A child goes in for atonsillectomy and comes out of surgery “brain dead”. The family wants answers, the hospital wants
to disconnect her from life support. The
family wants to move the child to another facility. The hospital wants to
disconnect her from life support.
This story is eerily
similar to another case I know intimately.
Over 20 years ago my only child at the time went in for a tonsillectomy. He didn’t come out brain
dead but he did die a week later from blood loss after 4 different doctors on 5
different occasions told me don’t worry, the bleeding stopped and he’s
fine. What an awful way to prove doctors
wrong. (By the way, I have had about 10 calls over the years from families who
lost a loved one from a tonsillectomy)
This is another opportunity to show not only
how dangerous surgery, including the tonsillectomy is, but it also shows that
there is a problem with communication between the patient (in this case family)
medical providers and the press.
Here are my
thoughts. There are 24 hours in a
day. There is a lot more happening in
that 24 hours than the media is telling us.
We aren’t getting the whole story.
What I am getting is that this family is not getting the answers they
want nor are they getting the respect they deserve. If they were, chances are they would never go
to the press and if they were, the press wouldn't be interested.
If in fact, this was a
medical injury, caused by the care she received, it would be great if the
hospital did everything and anything the family wanted - including keep her
heart pumping, get her to a different facility and get counseling for the
family and staff. But, it is probably
too costly to do that. Plus a medical
malpractice case would cost more if she does live and needs more, long term
care.
I would think that this
would be a great case for medical mediation.
The family, the hospital and their lawyers would need to approve of a
conversation / dialogue to each be heard.
What are the needs of each involved?
Honest, open, confidential dialogue that can be kept out of the press
should be part of the families and lawyers suggestion. If in fact this is a local hospital, that
this family may need again, why would they want to be wrapped up in a lawsuit
for years?
Through mediation, the
family can ask for financial compensation an apology, answers and even a way to
make sure someone learns from what happened and not close it away someplace so
patients can’t learn nor can the medical system learn.
I wish they had that
available 20 years ago.
1 comment:
Ilene: So sorry about your son.
Medical mediation was available twenty years ago; it just took thinking outside the box by the attorneys, insurers, and healthcare providers. Unfortunately, that was rare twenty years ago and is still rare in many healthcare systems today.
From what I understand, a family that lost a child at CHO is attempting to teach the prompt disclosure and open exchange process to the hospital in an effort to better understand what happened to their child. They are doing that for themselves and future patients and families.
Post a Comment