Doctor and Nurse Malpractice Claims
Tripler Army Medical Centre in O'ahu, Hawaii, has recently come under fire after doctors and nurses committed a series of mistakes that have left patients more sick or injured, brain damaged and even dead. Tripler has been a major medical facility for thousands of Hawaii's military personnel, their families, veterans and others for decades. It is ranked among some of the busiest hospitals in the military and possesses a coverage area that spans half the globe.
One mistake made happened when a baby named Izzy was given carbon dioxide shortly after his birth. This went on for almost forty minutes before the mistake was identified. Izzy almost died and suffered severe brain damage. Another case was that of Tina Long who was pregnant and was admitted to Tripler complaining of headaches, vision problems an swelling.
Long had tests run on her and was placed in a room for about ninety minutes waiting for a doctor to consult with her about the testing results. During that time, she was not checked in on and when she was finally checked on, after about ninety minutes, she was unresponsive in her bed. Resuscitation efforts failed and long and her baby passed away.
Four physicians who are child care experts or surgical procedures were contacted for comment. All four said that these incidents, and two others were highly unusual, although they stopped short of making judgements about the personnel's conduct, lacking full details. The baby Izzy case was particularly damning in the opinion of the four.
"It seems the system is broken that would allow such a severe mistake to happen," said Dr. Timothy Craig, a Penn State professor of medicine and paediatrics who has practiced at military hospitals and generally gives them good marks. "This raises red flags."
For their part, officials at Tripler are maintaining that the level of their service is second to none. They cite their history of successful inspections and certifications as proof.
"When external surveyors and inspectors brief hospital leaders about their findings, most comment about our practices being the best they have ever seen - anywhere," Tripler officials said in a statement.
Making comparative surveys of the overall quality of care at Tripler versus other hospitals, regardless of whether they are military or civilian is tough because there is a paucity of publicly available data. What limited information there is indicates that Tripler compares favourably with other hospitals in Hawaii, but there is no practical way to compare its record with hospitals on a national basis. Hawaiian hospitals in general usually do not fare well in those types of comparisons.
Of the cases in question, several of the highest profile cases have seen the victims and their families file malpractice lawsuits.
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