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Need Confident Attorney To Try Case Before Supreme Court

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  • 03-03-2008, 04:06 AM
    hanging by thread
    Need Confident Attorney To Try Case Before Supreme Court
    This is a wrongful death/medical negligence case regarding an active duty Army soldier.
    I know about the Feres doctrine, and I am working on getting that amended to exclude non combat related medical malpractice. I filed a SF95 with the appropriate military branch and, of course, it was denied. I have until March 8, 2008 - 5 days - for an attorney to file on our behalf in a district court.

    Scenario
    41 year old male had surgery in an attempt to correct his sleep apnea.
    Soldier was on approved leave.
    Soldier survived surgery and was put on a morphine drip for 24 hours. Before he was discharged from the military medical center, a 75 mcg/hr Duragesic patch was applied to his back. He went home. That night he went to bed and never awoke. He died a max of 12 hours from the patch being applied. The patch was applied even though he was post surgical, was NOT opioid tolerant, and had decreased respiratory reserve. Fentanyl is not to be the first pain reliever tried and the use of the med in this case contradicts the guidelines for prescribing opioids.
    The med was prescribed AFTER the following were issued: a Dear Healthcare Professional letter by the manufacturer (Janssen) in June 2005, a health advisory from the FDA in July 2005, two MMQCs from the USAMMA at Ft. Detrick in July 2005, a safety alert from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices in August 2005, and a warning in the DoD Patient Safety Center September/October 2005 Hot Topics. This is a very obvious case of medical negligence.
    No one has presented a Feres doctrine case before the Supreme Court since 1987. I do not see how the Supreme Court could uphold the Feres doctrine in this case:
    patient on approved leave;
    non combat related;
    obvious negligence (contraindicated med given at 2nd highest dose);
    would easily be malpractice case if civilian doctor;
    medicine is medicine so the courts should not be afraid to interfere in this "military" case; military malpractice is the same as civilian malpractice;
    the doctor was not disciplined by the military - he was promoted two months after the death;
    doctor did not follow guidelines for the standard of care for prescribing opioids.
    There is something inherently wrong with our judicial system when an incarcerated criminal's family would be able to sue and collect in a case like this one, but a soldier's family can not because that right was taken away when the soldier volunteered to serve his country.
  • 03-03-2008, 10:06 AM
    gigirle
    Re: Need Confident Attorney To Try Case Before Supreme Court
    Hanging...
    I truely support your cause. Not only for non combat military personel but their dependents as well. I'm a "victim" as well, but not to the degree you have suffered but as a dependent. I had my thyroid removed on base and 8 years later, its comes back to cause more problems. I'm fine but the questions I ask is..."well then, what the hell did they do then?" I had the records to prove it, but was told that there was a very tiny chance that it grew back????
    Anyway, I still have questions regarding your post....
    Quote:

    obvious negligence (contraindicated med given at 2nd highest dose);
    How was it contraindiciated? He had been on a MSo4 drip for 24 hrs without incident.
    Quote:

    doctor did not follow guidelines for the standard of care for prescribing opioids.
    This can be argued since he was on MSO4 prior to the patch for 24 hrs. If the PCA pump indicated a high dose usage over 24 hrs, it may have been very well warrented to put him on 75 mcg of fentanyl. It could be argued that anything less would not cover the pain management aspect. If pain can't be controlled, BP goes up and so does the increase in bleeding, which is something that you don't want post op on any head surgery. You said that sublimaze is not to be the first pain reliever tried, but it WAS NOT if he were on a MSO4 drip. You also said that he had decreased repiratory reserve...what exactly do you mean and how exactly can you prove it?

    I really do support your cause here and my heart goes out to you. I also believe that things should have been done differently but I see lots of flaws here from what you have posted. Warnings go out all the time. It's also a stretch to say that the physician knew of the warnings issued 3 years prior. If the FDA felt that the drug should have been removed, it would have removed it. Drugs with warnings unfortunetly, kill and seriously injure people all the time. Look at Celebrex, it was pulled and then put back out.
    Please keep us posted here as I do agree with the cause and good luck to you.
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