In February 2006, Emily Jerry, a two-year old child was at a Cleveland hospital to complete her last series of chemotherapy treatment. Her doctor ordered intravenous chemotherapy solution that was filled incorrectly by a pharmacy technician. The prescription called for 1% saline; however, a lethal amount of 23% saline was given instead, causing her to slip into a coma resulting in death. Eric Cropp, who was the supervising pharmacist signed off on the technician’s work despite her informing him that the mixture did not look right; nonetheless, he approved it. The pharmacy was so busy that day and short staffed, which led to a preventable fatal error that changed Eric’s whole life in a matter of seconds.
Picoult continues on this theme of “saving” by using Suzanne as Sara’s crutch, as she makes her coffee each morning and informs her of any missed phone calls. While in the hospital, Sara receives a call from Jesse’s principal informing her of Jesse’s suspension. On the car ride home she notices a bruise on his arm from a needle and assumes he has been using drugs. Jesse angrily explains how he has been donating blood that gave Kate platelets behind the family’s back, in order to “save” his sister. After two weeks in the hospital, Kate developed an infection that placed her in a coma on a respirator, which is “saving” her for the time being.
On Washing Hands Response The first time reading On Washing Hands, I really didn’t understand what point Gawande was trying to get across. Gawande was listing a bunch of deadly diseases, and I was wondering how they pertained to washing your hands. As you read further, in the short story, the author mentions two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital and ninety thousand die of that infection (Gawande 343). The main cause of this is people not washing their hands. It took me a while to piece together all the information.
Growing up I knew of cancer and the fatal toll it paid on its victims, but never understood how brutal it was. In the 8th grade I witnessed first hand actually how horrible the disease was when one of my classmates was diagnosed with Leukemia. I had always known it to be unfortunate, but was taken away by the fact that there was an
As his mother (also a Jehovah’s Witness) and an elder from his church were present at all times during the hospital stay, it was speculated that they were unduly influencing him to keep refusing the life-sustaining transfusion. However, Patient A was assessed by a third party and it was confirmed that he had full mental capacity and was making the decision on his own. As a result, Patient A did not receive blood transfusion and after three weeks in a hospital in the United Kingdom he died (1). In this paper I will consider the ethical implications involved in the care of adults (with full capacity) who refuse medical treatment on religious grounds. Reading about this case made me think of the ethical challenges that caring for members of faith who refuse life-saving treatments may pose for the physician – emotional, professional, and legal.
Further damage to his trust happened when a member of his family died in hospital, they contracted MRSA while being treated for a broken leg in 2004. Self-diagnose and self-prescribe with the help of the internet is now the only form of medical attention he receives. It has been 15 years since Mr D has seen a doctor and his attitude towards his health now is “what will be will be”. There is a wide variety of
A survey from The Conference Board of Canada, showed that 90 per cent of Canadians deem that health care should be the main concern of the government instead of other issues within the country. Because of this, the percentage of pregnant women dying at childbirth decreased by 10 per cent; surgeries for patients who are suffering from heart diseases, cataracts, etc has now an advantage with the modernized technology; extensive relief and long-term survival are also now obtainable for many cancer patients. Public healthcare service is now the main concern in first world countries such as Canada, but people must also take into consideration the other societal factors that are accountable for keeping people’s well-being healthy. Personal healthcare service such as residential services, mental health/center for addiction services and offers a variety of assistance that individuals could benefit a lot from. Home, Community and Residential Services This type of service is offered to seniors with moderate care needs who choose to stay at home.
I knew we lived in a day where people do not really seem to care for one another, but I would have never dreamed it would have been that way in the healthcare system. Although watching Michael Moore’s film was heartbreaking, it was very well put together. His film is mainly about the American Health Care system as seen through Michael Moore’s own eyes. In the film, Moore compares the non-universal and for-profit U.S. system with public funded health care systems in Canada, United Kingdom, France and Cuba. Sicko focuses on the 250 million Americans who do not have health insurance and who have become victims of the insurance company’s fraud or being denied any kind of coverage for their medical conditions.
The casting process was very painful for me. My mom says that I didn’t sleep the night after a new set of casts. After 18 months of casting it was not as successful as the doctors had hoped. I then had two separate surgery to finish the correction of my feet. The doctors cut my tendons so they could reform my foot and fastened in metal pins to hold it in place until my feet could heal.
According to Mershner, “A typical Canadian seeking surgical or other therapeutic treatment had to wait 18.3 weeks in 2007, an all-time high, according to new research published Monday by independent research organization the Fraser Institute” (Marshner). This is not how it should be in the U.S. The number of doctors employed in this country should rise rather than decline from the current level. Waiting periods for appointments longer than they are now are unacceptable. But at the same time if a Canadian has the civic right to have access to healthcare, it still would beat our current system.