My father was 90 yrs in good health just old. He lived a good healthy life ate well no organ issues. He just got old with dymentia I cared for him sometime during a visit to the hospital for a cold . Like any other service provider soliciting is how they get biz. This hospice provider had contacted me through out the year soliciting their services . My father didn’t have any terminal illness . However I broke my wrist I’m assuming that the caring dr referred to us because I was gonna need help bathing and other care. That’s what I thought I signed up . They gave him prescription and one of them lorizepam . Which I didn’t pay any attention to any of the meds cause they weren’t prescribed by his attending dr. Later in the year he became very difficult to work with . He was afraid to fall his bones became weaker. He would hold on to the a chair or where he was that I had to move him by lifting him . It took a army to move him he was very strong . I called the nurse and asked that they give me something to relax his muscles to help me move him. They gave me a some pills. I trusted that it was safe it was a very small I never paid attention to the monthly prescription. I gave it to him and when I did it took 10 minutes and he was a changed person he was not alert he slept straight no food or water . I called the office requested they send someone to see my dad they checked his vitals each time they were normal I ended up calling 911 they checked he was fine I told them what I had given him and they said that he was too old for that . I started to read the symptoms and they sounded to Exactly what he was going on with him. My daughter came and checked on him she’s is a Rn . She did her thing and checked that he had bed soars . He didn’t have them a few days before. She treated the soars and all vitals were good. He sleeted through night I changed him while he slepted. The next day he started composing of his chest pressure I call 911 again and this time they took him. During covid only he can be there . We received a call from the ER DR to tell us that he has a collazsoe lung and pheomnia. That we had two options to insert active to help him breathe or a admit him to the hospital to treatment him for 72 hours with antibiotic . We chose the treatment because at his age we thought it be too much for him under his condition . He also had dementia. Thus was Thursday after midnight .they started the testament almost immediately the next evening he was in his own room isolated from all covid patient he rest negative . I received a call from a person telling my father arrived at the rest home faculty in a different location this approx 11:00pm it was cold . I told them why is he there when he should be at the hospital receiving treatment for thise lungs collaspe I told I did not give anyone authorization to move my father . They said my daughter had. . Later I contacted my daughter to confirm that she said they had been blowing her phone up and sending her emails eith documents fir her to sign . She ignored them . They transferred him without that signature . The next day he passed away . I was confused not knowing details . Later that night I contacted the hospital where he had passed and I asked questions . They told me that my father was fine and that during the day they did a routine check to his vitals and when they trued he was already gone. I asked them if they had any equipment on him he says no . He should have a IV ON HIM for the treatment a breathing mask a heart minutia he should have Been monitored they said that they specialize on dementia patient it was a rest home . They never treated him for that collapse lung and they transferred him without the proper signature and to top it off hospice was automatically cancelled when he was admited at the hospital they no longer had no right to care for my father. There was more then one issues going on here that I know is wrong .
7 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
Not to pile on, but you didn't understand anything about his medications, nor how hospice worked, yet you do know they did something wrong that caused his death?
Come on. I have a hard time believing that.
IF you have permission from whoever gives it to get a copy of his medical records, get those and read them to see what happened. Maybe your daughter can help explain it, but I think you'll find that Dad's time had come. Find out if he had a POLST form on him. Since he was on hospice, that's usually a given, and that might explain a lot as to the amount of treatment he received.
I hope you'll be able to reconcile yourself to your father's passing so you and he can truly find peace.
You yourself say he was mentally fine. As hard as it is to believe, our elders still get a voice about their care if they are able to respond.
I am sorry for your loss and pray that The Lord gives you grieving mercies, comfort and understanding during this difficult season of your life.
ADVERTISEMENT
My condolences on the loss of your father.
Your dad was 'healthy' but became sick.
At some point you gave him lorazepam for some reason. That's really immaterial at this point. And it's not medical malpractice to give a patient the drugs they've been prescribed.
Your father got sick. Went to the hospital. You do or don't seem to know what exact kind of care he was getting.
He had pneumonia. (They call pneumonia the old person's 'best friend'--ghoulish, I guess, but very true. Many an elder who is 'basically healthy' gets something as simple as a cold, it morphs into pneumonia and they die.)
Personally, I would NOT try to sue for any kind of malpractice. The only thing that was done that was sketchy (and this is just my opinion, gleaned from what you've said) is to not have proper paperwork in place to have him moved.
People get old. They get sick. They die. This is the circle of life. We all experience it. No doubt you think that some things should have been different--and I am sorry for your loss.
In truth, a med mal lawsuit is VERY hard to be involved in.
Maybe you need some therapy to help you deal with this anger and grief. 90 is a long time to live. Maybe dad died under unpleasant circumstances, but you would have a really hard time proving beyond reasonable doubt that he did not receive adequate care.
I'm sorry for your loss and your obvious distress. Take a step back and take a deep breath. Don't make a life altering decision while you are still so angry.
Your Dad's hospital may have been in a triage situation with covid. I a sorry to inform that in those situations it becomes a matter of which patient will benefit from treatment, ventilation, ICU care, and which patient is almost certainly to die no matter WHAT treatment is done. In those cases the younger patients are almost always the ones who will benefit from treatment.
Your father was very fragile and debilitated and off his feet with every manner of woe besetting us in our elder last time on earth, as you describe him. You, with the help of your daughter and her expertise chose to care for him and did until he became so ill you felt that you had to call to have him go to the hospital. He was in Hospice care and apparently NO ONE (neither you nor your RN daughter understood that hospice care is end of life care, and hospitalization is not done. Death is expected.
Covid-19 has infected many who had to enter hospitalization during this pandemic. Sadly that is the case. This is something you might term a "natural disaster". Not everything has an answer and not everything can be fixed. Now for the sad facts, as I see them.
You do not have any case against anyone, and there was no maltreatment as you describe it, nor would there be any recompense for the death of a person this old.
Because the only money now to be made in malpractice suits involve a young person who will need care for a long life ahead and whose income over those years is lost to an entire family, almost no malpractice attorneys accept any case other than class action suits. Their cost of litigating is too high. The payout is too poor for Lawyers to bother with any cases that are not sure things. Your case is a sure thing in my opinion, that is to say sure to lose.
You sound to be in a state of magical thinking as involves all that has happened to your Father. I am very surprised that your RN daughter cannot inform you better as to the facts in this case, as to Hospice's mission, as to the deterioration of your Dad's condition, as to the wisdom of transfer to hospital, and etc.
I am so sorry for your loss, but you are best now to understand your Dad had a good long life, was lucky to have your loving care at the end, and it is time now to get help for yourself to move on with your own life.
Consider seeking psychological counseling. I honestly recommend to you a Licensed Social Worker who will understand our medical system and be able perhaps to help you do so. One who understands and is trained in life transitions. That is that we live, and we die; between those things we go through many transitions in our lifetimes and many losses. The LUCKY and BLESSED among us live long and have decent care. That would be your Dad. Some do not. And both leave behind grieving families in need of comfort.
Please know that this loss of your Dad is so hard for you that you may be subconsciously avoiding grief by wishing to use blame and guilt to prevent an entry into the awful finality of grief work.
If you need to reassure yourself that, as Handel on the Law always says, "you have absolutely NO case", then do attend a few malpractice attorneys who will see you for a free consult. But do inform yourself as you seem easy prey to bad understanding of things, and do not EVER pay an attorney in this case up front; use only one who will take the case "on contingency" meaning he gets a portion of any money he will able to recoup from the case.
Now the final advice. Never accept my or anyone else's advice when it comes to legal issues, nor the advice of any Forum. Always see an attorney.
Best to you and I hope for your healing and peace.
P.S. Hospice is end of life care. If you seek treatment Hospice is removed. Sorry you signed without understanding this.
"The next day he started composing of his chest pressure". I think you meant complaining, but it's not always easy for us to interpret what the intention was.
Notwithstanding, you admit that you weren't more highly monitoring your father's progress for awhile. Whether or not your sister's involvement could have helped is moot now.
Geaton777 is right, and you shouldn't be asking for legal advice on issues of which we know little more than a synopsis. In addition, your admission of not paying much attention to various steps along the way is an admission that you yourself were not monitoring his health.
This is briefly what you'd have to do to file a med mal suit: You need to find a med mal attorney who might be interested, and if so, would then order records from all the treating entities. Those would be reviewed either by an in-house medical staff or by a doctor with experience in the medical areas involved.
Another issue that used to govern malpractice suits was whether or not the care conformed to care for comparable illness and conditions in that particular geographic area. I don't know whether that's still a factor, but it was when I worked in that field decades ago.
If the doctor or in-house medical person state that there is no legitimate claim, that's it. No suit. If either feels there is legitimate basis for suing, you'd sign a retainer or contract agreement with an attorney, he/she would file suit and begin discovery, which typically involved submission of Interrogatories (written questions and answers), and then depositions.
All this costs money. It takes doctors away from their patients, and they lose money. It can negatively affect their reputation. Med malpractice insurance companies shell out funds to fight these suits.
Attorneys used to advance these funds and deduct them from settlements, but may now be collecting funds for costs now or periodically as they accumulate. You'd be expected to pay them. Are you in a position to do so?
I haven't worked in this field for years, so there may be other changes in how med mal suits are managed. And I write this not to be cruel but to raise other possible issues, i.e., that of your allowing some of the "treatment" to be given w/o challenging it.
This is an example of issues that would be challenged, in terms of your involvement, and potential less than attentive and cautious care:
"I broke my wrist I’m assuming that the caring dr referred to us because I was gonna need help bathing and other care. That’s what I thought I signed up . They gave him prescription and one of them lorizepam . Which I didn’t pay any attention to any of the meds cause they weren’t prescribed by his attending dr."
I repeat that this is not a criticism, but it does reflect your lack of a higher involvement, or the necessary attention which may or may not have changed the course of "treatment."