What is wrong?

My mother had a pm put in 1990, at a hospital that was not heart accredited. She passed the next day. Since this hospital was not accredited, is this considered murder?

4 Comments

Sorry for your loss

by Theknotguy - 2015-01-03 08:01:19

I too am sorry for your loss. But it is out of the scope of this forum to give you an answer. Whether or not the hospital was accredited, what was the doctor's status? Was this done in an emergency situation? What was the health of your mother prior to receiving the PM? All of the above questions need to be taken in consideration.

After consideration of the above questions - and many more - you'll need to consult with a competent lawyer.

At the very least, if she survived from 1990 to 2014 I don't feel you can find fault with the hospital.

Again, sorry for your loss.

A question...

by donr - 2015-01-04 06:01:55

...If the hosp was not accredited, why did they have all the specialized equipment for installing PM's? That takes a specialized fluoroscope, specialized catheters & installation equipment, A PM company Rep or specially trained staff to assist in the procedure & last, a Cardio specially trained to do the implant. They also have to get the PM to implant - they just don't lie around supply rooms waiting.

They are really taking a chance legally by allowing this sort of procedure to be accomplished.

Sounds to me like they were in a run up toward getting accreditation & had not achieved it yet & all went wrong in your mother's case.

Since she made it through the procedure, she must have had a minimally successful implant.

You need to read that postmortem autopsy report to see what was found. I'm sure that the hosp had one performed for their own protection.

Something is missing here.

Donr

not murder

by Tracey_E - 2015-01-04 09:01:06

As sparrow said, murder implies intent. Whatever their facilities and qualifications, their intent was to save her life. Most likely it was just bad luck, at the very worst malpractice but given how long it's been you'd have a hard time proving anything. The doctor's qualifications are more important than the hospital and a pacemaker is not a cure-all. It can send the message to the heart to beat, that's it. It can't make the heart respond. In an emergency situation, they do what they can to save a life and often that means there's no time to transfer even if there is a better, accredited facility across town. If it doesn't work, that doesn't necessarily mean they did anything wrong. Dwelling on it now won't accomplish anything.

More info

by ybliku2 - 2015-01-29 03:01:57

She was operated on later in the afternoon on April 11, 1990 and passed before 10 am the next morning. I don't call that making it through the procedure very well. According to what the attending physician told my family is that a Dr. visiting from St. Louis at this hospital was doing the surgery. At mother's funeral in which her younger sister attended, she was from St. Louis and had just recovered pacemaker surgery up there, my mother was admitted on April 10 and operated on April 11. No time for any necessary testing as they had done on her up in St. Louis. In 2001 I worked for the same hospital group and in the Cardiac Cath lab and talking to techs they informed me that Herrin Hospital DID NOT receive accreditation for any heart surgeries until after 1996. I know none of this can bring my mother back, but it does make a difference when you live near a hospital that is capable of doing illegal or unethical procedures and covering them up or blowing them off. Try it and see how it feels. Unfortunately, there was no autopsy, my father was in deep shock when she passed.

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Pacemakers are very reliable devices.