Maggots on Dad's Body in Hospital

[lightsung]

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Pennsylvania.Dad was in hospital's PCU.He had a massive heart attack.Took many minutes to call a code blue.They were no monitoring him/saw monitor cuff off his arm.Later one of his nurses approached me and asked me what happened."I thought we were taking good care of your dad".After I told her the situation.She asked me when it happened.I told her around 7am."Oh,at shift change"..and walked away.They had moved my dad right across the hall to the ICU.He was there 3 days.He passed on the third day at 1230a.At 130a the hospital called me.They asked if I wanted an autopsy.I said no.My dad had been thru enough.I called a funeral home.They picked him up about 4-5 hr later.Later that morning I called them about the details.They told me my dad had a severe maggot problem.He tried to get the county to do an autopsy.They refused.Had to do it privately.Cost me almost 4,000 dollars.I am still emotionally traumatized.Every lawyer says I have a cause of action.No one will help.It's an odd case.But I need help.My dad was wronged!Is it malpractice or as one lawyer said a "abuse of corpse" case?Help..what do I do?? Statute of limitations over 9/15/09.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you're asking about the possibility of malpractice contributing to his death, due to the delay in calling a code, have a malpractice lawyer review the file and autopsy results.

You're talking about a maggot problem due to the hospital's improper storage of the body? That's not malpractice, but it is a potential tort case. The lawyers are apparently concerned that the amount they're likely to recover won't justify the cost and time involved in litigating the case.

[KeyWestDan]

Mr Know It All needs to read a little more carefully.

The poster said a private autopsy was paid for. Even gave the cost.

Maggots? I am not CSI but a body out in the open attracts flies that lay egss and they hatch into maggots. This takes a body in the open, non-refrigerated storage and some number of hours to develop that far. Something is seriously wrong there.

You have some sort of a case, but the issue might not be medical malpractice at all. Therein is the rub. Whatever the tort might be, you simply can't prove enough in damages of any type to make it worthwhile for an attorney to pursue.

Even in cases of medical malpractice, in the case of older people, especially people with other serious medical conditions, malpractice is hard to prove. The bigger kicker for getting any attorney to take the case are the potential damages, and there isn't much to collect for. They look at life expectancy, quality of life, earning potential and the like. Also it is not easy to collect for a third parties pain and suffering that is strictly emotional. A spouse has some chance there, but children little chance and any others, no chance at all. Some states don't even recognize third party claims.

Doing anything legal would be entirely out of pocket and the costs would be far in excess of any money you would collect.

[lightsung]

Thank You.. Malpractice attorneys will take neither part of this case..and time is running out.If it was your dad or mother....what would YOU do??

[Mr. Knowitall]

File complaints with any agencies that would take them - state licensing complaints, JCAHO, etc.; go to the media....

[lightsung]

Yes...trying to do that,but they have a "sorry,but do what attitude"..and the media doesn't care.Been trying that avenue over one year! One news person said they would do a story ONLY if I got a attorney/// a catch-22 for me...and I wanna make the hospital responsible for this horrible thing! We take our loved ones to the hospital to be well cared for............!!!!!

[lightsung]

Be wonderful if attorney in Pittsburgh area would take this case asap.Time running out.Do not want hospital to get away from this...

[lightsung]

Joint Commission called hospital....did not ask for autopsy...or my thoughts on this all.Pa Health dept took months to go into hospital.Went there in Feb 08! It happened in Sept 07...........is there something wrong here....and what can be done??

[KeyWestDan]

Nothing can be done to any state agency. They have immunity from money damages. A petition for a writ of cert or mandamus filed in a court can force them to take some particular action, but that is a expensive and long road and will not help you.

We have already been around and around on this. No attorney will take your case. The odds of ANY attorney in your state reading your post is ZERO.

As I said, put together a COHERENT statement with a timeline and contact medical malpractice attorneys in your local area. They are NOT going to travel across the state for your case.

But as I already said, your case is not adequate and you can't prove any significant damages to interest any attorney.

Either follow my advice or give it a rest.

Just because people think they have been wronged does not mean there is a legal cause of action much less provable damages.