The We101 Wizard Peaks Through His Curtain. And It's All In A Name (Quaid, Ritter, Duke, Cone)

I’m gonna piece together a few stories and themes that played out over the weekend. Forgive me if it rambles.

Several people have e-mailed me (or commented) on the horrific story Dennis Quaid & his wife shared with 60 Minutes last night – about their newborn twins (born to a surrogate Mother after years of heartbreaking disappointment) being accidentally & massively overdosed with the blood-thinner heparin. The babies are lucky to be alive. Quaid spoke of the tendency of hospitals to minimize and cover-up mistakes.

Don’t I know it! I know all about something really bad happening and not experiencing another truly happy day.

He also spoke of the “conspiracy of silence” within the innards of hospitals that cloaks these incidents in secrecy. I know just a little bit about that. It’s called “The White Wall” and I’ve been blogging about banging my head against it for several years. Although many people around me have commented that mine is a story for 60 Minutes, I have yet to rate a visit from anyone in New York City. Meanwhile, the “MSM” here (i.e. the Courier Tribune & Greensboro News & Record) don’t think my story (as a doctor whose life was turned to crap for not looking the other way when medical badness went down) is “relevant” to anything.

Quaid also spoke very tellingly of the “Risk Management” (what he accurately describes as the “liability division of the hospital”) and “system failures” (i.e. no one specific to blame) which had caused the deaths of at least three (possibly as many as 19) less-well-named/well-connected infants in other less-prestigious hospitals prior to the Quaids' twins being overdosed at Cedars-Sinai.

Okay. But it does seem to me that in this case, both a pharm-tech and nurse did not read a label or check the decimal points or do their math. A doctor was not even in this equation. But that’s just my armchair medical “analysis”.

The Quaids are not suing the hospital. But in all reality, they don’t have a good claim. In order for a malpractice claim to move forward or be successful, one must be damaged. The Quaid twins survived their ordeal without any apparent long-term/permanent sequelae. No permanent damage translates to no monetary award.

I would hope Mr. & Mrs. Quaid got an apology from the hospital – but I’m not holding my breath.

You see, in our current, very litigious medico-legal environment, it’s Med School 101. Doctors are pretty much told by the lawyers to never say “I’m sorry” (even if they mean it in only a sympathetic way) because it implies guilt. But what the lawyers (and hospitals) involved don’t seem to get is that the silent treatment just makes people madder and increases the likelihood that the angry patient/family is going to do something to bring it to public attention or take it to court.

(The silent treatment accomplishes the same thing in other venues as well.)

Of course, some people are just greedy.

On the legal front, there’s always somebody to sue. Quaid and his wife are suing the drug manufacturer on behalf of their twins . . . over the improper/confusing labeling of the Heparin vials. Again, the twins are healthy (while as many as 19 other less-well-named children are dead), so I’m not sure where that will go. Of course it might entice the company to fix its labels.

But you still have humans reading the labels.

And besides, a very good lawyer once told me that you can’t change the world by filing a lawsuit (even though most people cite that as one of the reasons they file – they want to “fix” something).

I may shortly test that theory with my own case (Sam’s “analysis” notwithstanding).

I'm not so much greedy as really, Really, REALLY pissed off. As, I expect, are the Quaids.

The Quaids are also starting a foundation to help cast more light on “a broken healthcare system”.

I sincerely wish them good luck with that. After my three years in the GSO blogosphere, I'd like to know how they get someone to care. Of course, the fact that Quaid is a hottie movie star might help. The twins are cute too - poster children for sure.

My girl's pretty too.

The second MSM story that caught my eye also involved a Hollywood star. Over the weekend, John Ritter’s widow and the ambulance-chasers whose “analysis” of her husband’s case brought her to Court were told by a jury (in a 9-3 decision) that the doctors who cared for her husband in the final hours of his life made no mistakes which could be categorized as malpractice. I did not comment on the case while it was in play, but from all of my reading about what happened, Ritter’s doctors followed reasonable clinical protocols and established procedures for a man of Ritter’s age & medical history presenting with chest pain. Ritter’s death . . . from a rare, catastrophic aortic dissection (the aorta rips and one bleeds to death internally – oftentimes even if one gets to an OR very quickly) . . . could only have been prevented if the doctors in the ED were equipped with a crystal ball.

The last time I worked in an ED, we didn’t have any of those in stock.

But there’s always at least one lawyer whose “analysis” will call for the crystal ball.

Both of these cases, fawned over by the media (while I, as a medical whistleblower wronged, have languish in a journalistic black hole for ten years), got me to thinking about what makes a story “newsworthy” to the MSM. There is no doubt that the last name of Quaid and a Hollywood agent certainly helped. And Ritter, sitcom king and child of a country music star, was beloved by the whole world (something I feared would drown out any facts when it came to a jury’s sympathy).

Since I am a “terminally self-absorbed”, “malignant narcissit” and “whack-job” who “attacks” other completely innocent, well-meaning bloggers for absolutely no reason (forgive me if I'm done citing the links to their garbage), I’m gonna bring this puppy back to my situation . . . which for some charmed reason or strange association of the stars . . . got quite a bit of keyboard from local bloggers this week.

I am very grateful to Billy and MeB and Bubba AND JOE* for their support – although sometimes I want to do a NCIS-move upside MeB’s head (with affection, of course).

Bubba had his sleeves rolled up and was so ready to stomp some roaches over this We101 thing. If my schedule permits, I will be honored to be on his arm at Converge South.

I’m actually also grateful to JR and Roch Smith, Jr. . . . because their cowardly and despicable actions over the last few weeks proved true everything I’ve ever said or thought about either one of them.

The only voices these two want at the table are those that agree with them.

But I have been wrong about the blogosphere. People can listen - they can see and feel another's pain. People change their minds. People do care. Irrespective of political philosophy, they can empathize and be kind. And they can help.

Now, to answer MeB (who asked at Guarino’s), I’ve got no real beef with Sam (except where has he & his legal acumen been until now?). But he seems more-than -a-little put out that I’m put out with him . . . because I do not just accept as God’s Word his (decidedly defeatist) legal “analysis” of my situation . . . and because I can more-than-ably present my own.

We have a fundamentally different view of how my case should/can be approached. Sam (and Roch – no lawyer) would have me return to (a corrupt) civil court.

On the other hand, I’ve been there and done that – and I want real justice this time (which includes restitution) through a criminal investigation and prosecution. While a long-shot in North Carolina, the law certainly allows for this kind of resolution . . . and it is certainly not impossible or unreasonable given my circumstances. As Connie Mack, Jr. pointed out on Joe's thread, there is legal precedent (quoting Connie - and mentally picturing heads spin - while correcting his typos): "Last month in Georgia, the DA of Cobb County nailed the largest mega-church preacher in Georgia to the cross when he lied in a civil suit. The preacher is now serving 6 months in the local county slammer not counting probation for 5 years and owes a 1/2 million fine to the county for fibbing."

If you adhere to Sam’s puny position (and Roch’s) that it's just a civil matter, I do not suppose there is a case to be made for a lot of press coverage.

But if you believe that a whole lot of hanky-panky went down in Asheboro (i.e. a doctor suffered retaliation for doing the right thing . . . the missions of federal & state programs were thwarted . . . public resources were monopolized for private gain . . . taxpayer dollars were poured down the drain . . . and the executives of a publicly-subsidized/”non-profit” institution behaved unethically & illegally), then that is definitely something that the press could latch onto.

Of course, in order to latch, they’ve got to look. Hasn't happened yet.

Sam authoritatively presents his legal “analysis” as the only analysis (coincidentally shoring up Roch’s “nothing to see here – move on along” act) . . . which it isn’t. As I asked MeB in e-mail correspondance, How am I supposed to take or deal with that except in an adversarial way?

I’ve got to admit, I’m getting a little testy over being accused of “attacking” other bloggers . . . when some of the “well-wishers” doing the accusing have been very quick to dismiss me/my case as “irrelevant”, unworthy of public attention, legally impossible, blahblahblah . I’ve spent quite a bit of keyboard time undoing the damage some of them have done . . . when they pop into a thread and make a negative declaration . . . or make a (bogus) diagnosis or . . . call a name (“liar” comes to mind – and that one BURNED – as the one who dropped it well knew) and leave.

I’ve also spent quite a bit of time spoon-feeding my story and my legal position/expectations . . . based ont the spirit and intent of the law . . . as well as the “analysis” of lawyers who do see ways to move forward (and maybe change the world just a tiny bit).

Now, in terms of "productivity", I would have much rather spent my time anonymously thriving in Pediatric private practice - doing mundane things like routine CME and watching "my kids" grow up. But I've not been able to do that. I've spent ten years eeking out a relatively meager (compared to all of my med-school friends) fighting a corrupt system. I was professionally hosed - my personal life irrevocably altered (no time/no money for marriage or kids). I celebrate the opporunity to sleep in my own bed at night. Moreover, I've got to re-certify my Pediatric Boards in the next two years (undiagnosed ADD made it really hard the first time). And I can guarandamenedteeyou that the things I've learned in the school-of-medicolegal-hard-knocks will not be Board questions.

If Sam (or Roch or anybody else) thinks I'm going to just accept that we all have to accept that some of us are just not "worthy" of justice - on the whim of a biased DA no less - well, he can forget that.

Perhaps it's not about my reaction, but Sam's presentation - which is about as gloomy and defeatist as one could get.

I know it’s something that John Robinson and David Renfro (and local super-bloggers like Ed Cone) do not want to hear, but there IS a roll that local journalists could/should now play in moving my case forward (ala Mike Nifong and the Duke boys – I’ll wrap up with that in a minute).

But first, here’s how I answer MeB with regards to Roch’s low-key back-tracking from banning me at We101 (part this was in an e-mail, so it's all italics):

Roch owes me an apology, MeB. It’s that simple. He was wrong to do what he did and in the manner in which he did it. Moreover, Roch should offer an apology front and center on my blog – rather than burying a curt, “Ed (Cone) made me do it” in Guarino’s thread.

People do not seem to get that I’ve been fighting back-handed stunts like this for ten years (these are the tactics employed by the people I fight – tactics which destroyed everything I held dear). I’ve no patience and zero tolerance for it now.

And maybe, just maybe, if some of the “old guard” bloggers had the insight and sensitivity they profess to have, they’d realize that you do not taunt a wounded animal – push her into a corner – then blame the animal when she bites back. At least I don’t. But this is the "old guard's" MO (as if I pose some kind of threat to their dominance of the medium). And I’m sick of it. If I draw blood when I bite, well, I’ve had the crap kicked out of me (all over everywhere . . . over and over and over again). When those skills are honed, so are teeth.

I’m sorry. There will be no points awarded to Ed Cone for “convincing” Roch to change his mind (and I've love to be privy to what was actually said in the convincing). I still don’t see a link to my blog on Ed’s list of “community” voices (or on JR’s for that matter). If I had to guess, Roch’s decision to reverse himself was more about business and appearances (for We101) than anything Ed said

Roch might hate my guts, but it cannot look like he hates my guts.

While we’re at it (and since spelling it out is working for me so far), let me just go on-the-record about what I’d like to see another well-named local journalist/blogger do (given the blogging-journalism “convergence” called citizen journalism that he's supposedly embraced):

I don’t see Ed Cone of the Cones making any moves on my behalf . . . along the lines of writing a column (whether Ed “likes” me or not, you cannot say this story is not dripping with “hooks” for a “technojournalist”) . . . or using his family connections to say, “Look, I’ve got this doctor-blogger in my universe making some pretty nasty allegations against a hospital that “cooperates” quite a bit with the healthcare system that bears our family name. If what she’s saying is true (and it looks like it is), it might behoove someone in the suit section of the-medical-ivory-tower to look into her situation and make some moves to fix it. I know you guys have some pull with the big guns in Randolph County. So pull.”

He could also say, "Hey, could we help find this chick a local job?"

But we don’t see Ed Cone blogger-king, doing that. If he put just a small amount of the effort that he currently puts into making excuses not to help – into actually doing something to help, he might make a believer out of this blogger. But the “I wish Mary well” act is so stale (especially in light of all the “niceness” he’s pumped out of his own keyboard). I’m sooooooo sick of the lectures on relevance & blogging.

Suggestion to Ed Cone: Trying BEING relevant. It’s not so much to ask. I’ve played his game like a good soldier for over three years.

A year ago, everyone thought the Duke boys' case would be impossible to navigate. Mike Nifong was the Durham DA and that was that. He could do whatever he liked to whomever he liked and the world had to deal with it.

But something changed that . . . and that something was press attention. If memory serves, that attention that was first born of a disturbance in the blogosphere.

Once again that press attention swirled around a prominent name . . . Duke.

Now Mike Nifong is history (and, as is the case with most scapegoats for systemic ills, he was pounded mercilessly into the ground). The Duke boys were totally exonerated and have collected millions in behind-the-scenes damages. They stand to collect more (although I hope they don’t). Boatloads of ink-space all-over-everywhere has been devoted to their cause/case. And OBTW, they’ve been featured on Sixty Minutes.

All that for throwing a bad frat party where drunken racial epithets were hurled at a girl who decided to get even and found a DA gullible enough to use her in order to win an election. And remember folks, Nifong DID win . . . so, as we-the-morally-superior-people revel in his downfall, what does that say about the rest of the general populace of Durham?

Let’s see what the Duke boys’ damages really were: If any of the defendants are not back at Duke, you can rest assured it’s not because free tuition was not offered. So that leaves attorney’s fees (likely more-than-covered by their settlements so far) and a missed Lacrosse season.

Damn. That hurts.

In stark contrast, Dr. Mary Johnson, a not-rich/"nobody" physician in public service, was thrown out on the streets of the small mill-town where she was raised after standing up to the threats of two-hoodlums-in-suits-disguised-as-“non-profit”-hospital-administrators. She defied a threat and answered a phone call in the middle of the night and did her duty and saved a child’s life. Then, after cleaning up the mess (that would have put her directly in the line of fire had the baby died) she refused to be a "team player" and look the other way. To foster a cover-up, her practice was destroyed & absorbed while Randolph Hospital executives and Board members lied to everyone about what they had done and why they had done it. As soon as she filed a lawsuit (ignored by the local press) she was thrown off the medical staff (using a back-room maneuver very similar to the stunt Roch pulled at We101 – again one of the many reasons she may be a little punchy). Then she was (unsuccessfully) sued for telling the truth to the state and federal agencies she had served honorably and well . . . with the headlines of her hometown paper screaming out that she was a "liar" . . . and the publisher covering the hospital's retreat when the facts proved otherwise.

The law that was supposed to protect this doctor was mis-interpreted and manipulated and used like a battering ram against her. Ultimately injury was added to all of the insult when the court she had turned to for justice was corrupted by perjury, contempt and fraud.

All but one of the politicians that she’s written and begged for help (including an ex-Senator named Edwards who spent a lot of time advocating the very kinds of programs she got burned in) turned a deaf ear and dumped her e-mails into File 13. Very "progressive" of them.

And the local newspapers have kept the story buried. John Robinson, Editor of the N&R, has figuratively spat in the doctor's face.

It’s been ten years, folks. That’s a whole lot longer than a lacrosse season. Healthcare scandal after healthcare scandal is rolling out of Raleigh . . . billions wasted . . . people dead . . . the products of YEARS of apathy and neglect.

Yet Dr. Mary Johnson’s story of public service woe and medio-legal corruption is not “relevant” to local journalists?

I honest-to-God do not know what it takes. Except maybe a name.

And I’d love to chat up Dennis Quaid. And Sixty Minutes.

*Late Evening Addendum: I was cross-eyed at the end of this one. It went up fast as thoughts were flying, and I was trying to catch them with my fingers as they zoomed by (someone has said that makes me a writer). So I've done some edits - including adding the always gracious and kind Joe Guarino to the list of people to thank for their keyboard time.