The 2nd such case in 4 months:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080820/ap_on_...s/patient_death

That's beyond cold hearted. I hope they go to prison for a long time.

FROM NEGLECT?

No, doctor, you don't physically retaliate.

And it's only going to get worse unless regulators step up controls.

My sis-in-law frequently comments that coworkers at the hospital where she works part-time in the psychiatric ward do not care about the patients.

Yep, I remember that. SHAMEFUL!

You can't die of neglect. They want to know what the actual cuase of loss (edit: Lol, "cause of loss" I"ve been in insurance too long. "Cause of death") was, to see how neglegent the staff was in the death. Patient could have died of natural causes in his sleep, or the patient could have died as the result of not getting propper care. That's what they need to determine.

Don't get me wrong; there's no way he should have been allowed to sit there that long without anyone checking on him and I'm not defending the staff.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

yup, this hospital should be closed down. what a complete farce

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Physics Forums
http://www.physicsforums.com

What's especially chilling is the "healthcare employees" [read: pathetic blackhearted losers] didn't care even with a security camera pointed at them! Unless they didn't know there was a surveillance camera, which I doubt.

If they were aware of the surveillance camera, they apparently figured there would be no consequences. And if that's so, then the entire disciplinary system and ethics enforcement in that hospital is unimaginably broken down.

You're assuming they felt they did something wrong. I can all but garuntee that the same employees didn't sit there for all 22 hours playing cards and watching tv. They more than likely did those things over shorter (but possibly multiple) periods of time, where they may have just thought the patient was asleep.

They *should have* still checked at least somewhere in there, but the act of them being in the same room, even a few feet away, isn't in and of itself an indication of anything abnormally inhumane.

Admittedly, the line about cards and television also read like a media-biased, under-explained emotion grabber...but that could just be my anti-media bias kicking in.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Well...you do have a point there. Sort of.

But I've worked in the medical field long enough to know that patient care is (required by law) to be documented throughout the day, by current shift personnel; not only to keep track of what help they've provided, but also as a reference for the oncoming shift.

What time patient was helped up from bed...ate breakfast...took meds [type and dosage]...was sat up in chair...received meds again [if so]...ate lunch...etc.

I don't disbelieve the bit about playing cards and watching TV. Lots of Americans are pathetic lazy slobs who don't want to WORK for a paycheck.

The very fact this man was observed [by someone] to choke on his medications and still left to sit there, and the fact that it should have been documented he'd been seated there since the morning prior...

...no, this was willful negligence at some point. Especially if forging chart notes is proven [covering their tracks, trying to appear as if they had been tending the patient].

If anything, were the employees' NOSES not working? There's no mention of it, but if the man hadn't access to a toilet in 22 hours he likely soiled himself at some point.

Yep.

That's a very unfair statment, and one that (If I weren't more even-tempered) I could take a great deal of offense to.... though I do post on BAUT all day long while I'm at work...which is besides the point.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Don't get me started. I'm not exactly thrilled at having had to lead several doctors kicking and screaming over the last two years before I was (finally!) appropriately and successfully treated this spring. Proof positive that credentials are no substitute for sound judgement and common sense.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

Again, I agree with Fazor. Don't jump to hasty conclusions because of a media report. They're a bit biased towards the sensational, don't you know. The proper thing for regulators to do is look into the matter.

Civil lawsuit. A clear breach of the standard of care. $1 million.

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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Media exaggerates stories usually.