Posted by
Roxanna M. on Friday, March 27, 2009 11:34:39 AM
A woman died this week. She didn't want to. She was 62 years of age. She died from the third-leading cause of death in America; a cause that will kill more people in two weeks than the Iraq war has killed in 5 years; a cause that will kill 2-1/2 times as many people as motor vehicle accidents; a cause that will kill 3 times as many people as guns. That cause: a health care professional.
She went in for an endoscopy which, according to the Mayo Clinic, "is a safe procedure. However, it carries a very small risk of complications . . ."
According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, "complications of upper endoscopy include bleeding and puncture of the stomach lining. However, such complications are rare. Most people will probably have nothing more than a mild sore throat after the procedure. The procedure takes 20 to 30 minutes."
According to gicare.com, "A temporary, mild throat irritation sometimes occurs after the exam. Serious risks with upper GI endoscopy, however, are very uncommon . . . In extremely rare instances, a perforation, or tear, in the esophagus or stomach wall can occur. These complications may require hospitalization and, rarely, surgery."
After puncturing her small intestine, the doctor allowed the waste to spill into her body cavity for two days, enough time to let her bloat up nicely. He then went in, "cleaned her out", and removed the gallbladder.
She was doing just fine until the incision site became infected, opened up, and the small intestine spilled through. There was no coming back from the surgery to "fix" this. The infection took over, causing her entire body to become red and warm. She was developing a bed sore. Her eyelids wouldn't shut, which required special goggles to keep her eyes from drying out.
On January 30, 2009, she went in for a routine procedure. On March 24, 2009, she was declared brain dead. Her son, a paraplegic since a diving accident several years back, was told that he and his sister would have to make the decision when to pull the plug.
She was on Medicaid. Unfortunately, her fate is already our fate because of a system that sees nothing wrong with spending more on the treaters than on the treated. What is going to happen when government succeeds in instituting socialized health care and all of us are on Medicaid?
Is every doctor out there a butcher? Certainly not. There are doctors out there who perform miracles and others who toil away in free clinics and county facilities. But not this doctor. Not once since the incident happened has this man had the courage to face the children of his patient.
Already, the malpractice carrier has been called. The attorney has been called. The doctors who are being lined up to come in and say that "while complications are rare, they do happen and, therefore, death is an inherent risk. No malpractice occurred", are updating their CVs and their billing rates.
Meanwhile, a wonderful man who shows courage every day just by getting up, is trying to figure out how he's going to bury his mother on the $800.00 social security disability he receives every month.