Wisconsin
 Yvette
Maurin took her 5 year-old-daughter, Shay, to a local clinic because she
sensed something was wrong with her. The Physician's Assistant at the clinic
thought Shay may have diabetes, but did not perform any tests. The next
evening when Shay was not better, Yvette then took her to the ER. Yvette
told the ER doctor that the clinic thought Shay may have diabetes, which
one of the nurses from the ER later confirmed. Although Shay was exhibiting
signs and symptoms of diabetes, the ER did not administer the standard finger
stick test for diabetes. The actual cost to the hospital of performing a
blood glucose finger-stick would have been around 58 cents. Still, the doctor
did not use this test to rule out diabetes, but instead sent Yvette and
Shay home.
Shay died of diabetic ketoacidosis the following afternoon. Ketoacidosis
occurs when a person who has diabetes is not treated with insulin. The body's
blood sugar level builds up to an extremely high level and as a result the
body cannot metabolize anything the person eats. The body becomes severely
dehydrated and an acid build-up occurs, leading to swelling of the brain
and death.
Stories like Shay's are part of the reason the Wisconsin Supreme Court
overturned the state's cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice
this summer. The cap discriminated against children,
older adults,
and women.
Linda McDougal
46-year-old Linda McDougal awoke from her double mastectomy to hear her
surgeon tell her, “You don’t have cancer.” Her first thought
was, what a relief. And then he said, “You never had cancer.”
Two pathologists had switched her biopsy results with another woman’s
– which means both Linda McDougal’s breasts had been amputated
unnecessarily. McDougal has had ongoing infections and has undergone one
emergency surgery as a result of the unneeded mastectomies.
Linda McDougal's case was not frivolous. It is incredibly insensitive and
misguided for insurance companies to throw around words like "frivolous"
when talking about the victims of medical malpractice, just because they
don't want to compensate them. As Linda says, "Victims deserve to have
their cases decided by a jury. A citizen’s right to have a jury of
one’s peers decide justice has forever been a cornerstone of our country.”
Updated October 2005
| 
