Hospice killed my dad. Has anyone else attempted to file a wrongful death claim against their hospice provider? He was fine when I left him to return to my home state from his. I had made arrangements to move him that next week as the place he was at was not treating him well. We had a good breakfast and conversation. I went to sign papers on his new home - and to take video to send him on his new apartment. Soon after I left, they started giving him morphine - every hour until they couldn't wake him up. I had called and called all day to no avail. When I called the nurses station, they told me he was in the dinning room having dinner - I told them to take the phone to him. She then changed her story and told me that he must be eating in his room. Again - I said take the phone to him - I wanted to talk to my dad. After about 20 minutes, she said he was asleep and she couldn't wake him up. Come to find out, the hospice had started giving him morphine every hour? We had NO knowledge of ANY potential drug treatment/regime they had started. No permission, no authorization, no informing us they were drugging him. 10 hours later, I get a call he had passed. His PCP ONLY put him on hospice to allow us to afford the care he needed - stating hospice was to be renewed 6 months at a time, and he could renew for as many times as needed - 8? 10? Dads PCP was not anticipating his death - as he was no where near death. When dad passed, they didn't even inform his PCP! I had to take mom in for an appointment, and they asked how dad was doing. How do I hold hospice accountable for their actions? Hospice did call mom and apologize as well as sent flowers. Do I hold both the assisted care facility and hospice accountable? Hospice alone?
They are not in the business of killing their patients....once a patient dies, hospice STOPS getting paid by Medicare. Your father's PCP could only order a hospice evaluation for him. It's then up to the hospice company to evaluate him to determine whether they felt he met their criteria that Medicare would then pay for. Your father's POA or he himself, if competent to do so, would have had to have signed the forms agreeing to hospice services before they're rendered. That would release them from liability. The Assisted Living Facility would hold no liability for actions that were authorized on behalf of the hospice company.
I don't know how you are aware of what actions took place by hospice while you were in another state? How do you know how much and how often morphine was administered to your father and why? You'd need access to his medical charts from both the ALF and from hospice to back up that claim, plus the hospice doctors word that dad was physically fine and in no need of any medication. That it was given to him unnecessarily, in other words, which is malpractice. Yes, hospice nurses are overseen by a doctor so all of those med doses would have been cleared, approved by that doctor beforehand, then charted by the hospice nurse doling them out.
If you can prove that there was negligent/malicious malpractice taking place on your father's behalf, then you should contact an attorney who specializes in such cases to look over your case. Maybe even the police if you are accusing hospice of murder.
My condolences on the loss of your father. Best of luck to you.
I guess I'd begin a consult with an attorney, go from there.
I'm sorry for the loss of your dad. You're already hurting from losing him, but also with the added misery of how hospice may have proceeded.
Your questions need to be put to an attorney and only an attorney. A lawyer will go over the facts of your complaint and then assess if you have enough to move forward with a winnable case.
I'm very sorry for your loss...I hope you can find the answers you seek.
Mandatory pre-trials were set for a certain length of time after suit commencement, service, discovery and preliminary motions. Sometimes arbitration was mandated. These could keep the dockets less clogged, as the procedures were incorporated into court rules.
The kinds of suits that could last for years were more likely to be class action suits.
But your query is wise: is it worth it? Many potential plaintiffs would not feel it is; there's a lot of pressure and uncertainty being involved in a lawsuit.
Here's what happens if you consult a med mal attorney, who agrees to CONSIDER taking the case, depending on his/her assessment after gathering documentations:
Caveat: I've been out of the legal work force for some time; there undoubtedly will have been changes due to technology, but my observations are based on standards and procedures that existed about 20 years ago. Changed? Outdated? Perhaps. Depends a lot on case law.
The underlying criteria for what constitutes med mal may also have been affected not only by tech changes, but by case law; you'd need an attorney to advise on that level. Keeping up to date on case law is time consuming and something done by practicing attorneys or law students in residents. No one, including me, who doesn't have a law degree should be interpreting case law.
1. You may have a consultation in which an attorney advises that there's no case. Or you may enter a temporary contingent agreement by which the attorney evaluates the case to determine if there's actually provable malpractice as you claim.
If the attorney feels outright that there's no merit, you'll be advised. You can choose to accept that opinion, or continue searching for someone who'll take it. Unfortunately, there are bottom feeders who might take a case. Good med mal attorneys don't waste time on cases with little or no merit.
2. This is done by ordering documentation from all parties involved, ranging from the PCP to hospice to the doctor who pronounced your father dead. Medical records typically were subpoenaed, then evaluated either by a med mal attorney or a specialist (sometimes a former nurse or other medical practitioner on staff, or someone in a field comparable to end of life, palliative care and/or hospice).
One of the standards used to (and may still) be is what would be done in that geographic area for situations with similar issues. I.e., in your area, would the practice be to provide palliative care? Or go directly to end of life care? Or get medical records, evaluations, and attempt to address, moderate, cure and/or stabilize the existing conditions?
At the time that I was working in law firms, the geographic standard was considered. I never researched and can't speak to how different sections of the US medical communities differ though, especially in terms of medical sophistication.
3. Attorney (unless he/she's a grandstander) typically evaluates the medical reviews, determines if there's merit in proceeding, either to negotiations or suit. If not, the client would be informed that there's not a viable case, or not a winnable case.
4. If a case exists, potential defendants' carriers become involved, negotiation takes place, or sometimes outright denial by defense attorneys takes place if they feel the case is without merit.
Some attorneys would go ahead with a suit on the gamble that the hassle created for the insurance carrier, not to mention the negative publicity for the defendants, would be justifiable reason to sue. These are the bottom of the barrel attorneys, not someone you would really want to retain.
5. If the attorney sues, the case goes forward. If not, you're responsible for costs incurred in data gathering. Expect to pay several thousand dollars to the attorney, and be prepared to do so as he/she could sue you if you don't pay.
The thing is. There is such a thing in the world as a monumental balls-up, and it's never wise to assume there can't have been one and fail to ask questions.
So go to a lawyer and get the right questions asked of the right people. Once you have the answers, then you'll know what action you want taken.
The "oh well he was dying anyway" argument brings me out in a rash. You wouldn't say that if someone had shot him. Presumably.
And besides how does it excuse lamentable communication (definitely) or inappropriate treatment (possibly) or egregious error (I hope not)?
I myself wanted to go to court, regarding a totally different matter. I understand OP, your emotions and your rightful desire for justice.
I didn't go to court. I must warn you, OP: even when you're 100% right, you can still lose in court. Why? Because the reality is, that every time, you have a 50/50 chance of winning/losing. Maybe the judge woke up grumpy that morning, and accidentally you lose. You appeal, etc. Maybe later you win, maybe you lose.
You might lose years, as others have warned. You might lose money, while trying to sue, for a totally justified cause.
If you still want to do it, despite all that, yes do it. But really be aware - that even someone who is 100% right (facts, laws, everything), can still lose in court.
Venting, with all due respect, you're wrong. How many times have you been in court? How many cases have you worked on with attorneys, prepping for court, gathering and indexing documentation that often fills a thick 3" spined binder? How many lawsuits have you worked on? Data gathering, document collection and analysis, drafting of complaints and other documents? How many times have you served on jury duty, painstakingly trying to remember the details, then make a difficult decision which affects someone's life? If you haven't, you have no comprehension of how difficult it is to make those decisions, and hope that you've made the best decision yet still wonder afterward if you did.
There's no question that personal beliefs can factor in, especially with jury trials. It's one of the reasons that jury evaluation and selection is so important. The judge opines on objections and other issues, but he/she doesn't make the final analysis, unless it's a bench trial.
What does his death certificate say was his cause of death?
Do you have his records to show what was given to him, or is that from someone telling you? If it's not in writing, there's no case.
Did you have a postmortem done to determine his cause of death? If not, you have no case.
They aren't obligated to notify his PCP of his death because his PCP ceased to be his doctor once hospice took over. The doctor contracted by the hospice was now his PCP.
I don't know what happened, but I don't think you had a good idea of how hospice works, nor did you have a proper relationship with the hospice organization. Did you have POA, or were you on the HIPAA forms for your dad? If not, they weren't obligated to inform you of the meds he was receiving and in fact, should not have shared that information.
I think you should buy an hour of a malpractice attorney's time just to get the word from someone who knows, but honestly, I don't see how you have a case in any conceivable way.