Publication In Good Faith For Redress Of Wrong
This Site Is Dedicated To Malpractice Prevention
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The Arlene Berry Case
"Truth Cannot Live on a Diet of Secrets |
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Health is an issue that affects everyone, one that cuts across class, race, and sex lines. Our health care organizing will have at least two goals; (1) building those kinds or struggles which more people to challenge the particular abuses of local institutions and providers, and (2) giving people a sense of the kind of quality of care they have a right to, and should demand, from this, or any other system. |
There's a trend in the UK towards prosecuting doctors for manslaughter. Some are even ending up in jail. So I think that the message I¡¯m giving you is that if Canadian doctors and nurses do something really serious or show a blatant disregard for a patient¡¯s welfare, then such person(s) can and should be threatened, charged and prosecuted with criminal charges.|||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This report represents more than 4000 man hours time expended in research and private investigation into what can only be described as one of the most hideous crimes of the century perpetrated by doctors and nurses in Northeastern Ontario in order to save face. I have sketched the general nature of the evidence which I will present. It bespeaks of medical blunders and medical stupidity and the taking of an innocent life (the end result is a 41 year old mother of two children gone) due to medical stupidity and despicable hospital cost-containment policies. That we are living in a disposable society, without values, there is not a shadow of a doubt. Such are crimes as in this case ranging from criminal negligence to outright fraud and fraudulent concealment to corporate (hospital) criminal cover-up, criminal conspiracy and government acquiescence, obstruction of justice and collusion utilizing half truths, bald falsehoods and all the cloak and dagger techniques known to spies to obfuscate the truth; paradoxically, we have a rise to prominence of a powerful minority of misguided zealots opposed to truth and justice. In terms of a conspiracy and coverup, silence doesn't only imply concealment, it also infers guilt.
There are many individuals whose otherwise happy and productive life has been destroyed or doomed by
hidious crimes perpetrated by medical professionals resulting in
iatrogenic injury or debilitating and/or fatal disease and unnecessary death due to
homicidal criminal negligence or outright medical stupidity. Pressing action for criminal accountability is urgently needed in preventing such events from occuring in future. This present climate of impunity in Ontario courts has only encouraged bad doctors to flout the Criminal Code. The Federal Court of Canada may offer some relief, since federal authority for criminal law and procedure ensures fair and consistent treatment of criminal behaviour across the country. |
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A PHYSICIAN CANNOT ESCAPE the essential principle: Primum non nocere "First Do No Harm". Whenever you grant immunity from fault you breed irresponsibility. No policy change or audit will ever bring back this young mom. However, by making the doctors and nurses criminally accountable, this investigator hopes to ensure that the likelihood of a similar recurrence will not happen again. This has nothing to do with a drug reaction per se, but rather it has everything to do with ignoring outcome to near fatal conclusions, and medical homicide. My mission is to ultimately prove criminal homicide, and criminal negligence, including corporate criminal liability, together with the facts of this case, with scientific precision if need be, and to ultimately utilize the criminal justice system to the fullest to punish all those involved in Arlene Berry's death and subsequent cover-up. Let it be known that I am NOT interested in blood money. What I want is "JUSTICE" for Arlene Berry, nothing more, nothing less. |
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The information contained herein is based on evidence
based research, computer assisted. Evidence-based medicine is a process of systematically finding, appraising, and using research findings as the basis for clinical decisions based on the formulation of relevant question concerning a patient's problem. Compare: PROBLEM SOLVING
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These are the facts: |
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In December of 1999, Arlene Berry was sent to
Timmins & District Hospital in Timmins, Ontario where
she was diagnosed, according to her physician, "with carcinoma of the
left main bronchus with residual cancer of the aorta due to a complete
collapse of the left lung". Her family MD,
Dr.
Edward Henry 11
had misdiagnosed her in that he had been treating her
assumptively for what
he termed a "suspected
bronchitis".
It took another doctor to read her X-ray chart
and to order more appropriate testing before anything was done. By the end of April of 2000 Arlene Berry had completed a
5 week postoperative course of radiation therapy. In light
of this treatment, her condition was seen to be stable.
Postoperative testing results done on March 16th in Timmins
were seen to be very encouraging and from that treatment and testing it
seems clear that Arlene Berry had every reason to expect a partial
remission, or stable condition. On May 23rd of 2000, and on the days before, Arlene Berry presented to the Kirkland and District Hospital with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, sedation, dizziness, headache, and mild diffuse weakness. CAVEAT: DRUG INDUCED MYOPATHY - The onset of clinical manifestations of drug-induced myopathy usually develops insidiously and can occur from days to months after exposure to the causative agent. Commonly, patients present with nonspecific complaints of progressive, generalized muscle weakness (diffuse weakness) muscle pain (myalgia), or fatigue. Proximal or diffuse muscle weakness of the arms and legs is the hallmark symptom in Toxic Myopathies and infections in hypokalemic myopathies. Compare Muscle wasting and diffuse weakness in combined effects of sepsis and multiple organ failure, and such as seen in encephalitis and meningitis. The progressive course of this patient's headache, as well as nausea and vomiting had suggested the presence of increased intracranial pressure. NO toxicology screening was done. In addition to the radiation therapy consisting of nuclear medicine Arlene Berry had also been prescribed and given MS Contin 22 , including STATEX 23 for pain management, both of which are morphine with constipating properties. 24 Because morphine may increase biliary-tract 25 pressure, some patients with biliary colic 26 for example, may experience worsening rather than relief of pain. Morphine has many side effects 30. The most dangerous is respiratory depression 31. In frail patients, as the respiratory rate decreases, the patient becomes increasingly sedated 32. See: Morphine Risk Groups 33. Compare: Opioid overdose 34. See: Drug overdose Compare: Sedation Compare: Nuclear Medicine cases by study type Compare: Intra-abdominal
abscess,
27 ,Colonic
obstruction
and Opiod
dependance 29
.
A-5 of the record documents the patient's presenting complaint as "headaches accompanied by severe stomache pain" that is consistent with the "abdominal pain ongoing for 2 weeks" for which she was prescribed "antibiotics" 35. Compare: Antibiotic Classes.The RN who saw her noted that she had been takingMS Contin 22 (morphine) for her pain and also that she had "stopped taking the morphine", noting also her past medical history consisting of "taking radiation". There is nothing on the record to suggest that this patient had been examined for her stomach pain, either for constipation 36 or possible bowel blockage 37 associated with the morphine. People with bowel obstructions may repeatedly vomit yellow or green colored bile, and may have a distended (swollen, uncomfortable) abdomen. Stomach pain is also a prominent finding associated with dehydration 38, including constipation. Most sickness and health problems start from a toxic colon. Toxic megacolon is a life-threatening complication of other intestinal conditions, characterized by a very dilated colon, abdominal distention, and sometimes fever, abdominal pain, or shock. Colon cleansing usually eliminates the underlying causes of stomach pain. Conditions listing complications: Constipation:
According to family, Arlene Berry had stopped taking the
morphine at home due to "increasing severity of constipation requiring
extra laxative and tap water douches to assist with stool evacuation" (straining to evacuate the bowel can increase intracranial pressure),
and also due to
dizziness,
40 marked by a sense of uneasiness progressing to
unsteadiness or "lack of motor coordination"
41.
Ataxia
42
symptoms are similar to alcohol intoxication
43 and
include staggering ataxia/gait
44 . Compare C I P R O Information and Side Effects. There is also evidence of "inappropriate behaviour" 45 as witnessed by family and friends.
From the records it is also clear that Arlene Berry had a history of
"opiate" use, including
Acetaminophen
46
(Tylenol), among other medications as evidenced by her
Rx list
47 . There
is nothing on the record to suggest that the patient was ever tested or
examined for possible side effects
48
associated with the MORPHINE
49 she had
been prescribed, such as
opioid-induced nausea and vomiting
50 , or
for possible other side effects such as associated with the
withdrawal from opiates. Respiratory depression is also a hallmark of opioid toxicity and is the result of CNS depression.
51.
Compare
Morphine Side Effects.
52. Many
drugs and medications produce
withdrawal symptoms Following her postoperative course of radiation therapy,
Arlene Berry had remained quite well until about one week prior to her
admission to the Kirkland and District Hospital on the 23rd of May 2000.
Over that week she had developed headaches
53 that at times had become increasingly severe. A severe
headache is a common but not invariable accompaniment of
intracranial causes of nausea
54. and
vomiting.
When a Headache Isn't Just a Headache Compare Acute Hepatic Failure (May not be associated with fever. May aggravate encephalopathy). See also Infective endocarditis Compare: Urethritis According to the record at
A-6 she returned to the ED (Emergency Department) on May
23rd of 2000 with "the very same complaints". On examination
the physician who saw her documented positive "bowel sounds"
57 consistent with physical findings of
hyperactive bowel
sounds
58 ,
(... bowel sounds often indicates constipation), a sign of abdominal distention
59 which
can rapidly progress to
intestinal obstruction
60 in
which bowel sounds become hypoactive
61 due
to paralytic
Ileus
62.
Compare
Abdominal symptoms (nausea, abdominal pain or distention)
associated with Heart
Failure.
Compare iatrogenic, toxic and metabolic neuropathies.
Chronic
Inflammatory Neuropathies What also appears to be a referral at A-6 of the medical record, a chart copy from the admitting physician directed to the attention of the attending physician documents what I take to be a provisional diagnosis 81 of "vomiting". Submit that vomiting is NOT a diagnosis but rather a symptom 82 of many causes. See: Nausea and vomiting Further, a question appears to have been raised (but also ignored) with respect to possible metastatic 83 cancer of the brain, leaving the etiology 84 of the vomiting and the stomach pain left undetermined for the attention of the patient's family MD, namely, Dr. Jordan. Submit that stomach pain concurrent with nausea and vomiting points to the "abdomen"85 as the source of the problem. There are NO records to suggest that the ED physician had ever bothered to take the time to perform a Complete Physical 86 or a Neurological Examination 87 of this oncology 88 patient. Compare: Oncologic Emergencies 89. See MEDICAL ONCOLOGY: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW.
From the record it is clear that NO diagnosis
90 or
differential diagnosis
91 was
made at that time, or at all, as evidenced by the record at
A-3. From the same record it is also clear that nothing was
entered because nothing was done. A reasonable physician would
have correctly diagnosed the patient's condition by doing what Dr. Jordan and all those who attended to Arlene Berry failed to do
in his absence. Submit that clinical features of brain abscesses are associated with a progressively severe headache 95 in 70%-90% of patients with brain abscesses. Epidural Abscesses are usually mixed infections that include anaerobes micro-aerophilic strep. and Staph aureus. An epidural abscess is caused by infection in the area between the bones of the skull or spine, and the outer meninges (the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord). An epidural abscess is a medical emergency. See also MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: The flu Patients with limb ischemia 93 present with the classic signs of pulselessness, pallor, and paralysis due to SHOCK = cardiovascular collapse 96. Indeed, these are also signs and symptoms of a stroke 97, i.e. ischemic stroke 98 or thrombotic stroke 99, such as caused from interruption of blood flow to the brain by a blood clot 100. An ischemic 101 (or clot) stroke occurs when a blood clot obstructs flow of blood to a portion of the brain due to inadequate blood flow. 102
In meningitis the disease can
block blood vessels in the brain, causing stroke and permanent brain damage.
Ischemic stroke is a life- threatening event in which part of the
brain does not receive oxygen, usually due to a blood clot.
Compare also
Transient ischemic attack
103 (TIA) such as caused by an interruption of blood flow
to brain cells. The emergency record from the hospital dated May 22nd of
2000, seen at
OP-54 documents a recent history of hematuria
104 (blood
in urine ) for three days and a prescription for
Ciprofloxacin
105 (Cipro),
for treatment of Urinary Tract Infection
106.
Cipro is an antibiotic indicated in the treatment of a
variety of infections, including the "flu". Notably also,
the same drug is given when superimposed
bacterial
infection
107from
Radiation Toxicity
108 such as
ulcerative
colitis, for example, is present. Bacteremia
in febrile patients. A clinical model for diagnosis.
The True Story of Cipro
MedlinePlus Drug Information: Ciprofloxacin
Compare Radiation toxicity:
See:
Acute radiation syndrome.
Clinical Radiation Toxicity
eMedicine - Intestinal Radiation Injury : Article by Rajeev
...
Protocols - Radiation Injuries Ciprofloxacin can potentiate existing
renal insufficiency
109 and
may enhance concomitant
drug toxicity (drug toxicity can mimic or be superimposed on rejection or infection) with enhanced potential for
Ototoxicity110.
Compare: gait/ataxia in
ototoxicity
111 ,
which can effect ballance, with damage to balance functions.
See: Gait
ataxia in ototoxicity.
Liver failure associated with ciprofloxacin was reported in the
Lancet in 1994
112.
Ciprofloxacin has been implicated in several cases of acute
renal failure
113 and is the most established fluoroquinolone
The same record documents "blood when voiding"
116, and
also that she had been given "antibiotics for 1 week", including
the "1 given now". The same record also documents "large blood
trace
leukocytes"
117, what
are the White Blood Cells
118. The
blood contains
erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells),
platelets and
blood plasma. The number, type and age of the white blood
corpuscles reflect the state of the body's immune system and ability to
combat infection, or
infectious disease. Thus in the presence of infection, the
healthy body pours millions of white cells into the bloodstream. The normal white blood cell (WBC) count is 5,000 to
10,000 per microliter depending on the severity of infection.
An elevated WBC count may also contain an increased number of immature forms of
white cells called "bands"
119.
eMedicine - Hyperammonemia : Article by Karl S Roth, MD
Inflammatory diseases of the brain
128
include abscess
129,
meningitis or cerebrospinal meningitis 130,
encephalitis
131 and
vasculitis132.
Compare: ammonia in the development of
portal systemic encephalopathy
133, a
metabolic encephalopathy
134
that occurs when the brain is exposed to toxic metabolites of
gut origin
135 that reach the brain because of inadequate hepatic
clearance
136.
Clinically, many conditions producing increased intracranial pressure or progressive neurologic deficits mimic brain tumors. These include subdural hematomas, brain abscesses,hydrocephalus, benign intracranial hypertension, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, multiple sclerosis, vascular malformations, cerebral infarctions, Alzheimer's disease, and some congenital anomalies. Many of these conditions have characteristic radiologic appearances that enable them to be differentiated from brain tumors. However, some of them brain abscesses and certain inflammatory lesions, demyelinating disease, hamartomas, and congenital anomalies cannot be distinguished from brain tumors on the basis of their radiologic appearances alone, and a definite diagnosis often requires biopsy. Even when the imaging characteristics of a lesion are very suggestive of a tumor,a biopsy is usually indicated to obtain tissue for precise histologic diagnosis and grading of the tumor since these factors will have an important bearing on treatment.
FIRSTConsult - Brain tumors, benign - Medical Condition
File
THE MERCK MANUAL, Sec. 14, Ch. 176, CNS Infections Organic brain syndromes (as the term is used historically)
may apply to the complications of severe head trauma, drug toxicity,
brain infection, and dozens of other causes
Ask the Expert Common precipitants of
hyperammonemia
140 , an
elevated level of
ammonia in the blood manifested by lethargy
141 and
worsening mental status142
,
renal failure (when the
kidneys fail to function properly)
143 ,
GI bleeding
144,
infection and constipation. The same record documents "Here 1 week ago for UTI.
Last period on 6th of May". Onset of her menstrual period is
closely related to her illness in which symptoms result from production of
toxin suggestive of staphylococcus
151, which may then wash backwards up through the vagina,
uterus and fallopian tubes, or similar mechanism to be absorbed from
the peritoneal lining
inside
the abdomen. Case reports cited primarily in women who are having periods
in which a blood-soaked tampon
152 may
provide an excellent breeding ground for the staph
aureus bacteria
153
present in the vagina, a significant cause of female urinary tract infections. Interestingly, the urinary tract is one of the few
sites at which
coagulase-negative staphylococci
157 are
more usual pathogens
158 than
s. aureus.159
S. aureus infection is unlikely to occur in patients with a normal
urinary tract, except in staphylococcal septicaemia
160 blood
poisoning, when the organism can often be recovered from the urine
161,
presumably the result of microabscesses
162 in
the kidney. In TSS, acute renal failure, abnormal liver function and refractory hypotension follow. COMPARE: Staphylococcal Infections
163 in
an afebrile
164 patient with
Dehydration. Up to fifty percent of patients with brain
abscesses 165
may present with an afebrile history. Arlene Berry had an
afebrile history as evidenced by the record. Toxic shock syndrome presents as a flu-like illness with or without fever, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation or toxic megacolon, general malaise, and muscle weakness.
When TSS is treated appropriately, full recovery is the rule, although some patients may have persistent neuropsychologic dysfunction (eg, memory loss, lack of concentration), mild renal failure, late-onset rash, or onset of new allergies.
Compare also Proteus spp,
170 a
gram-negative motile
171,
aerobic rod shaped bacilli
172,
urease positive
173,
characteristic swarming part of the normal flora
174 of the
GI tract
175 A leukocyte response suggests leukocyte recruitment which may point to the likely offending organism as being a Gram-negative pathogen 176 Leukocyte recruitment 177 is the hallmark of the inflamatory response 178. Compare - The phases of inflammation According to my research, a negative urine test 179 can suggest the presence of unusual bacteria or viruses causing symptoms of UTI. Compare Pseudomonas aeruginosa 180, a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen 181 that frequently causes hospital-acquired infections producing symptoms of UTI, which can easily spread from patient to patient, causing outbreaks of infection with important implications for healthcare facilities. Similarly, it can also be passed on by a patient or infected healthcare worker to outsiders, such as family and friends of a patient, where it can further be transmitted to others within the community, placing the entire community at risk for infection and further transmission, such as seen in assymptomatic 182 carriers. Hence, the motive, in addition to fraud, for a hospital cover-up. The major offender in the sterile bladder environment is the indwelling urinary catheter 183, but can also be test or procedure related. For example, coagulase-negative staphylococcus (S. epidermidis 184, due to presence of the germ "coagulase negative staph". This is a common skin germ but can be pathologic 185 (cause infections) in the body, as it appears to have done here. The same healthcare provider (whose signature is illegible) also made a notation with respect to the "flu" which had then been directed to the attention of the patient's "family MD", Dr. Jordan. The healthcare provider who saw her made a provisional diagnosis of UTI. The test result from that diagnosis however, what I assume to have been a urology test, or a blood culture 186 test, evidenced at OP-55 of the Outpatient Record later returned a finding of "NO Growth" 187. Compare: Urinalysis. The same record documents "SEPTRA DS 188 GIVEN BEFORE & CIPRO GIVEN AFTER". What is Blood culture ? Compare: Urine culture The commonest isolate from cultures nowadays is Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CNS) mainly due to contamination of the blood after being taken for culture . Reference: nosocomial 188 infection. Compare SEPSIS 189.
Major contributors to nosocomial infections include the
emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
poor hygiene practices by
healthcare providers, incompetent staffing, substandard practices and
apathy on the part of healthcare providers. Nosocomial, derived from
Latin, means "hospital-acquired"
190. The
term is used to shield hospitals from the "embarrassment" of
germ-related deaths and injuries, injuries leading to death
exacerbated by hospital cutbacks and carelessness by doctors and
nurses. According to the hospital outpatient record at
OP-54, the patient's recent head CT scan showed "NO
METASTASIS"
201, and her mediastinoscopy, samples of the cells and
lymph nodes 202
that had also been done on the same date were found to be "NEGATIVE".
Notably, mediastinoscopy is also used to stage
203
lung cancer. From that record it seems clear that NO clinically
detectable metastasis were found. The purpose of the mediastinoscopy
is to show whether cancer or tumors have spread to the mediastinal nodes.
Problems with damage to internal organs, infection, and bleeding are
possible and can also be detected from the mediastinoscopy. What the
family had found to be peculiar however, was the dramatic voice change
204
following the mediastinoscopy that was done in Timmins on March 16th of
2000, what I take to be iatrogenic vocal fold
paresis However, Arlene had began to regain her voice in the days prior to
her death . The same record documents a history of
Tylenol and Aspirin, including the notation "daughter states takes a lot"
- suggests use of that can break the gastric barrier
211 and
damage the gastric mucosa
212, ie, aspirin, NSAID's
213
(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Compare Salicylate Toxicity
214.
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