Beware the Grieving Warrior

Beware the Grieving Warrior: A Child's Preventable Death. A Struggle for Truth, Healing, and Change
Larry Hicock with John Lewis

"This book is a riveting read not only because of its heart-wrenching outcome and local characters, but because of its potent topicality: According to data collected from Britain, Australia and the U.S., an estimated 10,000 Canadians die in hospitals annually as a result of medical error, another 10,000 from incidents like hospital infections and unexpected drug complications. It's something we always hear, but due to a naive trust in our medical system, rarely put into action: You are your best advocate."
- Hamilton Magazine

In early 2003, Ontario's deputy chief coroner ordered an inquest into the tragic deaths of two children due to post-operative complications in a Hamilton hospital. The cases may never have been reported were it not for John Lewis, a registered nurse, and father of 11-year-old Claire -- one of the two children.

Beware the Grieving Warrior describes John's fight, in the midst of immeasurable grief and sorrow, against hospital staff and administration who failed to acknowledge their neglect. By turns shocking and heartrending, infuriating and inspiring, this book offers a chilling first-hand account of the obstacles and resistance Lewis encountered as he wound through a hellish maze of bureaucracy, until he won his day in court. The story is intensely intimate and brutally honest. It is about the suffering that inevitably results -- for patients, their families, and for the health care professionals involved -- when the truth is withheld.

At Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Beware-Grieving-Warrior-Preventable-Struggle/dp/1550226738
At ECW Press
http://www.amazon.com/Beware-Grieving-Warrior-Preventable-Struggle/dp/1550226738
As eBook
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/1554906733/Beware-the-Grieving-Warrior-A-Child's-Preventable-Death-A-Father's-Fight-for-Justice-eBook.html

CMAJ - Apology marks new era in response to medical error, hospital says
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/168/6/757

Grieving father John Lewis says there are no "real winners" in this case
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/168/6/757#273

Patient Beware
http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/2004/06/patient.html

CMAJ: Medical errors, apologies and apology laws
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/1/11

Articles by J.E. Lewis at NIH
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=Lewis%20JE%5Bau%5D&dispmax=50

Doctors find confession is good for the soul
http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/doctors-confess-their-fatal-mistakes/article185422.html

The foundation established in memory of Claire Lewis is called Revolution Hope.

Times of London: What's the Canadian word for 'Lousy care'?

Canadian health care costs a fortune - $40B per year in Ontario alone. People in Canada should be the healthiest in the world. What's gone wrong? Link

Lyme Disease Conflicts of Interest Uncovered

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/figures/R807A2F1.GIF
Note: Deer ticks carrying Lyme Disease do not turn back at the US border.

Patient advocates and physicians concerned with the treatment of chronic Lyme disease finally had their voices heard at a July 30 2009 hearing mandated by a legal settlement between Connecticut's Attorney General and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). More than a year after an investigation by Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal into the 2006 IDSA Lyme Guidelines' development revealed conflicts of interest by members of the IDSA guidelines' panel, a new panel heard testimony on whether the guidelines required revision. Insurance companies use the current highly restrictive treatment guidelines to deny patients reimbursement for medical care. "This dialogue would not have happened without the strong vision and leadership of the CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who investigated this controversy, uncovered the facts, and called for this review," said Diane Blanchard, Co-President of Time for Lyme. "We hope it sets the stage for further dialogue."

Link
Webcast - available through August 2010

Could it be that evidence of use of a "flawed" test has been hushed up and permitted at "world class" Canadian hospitals to shore up denial of insurance claims in the USA? Cdn "national security" Lyme tests.
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