Family sues Ottawa Hospital after woman, 37, dies following gastric bypass surgery

That's how it was explained to me as well.

yes we are told the risks of this surgery and the bottom line it is our decision but it still does not make it any easier to accept a young life /mother/wife is gone.
and perhaps with such a loss  some good can come from this by seeing what could of been done differently if anything.
my heart goes to the family who has lost this loved one. and your remark of How nice that they had to include her last words to her husband in an attempt to dramatize the story and drum up sympathy for the family......is very cold. and those are my feelings .

sad story. thanks for sharing.

My heart goes out to the friends and family who are grieving.  No doubt, this story will certainly cause some people  in this same surgical process to think hard about their decision, as it should.  That does not, however mean that surgery is or is not a good option, just that it needs to be looked at for what it is: life-altering.

As the opportunity to discuss this sad event arises, I would urge everyone to keep in mind:

-  the filing of a statement of claim is the first step in a long and complex process and reflects an interpretation of the context in which an event happened. In this case, the undeniable event is a tragic and premature death.  We know the "what", but we do not know the "how" or th"why".  As the process unfolds, other interpretations will be added into the mix.

-  the response from the hospital and the doctors, when it is filed, will blame the patient, family, etc.  This is the way the system is set up in an adversarial process.  The drs and hospital don't get to just say "here's what we saw happening" or "maybe if I did X, it would have been different and I'm sorry i did not do that". Their lawyers would set them on fire for doing that. The legal system works in a way that the other side of the story comes out by denying the family's version and shifting blame.  This is a systemic flaw of  the judicial process, not a character flaw of the persons involved

- there will be things said, evidence uncovered etc. that we will not know about or, alternatively, things will become known that cannot be taken into consideration by the court., so the result of the case may not seem to make sense and inevitably someone will be dissatisfied.

- however this turns out, it is a chance for learning for all of us

For myself, I knew that there was and is a risk of potentially fatal complications resulting from WLS.  As stated, we may never know what caused the stomach to rupture in this case.  By the same token, we cannot know if there are complications coming for any of us down the road.  I will also never know if, when, why or whether I would have suffered a heart attack, stroke, etc. had I not had the surgery.

I guess this is all a long way to say:  discuss, grieve, learn and feel.  But don't panic.

My prayers are with the family.

In Canada, in many cir****tances, doctor's have the ability to apologize for a mistake without admitting legal liability for the act (this is called, 'without prejudice'). This actually avoids a lot of lawsuits as often the victim only wants to hear an apology and reassurance that this won't happen again. Malpractise suits are actually quite rare.

The hospital will have the option not to respond to the claim, but to enter into private negotiations and settlement instead. If the hospital's priority is to minimize the bad press, this is likely to happen and we may never see another story about it. This is far more likely than a trial.

I agree that we shouldn't panic, but it would be reassuring to see something from the hospital that says that they have safeguards in place to ensure this doesn't happen again - of course this won't happen until after any settlement or trial is done with.

How can a hospital ever "ensure" that a death doesn't happen again? Impossible.

Perhaps ensure was the wrong choice of words, but it would seem to me that a patient exhibiting the same symptoms alleged in the claim would never be sent home in the manner she was, now (distended stomach without further investigation, fever, extreme pain). Her stomach ruptured, that's a rare and serious complication and almost certainly related to error either by the surgeon or in medical instruction. I'm sure it prompted a 'reassessment' of their procedures. Deaths happen of course, sometimes a medical professional is to blame, sometime they aren't. What I mean is reassurance from Ottawa that their reassessed processes would hopefully prevent this from happening again is needed to restore confidence, in the public and in patients.

This all happened over 2 years ago and if I remember correctly, Ottawa's program was delayed because of this and another death.  I am sure that they were under review at the time since they had bad stats right out of the gate but we haven't heard of deaths from there at all lately.  Yes they had a really bad start to their program but the 1 in 200 stats could be back to back or could be far apart.  It's truly sad that she died but none of us will ever know the true story here.

Thank you for restating what I said above.  You are right about "without prejudice" discussions, which was, in part, what I was implying in my reference to "things that will be said that we will never hear about."  I simply chose to not resort to my professional toolkit of legal jargon as people often find it off-putting and it would not serve the purpose of my post, namely to offer a framework for considered discussion.  I'm sure that, as a health professional,  you've experienced these types of "without prejudice" discussions, admissions and communications in your workplace, be it a hospital, clinic, research facility or private practice. 

(As an aside, presumably, you can also appreciate and confirm that the public portrayal of a situation where there are allegations of liability for professional negligence is shaped or informed by the interests of the regulating body and/or the insurers for the professional as well as the institutions involved.  Similarly, there are instances where a family sues in response to the injury or loss of a loved one and the public perceives that as being ridiculous or an indication of being unable to accept things that were simply beyond their control or not anyone's fault. [NOTE,  I am not implying that this is the case here - thinking more about the times where, for example, the injured party sues the person who tried to help them, or the drunk that sues the owner of the bar because the floor was wet and when he got up from the stool, he fell and hit his head.]  Often, these are subrogated claims.  I end up having to sue my best friend when I hurt myself at her Christmas party because my insurance has the right to step into my shoes to seek compensation from her to recover the costs of provide me with the care.)

I appreciate your support of my post, which merely sought to urge the community to not jump to conclusions.  This is an instance where it is only the professionals involved that have what is even close to a complete view of the facts.   The rest of us are simply watching the trailers fly by on the screen and are in no position to review the film based on those snippets.  It is similar to the foolhardiness of relying on statistics or studies without having a point of reference for their significance or context.  It can make someone sound like an expert, when they are not.

It is, as I set out initially, an opportunity for discussion and learning. Some persons however have a natural tendency to confuse opinion with fact (especially if it appears to come from a reputable source like a court document; newpaper or even the internet) and assign blame with incomplete information.  In my opinion, to do so is a waste of the chance to benefit from the discussion and find the value in what they see and hear for themselves.

Thanks again - I appreciate your contribution and am sure that many people agree with me in saying that we are fortunate that you are wiling to share your expertise so freely.  I am only a passenger on this train, so I can only share based on my own experiences.  As such,  there are often times when I don't add my two cents worth (being very conscious of my own subjectivity) and I am glad to see someone better positioned than I contribute to the discussion.  It helps make up for those who, like the anonymous poster who tossed out the cat fight comment, prefer to hide from us, lacking the confidence and credibility to be accountable for their interactions with the world.

I hope this whole situation resolves in a way that benefits everyone involved.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful submissions in this discussion, very interesting to read. I just wanted to clarify that I'm actually a Prosecutor for the City of Toronto and not a healthcare professional. My undergrad though is in Psychology with specializations in biopsych with extra biology and I'm planning to write the MCAT to see if an application to med school is in the cards for me (I first need to bone up on my physics and chemistry though). I have several friends who are doctors (research and medical), pharmacists, and nurses so I have excellent access to health information.