A Miracle or a Mistake?
10December 31, 2014 by Aleksandra Łuczak
Author: Aleksandra Burian, Kozminski University
91-year-old woman from Ostrów Lubelski was deemed dead and woke up in a walk-in freezer in a funeral home. ‘-There was no pulse, breath or rythm of the heart. Her pupils were wide, they did not respond to the light. I wrote the death certificate, but after 11 hours signs of life appeared! I can’t explain this.’, said a doctor who ascertained the death.
This dramatical events took place on 6th November. Mrs Janina’s cousine was making a breakfast when suddenly she realized that the woman is unconscious. The summoned doctor did not feel the pulse so he wrote the death cerificate. Woman from Ostrów Lubelski was lying in the freezer for 11 hours. Thereupon a bag, in which an old woman’s body was placed, started moving! At that time the family was preparing to funeral.
The loved ones take care of the ”risen” woman now.
‘-My aunt was very frozen. I was warming her up with a hot water bottle’, explained Bogumiła Kołkiewicz, the relative of an old woman. -‘She does not know what happened. She has atherosclerosis but besides she is a very healthy woman. She can get by herself.’
The police leads the case now. Witnesses are investigated, evidences are being gathered and the medical documentation is protected. The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin brought legal proceedings against the doctor.
It is unusual to deal with such kind of situation. Is it a miracle or a mistake of the doctor? What do you think? If there was a mistake, should the doctor be judged?
Have your say!
Category health, medicine, negligence, Poland | Tags:
Personally I think the doctor is at fault. By deeming that the woman is dead, he made a mistake. Because of it he should be judged. It depends whether a malpractice was unintentional or intentional. If the judge involves the psychological injury of the victim in ratio decidendi as the most significant evidence, the judgement may be not in favour of the doctor. I consider that the doctor did not carry out his obligations correctly. It is unbelievable that it happened. In my opinion the judge should focus on the circumstances and how they affected the victim. As a result he should be prison sentenced.
I feel sorry for the woman.
In my opinion, doctor’s excuse seem reasonable, as he did all it was required for correct dead pronouncement. Checking the pulse, lungs work and pupils reaction for light are widely used methods for looking for sindroms of life. Furthermore, Mrs Janine survived long time closed in the freezer and even after, she “came to life”. It seems for me, that she is… pretty healthy. I am not sure if I would survive such drama and i am 21. Of course, such extraordinary happening as losing the sindroms of life is extremely suspiscious. Mrs Janine should be taken by her family for whole-body medical examination to find possible malfunctions.
I absolutely do not claim that the doctor is guilty of this accident. Situations like this one are extremely rare, but nevertheless are having place. Opponents of the doctor should look for information about the similar situations that have happened in the past.
We should be grateful that Mrs. Janina woke up so “early” and she had a chance to recover. In this regard, we can see this situation as a miracle. Now the key is to focus on the present instead of the past and ensure her best possible care. I guess her opinion will be crucial and without it any accusations should not have place.
I really do belive that it is not possible to foresee everything and what is more that it is natural to make mistakes in every day life. But in the situation where you take such a big resoponsability for someone’s life as deciding to be a doctor you always should have assure yourself more than once in certian situations. Especially when writing death certificate. That is why I am for giving a punishment for inaccurate performance of a doctor ( for example: financial ) but I would never give him prison sentence. The reason why is because he acted in a good faith. In my opinion this is what really counts.
The case itself seems to be difficult from the very beginning. The so-called “lack of signs of life” might have been true or based on doctor’s misdiagnosis. As we all know – miracles (or situations we cannot explain) DO happen sometimes, but according to common sense – medical misdiagnosis seems to be more probable, which leads to a simple conclusion: the doctor is at fault. And fault should lead to judgement. However, it is not the first case when the person considered dead miraculously “comes back to life”. On the other hand, with a little information we have at the moment it’s hard to tell whether the doctor is to be deemed guilty or not. In reply to the question in the title – it seems more like a mistake; I am quite skeptical in refference to miracles.
Personally I don’t belive it was so-called miracle. I think the doctor could have made a mistake which resulted in wrongful death pronouncement. The old woman went through horror and someone should take the responsibility for it and I think the doctor is that someone. The question now is if the doctor misdiagnosed or if actions, which normally provide reliable and necessary information for death pronouncement, simply weren’t enough in that case.
I belive it’s neither a miracle nor a mistake. There’s a reason why exist a statued time before anybody can even take the body to the cooler. Despite great knowlege which we already have about human body, we still don’t know everything so i think that was just some kind of biological reaction. That doctor had fully right to state her death, especially that he would be judged in case he would breach a procedure.
I’d like to believe that it was a miracle… Situations like that do not happen regularly- but it does not mean that they are impossible. Even though the doctor made a mistake, he shouldn’t be imprisoned. He also shouldn’t be deprived of the right to practise his profession. First of all, case should be examined properly. Mrs Janina’s health condition is a priority. Medical reasons, which explain such cases should be found. Only then, doctor can bear some punishment- in that case, financial would be the most appropriate.
Considering all the facts I think everyone understand reasons why he wrote the death certificate but I also feel that it would be wiser to require examination to a greater extent in that matter before writing a death certificate. This case is not an exception, because when it comes to old people it’s sometimes hard to find signs of life. In my opinion the regulations concerning writing the death certificate should be more restrictive.
In my opinion the doctor should not be judged. The doctor did everything that he could. He checked the pulse, breath and the rythm of the heart. He acted in a good faith and didn’t cause the situation on purpose. This kind of situation is very unusual. I’d say that it’s a miracle rather than a mistake. The most important thing is that everything ended well and the woman is still alive and the loved ones take care of her now.