Deadly Complications of Rep. Murtha’s Surgery. (Killed By By Government Doctor's Malpractice!)

Fox Blog ^ | Dr, Manny Alverez

[MindBender26]

A day after Rep. John Murtha passed away following gallbladder surgery at a leading Navy hospital, it has emerged that the Congressman’s large intestine was damaged during the procedure and the complications led him to be re-hospitalized n a civilian hopital before he died, according to another Pennsylvania Congressman and longtime friend.

Gallbladder removal, or cholecystectomy, is considered “routine” surgery but the truth is, no matter how common the procedure, we should never consider surgery “routine.” Dying from gallbladder surgery — although not common — can happen.

If at some point during the surgery, an inadvertent perforation is created in the bowel and the defect is not recognized during the time of the procedure, intestinal bacteria can leak into the abdominal cavity creating a severe infection in the abdomen. Of all the complications from this surgery – this is probably the most severe because the bacteria can then be absorbed into the bloodstream, which can lead to septic shock and organ failure.

Of course, if the injury is recognized during the surgery, doctors can repair the defect in the intestine and institute a very aggressive antibiotic regimen, which can help the patient recover. But at the end of the day, when dealing with this type of complication, time is of the essence, and you really have very little room to prevent significant complications.

The Pennsylvania Democrat was admitted to Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, on Jan. 31 when he developed an infection and fever, just days after having his gallbladder removed, and his bowel punctured, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He died four days later.

[MindBender26]

And Obama wants us all to have the same medical care Congressmen get!

Think about. Bethesda is probably the best government hospital there is, and as a Congresman, Murtha probably got one of their best surgeons.

Imagine what it will be like when we get this "special" medical care.

[ConservativeMind]

Now that is the kind of Change I Hope for 0bama gets!

[Leg Olam]

Peritonitis is a rough way to go. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone...even Murtha.

[ConservativeMind]

That is, “I Hope 0bama gets!”

Crud, I need to check more than just the spelling on my posts...grrr

[manonCANAL]

I’m glad that you dead and gone, you rascal you.

[bert]

His intestines were not damaged.

Everybody knows that Murtha was full of crap and the offensive infection laden fecal matter was present everywhere within his body

[Tribune7]

ping

[Marty62]

Good Grief I went home a couple of hours after mine.
Even with a crash after a shot of Morphine.

[manonCANAL]

Wish tha same doctor would operate on Dingy Harry and
pee-losi

[cherry]

I wonder about Murthas health condition....he was a overweight( trying to be politie) and probably didn't exercize much (at all)....was he diabetic?...did he have resp.problems?..

not to diminish if there was a botched job, but mistakes are easier to commit when you have a poor specimen to work with...

he was getting up there in years, and age can never be dismissed...

anyway, thats the way it is....maybe Murtha should have gone to Canada...

[Solitar]

Military having unqualified foreign doctors — like from China.

[Check6]

Hey Mindbender:

Murtha died from a surgery complication. Using the word “malpractice” is out of line, unless you can justify that claim with facts that support it.

[WayneS]

This happened at a NAVAL hospital, eh?

I guess it really DOESN’T pay to bad-mouth the U.S. military, does it?

;-)

[The Sons of Liberty]

Deadly Complications of Rep. Murtha’s Surgery. (Killed By By Government Doctor's Malpractice!)

Keep in mind that Murtha, as part of the "Congressional Ruling Class", had the deluxe health care package reserved for VIPs, not the type that we peasants will get.

[YHAOS]

Shouldn’t slander the military and then put your life in their hands, Murtha.

[DuncanWaring]

I’d say perforating an intestine when removing a gall-bladder qualifies as “malpractice”.

[kbennkc]

Has any doctor gone on record saying this unfortunate result could only be caused by practice inconsistent with the standard of care ?

[YHAOS]

Great minds, my friend. ( ^: }

[dps.inspect]

here’s another way to look at it... Murtha bad mouths military, particularly the Marines... Murtha goes to a military hospital cause he’s too cheap to pay out of his own pocket... doctor looks at the Murtha’s chart, remembers... doctor asks corps-man to finish surgery... Moral of the story? How would you put it? Go ahead, squeeze off a round or two.

[ColdWater]

And Obama wants us all to have the same medical care Congressmen get!

Not exactly. Congressmen would be exempt from Obamacare.

[onemiddleamerican]

The man was a big, fat, pig. He had a huge gut, probably a huge liver from a half-century or more of three martini lunches on taxpayer and lobbyist dimes; and his intestines were, as we all know, more full-of-sh** than the average Joe. Murtha's bowel was probably huge, and definitely FOS.

Look at the image. The tiny little green thing is the gallbladder. Picture it shoved up under the alcoholic Murtha's oversized liver, and the politician's FOS bowel pushed up against it from below:

Murtha's gluttonous lifestyle, slopping at the taxpayer trough, most likely increased his risk of surgical complications. Had he been a more healthy human specimen, he may not have suffered the bowel injury during surgery. It's sad that the surgeon is going to get the blame for the surgery going wrong.

[Paperdoll]

Murtha was so screwed up the surgeon probably couldn’t tell one slimey intestine from another. Screw ups like Murtha aren’t covered by medical books.

[proud2beconservativeinNJ]

Murtha died from a surgery complication. Using the word “malpractice” is out of line, unless you can justify that claim with facts that support it.

I have never seen the date of the actual gall bladder procedure.

They just put out "days later." I am not even comfortable with the statement "Murtha died from a surgical complication." The general public does not have access to Murtha's personal health information. We do not have access to autopsy information or Murtha's health record. The doctors, medical and surgical staff and hospital are unable to respond to any of these accusations. These are unsubstantiated "malpractice" assertions being circulating.

[MindBender26]

Perforating a bowel, and then not detecting it is very much malpractice.

Perforating the bowel is a stupid mistake, but it can happen.

What happens next, the aftercare, determines whether it is malpractice or just a small bump in the road.

If bowel is perfed, surgeon double stitches the perforation and does a bubble test for leaks with a little soapy water on the repair site and manual pressure on the bowel. “If it bubbles, you've got troubles.”

Then they conduct an intensive antiseptic lavage of the entire abdominal cavity. Basically they was washing any fecal matter out of the cavity and spreading an antiseptic solution at the same time.

Then they start the pt on some broad spectrum IV antibiotics.

When they close the pt, they should leave a sterile drain in, and culture the drainage to watch for any signs of infection.

By the way, the last thing you do after an abdominal case not involving opening the intestines is to take a good whiff of the gut. If you smell fecal matter, stop the procedure, find the bowel perf, and then proceed as shown above. (If you cut the intestine as part of the procedure, there will be the smell anyway.)

Do not just close a gut case with any chance of a perforated bowel.

Also follow the pt post op. Any FUO (Fever of Unknown Origin, combined with belly pain, do a needle drainage/biopsy and culture the product of that procedure STAT!

Anything less, like in this case, is very much malpractice.

[Paperdoll]

>Bethesda is probably the best government hospital there is<

Then could it possibly have been a case of death by design?

[MindBender26]

The author of the story is Manny Alvarez, M.D., rom FOXNews.

[Check6]

That is because you do not know what the term means.

[MindBender26]

Please see #24, and also various Googlings to answer your questions.

A perforated bowel is a rather common surgical accident. Fix it and there is no issue.

Closing a pt with an undetected perfed bowel is malpractice.

Having a post-cholosystectomy pt with FUO and belly pain, and not taking IMMEDIATE action as shown in 24 is very much serious malpractice.

[Oldexpat]

If you do this robotically, how do you know if the bowel has been damaged?

[MindBender26]

Please see # 28.

[GOYAKLA]

In 1997 while I was having Laparoscopy Surgery for Gallbladder removal the doctor cut an artery and had to call in “Specialists” to complete the OP. The closing Surgeons(?) left a lap pad in and I had another surgery 5 days later to remove it. What was supposed to be a 3 day op became three weeks.
That is when I learned the true meaning of “Practicing Doctors”!

[MindBender26]

If you mean minimally invasive through trocars, check the lavage outflow for fecal matter. Smell the CO2 when it is released from the gut. Visualize the whole area. Finally, don't get to committed to MI that you fail to do an old fashioned open procedure when it is called for.

[kbennkc]

Manny Alvarez, M.D.

Dr. Alvarez skirts all around my question too , because he has not read the medical charts and is not being paid to give a straight answer. It is "malpractice" only after it has been so found by the court or jury , and all appeals have been exhausted .

[MindBender26]

And follow the pt post op!

FUO and belly pain? Get in there with a needle now!

[MindBender26]

Complete bunk. Dr. Alverez is a physician and therefore qualified to render an informed opinion.

Malpractice is not a charged crime here. A professional truck driver can say a driver exhibited bad driving just as Dr. Alverez has looked at the evidence and called it malpractice here.

[Right Wing Assault]

Good Grief I went home a couple of hours after mine. Even with a crash after a shot of Morphine.

I guess they didn't puncture your intestines.

My GB was gangrenous when they took it out so I had to stay overnight.

[Robe]

Hmmmm.. lets see , Navy Docs take care of Marines , right ?

Sounds like their doing a bang up job... ( Pay back is a B!tch)......IMHO

[Marty62]

Guess not.
But how can a doc screw this up.
HUMMMMM.

[kbennkc]

Dr. Alverez has looked at the evidence and called it malpractice here.

This is not psy-ops . He does not use the word malpractice for good reason. The ones I stated , bunk indeed .

[MindBender26]

If you do not think it is malpractice to puncture a bowel, fail to detect it, then do not recognise the symptons and treat them post-up, then what is?

Anybody can nick the intestine. That is not malpractice.

To lose a pt because it went undetected and untreated is gross malpractice.

[Right Wing Assault]

If you do this robotically, how do you know if the bowel has been damaged?

I don't think most GB surgery is robotic. The doc operates the instruments through small incisions. They view the whole surgery through fiber optics connected to a camera. They can move it around and look where they want. My doc gave me a video of my GB surgery. Very cool stuff. You can see the steam/smoke coming off when they cauterize the internal incisions.

[CholeraJoe]

Actually no, at least not at first glance. Bowel perforation is a recognized complication of laparoscopic surgery even in the best hands. It occurs in about 2 cases per 1000. In half the cases, like Murtha’s, it is not recognized at the time of initial surgery.

[CholeraJoe]

It is undetected in half of all bowel injuries during laparoscopic surgery. It is not malpractice to damage the bowel. It happens 2 out of 1000 cases. It is undetected in half.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Finally the Navy does one big favor for the Marines: they perforate Murthas intestine and let him die in his own sh!t. Thank you Navy - Semper Fi

[MadelineZapeezda]

How do the surgeons ‘whiff the gut’ when most gb removals are done laparscopically????

[MindBender26]

At the start of the proceedure, CO2 is injected to the belly to expand it, give them room to work, etc.

When the proceedure is complete, the gas is released into the atmosphere to allow the belly to return to normal size.

That’s when the nose knows.

[Born Conservative]

What is the act of malpractice? I didn’t see that in the article.

[MindBender26]

Failure to detect and treat the bowel perf.

[HighlyOpinionated]

My daughter in law’s father got a staph infection after a gall bladder surgery and died in the hospital.

Hospitals are not all that ‘sterile.’

As for not wishing this type death on Murtha, I am reminded of all the Military men he harmed while a Senator. Maybe it was a ‘reap what you sow’ from G-d.

[MindBender26]

Exactly. The perf is not hte problem. Not detecting it is a problem. Not following your pt closely enough to see the unmistakeable post-op symptoms is a serious problem.

Also, in regards to post-op following the pt, an elevated WBC is a huge red flag.