Airman 1st Class Colton Read went in for surgery to remove his gallbladder.  Several weeks later, the gallbladder has still not been removed, but now parts of both legs have been amputated.

This man went in for a laparoscopic gallbladder removal on July 9.  During the procedure, a surgeon accidentally nicked or punctured his aorta; the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.  The surgeon was able to repair the leak enough to save his life, but the aorta began leaking and disrupted the blood supply to his legs.

Read was flown from Travis Air Force Base to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where doctors told family that the damage was from a lack of blood.  The damage was permanent and parts of Travis' leg needed to be removed.  Since then, Travis has been through 10 surgeries to remove dead tissue from his legs.

Officials at Travis Air Force Bases are investigating the "serious medical incident."  The case is under investigation by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. surgeon general.

This case is devastating, but unfortunately there are thousands of cases where routine surgeries go terribly wrong.  There are both good and bad doctors out there so make sure to really check out your doctor and get a feel for who they really are. 

One of the problems not only with doctors, or medical schools but in every school is cheating.  Cheating is a huge problem that affects not only k-12 education, but also in higher education.

There are lots of ways students can cheat but still get a degree without knowing anything.  Can you think of anything more frightening than ending up on the operating table with an inexperienced and unknowledgeable doctor?

Cheating can have dire consequences, especially in the medical field.  If you are putting your life in someone else's hands you want to know that they did more than successfully cheat on a test.  Patients want to know that their doctor worked really hard and that they are knowledgeable and well-qualified.

When you go in for a check up, you need to trust your physician. They are doing what is in your best interest, despite what some people may tell you. You shouldn’t look for any chance you have to sue them, or look for any fault that may or may not have been in there control. There is no question that when a terrible mistake has been made the physician needs to be held responsible, but don’t jump to any extreme measures. Medical malpractice is hard to accept, and it can be very sad. Don’t use medical malpractice as a front though for trying to get money from doctors, only sue for legitimate reasons. 

I have a family friend who is a doctor, but he retired simply because he got too frustrated with insurance companies and the high costs of malpractice. He would help a patient out by doing something for free, or at a reduced cost, and then get in trouble with the insurance company, and then his malpractice premiums would rise. It is crazy, and hopefully President Obama's new health care plan does something to fix it.