Payoff For Wrongful Death, Will That Make it Better? Aftermath Explains It

 

I just watched Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Aftermath.  The movie is about a man who loses his family in a terrible accident that killed 271 passengers on two planes.  I’m not giving away anything that isn’t in the trailer.  A person is the cause of the accident.  A terrible mistake.  The devastated father and husband (Schwarzenegger) seeks an apology and is offered payment instead.  At some point he is offered money in exchange for a lawsuit.  The movie is based on his search for an apology.  

There are similarities in this movie to what families go through following the deaths of loved ones due to the medical care they receive.  A terrible accident because of someone’s error, a misjudgment or a system breakdown that causes injury or death is often responded to first with silence, an offer of payment and signing an order to not disclose the amount of the payment and sometimes to never speak about the incident.

Yet, many people say they want to be sure that the incident will never happen again or, no other family has to suffer as they did.  I’m not sure how that will happen when the family is paid off but of course, the attorneys need to be paid and that’s how they get paid, out of the settlement.

If you watch Aftermath, and you have experienced the loss of a family member because of the medical care they received, consider leaving a message on the similarities if you see it.  And can anyone learn from this comparison?

Bring Back Trust

When the Trust is Gone

I recently bought pens from a company I have been doing business with for years.  The price was right, I was promised extra’s and it would come in time for a fair we were holding. 

They came on time, the day before the fair, but when I opened the box, they were the wrong color, missing the promised free logo and a word was spelled incorrectly.  I was angry and immediately called the company with my concerns.  There was a promise to call back the next day.  Five days later and still nothing.  Now it’s not the error that has me angry.  That could have been handled with an apology and explanation.  It’s the lack of sincerity to make it right.  The disrespect of not calling back and ironically, where should I buy my pens now?

When we use the healthcare system and things go wrong, there is a similar dilemma.  If I don’t “trust” the people caring for me, where do I go?  Some people might say that after a bad outcome they don’t want others to suffer the same thing.  I know in my case, after my son died because of his medical care, I needed to trust again.  I hear in many people’s plea for answers, courtesy and respect, they are also looking to trust the system and the people who work in it.

Customer service has come a long way in some hospitals and throughout the healthcare system.  But learning to navigate it is troubling.  Some of my most recent calls are asking who the patient’s family should call to get answers to questions or a response to concerns.  The Patient Advocate, Patient Representative and now the Patient Experience Department.  Just try calling and asking for customer service and see who you get.

Feel free to share your experience.

Put Ice ON it

I Don't Get It

So I get my shot and I ask the doctor about any side effects.  She tells me it may swell and get red but ice and Motrin will help.  It is a bit uncomfortable so I begin sucking on ice cubes and tape a Motrin pill to the area that has swelled.  Just kidding!!!!!

But it’s really not a joke.  Many, many patients don’t get the doctor’s information correctly.  The way this was explained to me may have been confusing to someone who doesn’t know what to do with their directions, can’t read well or speak another language.  In all of our lives we often assume people know what we know.  That comes from using words that aren’t used by everyone or not encouraging someone to reflect back instructions or information.

As a patients advocate we need to be sure we are hearing exactly what the doctor or nurse is telling the patient to do.  Think of ways the information can be jumbled and assume the patient isn’t hearing it because it can get jumbled or they are distracted. 

If I were with an advocate when my doctor gave me instructions to just use ice and Motrin for pain, what are some of the things you could have said to help?

Doctor, can you explain exactly how much ice and how much Motrin?  Can you explain further what to do with the ice and Motrin?

Or

Doctor, how long should we use ice and Motrin or is there another medication we can use?

Ask the patient to explain what she will do.  “Ilene, what will you do with the ice and Motrin?” The response should be in front of the doctor so when I say I will suck on the ice, the doctor knows additional explanation is needed.

Thanks for reading!

In patient safety, there is a spoken and unspoken “rule” that we are not supposed to blame the people who make errors. There is a system, in most cases that causes these errors to occur. This is known as the Swiss cheese model. This term is used regularly to explain how errors happen.

Because there is usually a system break down, where the error is not caught, if it makes it through the holes in the Swiss cheese, it is not just one persons fault. Therefore, we couldn’t possibly punish (suspend or fire) an employee who causes harm to a patient.

On my way back from the airport, following a 1 ½ day patient safety meeting, I was surprised to hear on the radio that the Secret Service agents who allowed a couple to crash President Obama's first state dinner were suspended.

In the newspaper today I read that Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said it was “human error," which allowed these unknowns to intrude. For this, three men were suspended.

Although I am not advocating firing or suspending someone who makes an error, I’m just wondering why I am seeing this as a bit controversial. Care to comment? Please do.

Remembering the Medical Injury

Have you ever wondered why people who have experienced medical injury seem to remember for many years later the conversations with healthcare providers following the incident? A 60 Minutes program about the medication called Proprandol that can block painful memories for post traumatic stress also mentioned how post traumatic stress or PTS happens. Another article on the same subject has just surfaced.

Adrenaline is released when an incident happens that makes you angry and emotional and this adrenaline actually makes you remember better.

Those who experience medical injury remember the details of the incident itself. However, it is often the conversations that follow the incident, with the medical personnel in which answers are not honest and forthright, that the patient and their family remember and focus on. I call this “he said she said”. Although it is better to focus on facts so others can learn from the incident, it is the conversations that follow that get the most focus.

Example: a patient may have had a delayed diagnosis because no one called about her test results. This alone is very traumatic and has a lesson - we should always call to get our own test results if we do not hear from the doctor’s office. But, the conversation may continue, “I asked the doctor why they didn’t call and he said he would look into it.” This may seem a reasonable answer, but this answer may be what has actually traumatized the patient long after she received her treatment, even with good results, because this conversation is what caused the adrenalin to be released. Additional conversations are also remembered in detail and are as painful.

Although there is no proof, it does seem like something worth knowing. Studies have shown repeatedly that honest disclosure and upfront compensation or an apology reduces the chance of a lawsuit. It may be another reason that patients experiencing medical injury should be treated fairly and with honesty from the beginning. Maybe treated with respect and honesty will keep that adrenilin from flowing.