The death of Caroline Carcerano
Horrific cases of medical errors have become a burning issue in world today. Here’s the case of Caroline Carcerano from Massachusetts .She fell in her Watertown apartment and broke her vertebrae as her bones were fragile due to osteoporosis. She went to Massachusetts General Hospital where the surgeons fused some of her bones. But, she suffered with from surgical pain. Surgeons recommended that she should have a pump stitched under her skin to get analgesics directly to her spine. The patient went to Tufts medical center in Boston in November 2013 for a procedure to relieve her pain in her back. Dr Steven Hwang, who was the neurosurgeon requested for “Omnipaque”. It is a special dye to test the location of the tube that had been inserted in her spine. The pharmacist didn’t have it. He informed the nurse and gave her a dye known as “MD76”. Dr. Hwang checked the label, and then injected it, twice.
After the surgery, the neurosurgeon said that the pump should work well. However, the nurse reported that Caroline was waking up from the procedure suffering from pain and seizures. It took twenty four hours to figure out that Carcerano had received the wrong dye. The
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After the death of Caroline, the neurosurgeon, Dr Steven Hwang told her two sons that we apologize for our mistake, since we used a wrong dye. Eight months after she died, the attorneys of Tufts hospital send the letters to her sons stating that the surgeon, pharmacists and the nurses were not responsible for her death. Her sons Michael and Steven were totally shocked by reading those letters. They filled a case in the Supreme Court against the neurosurgeon Dr Hwang, 12 pharmacists, nurses and the hospital. William Thompson in Boston who is representing that family told that the insurance company gave a settlement offer after they inquired about Caroline’s case in
When asked to write about an important activist who has demonstrated protest, I immediately drifted towards a Hispanic and/or feminist activist. Various names came across my mind initially such as Cesar Chavez and Joan Baez but as a later discussion in class concluded, there are numerous others who are rarely highlighted for their activism and struggles, which lead to me researching more. In my research I came across Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist, who I felt was an underdog and brushed over activist in the Hispanic community.
I reviewed the Molly Wright case over and over making sure I had all the information concerning the murder correct in my mind. First thing I thought about was why; did Mr. David Hill kill Molly or what would he gain from it, I read where Wright had caused their market trading business to go in a debt totaling over $20.000 with loans and credit cards. This would have made David angry enough to have killed her and from the case file Molly was stuck 15 times and had defensive wounds on her hands this murder in my opinion she was killed out of rage and that helps when trying to identify the murderer and have a stronger case when it goes to court.
Learning from what Dr. Anna Pou had to face with the lawsuits she was dealing with makes me cringe. As Healthcare professionals, having to worry of possibly being sued for believing what is right for the patient or as a whole for the hospitals health is ridiculous. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Pou, have taken the Hippocratic oath, and one of the promises made within that oath is “first, do no harm”. Often time’s society look at courts cases as a battle versus two oppositions, but Dr. Pou’s case it is not. In her statements from national television she states saying her role was to ‘‘help’’ patients ‘‘through their pain,’’.
Chasing Zero is a documentary which was meant to both educate the viewer on the prevalence of medical harm as well as to enlighten both the public and health care providers on the preventability of these events (Discovery, 2010). The documentary expounded on the fact each year more people die each year from a preventable medical error than die due to breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents or AIDS (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Medical harm can result from adverse drug events, surgical injuries, wrong-site surgery, suicides, restraint-related injuries, falls, burns, pressure ulcers and mistaken patient identities (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Incidences of medical error have been reported in the media for many years. The most startling revelation in the documentary is how common medical errors are and how preventable they are.
In the case study of Juanita and Sandra, Juanita, a sales manager of Trumbell and Son, is struggling with Sandra who is a new employee on the sales team. Juanita is an effective manager who spends time to learn about what personalities, strength, and incidental details her employees have. Juanita can pull out employees best skill sets and internal incentives. On the other hand, Sandra’s inconsistent behavior made Juanita confuse about her personality. As a manager, Juanita feels uncomfortable about managing Sandra’s inconsistent personalities. This may be caused by the difference in behaviors and personalities between these two individual.
The Power of Mistakes Atul Gawande is not only our resident surgeon; he’s also a patient himself. He’s anxious before performing surgery, he dwells on mistakes, and he has emotions: he’s human and he understands us. However, he does not appear to share concerns with his patients initially. Gawande experiences a long, drawn-out development from a young medical student to the doctor he is today. This process of identifying with patients is evident in his anthology of essays, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States. Since its creation in 1789, 112 justices have served on the Court. Of these 112 justices, four of them are women. President Ronald Reagan appointed the first female justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, in 1981; she served for 25 years. Sandra Day O’Connor changed the face of women in politics. Men dominated the Supreme Court yet Sandra Day O’Connor made strides in feminist politics and women's rights by breaking the glass ceiling in the legal profession. She offered an unbiased point of view on many topics including abortion rights, the death penalty, and affirmative action.
People of the court, we’re here today on behalf of our defendant, Mary Maloney. Our defendant is not guilty of first degree murder, which she has been charged with. After hearing Mary’s testimony it is obvious that Mary reacted under the influence of pregnancy hormones, past insanity, and extreme stressful anxiety.
The tragedies Ruth Ginsburg experienced throughout her upbringing had a lasting contribution to her life today. In 1933, she was born to Russian-Jewish immigrants amidst the Great Depression. In the hardships of the Great Depression, she lost both her older sister and mother as a child. This time was one of great difficulty for Ginsburg; however, she withstood this adversity and gained invaluable life lessons giving her the opportunity to attain unprecedented levels of success. After coping with her losses, she left to attend Harvard Law School and later Columbia Law School, two world-renowned schools of law. At this period in history, however, both men who dominated this field and who ran the schools discriminated Ginsburg based on her gender (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg”). At one point during the school day, the Dean of Harvard Law approached her and said, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?” (Galanes). Despite this prejudice, Ginsburg continued to excel in her schooling where she later graduated as top of her class at Columbia (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg”).
In memory of Jocelyn, she gone on to become an advocate for the families of people who have C.H.A.R.G.E. Syndrome and also for those who have fallen victim to medical malpractice. She is the National Director for The National Association for Medical Malpractice Victims, Inc and the creator of the Jocelyn Dickson Foundation. Not even two years later, she has met with over 30,000 people who have been down the same road with medical malpractice. Gilbert also expressed, “I am really troubled by the statistics of Memorial Herman Hospital because they have over 1,000 medical malpractice suits and nothing is being done and it’s public knowledge,”. She knew that she had to do something about this.
There are many people who have contributed to society as a whole, men and women both. Some have contributed much more than others. One of them being Sandra Day O’Connor. I did not know too much about Sandra Day O’Connor until I read her background history. She was a very significant role in history; she was the first woman to be appointed as a justice in Supreme Court. She proved to the country that it does not matter what your gender is, she showed everyone that she had what it took to make it in the world. She was a very successful woman and a great inspiration to women at this time in the world. Obviously women had a hard time getting to that status with women being looked at as inferior to men. Her dedication, determination, and the fact she changed history drastically is a reason I chose to write my final over her.
Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer, was out swimming in the lake of Ha’ena, Kauai, Hawaii, with her best friend, Alana Blanchard, when Bethany got her arm bit off by a 14-15ft. Tiger shark. She lost over 60% of her blood. After one month though, she was back in the water. A few weeks later, she competed in the finals. Bethany Hamilton deserves the surfer of the year award!
Dr. Tagge, the lead surgeon, finally updated the family over two and a half hours later stating that Lewis did well even though he had to reposition the metal bar four times for correct placement (Kumar, 2008; Monk, 2002). Helen reported wondering if Dr. Tagge had realized how much Lewis’ chest depression had deepened since he last saw him a year ago in the office, especially considering he did not lay eyes on Lewis until he was under anesthesia the day of surgery (Kumar, 2008). In the recovery room, Lewis was conscious and alert with good vital signs, listing his pain as a three out of ten (Monk, 2002). Nurses and doctors in the recovery area charted that he had not produced any urine in his catheter despite intravenous hydration (Kumar, 2008; Monk, 2002). Epidural opioid analgesia was administered post-operatively for pain control, but was supplemented every six hours by intravenous Toradol (Ketorolac) (Kumar, 2008; Solidline Media,
Margaret Sanger once said, “No woman can call herself free who does not own and
Each day, people are admitted into hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings in hope for a cure or treatment for their illness. During these times, patients are usually at their most vulnerable state and need the best care possible from healthcare providers. Some patients end up recovering after several dreadful days or even months in hospital care, while others do not get another chance at life and take their last breath on a hospital bed. What is shocking here is that patients are not only losing their lives because of their bodies not having the strength to combat illnesses, but also because of mistakes made on behalf of medical staff members. Medical errors in places like hospitals, dental offices, and even doctors offices account