CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A recent incident at Adena Health System has intensified scrutiny of its cardiology department. A 65-year-old woman died during what should have been a routine heart catheterization, leading to pressing questions about the practices and credentials of the physicians involved. What happened after her time of death is concerning.
Somewhat related, during my time working in an ER, we had a dedicated family viewing room where grieving families could gather after a loved one’s passing. On one occasion, a young man arrived as a suspected overdose. One of the nurses, seeing his youth, went above and beyond to make him appear more dignified before the family’s arrival, even propping up the head of his bed. When I came in to bag the body for transport after they had all left, lowering the head of the bed caused his legs to flop into the air. You can imagine how challenging it was to fit a body into a body bag when it’s shaped like an L.
At my previous job I did hospital triage. Once a guy walked up to me and said “My wife isn’t doing well, I think she’s dead”. He told me she had been sick for several days and when she started doing really badly he had to get his neighbor to help carry her to the car. He said he didn’t want to bother the fire department.
He had driven from his home on the eastern fucking shore of Maryland to DC. 100+ miles. Told me he was going to be staying at his house in Maryland because he didn’t like his house in DC. She came out of the passenger seat and stayed in a seated position and we put her in an unstaffed room.
He wanted her declared dead in DC for tax reasons?