Posted on 04/28/2010 7:03:08 AM PDT by SargeK
The parents of a Navy veteran say the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare system never told them hospital staff gave him plasma from the wrong type of blood 16 hours before he died.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
“for treatment of sepsis and liver and renal failure.”
He was pretty much gone anyway.
I understand that even if that was true at one time it may not be true today.But having worked at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world I can assure everyone that errors...*serious* errors....happen at *ALL* hospitals.
IMO,our vets deserve top,*top* quality health care.If there's some sort of systemic problem at VA hospitals it should be straightened out! But given the obvious contempt that our Community Organizer-in-Chief has for our Armed Forces I wouldn't hold my breath.
EDCOIL WROTE: He was pretty much gone anyway
I think that is the same line of reasoning Obama’s Healthcontrol team will apply to all people close to needing resources that might or might not save a life.
I agree.
This type of thing happens in all hospitals, ie Duke and the wrong typed heart transplant, hydraulic fluid used instead of CT contrast.
The trouble with the V.A. system is that it’s staffed with far too many incompetents who can’t find employment elsewhere. Then there is the attitudinal problem, the union problem, the ‘screw up and move up’ problem.....
Isn’t blood plasma type neutral?
I wonder how they found out about the mistake?
Recently had an old friend treated by the Providence VA for jaw/neck cancer. He wasn’t in the best of shape either. He survived and said they did a good job.
I had an Aunt in Mass General and she had a heart attack and they didn’t pick it up for days.
No, it’s not the same reasoning. The VA tried whereas the death panels wouldn’t have tried. Mistakes happen more often than we know and many times have horrible consequences. The VA was wrong in not waiting for the test results to confirm type and they were wrong in not facing up to the family. That said, I’m sad for the family but he didn’t have long for this world whatever blood type he was given.
I did not say if I agree or did not, this is a sad story but, there was not much anyone could have done to give him bad a long quality of life.
Facts are facts.
Yes, yes and yes.
Let me describe a recent visit to VA at Togus,Maine.
I was having a great deal of pain after receiving a new cast on a broken hand. The day after the new cast, I walked into the ortho lab where the cast was put on. Everybody on staff was at lunch, told to come bachk in 30 min.
Went down to Primary care. Told nurse was still having pain from an ear infection, could I see my primary Doc. Sure come bach around 1:30, we see if we can get you in.
Went back up to ortho. Tech called me right in. He yells to Doc “hey doc, got a minute”. Both agreed it was the increase in movement allowed by the cast (normal) should go away in a day, if not come back.
Went back to Primary care. Nurse called me back to doc’s office as soon as she saw me. Doc checks ear, writes stronger meds. I also mentioned prostetics for shoes are worn out. No problem, new script.
Went directly to prostectic lab. Computer had already sent script. Tech sees cast on hand. Has me sit down. she took off my boots, put in new prostetics, puts boots back on and laces them up. All with a smile.
Went directly to pharmacy. New drugs for my ear are waiting, with auto refill if needed.
All this took under 2 hours.
In the ten years I’ve been using Togus VA, this the norm, not the exception.
No, the typing for plasma is sort of the “converse” of that for blood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type#Plasma_compatibility
Recipients can receive plasma of the same blood group, but otherwise the donor-recipient compatibility for blood plasma is the converse of that of RBCs: plasma extracted from type AB blood can be transfused to individuals of any blood group; individuals of blood group O can receive plasma from any blood group; and type O plasma can be used only by type O recipients.
Understood: The FDA did not cite the Pittsburgh VA for that April 22, 2009 incident, which apparently did not harm the patient.
But the fact is almost 100% of us are going to be close to death at some point in our life (probably near the end point ; ) ). As that end point becomes less and less important to society and the mistakes close to that end point become more trivial (while the resistence to the expenses grow), what happens when the government expands the locus of that endpoint and/or artificially hastens the point?
At what point does one conclude the meaning and value of a life? Perhaps you were stating a fact in your post but it is the exact issue the “committees” are working on and the same issues Obama spoke about.
Random thought: If giving the wrong bllod to a terminal patient deos not harm the patient, is it a good way to bill for blood that is getting beyond it’s shelf life?
Most people control that by DNR’s. As with my folks and older people I know they set up DNR’s to detail and try to determine the level of expectation.
This is BS. Ordinarily Fresh-frozen plasma should be ABO type-specific. If the patient’s blood type is not available, type O plasma can be administered. This is exactly what happened. The patient’s Blood type was B-negative and he was administered type O plasma.
In all likelihood, he would have died anyway, but I can’t begin to tell you how many lives I’ve saved giving type O blood or plasma to patients who were bleeding out.
In the UK, those over 50 on the National Health Service (government health care) are denied dialysis.
They use the same line of reasoning.
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