Author sues Christus St. Vincent, claiming negligence for ignoring 'do-not-resuscitate' directive

[TexasTowelie]

A Santa Fe woman is accusing Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center of negligence in a lawsuit, saying the hospital gave her a pain medication that caused a dangerous allergic reaction and then violated her “do-not-resuscitate” directive by reviving her after the narcotic caused sudden cardiac arrest.

The complaint was filed recently in state District Court on behalf of author Jamie S. Sams, who writes about Native American spirituality. Sams, who is of Cherokee and Seneca descent, according to an online biography, is perhaps best known for the Medicine Cards book and card deck she co-authored with fellow Santa Fe writer David Carson.

Sams’ complaint says she has a rare disorder called Dercum’s disease, which causes severely painful growths and has no cure or specific treatment.

In February 2016, Sams says in the complaint, she went to the Christus St. Vincent emergency room to seek pain control to ease the symptoms of her condition and was given Dilaudid, a brand name for hydromorphone, despite having warned medical staff that she was allergic to the opioid painkiller.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/author-sues-christus-st-vincent-claiming-negligence-for-ignoring-do/article_a4252ef1-7229-58e7-88f8-295ce1a5f28b.html

[3Hotdogs]

1. She should also sue for fucking up the meds.

[Runningdawg]

2. It's not right

but as a retired nurse (OR) I can tell you this happens more than you want to know. They would rather save you, then have the legal team deal with the blowback, rather than not save you and wind up being sued, fired, losing their licence and possibly facing criminal charges. I've seen Drs/nurses/hospitals get in deep trouble for not doing everything than can to save a patient but never for ignoring a DNR *in an EMERGENCY situation*.
In 2002 I nearly died from ruptured tonsils. I was alone and before the ambulance arrived I stapled my paperwork to my clothes across my chest. In the ER they ripped that shit off and threw it in the floor. Mind you - these were my co-workers! They knew my wishes and they were STILL ignored.
There are no easy answers to this problem. Do the best you can to keep the proper paperwork; on file at the hospital, on file with your lawyer or power of attorney and a copy of the paperwork with you and your next of kin.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. What Runningdawg said.

Most of the time people don't exactly have a copy of their DNR orders pinned to their shirt when they arrive in the ER, and the staff there has no idea about them.

Perhaps the best solution is not to go to the ER in the first place if you are seriously DNR.

I can tell you that most of the time, a patient who is DNR finds those orders honored in the other part of the hospital. My sister had long-standing DNR orders, and was in and out of hospital many times every since her first heart attack at age 42. The hospital she went to several times in here last three or so years always gave her a bracelet that had AND on it, for A Natural Death. They always did appropriate treatment, but the very last time when it was clear that it would have taken extraordinary and largely useless measures to keep her alive, she was made comfortable and allowed to die.

Yes, I miss my sister, and yes, I am absolutely in favor of DNR orders.