But this lawsuit will not bring her back. At a time when we are debating how to pay for health care, it would be prudent to remember that every dollar of the “unspecified amount” her parents seek could be paying for care of the uninsured. Will the money really console them? Probably not…but I bet it will bring comfort to the lawyers. It always does.
There are two lessons to learn from this. First, that MH is exceedingly rare. So rare in fact, that worrying about it is sillier than dwelling on the possibility of being hit by lightning. Second, is that when having surgery, one must always be certain that the surgery is done in an accredited operating room. We keep all the drugs for MH in our operating room, and do drills to be prepared for this possibility https://www.drteitelbaum.com/facility.html .
It should be a reminder that all surgery is still surgery and it is never risk free. I’ve blogged about patients going overseas for plastic surgery, about patients seeking discounts by going to unqualified doctors, and about patients shopping by price. From the sound of things, this happened despite being in a proper facility. It should be a reminder that there can be no compromising when it comes to any kind of surgery.
This story reminded me of that horrible tragedy in 2008, when a young woman died during surgery from Malignant Hyperthermia, an extremely rare reaction to anesthesia. Did the surgeon and anesthesiologist fail to recognize it in this patient in a timely factor? We probably will never know.
