"I'm alive, dammit!!!"

[P2K]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6436580

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - October 7, 2008 -- A woman and her husband are claiming in federal court that doctors and staff at Beebe Medical Center did not provide adequate care and were negligent when they declared her dead from a heart attack.

Louis and Judith Johnson of Georgetown are suing the Lewes hospital and hospital personnel.

According to the plaintiffs, Louis Johnson brought his wife to the hospital in May 2007 believing she had a bad case of indigestion. Johnson says he was told an hour later his wife was dead. Then, as personnel prepared to take the body to the morgue, they noticed the woman was breathing.

<script type="text/javascript">digGetAd("Rectangle");</script> The Johnsons' attorney, Leon Aussprung says Judith Johnson suffered permanent brain injuries and other complications.
Beebe officials would not comment on the pending lawsuit.

[McLite]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

Sigh...another lawsuit to drive doctors insurance costs up higher...to drive doctors expenses higher...to drive our med care further in the dumps.

I'm pretty sure if they declared her dead she had stopped breathing at some point...thus getting rid of oxygen...causing the brain damage and other complications.

I'm sorry for their problems but doctors make mistakes too...lawsuits at every corner don't make their job any easier.

[fishepa]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

You have to sue someone I guess.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

This is why I hate suing. It's only a way for someone to gain off of someone elses mistakes in most cases. And their usually more happy about the money than they are that the mistake that the person made turned out okay. And on top of that it doesn't get rid of any mental distress that the situation caused and if it does get rid of mental distress then you need to start thinking about how you got that money.

[The C]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

I'm not dead yet- guy from Monty Python

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

Wow. You folks think there shouldn't be any penalty for declaring someone dead that wasn't?

[MassNole]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

Sigh...another lawsuit to drive doctors insurance costs up higher...to drive doctors expenses higher...to drive our med care further in the dumps.

I'm pretty sure if they declared her dead she had stopped breathing at some point...thus getting rid of oxygen...causing the brain damage and other complications.

I'm sorry for their problems but doctors make mistakes too...lawsuits at every corner don't make their job any easier.

Are you kidding me?

Saying it's our bad and declaring somebody to be dead only to find out they really weren't is about as bad as you can be. Now if further damage was done because they incompetently declared her dead and she is going to require years of expensive medical care, why shouldn't they be compensated for these future expenses. Don't blame the legal system for higher medical costs, blame the doctors who cause grievous injury to their patients.

[MassNole]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

This is why I hate suing. It's only a way for someone to gain off of someone elses mistakes in most cases. And their usually more happy about the money than they are that the mistake that the person made turned out okay. And on top of that it doesn't get rid of any mental distress that the situation caused and if it does get rid of mental distress then you need to start thinking about how you got that money.

That couldn't be more wrong. If there is no system in place to hold doctors accountable for their grievous errors, such as declaring someone dead who really wasn't, then there is no real deterrence for people to make sure they don't make these errors. In reality it provides for a higher level of medical care and more diligent work to avoid the potential lawsuit.

As for the mental distress, if one suffers such trauma that they need years of therapy to work through their issues, why shouldn't they be compensated for these future medical costs? Again the system serves as a deterrent against grossly negligent behavior that traumatizes people.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

That couldn't be more wrong. If there is no system in place to hold doctors accountable for their grievous errors, such as declaring someone dead who really wasn't, then there is no real deterrence for people to make sure they don't make these errors. In reality it provides for a higher level of medical care and more diligent work to avoid the potential lawsuit.

As for the mental distress, if one suffers such trauma that they need years of therapy to work through their issues, why shouldn't they be compensated for these future medical costs? Again the system serves as a deterrent against grossly negligent behavior that traumatizes people.

It's not wrong. It's an opinion just like yours. And if a person stops breathing then their dead. It's a mistake not a grievous error. And last time I checked a doctor is a human. Humas make mistakes.

And you missed my point. I'm talking about the people that get get money from lawsuits and just end up going " HAHAHAHAHA I just got 500,000 dollars, in your face" to whoever owed them the money and forgot about what happened which is A LOT of the people that sue. That's the issue.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

It's not wrong. It's an opinion just like yours. And if a person stops breathing then their dead. It's a mistake not a grievous error. And last time I checked a doctor is a human. Humas make mistakes.

And you missed my point. I'm talking about the people that get get money from lawsuits and just end up going " HAHAHAHAHA I just got 500,000 dollars, in your face" to whoever owed them the money and forgot about what happened which is A LOT of the people that sue. That's the issue.

You don't know what you're talking about. In my years working in a hospital, I've seen many times people revived after their heart stopped. & live years afterward.

And whether you think your "in your face" scenario happens or doesn't, people shouldn't link this case w/that. I don't see this man using his wife's coma as an opportunity to strike it rich.

[dkgojackets]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

If the wrongful declaration caused the family additional expense in any way then they have every right to seek reparations. Now obviously an "emotional stress" claim seeking two million bucks in damages would be ridiculous and the type of lawsuit that razr is talking about (and that typically gets reported), but if the doctors are liable for a mistake which costed the family money then why should they not have to pay for it?

[RAZRr1275]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

You don't know what you're talking about. In my years working in a hospital, I've seen many times people revived after their heart stopped. & live years afterward.

And whether you think your "in your face" scenario happens or doesn't, people shouldn't link this case w/that. I don't see this man using his wife's coma as an opportunity to strike it rich.

That's true.

I've seen that scenario happen PLENTY of times. And I don't know if this couple will see it that way or not, it's up to them. I haven't been working on the suit but I've seen many people talking about the money that they got instead of what happened to them or a loved one that got them the money. All I'm saying is that in a suit the money isn't the point. How you got that money is. That's all that people need to remember and the sad thing is that most don't.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

If the wrongful declaration caused the family additional expense in any way then they have every right to seek reparations. Now obviously an "emotional stress" claim seeking two million bucks in damages would be ridiculous and the type of lawsuit that razr is talking about (and that typically gets reported), but if the doctors are liable for a mistake which costed the family money then why should they not have to pay for it?

The doctor should have to pay in some amout but I don't think it to be as much of an issue as the legal system and others think it to be. It all comes down to this simple reality.

1. Doctors are humans.
2. Humans make mistakes no matter how much training they have.
3. This is a doctors version of someone in an office accidently making a paper jam. The doctors version is more serious because it's dealing with a human and I get that but the point is that a doctor is going to mess up sometime during his career just like the rest of us will no matter what.

[Chaos81]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

In my years working in a hospital, I've seen many times people revived after their heart stopped. & live years afterward.

Yep.

Personal experience. Mine stopped 3 completely different times in the first 6 months of my life. 27 years later I'm still around...I think I am anyways. Maybe this is what it's like when you're dead.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: &quot;I'm alive, dammit!!!&quot;

Yep.

Personal experience. Mine stopped 3 completely different times in the first 6 months of my life. 27 years later I'm still around...I think I am anyways. Maybe this is what it's like when you're dead.

Wow. How did it stop?