Hospital notifies wrong family of death

[pam]

It's hard enough to get the phone call that someone in your family has died. But what if they were calling the wrong person?

ksl.com - Hospital notifies wrong family of death, fails to apologize

[Moksha]

This was such a sad story when I heard it on KSL-TV tonight. I bet someone in the hospital looked it up in the hospital data base of patients and didn't bother cross checking the address or family data.

[Mahone]

It's worrying really how often this happens even with confidential databases. I've never had anything this extreme happen obviously, but my brother went to the bank once to get a quick printed statement of his account. When he noticed the balance was not plausible for him, he questioned it and they took the statement back and printed another one which was correct. It wasn't until afterwards when he told me the balance he had initially been given that we realised he had been given the statement for my account and not his.

So this is a bank, the details held on their databases are extremely confidential. Yet the data was clearly not cross checked before being given out.

[dazed-and-confused]

ok...maybe i'm a jerk........she wants an apology???......GET OVER IT....YOUR HUSBAND IS ALIVE.........what about the family of the man who DID die?...........

and while i'm at it...let me put your food through a blender because you are WAY too delicate to actually HAVE TO CHEW YOUR FOOD YOURSELF........grow up.

[Mahone]

ok...maybe i'm a jerk........she wants an apology???......GET OVER IT....YOUR HUSBAND IS ALIVE.........what about the family of the man who DID die?...........

and while i'm at it...let me put your food through a blender because you are WAY too delicate to actually HAVE TO CHEW YOUR FOOD YOURSELF........grow up.

I would be annoyed too - not only did they completely destroy her emotionally, even if just for half an hour (it's not always easy to recover from a shock like that even when they find out it was false) but they wasted her day, no doubt she had to leave work etc. etc. Normally I would apologise if I had wasted even just a minute of someone elses time, so I would expect an apology when they had make a mistake to that extent. It's not like she wants to sue them, just for someone to acknowledge what they put her through due to someone not doing their job properly. It would have been polite to say the least :)

I understand the family of the dead man had to receive the bad news as well, and in their case there was no such relief afterwards. But that doesn't excuse giving an apology - whatever happens to us there is always so much worse that has happened to someone else.

[dazed-and-confused]

I would be annoyed too - not only did they completely destroy her emotionally, even if just for half an hour (it's not always easy to recover from a shock like that even when they find out it was false) but they wasted her day, no doubt she had to leave work etc. etc. Normally I would apologise if I had wasted even just a minute of someone elses time, so I would expect an apology when they had make a mistake to that extent. It's not like she wants to sue them, just for someone to acknowledge what they put her through due to someone not doing their job properly. It would have been polite to say the least :)

I understand the family of the dead man had to receive the bad news as well, and in their case there was no such relief afterwards. But that doesn't excuse giving an apology - whatever happens to us there is always so much worse that has happened to someone else.

they wasted her day...she had to leave work.......and lo, and behold...her husband is alive......and she's crying about not getting an apology more than she is rejoicing in her husband being alive, and feeling some thanks for what she has.....a living husband........it just strikes me as another example of ....lert me sue you to get even....CRAP!!!...life is sometimes hard....and nobody owes you anything........be thankful for what you have and quit crying about what you haven't even lost

[dazed-and-confused]

I would be annoyed too - not only did they completely destroy her emotionally, even if just for half an hour (it's not always easy to recover from a shock like that even when they find out it was false) but they wasted her day, no doubt she had to leave work etc. etc.

so sorry, ok an apology would be apropriate and the right thing to do....absolutely......and if it isnt given?...then what?.......does she cry about being so neglected and abused?......oh, the poor dear.....

meanwhile, children REALLY DO STARVE......HUSDBANDS REALLY ARE MURDERED AND FAMILIES LEFT DESTITUTE....MOTHERS CANNOT CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN OR FEED THEM.......in countries, daughters and mothers are raped and murdered, children taught to hate and become soldiers at the age of 10 or less, to destroy..........where is THEIR love?........where is THEIR apology?..........you are blessed more than you know.....i'm so sorry your poor little world is disrupted by not getting an apology that YOPUR HUSBAND IS ALIVE AND YOUR SWEET LITTLE WORLD STILL EXISTS.

[Dravin]

Reading DAC's posts I was expecting a drama queen throwing a temper tantrum and threatening lawsuits, I'm not seeing any such behavior. Actually the article can be read in such a way that its the author stating its a problem she hasn't received an apology (while the reporter has).

and she's crying about not getting an apology more than she is rejoicing in her husband being alive, and feeling some thanks for what she has

Where in the article is she crying about not getting an apology? Even if they had quoted her to that effect what is quoted in an article doesn't necessarily reflect any particular ratio of comments in real life.

it just strikes me as another example of ....lert me sue you to get even....CRAP!!

Really? I read the article and didn't see a thing in it about lawsuits. Some about it in the comments section, but none from somebody identifying themselves as the lady in question.

.......does she cry about being so neglected and abused?......oh, the poor dear.....

She might but with the limited information available in the article I'm not seeing any reason to expect such. Where are you getting your additional information DAC? It certainly isn't the linked article.

meanwhile, children REALLY DO STARVE......HUSDBANDS REALLY ARE MURDERED AND FAMILIES LEFT DESTITUTE....MOTHERS CANNOT CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN OR FEED THEM.......in countries, daughters and mothers are raped and murdered, children taught to hate and become soldiers at the age of 10 or less, to destroy..........where is THEIR love?........where is THEIR apology?..........you are blessed more than you know.....i'm so sorry your poor little world is disrupted by not getting an apology that YOPUR HUSBAND IS ALIVE AND YOUR SWEET LITTLE WORLD STILL EXISTS.

Ah, the famous somewhere, somehow there are others suffering worse than you. I've never been a fan of that argument, what some guy in Ethiopia is experiencing really doesn't lesson the pain of anything I'm experiencing. If her husband had died and she said it was devastating news would you be screaming that somewhere somebody lost not only their husband but their children, get over yourself?

Edi: I find myself disagreeing with asking the question "How old is your husband?" being the solution to a mix-up like this, if she had been the right person being pestered about the age of her husband (and other possible identifying information) would probably be making the news as, "Women forced to play 20 Questions before told of Husband's Death", but I suppose that's the nature of the news.

Edited July 22, 2009 by Dravin

[dazed-and-confused]

i was simply responding to what i saw on the post....i did not see the actual article...ok......my mistake....i relyed on what i saw in the post and reacted........my mistake.....as far as suffering in the world?...ok so it is relative....but when you feel your up to your neck in s**t?......someone is always deeper.......and that is valid, in my mind at least........lol....ok my mind isnt worth much....i am, afterall......dazed and confused

[Wingnut]

ok...maybe i'm a jerk........she wants an apology???......GET OVER IT....YOUR HUSBAND IS ALIVE.........what about the family of the man who DID die?...........

and while i'm at it...let me put your food through a blender because you are WAY too delicate to actually HAVE TO CHEW YOUR FOOD YOURSELF........grow up.

If it were me, I wouldn't be suing, I wouldn't be demanding a public apology, I wouldn't be making a big deal. A private apology by the staff would be appropriate. Having dealt with the unthinkable anguish of unexpectedly losing my husband, and then learning that his medical information was not safeguarded from even minor clerical issues would be very disconcerting. An apology is very appropriate in this situation, and you're being extremely insensitive about it.

....but when you feel your up to your neck in s**t?......

You know, this is the second time in the last 15 minutes of looking through posts on this board that I have seen you half-censor swear words. Is it really that difficult to come up with other words? Just because you put two asterisks in place of letters doesn't mean that we don't all end up reading the word as it originally would be, and I think that an LDS board is not the place for that kind of vocabulary.

[dazed-and-confused]

If it were me, I wouldn't be suing, I wouldn't be demanding a public apology, I wouldn't be making a big deal. A private apology by the staff would be appropriate. Having dealt with the unthinkable anguish of unexpectedly losing my husband, and then learning that his medical information was not safeguarded from even minor clerical issues would be very disconcerting. An apology is very appropriate in this situation, and you're being extremely insensitive about it.

You know, this is the second time in the last 15 minutes of looking through posts on this board that I have seen you half-censor swear words. Is it really that difficult to come up with other words? Just because you put two asterisks in place of letters doesn't mean that we don't all end up reading the word as it originally would be, and I think that an LDS board is not the place for that kind of vocabulary.

ok....fair enough...maybe i'm being too insensitive, and maybe they are being too sensitive...as i stated....qan apology IS appropriate....but if it doesn't come?....and if i understand your respones correctly?.....YOU'D SUE?............ok...imho....shame on you......and as far as my language goes.......it was meant as an extreme expression.....are you saying that when you feel strongly about something you dont express the same?......EVER?

[Mahone]

ok....fair enough...maybe i'm being too insensitive, and maybe they are being too sensitive...as i stated....qan apology IS appropriate....but if it doesn't come?....and if i understand your respones correctly?.....YOU'D SUE?............ok...imho....shame on you......and as far as my language goes.......it was meant as an extreme expression.....are you saying that when you feel strongly about something you dont express the same?......EVER?

I think she explicitly said she wouldn't sue.

And Dravin, I think you managed to say what I meant, but much more eloquently :)

[dazed-and-confused]

MY HUMBLE APOLOGIES TO WINGNUT....you would NOT sue.......as i have previously stated...an apology IS appropriate

[Dravin]

DAC, you may want to put down the thread and step away, the only person in this thread who has talked about anyone suing people, in the positive, is yourself, all other posts have been referencing it in the negative. That being she or they aren't/wouldn't sue. You are obviously finding this discussion very emotionally charged (all the 'yelling' you're doing* and a determination to bring up suing people), maybe a step back, a few deep breaths and a count to ten would be helpful.

* Online typing something in all caps is considered the textual version of shouting.

Edited July 22, 2009 by Dravin

[dazed-and-confused]

dravin.....i think you are absolutely right....and i thank you for that......1 breathe.....2 breathes.......and i do feel better..........i DO APOLOGISE to all posters.........i expect that my responses have more to do more with me than with the posts........i beg your forgiveness........perhaps some old scars were touched for me...no excuse....i do humbly apologise

[pam]

I would expect an apology (whether public or private) in this case. I think an acknowledgement of the error from the hospital is at least warranted.

[dazed-and-confused]

ok...so here i am...several hours later....with time to reflect on my position.....and yes....i was the one who first made reference to sueing (as a reflexion of a certain type of mentality), but that point got out of hand, and i had much to do with that, and for that i apologise.........and i stated early on that an apology would be appropriate........but i do not apologise for not feeling worse for this woman than the family who's loved one DID die......and why did the story focus on her rather than the the family who did, in fact, lose a loved one...........for the object of the article, your glass is more than half full....for the other......my deepest condolenses

[Maureen]

...and why did the story focus on her rather than the the family who did, in fact, lose a loved one...

Because everyone will have to go through that awful situation once where you are told that that loved one has died, you shouldn't have to go through it twice.

[ploomf]

Reminds me of this story from dateline... Mistaken identity shakes two families - Newsmakers- msnbc.com.

I feel sorry for this woman and for the family of the man who died. It's just a bad situation all around and the woman is definitely owed an apology for the mix up.

[FunkyTown]

MY HUMBLE APOLOGIES TO WINGNUT....you would NOT sue.......as i have previously stated...an apology IS appropriate

The Ellipsis is the illegitimate child of Hitler and the comma. You don't need to go crazy and use semi-colons, colons or even umlauts. However, a comma is a very sane and normal way to continue a sentence.

The Ellipsis is like a period if the period had an IQ of 32; It can not do up its own shoelaces without drooling all over itself.

I guess I'm saying that the ellipsis is totally unnecessary and not used, very similar to the !!!!!!!!! so many people love using on the internet.

In the interests of those who love English, I will translate what this says:

"(Screaming) My humble apologies to Wingnut."

I then get up, go make a sandwich, eat it, come back and relax.

"You would NOT sue."

I then go watch TV, have some children, raise them up to be good citizens and send them to college. This is not even an ellipsis for there are 5 periods in this part of the sentence.

"As I have previously stated."

A few breaths are taken. This is actually a proper ellipsis, but a regular good ol' hard-working comma would work out better here.

"An apology IS appropriate."

End sentence. No ellipsis in between "As I have previously stated" and "An apology" because they aren't separate sentences. Instead, they are joined.

Every time a post is made where the ellipsis is overused, a kitten is run over by a steamroller.

Edited July 22, 2009 by FunkyTown

[Wingnut]

The Ellipsis is the illegitimate child of Hitler and the comma. You don't need to go crazy and use semi-colons, colons or even umlauts. However, a comma is a very sane and normal way to continue a sentence.

The Ellipsis is like a period if the period had an IQ of 32; It can not do up its own shoelaces without drooling all over itself.

I guess I'm saying that the ellipsis is totally unnecessary and not used, very similar to the !!!!!!!!! so many people love using on the internet.

In the interests of those who love English, I will translate what this says:

"(Screaming) My humble apologies to Wingnut."

I then get up, go make a sandwich, eat it, come back and relax.

"You would NOT sue."

I then go watch TV, have some children, raise them up to be good citizens and send them to college. This is not even an ellipsis for there are 5 periods in this part of the sentence.

"As I have previously stated."

A few breaths are taken. This is actually a proper ellipsis, but a regular good ol' hard-working comma would work out better here.

"An apology IS appropriate."

End sentence. No ellipsis in between "As I have previously stated" and "An apology" because they aren't separate sentences. Instead, they are joined.

Every time a post is made where the ellipsis is overused, a kitten is run over by a steamroller.

The stupid forum won't let me thank you five times.

By the way, if you've never read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, I highly recommend it.

[pam]

and why did the story focus on her rather than the the family who did, in fact, lose a loved one...........

There had already a day or so before this article came out a story on the man who actually died.

[Hemidakota]

It's hard enough to get the phone call that someone in your family has died. But what if they were calling the wrong person?

ksl.com - Hospital notifies wrong family of death, fails to apologize

One final note, Claudia did want to send her condolences to that family because, in a very small way, she knows what they are going through.

Nice....