A mother in Oregon is suing Portland Adventist Medical Center for $8.6 million after she accidentally smothered her four-day-old baby in a hospital bed.
Monica Thompson says that, a few days after her son Jacob was born in August 2012, the hospital put her newborn in bed with her so she could breastfeed him. But Thompson says in the lawsuit that the baby was put there in the middle of the night, while she was heavily medicated. Thompson drifted off, and when she woke up, Jacob was unresponsive...
Thompson, who is suing both the hospital and the individual nurse involved in the incident, said she was still drowsy and groggy†from her medication when she realized her son was not moving, her lawsuit states. The suit says Thompson called for a nurse, and when none came, she carried her son to the hallway and frantically yelled for help.â€
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I don't see Dream'n suggest anywhere that women were being forced to breastfeed.
She stated they were pushed to encourage breast feeding. I was never pushed, encouraged or anything along those lines. Breast feeding was never brought up for me, ever.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
She stated they were pushed to encourage breast feeding. I was never pushed, encouraged or anything along those lines. Breast feeding was never brought up for me, ever.
The *nurses* were pushed to encourage breastfeeding, not that the new moms were pushed or forced to breastfeed. I'm sorry nobody even mentioned it to you - that is a failing on the part of the unit where you gave birth.
As soon as I read this article I knew they find in favor of the mother. That's just my opinion based on the cut and dry rules I've learned regarding my responsibilities as a nurse who administers meds. At the end of the day, the nurse should know how strong that drug combo is and not walk away with the baby and mother unsupervised. It's a sad story all the way around.
This is horrible and no amount of money will fix it. I do think the nurse and hospital should be accountable. Everyone knows you never are suppose to sleep with your newborn. Why didn't the nurse check on her.....how long until she woke up...all these questions would need answered it just seems what we tell our patients to do should not change while they are under our care. The baby should have been taken out of the bed after feeding...
I agree with Klone. Babies need to eat no matter what. So are we supposed to stay in the room the whole time? When my mom are groogy and can't safely care for their baby I will take the baby to the nursery. I also offer alternative non drowsy pain control options if they insist on rooming in and are alone. Sad Sad story. When I see a sleepy mama there is no way I'm handing her a baby. But we can't be in the room for every single second.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
This is horrible and no amount of money will fix it. I do think the nurse and hospital should be accountable. Everyone knows you never are suppose to sleep with your newborn. Why didn't the nurse check on her.....how long until she woke up...all these questions would need answered it just seems what we tell our patients to do should not change while they are under our care. The baby should have been taken out of the bed after feeding...
You don't think the mother holds any responsibility? Feedings with a new mom/baby pair can sometimes take 45+ minutes. How is the nurse supposed to know if the mother is done feeding unless she uses the call light. Our hospital is required to do hourly rounding on patients. Do you think that's unreasonable, and they should be done MORE frequently?
Yes, it does and I feel reassured. The US is definitely NOT like this. That is, the retraining for work you mention is hard to come by unless the pt or his advocate goes to bat for him. I guess he could get retrained and special ride service, etc. But you have to ask for it, beg for it, hunt it down. Unless one is extremely fortunate and has the best Case Manager/Social Worker on the planet, one is really out of luck. Could become homeless. That's why a pt who's been the subject of a grievious error will sue. He's going to need money to live. Even just getting an orthotic/prosthetic/therapy, etc. is a battle all the way. Even for veterans who've been wounded in war it is a terrible battle to get the care they need.
Thanks for sharing. How in the world do countries like those in Scandinavia afford to be so humane and be proactive about it?
Scandinavian countries are able to provide this level of support for their citizens because the income tax rate is
Denmark 55.8% for 2017. It got as high as 65.9% in 1997.
Sweden 57.10% for 2017. Its all time high was 61.4% in 1996.
That is more than twice what most Americans pay in income tax.
Americans pay for the healthcare, PT, prothestics, home remodeling, transportation, etc costs resulting from medical malpractice through malpractice insurance / lawsuits. That means medical costs are higher, so everyone in America is "taxed" for these costs through the cost of medical care.
Scandinavian countries pay through their income taxes.
There is no free lunch. These costs have to be paid. How the citizens choose to collect the money to provide that care is different.
Scandinavian countries are able to provide this level of support for their citizens because the income tax rate is
Denmark 55.8% for 2017. It got as high as 65.9% in 1997.
Sweden 57.10% for 2017. Its all time high was 61.4% in 1996.
That is more than twice what most Americans pay in income tax.
Americans pay for the healthcare, PT, prothestics, home remodeling, transportation, etc costs resulting from medical malpractice through malpractice insurance / lawsuits. That means medical costs are higher, so everyone in America is "taxed" for these costs through the cost of medical care.
Scandinavian countries pay through their income taxes.
There is no free lunch. These costs have to be paid. How the citizens choose to collect the money to provide that care is different.
Our per capita tax burden is actually pretty similar to that of Scandinavian countries, and when you consider that their taxes include most of their healthcare costs, we actually pay more per person in taxes. Scandinavian countries tend to have higher personal income taxes, but lower corporate taxes, while our are reversed but with same basic total tax burden.
I guess you are an American? We're likely conditioned to think differently. If I get injured I couldn't care less about my day in court, unless I was the victim of a criminal attack. If I suffer injury from a mistake made by healthcare professionals either due to negligence or unreasonable work conditions (overworked and understaffed), I want an acknowledgment of my suffering and an apology. Money wouldn't make me any happier or heal injuries or any potential psychological scars.
I enjoyed reading your comments in this thread. I am also originally from a socialist country with a universal health care system. When you live and work in this type of setting, it is easy to take for granted the safety net that exists and forget about the personal costs incurred to get healthcare in the US. I don't think that people here (in general) sue because they want their feelings acknowledged or to feel "happ[ier]." Although maybe this is an underlying factor. Primarily I think people here sue for the financial reimbursement.
Even though I have great health insurance, a medical mistake could potentially cost me and my family thousands of dollars in medical fees. I wouldn't want to personally have to pay these fees if it was the result of an error (or several errors). And I am definitely not a litigious person.
This is obviously a very sad case and I feel bad for both the mother (and the rest of her family). I also feel bad for the nurse. Like others have said there were possibly other concomitant factors (under-staffing, over-emphasis on patient satisfaction scores, etc.) that would be interesting to hear about. Hopefully, though, this mother gets some peace after this lawsuit is over.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
You don't think the mother holds any responsibility? Feedings with a new mom/baby pair can sometimes take 45+ minutes. How is the nurse supposed to know if the mother is done feeding unless she uses the call light. Our hospital is required to do hourly rounding on patients. Do you think that's unreasonable, and they should be done MORE frequently?
I've never worked post partum or been fortunate enough to have a child of my own, but I rather wondered about this as well.
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
What country are you from macawake? Are you accepting immigrants? The lawyers here plead before the jury how morally imperative it is for the wronged individual to be properly compensated for all his or her suffering before the law firm walks off with nearly half the loot. Lawyers routinely seek litigation, advertising that "there is no cost unless we recover for you."
It seems that about half of the advertising on local television is from law firms, most of them personal injury attorneys. Some even go so far as to sponsor closed captioning of local newscasts. One ad catchily says, "In a wreck, need a check?" These commercials once showed the grinning lawyer holding a giant fake check made out to "Accident Victim" for $1 million, but the State Bar Association made him take the amount off the check because it implied that all of his cases were potentially for big money. Most of these same law firms buy space on about half of the billboards around town as well. Then there are the law firms that seem to make their entire living from pursuing manufacturers of prescription medications and medical devices.
Ok your thought process is immature. Typically, when they first file, they are in negotiation for years before they are taken to court and only if a settlement is not reached. So I can confidently assume this is what happened.
I think ultimately the nurse may be held liable. I'm not even an OB nurse but we know sleeping in bed with infants is not safe. If the mother had a complicated birth and a c-section and was heavily medicated, then yes, the nurses role would have been to stay with the infant until feeding was complete and remove the infant from the bed. I just hope she documented, "patient alert and oriented and requested to keep baby in bed" or something of that nature. But I can see a jury or even an expert witness calling this gross negligence. I do not, however, see her getting her license revoked.
OrganizedChaos, LVN
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She stated they were pushed to encourage breast feeding. I was never pushed, encouraged or anything along those lines. Breast feeding was never brought up for me, ever.