What would have to be done to prove that a hospital was responsible for a blood transfusion related death?

[armin]

My brother passed away recently, and he had liver disease. It had been controlled for the last two years and he was not having a lot of problems. A few months ago he went to the ER because he was having difficulty breathing. It was diagnosed as fluid in his lungs. They were supposed to drain it and he was to go home the next day. The fluid came back so they put him in ICU to monitor for pneumonia. At some point he was given a blood transfusion, and after that he got very sick. He ended up being on a breathing tube, then his lungs were bleeding, his kidneys were failing, and his liver got much worse. He passed away a few days later. My mom told me that my brother told her he overheard a doctor and nurse talking and thought he heard them say he was given the wrong blood. When my mom asked about this, the nurse said he was given the correct blood, but his body had a reaction to it (TRALI). I've been researching and found that hospitals can be held responsible for blood transfusion related deaths. However, I'm wondering if it would be very difficult to prove. My parents didn't have an autopsy done, and I also don't know if they are just going to say he passed away as a result of the liver failure. I've found some attorneys in medical malpractice, but before I consult with them I wanted to see if there was a point. I don't want to be bugged by the attorneys, espcially if they would have to exhume him to do an autopsy. My mom doesn't want to go through that.

[starling]

My brother passed away recently, and he had liver disease. It had been controlled for the last two years and he was not having a lot of problems. A few months ago he went to the ER because he was having difficulty breathing. It was diagnosed as fluid in his lungs. They were supposed to drain it and he was to go home the next day. The fluid came back so they put him in ICU to monitor for pneumonia. At some point he was given a blood transfusion, and after that he got very sick. He ended up being on a breathing tube, then his lungs were bleeding, his kidneys were failing, and his liver got much worse. He passed away a few days later. My mom told me that my brother told her he overheard a doctor and nurse talking and thought he heard them say he was given the wrong blood. When my mom asked about this, the nurse said he was given the correct blood, but his body had a reaction to it (TRALI). I've been researching and found that hospitals can be held responsible for blood transfusion related deaths. However, I'm wondering if it would be very difficult to prove. My parents didn't have an autopsy done, and I also don't know if they are just going to say he passed away as a result of the liver failure. I've found some attorneys in medical malpractice, but before I consult with them I wanted to see if there was a point. I don't want to be bugged by the attorneys, espcially if they would have to exhume him to do an autopsy. My mom doesn't want to go through that.

I absolutely hate things like this, Its lawsuit happy people that seek money that are increasing the costs of our healthcare and insurance. It is sad that your brother died but that doesn't mean you are entitled to money nor should you seek any money. Lets break it down for you.

First your brother was extremely sick. You state that he had a liver disease. The liver is a vital organ. It stores glucose, aids in digestion, and filters blood. Who knows why he had the difficulty breathing. It could have been anything from his liver becoming enlarged and pushing on the diaphram to blood being blocked thereby reducing perfusion. There are 100's of reasons for this.

Second, you state he received a blood transfusion. Why this occured is up to the doctors but obviously they felt it necessary. Had he been given the wrong blood he would have presented with different symptoms.

Third, you state that his original diaganosis was fluid in the lungs. There are two common causes for this. He could have aspirated some fluid into his lungs, or he could of had a perfusion problem in which the Oncotic Pressure was increassed causing him to leak blood from his capilaries into his lungs. Regardless of the cause, foreign substances in the lungs cause infection.

Regardless of the cause one thing is clear, your brother passed away. One has to realise that the Human Body is a magnificent piece of engineering. We have fluids, electricity, acids, etc coursing through our body. We have an extremely efficient fuel burning system that converts food to energy. There is nothing "computerish" in our bodies, yet that mass of cells and fibers in our head called our brain is capable of independent thought and can put people on the moon.

The point is that the Human Body has been designed to run under certain parameters. When we interfere with its function whether intentionally by medications or unintentionally by illegal drugs and abuse, then we go beyond what the body can handle. Every body is different. Some people can't tolerate what others can. In other cases sometimes the body just doesn't want to handle it any more.

It sounds to me like your brothers body went into shock and shut itself down. The only way to know for sure would have been to have an autopsy conducted.

It is doubtful that the doctors made a mistake or their actions caused your brothers death. Doctors are human though and mistakes do get made. However, one has to consider whether that mistake was intentional or not. If it was intentional then yes a lawsuit would be appropriate. However, it sounds to me like it wasn't intentional and therefore a lawsuit is not appropriate.

A lawsuit is not going to bring your brother back. It is not going to help others, rather it may have a negative impact on future healthcare of patients. Lawsuits don't solve anything and they end up dragging people through some rough stuff for sometimes years. I know, I have been there.

I am sorry your brother died, but a lawsuit is not appropriate. Let your brother rest in peace and keep his memory alive.

[smid]

Im sorry for your loss. The best solution would be to seek a legal council and create a case against the hospital.

[jolie]

I really don't believe you have a case here. It sounds like your brother was already in end stage liver disease. He had a health crisis which is not uncommon when your liver is not working right. Many many things can go wrong since the liver has over 500 functions. It cannot filter toxins out of the body like it should when it is diseased like you brothers. Yes, hospitals can be held responsible if someone dies due to the result of being given the wrong blood, but I think it would be impossible to determine that in this case. I'm not a coroner, so I really cannot say this could be proven in an autopsy. I don't believe the nurse is lying since having an allergic reaction to a blood transfusion is one of the greatest concerns when a transfusion is given. The patient will be monitored for any reaction quite frequently. Vital signs are taken quite often during the first hour and the patient is watched very carefully. The reason for this is due to the fact that people can and do have severe allergic reactions sometimes and they can be fatal in some cases. The hospital is certainly not responsible because a person had a fatal reaction if the correct blood was given.

People can have severe allergic reactions to just about anything. My friend went to have some simple procedure done in outpatient one day and ended up being dead for 3 minutes when she had a severe allergic reaction to anesthesia. She was healthy and it almost killed her. If someone is already in a weakened state such as your brother, then a severe allergic reaction would make things much worse. This would be especially true if he had lung and breathing problems. Unless you can find out for sure it was the wrong blood, I would leave it alone. Even if it was, it probably would be very difficult to prove in his case. If this is a big worry, maybe your family can get hold of the medical records and see what happened. Everything has to be noted in nursing and doctor notes as to what happened including his reaction to the blood transfusion. If everyone was lying and covering it up which I doubt is the case, then you would most likely need an autopsy if it could be discovered by doing that. If it was the wrong blood, then one person would be responsible for actually making the mistake somehow and others are not going to risk their nursing and doctor license to protect someone else. Multiple people would know since there was a big change in his condition and there was even discussion about the blood transfusion between workers.

I don't know what liver disease your brother had, but it might have been cirrhosis. That is a progressive disease that only gets worse and worse over time and has no cure other than a liver transplant. In those 2 years, his disease was most likely getting worse and worse. I had cirrhosis and did quite well too since physical symptoms typically don't show up until the disease is far advanced. By the time a person figures out they have it, often it is already too late to stop the disease from progressing to total liver failure eventually. When someone has liver failure, then the kidneys try to do the job of the liver and it is common for them to fail next. When people get close to having total liver failure, its pretty common for them to also have problems with kidney failure at the same time. I'm sorry for your loss. I know how you feel since I lost my brother 2 years ago due to lung cancer from smoking.