A physician is sued for violating a living will

March 14, 2007

The doctor is being accused of intubating and sending an end-stage Alzheimer’s patient to the hospital. Of course, the description of the incident from the plaintiff’s lawyer highlights the “brutality” of these actions:

When nurses were unable to find Neumann’s pulse after she suffered yet another seizure Oct. 17, 1995, a breathing tube was shoved down her throat, she was poked with needles and other measures were taken en route to Columbia Hospital, Scheible testified earlier. It turned what would have been a gentle death into a nightmare, Scheible says. Neumann died six days later.



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{ 2 comments }

1 Anonymous March 14, 2007 at 9:36 am

I can see the new ACLS alogrithms. Lets see, asystole. First call the lawyer. Get another lawyer to agree with the first. Make sure there is no appeal. Debate the validity of the DNR if present. Pay the lawyers. (Bury the patient). Await the appeals. Then intubate (after digging up patient), give atropine, epi. Await medmal suit.

2 Anonymous March 14, 2007 at 11:40 am

Psst: the description of the incident was from the patient’s grand-daughter (Scheible) not the attorney.

Whether or not her attorney coached her to describe it as such, this is exactly the way that most people would describe what happened to her granny in that situation.

This granddaughter (the one who helped her sign the papers), seemed justifiably pissed off – attorney or no attorney.

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