Family sues Ottawa Hospital after woman, 37, dies following gastric bypass surgery

Apologies in advance to everyone as I do not to take away from the actual focus of this thread, but need to add the following to PatXYZ.:

I am embarassed at having been caught making assumptions.  It never occured to me that you were NOT a health professional, and actually figured you were possibly even a doctor given that your knowledge spans across many disciplines, procedures etc., and that your assertions are so unambiguous.  I guess, if I thought about it at all, I figured that you kept yourself pretty private so that you could participate on the board as a patient without feeling like you were at work while on the forum.

Making an assumption like that is certainly not the norm for me. I am even doubly embarassed (  - couldn't find an emoticon that was twice as red, so I just did two) to have made such an amateurish mistake about a professional colleague of sorts (I was called to the Bar in '98 but do not maintain my license to practice, being a federal investigator).

You have my admiration.  Best of luck on your MCAT.  I enjoyed school and love learning, but couldn't imagine medical school after undergrad, law school and Bar Admissions.  You obviously have a sense of self that I don't.  Touch base after you write to let me know which was worse - LSAT or MCAT.

...and now back to our regular programming...

I similarly do not require a license in my position, so I have opted not to article and write the bar. While I enjoyed some aspects of law school, I discovered that I would not wish to practise in Toronto outside of my current position and that I would rather invest my resources in pursuing an alternate career. I do very much enjoy my Prosecutions role, but have been feeling a strong pull toward the medical field for a couple of years now, it'll be a process over the next 3-5 years to make the transition.

I loved writing the LSAT, and understand elements of the MCAT are similar, but require a more specific knowledge base which I've been working to acquire over the last couple of years. A part of that has been reviewing hundreds of studies related to bariatric surgery (surgery itself, complication rates, nutritional deficiencies and supplements, etc) over this past year. I love that I'm able to share this information with people on this board. I know that I can have a direct writing style, so I hope people take the information I provide in the spirit it is intended and I welcome debate and discussion on all the information I post!

Very sad, and no it shouldn't have happened but at the same time its a risk we all know we are taking when we sign that first form at Orientation. It is also why we have to go through so much to get to that surgery date we are all hoping for and have waited for.  They tell you from day one there are risks that you need to be aware of. There have been so many changes to the program over the years. I have faith in the Medical Team I will be meeting and this won't change my mind in the least.

Incredibly sad, my thoughts are with her grieving family. It's so difficult to summize what truly happened, as so many pieces of the story are missing.  But in the end, I'm truly saddened that this poor woman lost her life, trying to save it.

Rest in peace.

This Womans death should never have happened totally preventable in my opinion and it was for this reason that I chose to have my surgery in Michigan.OHIP does not want to admit that Ontario does not have the expertise that alot of American surgeons have in this area .Sadly it will take many more of these deaths to reopen the border

How can you form that opinion from a short, summarized newspaper article?  How was it preventable? Have you read something I'm missing?

I chose to have my surgery in Toronto and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

ditto

I'm with Karen on this, How do you know, from this short, poorly informing article, that her death was ACTUALLY the cause of malpractice.

Read Sher1ock's response, its far more eloquent and informed than any other written here in this forum as of yet. We will NEVER know all the details to this story, and as such, cannot make judgements such as the one you are making. Ontario surgeons are every bit as skilled as American ones. We don't need the border reopened.

I agree, and interestingly, my surgeon actually came from the US with plenty years of experience on board.  The lead surgeon on my team who provides all the training has years upon years of practice in micro-surgery.  I felt confident enough to trust these people with my life, and they did an amazing job.  If you have your surgery in the states, your medical support system is, in many cases, a long ways away.  I prefer to know that my medical team is ready and acessible at very short notice in case problems arise. 

That's alot of jumping to conclusions. Deaths happen in all programs - even in the states. I went to Michigan and I have seen both systems. Hubby is going through an Ontario centre and I have nothing but faith in our system.