Interesting

 I would be very interested to hear everybody's thoughts on this situation that occurred in the UK.

 

 Woman Dies After Being Sent Home From Hospital Twice

Published May 10, 2011

| The Sun

A woman who died 10 minutes after arriving home from hospital for the second time in a one day was not even seen by a doctor, a coronial inquest has found.

June Owen, 63, died after visiting Stawell Hospital in the United Kingdom. 

Janice Campbell said it was shocking a doctor had not seen her mother, who was in pain and suffering breathing difficulties.

Coronial findings made by magistrate Richard Pithouse last week had left her family "confused."

"It still leaves many questions unanswered, and it contains no recommendations on changes that need to be made to prevent this happening again," Campbell said.

On the day of her death, Owen contacted Rural Ambulance Victoria four times, and was twice taken to Stawell Hospital.

She first visited the hospital at 5 p.m. January 21, 2008 with abdominal pain, and a nurse gave her two codeine pills and sent her home.

At 10.15 p.m., Owen arrived by ambulance again and a nurse phoned on-call doctor Briandha Jeremiah, who decided not to attend to examine her.

Jeremiah told the nurse to give her a Demerol injection, to relieve her pain, but the inquest heard conflicting reports on how long Owen should be monitored afterwards.  

Owen was released from hospital 40 minutes after her injection.

An autopsy found Mrs Owen, who suffered heart and lung disease, had died from an enlarged heart.

Stawell Regional Health acting chief executive Claire Letts said after Mrs Owen's death, triage, assessment and pain management policies at the hospital had been reviewed, and minor changes had been made.

Click here to read more on this story from the Herald Sun. 

Follow Fox News Health on Facebook!

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/10/woman-dies-sent-home-hospital-twice/#ixzz1M328HLuX

What Can I Say?

Diabetic Oregon Man 'Doing Fine' After Dog Eats Toes

Published March 04, 2011

| Associated Press

ROSEBURG, Ore. –  A diabetic man from Oregon who awoke to find that his dog had eaten three of his toes says he is recovering and hopes to leave the hospital soon.

Nathan Jones told The Associated Press on Friday that he is "doing fine" and resting, but he declined to speak further.

Jones called 911 on Tuesday to say his dog had eaten part of his right foot while he was sleeping, including three toes.

The hospital says Jones is in fair condition and was expected to go home Friday.

Jones had no feeling in his feet because of diabetes.

Roseburg veterinarian Alan Ross says the dog may have been trying to rid his owner of dead tissue, which is not uncommon.

The dog is at an animal shelter.

***Wow. First we started using leeches to help with grafting reattached limbs. Then maggots to debride dead tissue. Now dogs to gnaw off dead toes. I know some vascular surgeons who may feel very professionally threatened by this dog. With rising healthcare costs, this may be a medical breakthrough. With so many worried about little or no health insurance coverage and possible rationing of care, could canine assisted procedures be the answer? But why is the poor dog in an animal shelter? He may have possibly prevented an entire below the knee amputation with his proactivity. The doggy might have saved his owner from descending into full blown sepsis. Maybe his owner is getting some instruction in the hospital on how to properly manage his diabetes, dare we hope?