S
SRMcMahon
Guest
What is the name of your state? ND
My husband died a couple of months ago from liver and kidney failure. He had complained of illness for several years. His doctor visits were sporadic, but he did see doctors. At one time he had a pattern of binge drinking, which faded over the years.
In the early 90's he was told his liver enzymes were elevated and that it was a sign of alcohol-induced liver damage. He did continue with his pattern (slowly changing) of alcohol use. In the mid to late 90's he was told his liver was enlarged. He frequently complained of GI symptoms. He also said he felt like his mind "was going". He was very fatigued and his muscles were atrophying. He had diarrhea and what appeared to be abdominal bloating. The doctor visits became increasingly frequent. He had been seeing a GI who eventually turned out to have licensing problems (still licensed in the adjoining state and the the problems were related to issues pertaining to "psychiatric care", no real details in the papers). The GI seemed to provide much more personal care than many doctors, but my husband started going to our family practice clinic when the GI lost his license. This clinic provides sliding-scale and fairly low-cost, very basic care, with a few physicians, a small pharmacy, and a lot of med students, PA's, NPs, and so forth. My husband saw a physician at the clinic. Eventually the dr. referred him to another GI. This GI (with whom we were always very impressed) wondered why my husband had not been tested for hep C and identified liver disease. The family dr. didn't do the hep C tests for another 4 months, during which time he consistently referred to my husband as having "alcoholic liver disease". My husband had been sober for some time by then but was getting sicker all the time. Eventually the hep C was confirmed. The next 18 months were spent with his care, finding a way to cover his medical expenses (successfully, although we went through most of our savings before that--we learned about insurance for the uninsurable and were luckily able to pay for it). He died before a liver transplant could be done. There were a lot of complications in that time period--his primary doctor left for a different job, the clinic lost another doctor, we were trying to get another primary set up, he kept landing in the hospital. He did NOT have a regular doctor the last three months of his life. I know this did not help, although I also know he was very, very sick.
Here are the three things that bother me most:
1. In the last few months of his life, he spent some time in a "transitional care unit". An appointment had been arranged for him to get a new primary doctor, an internal medicine specialist. The doctor (I don't know what specialty) who ran the TCU cancelled the appointment without discussing with me (my husband by then had frequent episode of confusion). I had previously emphasized to the nurses how important this appt was because of my husband's increasingly unstable condition. I never did meet the TCU doctor. The nurses said he cancelled the appt "because it's just for a physical and he doesn't need that". By then my husband had been relying on ER and hospital doctors for well over a month. My husband was discharged late Friday afternoon. The med orders were a big change from before. I wondered, but it was too late to find out why they had been changed. Later it turned out that a nurse had incorrectly transcribed instructions but also a med that should have been prescribed had not been. (The meds were diuretics. One diuretic was missing from the orders and the dosage of the other changed. The two diuretics are typically given together since one can raise potassium levels, a problem my husband often had).
By Monday morning he was unresponsive and went to hospital by ambulance, was in ICU then regular room, total of more than a week. He was discharged for a few days, then back in for 9, then out, then in for what turned out to be the last time. He died 7 weeks after the cancelled appointment, which was never able to be rescheduled, never out for long enough. During the time frame he was in the hosp then TCU, he developed infection (first time!) and went on antibiotics, so something new was happening.
2) late August, he was released from the hospital so we could drive 240 miles to transplant center (we were told since that was just for evaluation there was no coverage for ambulance transport. They kept him in long as possible so he could be as stable as possible). Our understanding was he would be immediately hospitalized at the center. This did not happen, and this was a new center for him. First outpatient appointment they did paracentesis. In the past this was done in hospital bed and tap on his left side, using ultrasound imagery. At the center, he was placed in straight-backed chair. I later realized there was no ultrasound. He was tapped in the right side. He began to bleed, then the flow stopped and they started over. I remember feeling horribly uneasy about the whole thing. Less than 48 hours he was admitted thru ER with abdominal pain, weakness, vomiting. They found a hernia, which they popped back in and he felt better. Two days later he developed septicemia, and the rest was cascading infections and kidney failure. Also, I remember someone asking us how long he had had kidney problems, and how I panicked, because the last primary doctor we had had indicated his kidneys were doing fine--one of the hopeful facts we clung to (along with no infection!).
3) but before all that, he was seen by doctors for years, and doctors did note hepatitis. As the one GI said, "I wonder why nobody has never tested you for hepatitis C". Later, that GI said yes when I asked him if by 1995, say, the medical world knew enough about hep C to recognize indications for testing.
But suing? I keep thinking of how much my husband appreciated the care he got, and I know doctors are not gods. The family doctor who referred us to the GI is known for his dedication--he's not making bundles of money, he works mostly in public-health areas, doctors without borders, helped set up this clinic to provide access to a lot of people who would have trouble getting medical care otherwise. The earlier GI who had licensing problems--but seemed to be very thorough, very kind, very caring. And I can't get the one thing I want, my husband back. I do believe there were many factors in his death, many mistakes--but I don't believe it is reasonable to expect perfection. But a HCV test earlier could have meant antiviral treatment and a life. And I know other people with HCV who go undiagnosed BECAUSE they are simply assumed to be alcoholics.
So, any thoughts on how a person makes a decision about something like this? Also, do people who win malpractice decisions find they get peace or closure from that, or do they get their peace some other way?
My husband died a couple of months ago from liver and kidney failure. He had complained of illness for several years. His doctor visits were sporadic, but he did see doctors. At one time he had a pattern of binge drinking, which faded over the years.
In the early 90's he was told his liver enzymes were elevated and that it was a sign of alcohol-induced liver damage. He did continue with his pattern (slowly changing) of alcohol use. In the mid to late 90's he was told his liver was enlarged. He frequently complained of GI symptoms. He also said he felt like his mind "was going". He was very fatigued and his muscles were atrophying. He had diarrhea and what appeared to be abdominal bloating. The doctor visits became increasingly frequent. He had been seeing a GI who eventually turned out to have licensing problems (still licensed in the adjoining state and the the problems were related to issues pertaining to "psychiatric care", no real details in the papers). The GI seemed to provide much more personal care than many doctors, but my husband started going to our family practice clinic when the GI lost his license. This clinic provides sliding-scale and fairly low-cost, very basic care, with a few physicians, a small pharmacy, and a lot of med students, PA's, NPs, and so forth. My husband saw a physician at the clinic. Eventually the dr. referred him to another GI. This GI (with whom we were always very impressed) wondered why my husband had not been tested for hep C and identified liver disease. The family dr. didn't do the hep C tests for another 4 months, during which time he consistently referred to my husband as having "alcoholic liver disease". My husband had been sober for some time by then but was getting sicker all the time. Eventually the hep C was confirmed. The next 18 months were spent with his care, finding a way to cover his medical expenses (successfully, although we went through most of our savings before that--we learned about insurance for the uninsurable and were luckily able to pay for it). He died before a liver transplant could be done. There were a lot of complications in that time period--his primary doctor left for a different job, the clinic lost another doctor, we were trying to get another primary set up, he kept landing in the hospital. He did NOT have a regular doctor the last three months of his life. I know this did not help, although I also know he was very, very sick.
Here are the three things that bother me most:
1. In the last few months of his life, he spent some time in a "transitional care unit". An appointment had been arranged for him to get a new primary doctor, an internal medicine specialist. The doctor (I don't know what specialty) who ran the TCU cancelled the appointment without discussing with me (my husband by then had frequent episode of confusion). I had previously emphasized to the nurses how important this appt was because of my husband's increasingly unstable condition. I never did meet the TCU doctor. The nurses said he cancelled the appt "because it's just for a physical and he doesn't need that". By then my husband had been relying on ER and hospital doctors for well over a month. My husband was discharged late Friday afternoon. The med orders were a big change from before. I wondered, but it was too late to find out why they had been changed. Later it turned out that a nurse had incorrectly transcribed instructions but also a med that should have been prescribed had not been. (The meds were diuretics. One diuretic was missing from the orders and the dosage of the other changed. The two diuretics are typically given together since one can raise potassium levels, a problem my husband often had).
By Monday morning he was unresponsive and went to hospital by ambulance, was in ICU then regular room, total of more than a week. He was discharged for a few days, then back in for 9, then out, then in for what turned out to be the last time. He died 7 weeks after the cancelled appointment, which was never able to be rescheduled, never out for long enough. During the time frame he was in the hosp then TCU, he developed infection (first time!) and went on antibiotics, so something new was happening.
2) late August, he was released from the hospital so we could drive 240 miles to transplant center (we were told since that was just for evaluation there was no coverage for ambulance transport. They kept him in long as possible so he could be as stable as possible). Our understanding was he would be immediately hospitalized at the center. This did not happen, and this was a new center for him. First outpatient appointment they did paracentesis. In the past this was done in hospital bed and tap on his left side, using ultrasound imagery. At the center, he was placed in straight-backed chair. I later realized there was no ultrasound. He was tapped in the right side. He began to bleed, then the flow stopped and they started over. I remember feeling horribly uneasy about the whole thing. Less than 48 hours he was admitted thru ER with abdominal pain, weakness, vomiting. They found a hernia, which they popped back in and he felt better. Two days later he developed septicemia, and the rest was cascading infections and kidney failure. Also, I remember someone asking us how long he had had kidney problems, and how I panicked, because the last primary doctor we had had indicated his kidneys were doing fine--one of the hopeful facts we clung to (along with no infection!).
3) but before all that, he was seen by doctors for years, and doctors did note hepatitis. As the one GI said, "I wonder why nobody has never tested you for hepatitis C". Later, that GI said yes when I asked him if by 1995, say, the medical world knew enough about hep C to recognize indications for testing.
But suing? I keep thinking of how much my husband appreciated the care he got, and I know doctors are not gods. The family doctor who referred us to the GI is known for his dedication--he's not making bundles of money, he works mostly in public-health areas, doctors without borders, helped set up this clinic to provide access to a lot of people who would have trouble getting medical care otherwise. The earlier GI who had licensing problems--but seemed to be very thorough, very kind, very caring. And I can't get the one thing I want, my husband back. I do believe there were many factors in his death, many mistakes--but I don't believe it is reasonable to expect perfection. But a HCV test earlier could have meant antiviral treatment and a life. And I know other people with HCV who go undiagnosed BECAUSE they are simply assumed to be alcoholics.
So, any thoughts on how a person makes a decision about something like this? Also, do people who win malpractice decisions find they get peace or closure from that, or do they get their peace some other way?