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Man Sues Doctor for Outrageous Wait Time

Aired July 30, 2003 - 14:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So how long is too long to wait for a doctor to see you? A Las Vegas man says his wait was definitely too long. So long, in fact, he has take on the matter to court. Janine Gill of our Las Vegas affiliate KLAS picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

It's right here.

JANINE GILL, KLAS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aristotelis Belavilas deals with chronic back pain every day. He was scheduled for an epidural, but nothing prepared him for his visit. to Dr. Ty Weller. He was told to arrive at 1:30, an hour before his appointment, then at 2:45...

ARISTOTELIS BELAVILAS, PATIENT: They took me in and stuck an I.V. in my arm.

GILL: At 3:00 the news came.

BELAVILAS: He says the doctor is going to be an hour late.

GILL: Then 4:00.

BELAVILAS: Well it might be another 30 minutes. Is that going to be OK?

GILL: 5:20 rolled around. The surgery center would close in 10 minutes and still no doctor. Belavilas was afraid the doctor would rush through the procedure.

BELAVILAS: I got fed up. I said, Listen, I can't wait any more. I'm afraid, I'm scared, I don't want to do it.

GILL: Belavilas left just as Dr. Weller walked in the office.

BELAVILAS: And his response was, Let him go. Just like this. Not, I'm sorry. No anything.

GILL: Dr. Weller admits four hours is a long time to wait.

DR. TY WELLER, PHYSICIAN: Oh, yes, that's horrible. Horrible.

GILL: But Weller says he had to treat patients at four separate centers that day. He overbook to accommodate Belavilas who wanted treatment before a trip to Europe the very next day. WELLER: And while I do genuinely sympathize with him for having to wait because no one really should, sometimes it's unavoidable.

GILL: Belavilas took Dr. Weller to small claims court and was awarded $250.

WELLER: I was outraged.

GILL: Belavilas says it's not about the money.

BELAVILAS: The little people have rights, too. I feel like, you know, somebody has to give him a lesson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: That was Janine Gill of our affiliate KLAS.

Now, we have waiting on the phone this afternoon, but we hope not too long, Aristotelis Belavilas. Yes, Belavilas. I just want to make sure I got your name right. Is not an easy one, but I understand you go by Teli. So thankfully I will use that nickname if it's all right with you.

BELAVILAS: That's fine.

COLLINS: All right. I wondering, Teli, we did hear in the story there that the doctor says that he was at four different offices that day and he fit you in kind of at the last minute to be seen. Is that true?

BELAVILAS: No, it's not true. I don't know what he had be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That's the story he gave afterwards.

What I believe it is, the doctor overbooked, did not pay attention to people are people and they have to be respected. And he can come with a cheap excuse, says, I'm God and you're not. And I do whatever I want. And that's what I believe he did.

COLLINS: Teli, I'm curious what you think you're waiting for when you are in a waiting office and you've been there for an hour and a half or two hours. What is going on that you're not being able to be seen?

BELAVILAS: Like I say, they could have said that the doctor has a heavy schedule and give me some pain pills and go home and do it when my trip is finished and ease my pain. Apparently, they didn't care even to give that when I asked. They said the doctor has to prescribe. And I was in pain for four hours and nobody cared about it.

COLLINS: What about going to an emergency room?

BELAVILAS: Apparently it wasn't an emergency, it's a chronic pain. And it's not something you can -- I (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Apparently when I went to Europe I went to a doctor and he gave me some pain pills and I eased my pains a little bit. COLLINS: Do you think or do you see any side of the argument that when you go to the doctor some of the reasons for it taking such a long time are because the doctor is trying to provide individualized care for each of one of his patients sometimes might take longer than other times? Or does that not float with you?

BELAVILAS: I have an excellent doctor that I respect very much. I respect the profession very much. Dr. Lankowski (ph), Dr, Vader (ph), Dr. Phells are doctors and they are beautiful people. I don't wait more than an hour, ever. And treat me nice.

This gentleman, I think is for money, and people like him I don't respect.

COLLINS: Well, it's certainly an issue that many of us can relate to, waiting in a doctor's office. So we appreciate your story very much today. Aristotelis Belavilas, thank you once again.

BELAVILAS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 30, 2003 - 14:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So how long is too long to wait for a doctor to see you? A Las Vegas man says his wait was definitely too long. So long, in fact, he has take on the matter to court. Janine Gill of our Las Vegas affiliate KLAS picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

It's right here.

JANINE GILL, KLAS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aristotelis Belavilas deals with chronic back pain every day. He was scheduled for an epidural, but nothing prepared him for his visit. to Dr. Ty Weller. He was told to arrive at 1:30, an hour before his appointment, then at 2:45...

ARISTOTELIS BELAVILAS, PATIENT: They took me in and stuck an I.V. in my arm.

GILL: At 3:00 the news came.

BELAVILAS: He says the doctor is going to be an hour late.

GILL: Then 4:00.

BELAVILAS: Well it might be another 30 minutes. Is that going to be OK?

GILL: 5:20 rolled around. The surgery center would close in 10 minutes and still no doctor. Belavilas was afraid the doctor would rush through the procedure.

BELAVILAS: I got fed up. I said, Listen, I can't wait any more. I'm afraid, I'm scared, I don't want to do it.

GILL: Belavilas left just as Dr. Weller walked in the office.

BELAVILAS: And his response was, Let him go. Just like this. Not, I'm sorry. No anything.

GILL: Dr. Weller admits four hours is a long time to wait.

DR. TY WELLER, PHYSICIAN: Oh, yes, that's horrible. Horrible.

GILL: But Weller says he had to treat patients at four separate centers that day. He overbook to accommodate Belavilas who wanted treatment before a trip to Europe the very next day. WELLER: And while I do genuinely sympathize with him for having to wait because no one really should, sometimes it's unavoidable.

GILL: Belavilas took Dr. Weller to small claims court and was awarded $250.

WELLER: I was outraged.

GILL: Belavilas says it's not about the money.

BELAVILAS: The little people have rights, too. I feel like, you know, somebody has to give him a lesson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: That was Janine Gill of our affiliate KLAS.

Now, we have waiting on the phone this afternoon, but we hope not too long, Aristotelis Belavilas. Yes, Belavilas. I just want to make sure I got your name right. Is not an easy one, but I understand you go by Teli. So thankfully I will use that nickname if it's all right with you.

BELAVILAS: That's fine.

COLLINS: All right. I wondering, Teli, we did hear in the story there that the doctor says that he was at four different offices that day and he fit you in kind of at the last minute to be seen. Is that true?

BELAVILAS: No, it's not true. I don't know what he had be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That's the story he gave afterwards.

What I believe it is, the doctor overbooked, did not pay attention to people are people and they have to be respected. And he can come with a cheap excuse, says, I'm God and you're not. And I do whatever I want. And that's what I believe he did.

COLLINS: Teli, I'm curious what you think you're waiting for when you are in a waiting office and you've been there for an hour and a half or two hours. What is going on that you're not being able to be seen?

BELAVILAS: Like I say, they could have said that the doctor has a heavy schedule and give me some pain pills and go home and do it when my trip is finished and ease my pain. Apparently, they didn't care even to give that when I asked. They said the doctor has to prescribe. And I was in pain for four hours and nobody cared about it.

COLLINS: What about going to an emergency room?

BELAVILAS: Apparently it wasn't an emergency, it's a chronic pain. And it's not something you can -- I (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Apparently when I went to Europe I went to a doctor and he gave me some pain pills and I eased my pains a little bit. COLLINS: Do you think or do you see any side of the argument that when you go to the doctor some of the reasons for it taking such a long time are because the doctor is trying to provide individualized care for each of one of his patients sometimes might take longer than other times? Or does that not float with you?

BELAVILAS: I have an excellent doctor that I respect very much. I respect the profession very much. Dr. Lankowski (ph), Dr, Vader (ph), Dr. Phells are doctors and they are beautiful people. I don't wait more than an hour, ever. And treat me nice.

This gentleman, I think is for money, and people like him I don't respect.

COLLINS: Well, it's certainly an issue that many of us can relate to, waiting in a doctor's office. So we appreciate your story very much today. Aristotelis Belavilas, thank you once again.

BELAVILAS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com