DeathCARE
Posted on 05/28/2015 4:06:38 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
AP) — Former Rep. Steve LaTourette, gravely ill with pancreatic cancer, has filed a claim against the government over the treatment he received from his Capitol doctors, claiming they failed to pass along critical information about a lesion on the organ and the need for follow-up monitoring.
LaTourette, R-Ohio, filed administrative claims against the government earlier this month in anticipation of filing a lawsuit later. But papers filed with a federal court in Washington last week say LaTourette “is likely to succumb to rapid physical and cognitive deterioration” and urge that he be allowed to testify now since he may not be able to when any lawsuit is filed.
LaTourette received his medical care from the Capitol physician over his 18-year congressional career. In 2012 he went to the hospital with gastrointestinal pain, which was diagnosed as pancreatitis. An MRI revealed a small lesion on his pancreas and the radiologist told a Capitol physician that follow-up imaging needed to be done in six months, according to LaTourette’s filing with the court.
But LaTourette says he was never told of the MRI’s results or need to get another. LaTourette retired in early 2013. When his pain returned last summer, he saw private doctors and learned the mass had grown significantly and was cancerous.
Govt medicine continues to demonstrate it’s for the good of the people...
Under rules for claims against the government, the Navy — which staffs the Capitol’s Office of the Attending Physician — has six months to respond to LaTourette’s claims, which were filed earlier this month. If the claims are denied, LaTourette and his wife Jennifer can file a lawsuit.
LaTourette was first elected in the GOP wave of 1994 but was generally regarded as a moderate. He was a supporter of infrastructure spending, Amtrak and congressional set-asides known as earmarks. When he announced his retirement, LaTourette said he was sick of the partisanship that had taken over Congress.
Pancreatic cancer is especially deadly. LaTourette’s court papers say his “prognosis is uncertain but grave, with no definitive predictions regard to life expectancy.”
You’re an idiot to not read results yourself. My a-hole doctor routinely leaves out important information.
Unfortunately, healthcare is "just a job" for many who work in the industry. As we all have, I've had family members who have made hospital stays. It's a general rule in our family, if one of us is in the hospital, another of us will be with them 24hrs a day until they can leave. Pay particular attention to make sure everyone who touches your loved one sanitizes their hands. Also, get full care instructions from the surgeon and make sure it is followed.
When most people get a procedure done if they dont hear back from the Dr with results they call and ask for a full copy of the report. Its called personal responsibility. Quite frankly he is lucky to still be alive at this point, pancreatic cancer is usually a swift and painful death
Didn’t realize that the Dems controlled the doctors on Capitol Hill, but it does make sense that they might.
“LaTourette received his medical care from the Capitol physician over his 18-year congressional career”
It took him 18 yrs to realize that he wasn’t a great Dr?
The mass of bs required in health records now by the government frequently covers up important info. I notify my pts of all results and send a copy regardless if normal or abnormal. I also tell them that if they don’t hear from me within 2 wks call and ask for results. I do that since it is very possible to not receive results. I have other safeguards but that’s one I use so pts know they should hear from me.
It’s a general rule in our family, if one of us is in the hospital, another of us will be with them 24hrs a day until they can leave. Pay particular attention to make sure everyone who touches your loved one sanitizes their hands. Also, get full care instructions from the surgeon and make sure it is followed.
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Absolutely critical advice in this day and age. Every time they get meds, ask what they are getting & if you don’t recognize the name, ask questions. I also keep notes .... I don’t make it obvious, but as soon as ‘whoever’ leaves the room, I write it down. In January, a hospitalist lied about something ... when she realized I disagreed with her, she told me I didn’t ‘remember’ correctly and I told her I didn’t have to ‘remember’ anything because I take notes and I promptly pulled them out and read them to her for the day/time in question. She almost wet her pants & even after my relative got home, I got calls from her to make sure we understood medication instructions and that everything was ok. I will say that the really good nurses/docs appreciate having someone there they can talk to and who will help them with the patient - the cardiologist told my relative’s son that the quality and management of her care was directly affected for the better by my being there .... he also brought up that I was there every day at 6 a.m. when he made rounds.
We have third world medicine with med students being trained on robots instead of live people.
This cohort is the least curious, least motivated group of doctors I have ever seen.
We have discovered that as well. The really good caregivers will embrace you as a member of the care team. To the contrary. it is the ones that don't appreciate the role you are playing in your loved ones care that you need to really keep an eye on.
Most people do not realize that their health care is THEIR responsibility. This has always been true, but now, with what is going on in the medical profession, it is more important than ever to pay attention, ask questions, do research, ask for second opinions, etc. instead of just putting your life in the hands of one person and taking what they dish out.
I had a relative die in January after a year of fighting heart failure that could have been prevented if the cardiologist had done a better job communicating & if my relative had been more responsible for what was happening to her. She missed the window for surgery that would have given her a normal life (barring complications) and instead spent the last year suffering with lungs full of fluid and painful, expensive procedures that only prolonged the inevitable (the doctors were also not honest with her about her situation, but that’s another story I won’t get into).
The really good caregivers will embrace you as a member of the care team. To the contrary. it is the ones that don’t appreciate the role you are playing in your loved ones care that you need to really keep an eye on.
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So very true.
You also have to take the responsibility for curing yourself sometimes. Physicians go through Med school and are trained to dispense chemicals. That’s all they know. Chemo and radiation. This guy should put himself on cannabis oil and then go back to doctor in a couple of mos and let them tell him how he is in spontaneous remission.
I agree. Take responsibility and control
Excellent information.
Those are our family rules, as well.
Also informed by several medical workers in our family.
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