Patient dies after catching fire during surgery

[rebel with a cause]

Associated Press

updated 6:04 a.m. CT, Fri., Sept . 18, 2009

ST. LOUIS - A woman died after being severely burned in a flash fire while undergoing surgery, a rare but vexing dilemma in operating rooms.

Janice McCall, 65, of Energy, Ill., died Sept. 8 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., six days after being burned on the operating table at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Ill., her family's attorney said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32909833/ns/health-health_care/
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hospital where this happened is a new fancy hospital in our region. This may not be the hospitals fault but..most people I know would not go there for treatment even before this happened. It worries me that during an emergency I could be taken there instead of my chosen hospital.

It may just be my opinion but as I see it not only the lack of health insurance is a problem in this country but the corporation health care system that has taken hold of the US medical field offers us a lack of concern for our well being. :shrug:

My heart goes out to this woman's family.

[ddeclue]

1. Yeah we need tort reform... like another hole in our head...

and there are doctors who can arrange that hole.

:eyes:

[Barack_America]

5. You assume tort reform means "no lawsuits ever again".

I don't think that would be the result.

[ddeclue]

6. It would be.

[Barack_America]

11. If you say so. nt

[anigbrowl]

12. Actually, yes we do need tort reform. Over in Europe...

where most countries have a single payer system or something resembling it, and healthcare is certainly better than here, doctors and hospitals still carry liability insurance but - partly because there is a decent healthcare system, and a medical accident does not necessarily mean a lifetime of vast medical bills - malpractice awards are significantly lower. This has not led to an epidemic of corporate wrongdoing, since regulation is rather tighter than here. However, in most European countries damages for pain and suffering are considerably lower than they are here. They will compensate and support someone financially, but not make them wealthy.

Massive lawsuits are not, IMO, and effective means of corporation regulation. The costs are just spread out among everyone else, and this is one reason for the continual rise in premiums. I am European, have been a healthcare worker in a single payer system (nurse's aide in a geriatric hospital, if you're wondering), my sister's a medical professional and my dad is a (retired) regional health board administrator one of 8 or 9 directly answerable to the health minister in my home country for delivery of everything from preventive care to ambulance and surgical outcomes.

So, you don't have to agree with me but I am not brainwashed or pulling this opinion out of my ass - I know quite a lot about how single-payer healthcare works in practice (which is why I advocate its adoption in the USA) and can accept the fact that you're still not guaranteed a perfect outcome in every case. Medical accidents like this one can occur under any system and they are not always predictable.

[stray cat]

2. No guarantees to protect you from freak accidents in life.

[rebel with a cause]

4. No there is not

but there are some places where those freak accidents are more likely to happen. :shrug:

I nearly died due to a doctor's error, but I was lucky that he cared enough to go the extra distance to save my life. Also the hospital I was at gave me extensive care even though I had no insurance to cover the cost.

[izquierdista]

7. But working safely helps

And doctors have too much education, interning, residency, and board certifications to bother with such pedestrian stuff as quality control and safety. That's for the blue collar riff-raff so they don't feed themselves into production machines and become accident statistics.

[anigbrowl]

13. That is really not true

There are some really arrogant doctors out there, and surgery in particular seems to attract or retain those with big egos. But accidents can happen even to the cautious when equipment fails.

[rebel with a cause]

14. According to the article

there are ways to make these incidents happen less. It is when the proper precautions are not taken that the number of these 'accidents' increase.

By the way, the word yesterday was that she was having a biopsy, supposedly in her temple area, and it was her hospital gown (probably paper) that caught fire. I don't know if any or all of this is true, but this was being reported then...before 'control' was taken of the story.

"The really arrogant doctors" statement is a bit of an understatement. A few months ago I went to my GP and when asked what my problem was, I answered "Specialist!" and I like my doctors most of the time. :rofl:

[anigbrowl]

15. I was talking about the content of the message I replied to, not the post title.

[rebel with a cause]

16. Okay,

I was just explaining that this was a particular accident that could happen less.

By the way, I really liked your post on European medical care. I agree about the differences between there and here.

[ddeclue]

17. What's the difference between doctors and airline pilots?

A pilot almost always pays for his mistake with his life.

Doctors get to go home that night.

[rhett o rick]

18. No but lawsuits may help protect the next poor bastard. I hope it isn't you. nt

[Louisiana1976]

3. Just when you thought it was safe to go...

to the hospital....:sarcasm:

[enid602]

8. bill

They must have showed her the bill.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Before I read the article I guessed it was probably bad use of gasses

in the OR setting.... and it is a rare accident

I read it, and yes... it was probably due to a concentration of Oxygen...

My heart goes to the family, and in this case a lawsuit is probably warranted.

[xchrom]

10. not what you wanna walk out and tell the waiting family. nt