We settled

Today is the 4th anniversary of Paul's death. Here is what I can report: We have settled with Northside Hospital for an undisclosed amount of money.

Letter

This is what I received shortly after the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) investigated the hospital, less than two weeks after P__'s death. Yes, I have covered my name and address, along with the CCR# which IDs the complaint.

The line that I find particularly interesting is the lone-line paragraph a little over half-way down the page: "There were violations of State and Federal Regulations identified relative to the allegations and deficiencies were cited."

Photo

In case anyone wanted to see who died at the hospital...This is who we're fighting for, as well as everyone still alive.

Re-Mediation

Last week, my attorney and I were in a second mediation with N.side hospital. We had gone through one mediation process last summer. At the moment, we're still set for trial this fall.

Before signing with my current attorney, another attorney advised that I could go several routes (besides finding someone to take the case). The routes advised were: Contact the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA); protest on the sidewalk in front of the hospital (as long as it was not on hospital grounds or interfering with traffic or business); and start a blog. I was advised that if I did start a blog, I should simply state the truth without any embellishments.

So...I contacted AHCA. They were at the hospital in a relatively short period of time; what they found was not good.

As far as protesting in front of the hospital, that did not appear to be an option I was willing to do. While it may have turned some people away, gotten approval from "the common person" (you and me) and aggravated those in charge at the hospital, I didn't think at the time that it would get the message across to the widest number of people.

The blog idea, though, is a good one. Throughout this blog, I have simply stated the truth. I know what I observed. I have had no reason to embellish or misconstrue the truth. Embellishments and outright lies would only harm my case in many ways: it would damage my credibility; it would make the rest of what I said suspect; it would hurt those who the lies were against; it would be 100% wrong. Add to that that the facts of this case are bad enough...Why would I do that?

The truth has been told all along and needs to be heard. I'm sure that those who have contacted me with their own horror stories of N.side would agree.

Trial Date changed

This past week, I learned that the trial date has changed: Rather than over the summer, the trial is now slated for the fall of 2010.

Yes, this means that it will be that much longer that my life is on hold. But I have no intention of leaving before this is over. I have every intention of seeing this through.

Will it make me stinking rich? I doubt it. Will the hospital admit guilt? I doubt that, too. Will the truth come out? You'd better believe it.

Ya can't go around treating people like garbage and think that it's okay.

The past two years

Northside Hospital temporarily closed to ambulances after license expires, found at http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/article992788.ece and http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/23/Southpinellas/State_threatens_North.shtmlhttp://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/23/Southpinellas/State_threatens_North.shtml, found at http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/23/Southpinellas/State_threatens_North.shtml . Both articles were from the St. Petersburg Times.

Moving forward

At the moment, the trial (The Estate of P___ Lastname v. Northside Hospital) is slated for next summer. When the time is closer, I'll see about posting about.

In the meantime, I keep hearing that we have to keep things legal. This is how it should be. If we start talking in mistruths, then nothing good can come of this. We also have to keep things within the confines of the law. Again, this is how it should be.

The only problem I have is that sometimes we can't get into ethics. We can only litigate against a medical person or facility when they legally or medically have screwed up. We technically can't go after them when their ethics harm or kill someone.

At USFSP, if a student majors in journalism, they must take a semester of Ethics. How about for medicine? Are there no ethics classes for doctors, nurses or hospital/nursing home administrators? If not, why not? And if so, how many who took the class forgot what they learned? If there aren't classes in ethics, shame on medical and business schools. If there are and people have forgotten their ethics, shame on those who forgot.

Karma's a boil on the butt of those who forget the Golden Rule.