It is a shame this had happened. I just hope that (1) we Chinese should start to tell the truth to and trust with each other, again; and (2) the MDs in Chinese hospitals can grasp the very bottom line of issues. My first point I do not think I need to explain -- too many examples. My second point realy reflect an MD's level. In this case, they just fixated on the idea that surgery was the only choice to save the mother and baby, which is probably true, and for that you need the husband's signature in this case. But a smarter doctor should be able to identify the immenant and critical issue is cardiopulmonary failure induced by pneumonia. For this purpose (of respiratory failure), they could have intubated the patient on the spot without a signature from anybody (well, 2 MD's here in US)! That intubation plus fluid volume management, cardiac stimulation, antibiotics, etc. would buy lots of time and at least save the mother.
My mother nearly died giving birth to me! The doctor actually asked my father to choose whether he wanted to save the mother or the baby! Of cause my dad chose my mom! But my grandmother (my mom’s mom) was begging the doctor: “please, this is their first baby after 8 years of marriage!”
I was devastated knowing a mother’s life was just one of the choices in a split second to a father! That was then and back in China! And hope it is not the case anymore …
真妮啊,其实早两天我就想问你对这事怎么看来着,觉得你一定会关注这件事的。我在国内时做医生,让家属签字这事没少干。医生的角度不用说了,从病人家属的角度,不愿签字的心情我也很理解。我就见过上了手术台就没下来的。美国大大小小的procedure也都要签字,一些很小的在国内不用签字的情况也要签。不同的是,在美国都是病人本人签,只有在病人同意的情况下(有些还要写书面同意书),医生才能把病情告诉家属。如果病人丧失了自主能力(象昏迷、车祸等等),就由医生做出最有利于病人的决定。未成年人由监护人替他们做决定。在life-saving or limb-saving的紧急情况下,即使监护人不同意(有些因为宗教信仰原因),医生也要实施抢救。回到那个悲剧事件,医院怕事后惹官司所以家属不签字就不手术的态度我完全理解。对病人来说是个例,对医院来说是成百上千例,每救一个人就可能要打一次官司,医院医生都受不了。看来医疗制度要完善的地方太多了,应该从法律上给医生紧急情况下更多的决定权。
When I was at elementary school, my mother had 胆结石 need 住院开刀. Being a doctor, she knew how many things could go wrong during the surgery! Even though she assured us everything will be fine and she had her friend 肝胆科主任亲自主刀, after the surgery, she told us that 她开刀前偷偷溜回家是以防万一来最后诀别. Thanks God everything went great.
Sometimes, even though we all knew the probability was low, but if we become the numerator, then to us it is 100%!