue and won because if he had done his job he ahould have detected that cancer which in all likelihood would have given other Doctor's time to treat it which at worst would have extended her life by months or maybe years or maybe they could have put it into total remission (however unlikely). Her smoking put her in this position but she would have lived longer if he had diagnosed the Cancer which the Court is saying a competent Doctor would have. That's why she won her case

I don't think we are missing the point at all, she went to the doctor for sinus surgery, which he did, why would have looked at her throat? I go to my doctor all the time because I have back problems, I am also a smoker and I tan everyday. If I ever get skin or lung cancer I would never sue my doctor for failing to detect it because I see him for my back, I get cortisone shots in it. The body is so vast and his practice was so specialized. Again, I don't think this guy was a cool dude by any means but I do think that people need to start taking responsibility for their actions and lives. The woman was in stage four by that point and there was nothing that could have been done anyhow. Her lawyer is a complete kook and if her daughter really believes the rhetoric he spouts than I feel sorry for her because she will have a crappy life filled with trying to blame others for things that can be avoided. And for the record, those months that she may have had her life extended by would have most likely been horrible, painful, months. These lawyers can twist things around and say things about the months that may have been had, but make no mistake, you don't get to choose your "months" they aren't your 21 year old months, they are very likely the end of life months.

You don't go to a doctor's office and say perform surgery now? Tell that to my brother in law who does plastic surgery for a million dollar living. In fact, you can go to a doctor and tell them to do an unnecessary jiffy boob job any day and they will do it. I do appreciate your "getting your hair done" analogy, though, right, because I'm a dumb chick and don't get it unless you break it down for me. Why don't you think outside the box and realize that this woman went in for sinus surgery and there was no reason for anyone to look at her throat? I hope the world is not filled with litigious people who really think they can sue someone for their years of smoking. If you think this woman would have lived several years than you don't know too much about medicine, of course I don't either, I just get my hair done. What is a "normal" doctor to you? An IM, A GP, An FP, ? None of then would have called it either, not without her saying that she was a heavy smoker.

Oh and his wife has a definite butter face..eww.. I guess if you marry someone for their money you earn every penny. I would concentrate less on oiled up jiffy boobs and more on nose job and chin lipo.

Lady you definitely are no rocket scientist and I find it difficult to believe your brother can be a Doctor if he's related to you because your IQ is not too high. Normal people and normal Doctors get a consult first and the Doctor if he recommends surgery then schedules the surgery after reviewing the case and the procedures he has to do. No one in their right mind and no reputable Doctor takes a patient off the street who just comes in and says perform sinus surgery now. You are missing a bunch of IQ points. If your brother really does operations with people just coming in off the street and no preparations, I'm wondering did he actually go to Medical School and get his degree? People like you lady scare me and its people like you that these shows seem to do stories about.

I said my brother in law, and hey, try using commas when you bag on people's stupidity. If you smoke two packs a day, you will probably get cancer. It's people like you, who think it's okay to file frivolous lawsuits that are scary. I'm done arguing about this dumb show. Thanks for calling me a moron, though, hope it made your day. Please note the use of commas in my sentence and maybe use them in one of yours sometime.

Oh but one more thing, yes, of course doctor's take histories, but the histories are only as good as the people giving them. You see, some people want their boobs, noses, etc, so bad, that they do a little thing called "lying, "truth managing", "reality styling"..call it what you want. When a patient gives you a bad history, how the hell are you supposed to know? Do we poll all their friends? No, nobody has time for that. Most people seeking medical treatment are honest with their caregivers unless they want a quickie surgery, in which case, it's really their fault for not being forthcoming. I bet that woman didn't tell her doc that she smoked two packs a day because if she did he wouldn't have done the surgery for reasons like DVT, PE, anesthesia complications. Hey but what do I know, I'm an idiot? This whole thing was grossly blown out of proportion, even my doctor agrees, he's a friend and we talked about it. How do you come up with 13 million dollars from a woman who was a social worker? Insurance is based on income lost and I don't know any social workers who rake in 13 mill. But I'm dumb. Again, sad that the woman died, ridiculous that my healthcare has gone up now. Now I better get back to my 'gazintas so I can study for my GED.

I guess I'm an idiot too; I taped over the end and did not know what happened. So what happened after they caught him and took him in and he was confessing? I lost it after that, as I said, I taped over it accidentally. Apparently, they were looking for him because someone wanted to sue him because a woman had died from cancer that he did not treat or diagnose? But did they take him immediately to jail, or extradite him back to the U.S.? What happened to his wife? I can't find a follow-up news article on it.

By the way, when doctors check people's sinuses, they usually also check their ears, nose, throat, nasopharynx, sometimes even their thyroid. Esp. if the dr is an e.n.t. specialist.

I would like to hear the rest of the story.