THIS is absolutely shocking. Very sad. (P.S. underlined words are the links to the articles...) This (above-mentioned) blog describes the original story found in LA Times, and has some quoted excerpts. The link at the bottom of her post doesn't work, so I was unable to read the actual news article.
It's so shocking, though, that I did a google search on it to see if it's really true. Here are a few things that I came across.
Article from Daily Herald
A Doctor's Recollection about Dr Safari, and his criticisms of Kaiser Permanente
Article from LA Times (almost the same as Daily Herald one)
I believe that vacuum extraction may have it's place (in a very emergent situation, and I mean emergent as in life or death emergency!) It should be used gently and with limits (we have a 2-3 pull maximum at our hospital I think.) The things that went on in this case are wrong on so many levels. The two biggest and most obvious are that, number one, it was TOTALLY unnecessary to even consider vacuum! (No distress, healthy mom & baby.) And second, he used great force, and pulled numerous times. This is all "alleged", but Kaiser's response (permanently restricting his practice) tells me that there's something to it. It's just so horrible and tragic.
I want to encourage people to research interventions and demand true "informed" consent before agreeing to their use. (And, being that I work in a hospital setting, I want to also warn that from my observation, most doctors will brush over *some* of the cons and accentuate the pros. They will hardly ever tell you all of the potential complications. I really appreciate those doctors who do, and they are the ones who are prepared with true statistics instead of just saying "oh, it's extremely rare...") Medicine is very much a business these days, and we, the 'consumers', need to take control and be informed.
I am NOT placing even an OUNCE of blame on the parents... not at all, never! We should be able to trust judgement of our doctors! But I am saying we need to take this as a que to educate ourselves and make informed decisions about our health, regardless of what others (doctors, nurses, hospitals, protocols) say we need to do. Sometimes they are right, but sometimes, as in this case, they are very, very wrong. So, so heartbreaking.
2 comments:
Ugh...horrible and sickening. I'd have such a hard time working as a nurse today.
I forgot to tell you. That doc that overdosed C's antibiotics many months back, was finally canned and escorted off base. I was head over heels and delirious with joy when I heard that.
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