Melissa Rivers is reportedly considering a medical malpractice lawsuit in connection with the death of her mother, legendary comedian Joan Rivers.
Despite her 81 years, Joan Rivers was in good health and was undergoing a routine procedure at an outpatient clinic on the upper east side of Manhattan when she went into cardiac arrest and later died.
Currently the New York State Health Department is investigating what went wrong, although so far, few details have been made public. However, medical experts have been speculating in the media that one or more mistakes may have been made related to her treatment, specifically the anesthesia used to sedate Rivers while an endoscope was used to examine her vocal cords.
If it turns out her death was due to negligence on the part of her medical caregivers, she would be among millions to have suffered a similar fate. In fact, medical error is the now the third leading cause of death in the Unites States.
Although our country does offer the best medical care in the world, it is far from perfect. Patients need to become their own advocates and enter into medical treatment with wisdom and caution.
Consider the real-life story of Barbara Sheff Tocci, detailed in her recently released book,Practicing Medicine: I Don’t Think That Word Means What You Think It Means
The healthy wife and mother developed an illness that led to a series of medical mistakes that nearly killed her. Improper treatments and side-effects to prescribed medications were only the tip of the iceberg.
One mishap after another developed into a nightmare that eventually caused a massive stroke, leaving her in constant pain and permanent disabilities.
Reading her story helps us understand how easy it is to blindly trust the wrong people. It illustrates the importance of doctors listening to their patients and why patients must insist upon being heard.
We can learn from her mistakes because what happened to her can happen to any of us and does happen to millions of others who enter into our healthcare system with fairly benign problems that cascade into catastrophic conditions.
In addition to it being a cautionary tale, Barbara's story is also inspirational. It's a story of faith and hope. Barbara shows us how, even after other people inflict devastating harm on us, we can take back our lives.
She shows us how she managed to grow both physically and spiritually in the wake of disaster. By following her example, we can too.