I came across this http://www.proliability.com/tabid/468/entryid/326/slim-chance-texas-hospital-will-be-sued-for-poor-handling-of-ebola.aspx today while having some coffee before work. This upcoming week's assignments deal with malpractice and I thought this story was kind of interesting. Texas, of course, is one of the darling states where conservative ideas reign and when it comes to healthcare reform, it seems that tort reform is something that conservatives believe will solve many problems. This story is the mirror image of the nonsense cases that conservatives LOVE to find to fling against the wall. There is nothing funny about this, but it seems very ironic that as Ebola became an issue in this past election, we have a situation here where clear incompetence will likely not be punished.
I have mixed feelings about this. I've read about plenty of lawsuits wherein a lawyer casts a wide net and drags in countless people who really have nothing to do with a particular situation in order to shake out as much reward as possible. If possible, I certainly would like to see a limit on the ability to drag in people who really have nothing to do with the case. On the other hand, we have a situation like this one where, from the outside, the incompetence appears pretty staggering. Thoughts?
To me your description of the problem and its solution are the major problem with the sue society we have today. There is a far distance from lack of knowledge (even knowledge someone thinks someone else ought to have) and real gross negligence or worse premeditated malice. As advanced as we would like to think ourselves today with regard to medical diagnosis and treatment, we are still pretty much in our infancy with respect to medical outcomes and lord help us if penicillin stops being effective because most outcomes will be less than acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the medical community in the US is not use to these types of communicable diseases. So to see someone with a fever does not immediately raise alarms about one of the most fatal and incurable viruses in the world or even the possibility that someone in your care could possibly have it. I could also ask why you don't include in this discussion anyone involved in the transmission and late diagnosis of the Enterovirus 68? It has a name, it is known… why when children all over the US presented with its symptoms was it not immediately identified and treated? How did it get spread all over the country? Who should be held liable for the child that became paralyzed or died by this illness?
Do you honestly believe that this doctor or hospital or medical administration deliberately, intentionally and with malice turned this patient out knowing that they were infected with Ebola? Do you believe they knew what they did at all? Do you believe that the patient, although dead, is in anyway culpable for answering questions in less than an honest manner?
Sometimes people do the best they can… and they make honest mistakes in both action and thought. Are you perfect? Should ANY error in judgement, regardless of how genuine ruin your career or make it impossible for you to practice again?.... do you in your position hope that a nurses union will protect you?
Perhaps part of the ethos of caring about and for each other is to understand that we are imperfect… regardless of the gpa when we left school, regardless of our best intentions, we make errors. To me negligence is by degree and this one is pretty low in that category. If we must hold each other financially liable for every action then ‘pardon me’ and ‘I am sorry’ no longer have a place in our lexicon. But then again, perhaps it’s not about apportioning blame at all… perhaps it’s just about the money...
As I have relayed before. Shortly after arriving here in the UK I was involved in a fender bender. I ‘hit’ the other car in the rear end. My car, a Nissan Altima, acquired absolutely no damages… none. The other car had a dimple in the plastic back bumper slightly larger than the size of a tablespoon. My insurance went straight through the roof because they got their car totalled and both passengers received pain, suffering and loss of wages for the ‘whiplash’ they suffered…. Was I at fault?... 100%.... did I really do that kind of damage and injury? Only in a corrupt system supported by a sue mentality society.
The mentality to launch a lawsuit over every incidence of damage bothers me. I have been put in precarious spots before where I was openly encouraged to step outside the scope of my license. Had I done so and something had happened, I would have no one to blame but myself. From the inside of the industry, its easy for me to say that the general public has no idea how imprecise the practice of medicine is. I think far too many people vastly overestimate what medicine can do and are way to quick to come running with lawyers guns and money when they receive an outcome they aren't happy with. That said, as a practicing hospice nurse and former ICU nurse, I can readily attest to having seen deplorable cases of neglect that in my opinion, deserve to have legal action taken.
DeleteIn this case, my understanding is that the gentleman in question actually told the ER nurse he had just come back from Liberia. This colors the scenario a bit to me. Outbreaks like an enterovirus, or even a localized episode of tainted food do not alway present themselves as a bigger deal until hospitals communicate with each other and someone alerts the media. If it is true that the guy told them he had been in an area where the disease is active, I think the hospital staff needs to do a better job.
I have noticed that the daily ebola stories on the front page of our papers have vanished, no mention at all. Could elections be a cure for ebola?
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be that way here in the UK as well.... is it just that their is no news or... no news is good news
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