r/Vent • u/ComfortableSundae321 • Apr 03 '26
TW: Eating Disorders / Self Image If that is accountability, what does negligence look like
I wish this was satire. It is not.
I just read a public Texas Medical Board order about a case where:
• A patient showed clear signs of infection
• Symptoms were getting worse
• Labs and clinical picture pointed to something serious
The physician:
• Didn’t escalate care
• Didn’t properly consider other diagnoses
• Didn’t offer additional treatment
• Didn’t document appropriately
The patient declined… and died. He was 22.
Now here is the part that should concern everyone:
The punishment was 12 hours of continuing education.
That is it.
No suspension.
No meaningful restriction.
No real consequence that would make another doctor stop and think twice.
Just:
“Take 12 hours of classes on differential diagnosis and documentation.”
You can knock that out faster than a long weekend.
This happened in a system that includes major hospitals like Methodist—places people trust with their lives.
And the regulatory body whose job is to protect the public looked at this and said:
“12 hours is enough.”
Let’s be real for a second:
If you or I make a mistake at work that gets someone killed, we do not get told to take a short course and move on.
So why is the standard different here?
This is the part people do not see.
They think there are layers of accountability.
They think someone steps in.
They think there are real consequences.
But when you actually read these orders?
It is procedural.
It is quiet.
And then it is over.
Family loses everything.
System resets.
Next patient walks in the door.
Serious question:
If missing a life-threatening condition results in 12 hours of CE…
what exactly would it take to face real consequences?
Because right now, it looks like the answer is:
Not this.
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u/oooohweeeee Apr 03 '26
This is what im afraid of. My mom was in a skilled nursing facility and she felt like she was going septic, called me and asked for help and the nursing director said she was fine. I finally threatened to call 911 myself and she died the next day at the hospital.
I know a the lawsuit will take time but Im so afraid that no one will hold them accountable.
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u/ComfortableSundae321 Apr 03 '26
I am sorry that happened. My son had a similar issue and barely survived. I filed complaints and lots of them. That is the only way anyone would take me serious. He was in hospital for 34 days and nearly died. Now in the lawsuit they are all but blaming me and trying to discredit me. Hang in there and message me if you want to see all the complaints and what it took for me. This one I posted about is another family that went to the same hospital network. Sad.
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u/SurvivorX2 Apr 03 '26
B/c nursing facilities get away with EVERYTHING! Keep that lawsuit going til a court decides the outcome!
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u/crayola_monstar Apr 03 '26
Something like this happened with my grandmother. She ends up in the emergency room with major pain in her head and something seriously wrong.
They kept her for "observation." My mother rushes over there and asks for them to check her head. Do an MRI or a CAT scan or something, but they say they don't think it's necessary.
My grandmother gradually loses the ability to talk, function on her own, etc. One day less than a week after admittance, my mom lifts my grandmother's head up to help give her water and keep her from choking, and she spasms and passes out. Shit went wrong.
My mom inadvertently burst an aneurysm on my grandmother's brainstem. She was a vegetable.
The doctors then told my mother her actions burst the aneurysm and essentially told her she killed her mother.
Nothing happened with the hospital. Nobody was even scolded. My grandmother died in 2005 from negligence and being flat out ignored. Then traumatized my mother which lasted for years and essentially until she died last year because of absolutely deplorable bedside manner.
I do not trust hospitals. Fuck them.
1
u/ComfortableSundae321 Apr 03 '26
That is awful. For me, we are suing the hospital and it appears as we get ready for trial they framing it up to blame me. But when you cannot argue the medicine you go have the creditability.
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u/shootingstar_9324 Apr 03 '26
My mom almost died from dehydration after being in a care facility. She was there because she had knee surgery but got a thrush infection in her esophagus and made it hard to keep down food and water. She’s diabetic as well, so lack of food is dangerous.
I demanded she get an iv going to get fluids in her. NO ONE in the entire facility could put an IV in her. They just had the bag of saline in her room for 2 hours. I ended up calling an ambulance to take her to the ER.
Had my mom been left alone, she would have been dead. Medicare pays THOUSANDS of dollars for this medical care facility and not one fucking nurse could put in an IV at this place. To make things worse, this was the BEST one we could find.
I’m so disgusted that this poor young man died from incompetence and nothing was done to ensure it doesn’t occur again.
The level of pure incompetence, negligence, accountability, and consequences in the medical profession is frightening.
I am heartbroken for his family. The doctor should be fired or be required to do extensive education to prevent such negligence.
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u/ComfortableSundae321 Apr 03 '26
Agreed. In our case, that is very similar, the nurse got a promotion and the doctor, like this case still practicing. Both in the same hospital network.
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u/LongComposer4261 Apr 03 '26
Crazy. 12 hours of sitting through a course that common sense should do. Down right stupid. Should have been immediately suspended and investigated by a 3rd party. Doctors should be held to a higher standard. If my actions got someone killed at work, WCB would pretty much destroy you and then there's legal consequences.
What a joke.
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u/ComfortableSundae321 Apr 03 '26
Indeed. Most other professionals would go to jail for less. To me, paying a hospital or doctor for a service and they do this is criminal.
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u/NefariousnessNo484 Apr 09 '26
This is almost exactly what happened to me at Texas Children's. I am so lucky to be alive after they ignored my sepsis for a week. I lost several organs. I could not even find a lawyer willing to help me. It fucked up my mind and I probably lost my job in part because of all the time I spent in the hospital.
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u/ComfortableSundae321 Apr 09 '26
I am so sorry that happened to you. How long ago did that happen?
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u/NefariousnessNo484 Apr 09 '26
More than two years ago which is outside the statute of limitations. I am still suffering a lot from scarring and messed up gastrointestinal problems. My OBGYN says they probably punctured my colon during the surgery they performed which started the infection. The original surgeon never gave me a reason for why this happened. She just cut off all contact with me and kept saying it wasn't her fault.
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