Rep. Murtha Died from Medical Malpractice

There are numerous reports today that but for medical negligence, Congressman John Murtha, who sadly died yesterday, would still be with us.  As reported in the Pittsburg Post Gazette, “According to a source close to Mr. Murtha -- confirming a report in Politico -- doctors inadvertently cut Mr. Murtha's intestine during the laparoscopic [gallbladder] surgery, causing an infection."  This was also confirmed by his good friend,  Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA). 

Meanwhile, among the continuing coverage of the truly sick prosecution of Texas nurses who have been “indicted and threatened with 10 years in prison” for reporting to state regulators that a doctor was practicing unsafe medicine (we've been covering this since last year), we found an interesting comment from someone in the “tort reform” crowd who, after taking an obligatory swipe at the nurses, said:

It’s possible that the nurses made false accusations maliciously, but that seems something that could be handled through civil suits and then only after the Texas Medical Board adjudicated the complaints. Such overreaching by doctors could backfire, as it would give credence to the proposition that medical malpractice lawsuits are a necessary check to incompetent doctors.

I guess when you’re right, you’re right.

UPDATE: The nurse has been acquitted! 

Comments

[Political Girl]

Hmmm interesting. Well, since you brought it up before his body was even cold... Let's see, 1.) He had the surgery at Navy Med, a government-run facility or let me be clear: government-run healthcare and 2) try suing the government

[Joe Consumer]

Not sure your point. No one is proposing that the government run hospitals (not that this would be any worse than for-profit hospitals that cut safety corners). His family could still have a claim, but like most victims of medical malpractice, they rarely bring one. The point is that patient safety is a huge problem and making hospitals less accountable given this epidemic of medical negligence is the wrong way to go.