Friday, January 01, 2021
A Lawsuit Over “Wrongfully Prolonging Life”
One of the more unusual stories about end-of-life issues to cross the transom comes to us this week from Massachusettes. I’m sure we’ve all heard plenty of reports involving wrongful death lawsuits, particularly in both the medical community and law enforcement scenarios. But have you ever heard of a “wrongful life” lawsuit? That’s essentially what’s playing out at St. Peter’s Hospital. Last year, 67-year-old Rodney Knoepfle was at the hospital for a routine procedure. Knoepfle was in terrible shape, having lived a lifetime with medical problems ranging from back and neck surgeries to multiple hip replacements and advanced heart disease. But when he went to use the restroom, he felt a huge surge of pain in his chest and he collapsed to the floor. Rodney Knoepfle died there in that restroom.
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I can 100% agree with the man's anger at the medical people ignoring his DNR order. A personal story:
ReplyDeleteMy Grandmother and Mother both had strokes a week apart, and were bedridden, unable to move, eat by themselves, or even speak. My Grandmother decided to refuse food in order to hasten her own death. The staff at the nursing home wanted to give her a feeding tube and asked me, as her representative, to agree. She was fully cognizant and I asked her if she wanted it, and she emphatically refused in front of two witnesses. She passed within a month, six months after her stroke.
My Mother, on the other hand, was almost completely incognizant. At least I hope she was, because the thought of being locked inside your own body with no way to move or communicate other than lift your eyebrows, and knowing you will never be able to again is horrific. Worse, they put a feeding tube in without consulting me, and once in, it can't be removed without a court order. SHE LIVED FOR TWO YEARS LIKE THIS.
My wife and I agreed we do not want to EVER have that happen if one of us becomes so incapacitated. We both have DNRs on file and if they're ignored, whichever of us survives will make them pay dearly.
Bet the hospital did it for the $$$. How do they not know about a DNR order?
ReplyDeleteThey have to be on file at the hospital before you become a patient. Give all your hospitals a copy
DeleteI'm with the angry patient. Failure to respect a DNR order is not only illegal, it is unethical and often cruel. I despise physicians who insist that we "must preserve life under ALL circumstances." Death is not the enemy. Debility and suffering are the enemies. I'm all for putting off death as long as reasonable, but not as long as possible. The final decision "rests with God" (or G-d if you swing that way), but so much as we humans have a say, decisions regarding treatment should rest with the patient first, then his trusted proxy if the patient is unable to communicate his wishes.
ReplyDeleteIn this particular circumstance, it's hard to say where it all went wrong. What probably happened is that someone found this guy down and started CPR without checking his DNR status. If he was in the toilet of his OWN room then there should have been a sign at the door or by his bed, and the staff should have checked. On the other hand, if he collapsed in a public toilet (e.g. in a hallway) then there would be no way of knowing his DNR status unless he had a "Do not resuscitate" bracelet or tattoo.
By the way, this happened in Helena, MONTANA. The story was printed in the Boston Globe, but it didn't happen in Massholia.
@Anon @1341. Sorry to hear that about your mother. That is a terrible story. Unfortunately, stuff like that happens all too frequently. Something similar nearly happened with my mom. Major shenanigans were pulled by the attending physician, who on top of being an arrogant, insecure IMG*, was also incompetent. I was able to prevail but I had the good fortune of being both an MD myself and having a good reputation at the hospital where it all went down. Another piece of good fortune was that the IMG in question had a BAD reputation. Long story slightly shorter, I later found out that he was fired** because of what he tried to pull with my mom. Don't feel bad for him though, he moved to California and last I heard is making a VERY comfortable living working for Kaiser Permanente.
*IMG = international medical graduate, the PC term for someone from a non-US medical school. This man came from India.
** they didn't actually fire him; that could have led to lawsuits. They did some bureaucratic stuff so that he couldn't admit patients, so he had no revenue stream. He then left on his own.
My thoughts are a bit different from some. If a hospital staff member found someone passed out, without a heartbeat in the restroom, their first thought would most likely be to attempt to revive the person, not go look in their file for directions on their dying wishes.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I can't think that anyone would wish to live in a vegetative state. And it is too bad that this man's wishes were not honored. But it seems like a forgivable mistake. Just an opinion, not gospel.
pigpen51
Having worked more than my fair share of full codes in 30 yrs of paramedic service, ALL codes are started like normal.
ReplyDeleteYou start compressions, address airway and IV, put on the pads & monitor.
If during **ANY** of this it’s discovered that the pt has a DNR then it STOPS unless a family member loses their cool and asks for resuscitation to continue.
(A pox on any family member that asks that selfish shit.)
The linked story is different though, he was resuscitated BEFORE they checked his record. No timeframe is given.
I don’t have to worry about draining the family funds being “living” (existing) on a tube.
My wife will pull the plug to charge her cellphone.
The people who found him down likely did NOT know about him being a DNR.....such patients generally are bed bound and not up walking about. They acted IMMEDIATELY when he was found down....because only IMMEDIATE action works in such a situation. By the time anyone involved in resucitation efforts knew about the DNR order it was too late, he had been revived.
ReplyDeleteAnother "you can't win" situation.
Is there such a thing as a "DNR" bracelet?|
ReplyDeleteI'd buy my ex one in a heartbeat.
from the "inappropriate story' department:
ReplyDeleteFor years, I volunteered at the Mission in Eugene Oregon.
Three meals daily for several hundred plus bunks for a hundred or so.
One afternoon, the main room television set was muted, the gregarious boisterous crowd unusually quiet.
The cause -- a gentleman expired.
While sitting on the can.
Pants around ankles.
His remains tilted forward until the face planted on the concrete floor.
Our staff placed a respectful blanket over the A-frame body... right after several telephones recorded photographs of the high heiny... bathroom-tissue flagging in the breeze.