In Hawaii and elsewhere, entrusting oneself to the care of medical professionals always involves a certain amount of risk. However, medical malpractice issues appear to be quite problematic in many hospitals throughout the nation, including one hospital where nine children died after undergoing heart surgeries. Investigators say the hospital failed to act appropriately in the situation.
It appears the death toll average for newborn heart surgery patients at this particular hospital is approximately three times higher than the national average. This information may have been a leading factor as to why an investigation of the facility was launched. It lasted three days. The hospital, which is in another state, has been open for at least 140 years; however, non-emergency heart surgeries ceased while an internal review was ongoing.
Reportedly, at least eight months have passed since the review, yet non-emergency heart surgeries have not resumed at the hospital. The state of Pennsylvania has approved a correction plan submitted by the hospital after the review. The same facility was also ostracized for administering chemotherapy 10 times over the prescribed limit to an 11-year-old cancer patient.
State investigators claim hospital clinicians failed to recognize signs of overdose in the patient. Investigators also stated that requests for proof that heart surgeries were properly tracked, measured and analyzed have gone unmet by the hospital. Anytime a child dies, a family is obviously devastated; grief is often intensified when the reason for death is medical malpractice. A parent or legal guardian in Hawaii has the right to pursue justice in such circumstances. A first logical step to take toward that end is to file a wrongful death claim in a civil court.
Source: americanbazaaronline.com, “State: Philly hospital failed to fully investigate children’s deaths“, Tom Avril, Dylan Purcell, Mark Fazlollah, Sept. 26, 2016