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Statement of
Leonard A. Joseph
The New York State Assembly Public Hearing
The Disciplinary Process of Physicians and Physician Assistants
Thursday, January 31, 2002
250 Broadway, New York City
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My name is Leonard Joseph. I have been a victim of medical error twice. The second time resulted in the death of my friend, my high school sweetheart of 27 years, my soulmate, my bride, Marlene Joseph.
On July 24th 1999, I drove my wife to the hospital to deliver our third child. We were under the care of a private attending obstetrician.
During the course of labor, while the attending physician and the labor nurse were within proximity, the anesthesia department was called and a resident was sent to perform a procedure. I later learned the procedure was an epidural. She rushed into the room, introduced herself as a Doctor, and ask me to leave the room. I thought that my wife was going to be prepared for delivery and I would return with a sterile gown. My wife and I were not aware that she was about to have a procedure.
Although the attending was not in the room, and without a signed consent, and without any regard for my wife, the unsupervised resident proceeded to perform the epidural. Not only did she perform the epidural incorrectly and ignored my wife's complaints of a severe headache and numbness, she made three separate mistakes that culminated in the death of my wife:
1) the unsupervised resident missed and hit the spinal cord.
2) she got air in the line and gave my wife an excruciating headache.
3) she then proceeded to continue and gave her a "high spinal" which culminated in her death.
To add insult to injury, a code was sent in for the baby and never for my wife. The emergency personnel who came attended to the baby. My wife was hand ventilated long enough to allow my daughter to be born by C-section right on the stretcher.
It is my wish to request a change in the way residents identify themselves and to address the disciplinary process. I am not anti-doctor or resident. Those of us who were hurt by doctors have but one common plea.......we do not want this to happen to someone else.
An injury that results in incapacitation or death is criminal and should automatically be referred to the Attorney General's office. Take my wife's case as an example. It went from a medical error to a criminal act when the resident delayed getting help because she was too busy trying to cover up her error. I ran back into the room when I heard my wife complained of numbness. She collapsed on her back and was kept in that position all the time. She was still conscious and opened her eyes twice when I called out to her.
What was the resident doing? She was too busy covering up her error. The code was called after I yelled at her as to what she did to my wife. She lied to the emergency personnel and told them my wife complained of a headache and collapsed before the epidural was administered. The autopsy proved different!
There are classes of physicians that are at a greater risk for investigation. One has to only look at the malpractice premiums for certain specialties like ob/gyn. The protection comes from the delivery of care. Doctors have to be more careful and take less risks in treating their patients. Unfortunately, for my first born, my wife's doctor decided to use a labor inducing drug instead of doing the pre-determined medically necessary c-section. My son is developmentally challenged.
Minorities and the elderly are prone to be victims of medical malpractice much more than any other ethnic groups. A Daily News article dated Friday, June 8, 2001 mentioned that a study conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx said that of the 192 pregnancy-related deaths in New York City between 1988 and 1994, 114 of the women were black and 60 were Hispanics. Caribbean women in New York City have high maternal death rates. When it comes to every area of public health in New York City, Caribbean women are the most vulnerable. Should it surprise you to learn that my wife was from the Caribbean and was killed at Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx?
In conclusion, when a patient becomes a victim of medical error, the very first response would be to protect others from harm. We need to do something in other to prevent this from happening to someone else.
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The Joseph Family now
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Editors Note:
This was read at the New York State Assembly Hearings on January 31, 2002. These hearings are open to the public. The story you have read has been edited with the permission of the author for easier understanding.
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