Wrongful Death: A Memoir

It was negligence, or the university regents would not have paid the settlement. I've not reviewed a book here before, but wanted to counter some of the unfair reviews I just read. We know this kind of thing happens sometimes. She lost the love of her life, and their children lost their father. Ms. Gilbert needed to write this, and it is well worth reading. It is, however, very sad.

This book accurately reflects the emotions and disorientation experienced by the loved ones of a patient who suffers a sudden, unexpected and - at least in their belief - preventable death. I'm not going to debate the medical merits with the first reviewer, no doubt a physician. But after 20 years of representing malpractice victims in legal proceedings, I can say it truly reflects their pain and their motivation in seeking legal counsel in a death case: A desire for information, honesty and validation. The book also addresses how the legal system can be a crud tool for achieving those goals - but the only tool they have.

Our mother was diagnosed in the late 80's with the worse types of rheumatory arthritis ever and began walking with a cane as her primary complaint was the pain in her right hip. She was also an adamant smoker and in Dec. 97 was diagnosed with a cancerous spot on her lung. Her doctor wanted to do surgery stating she wasn't going to die; all the time ignoring her repeat requests for attention to her hip. He stated he wanted to take care of the problem at hand then he would deal with the hip. The middle of Feb 98 she expired and was, by the grace of God, brought back to life. Consequently, it was all over, as her hip bone was completely eaten up when they discovered bone cancer as it had matasized all through her body. She passed the 19th of Mar 98. During the first discovery of the cancer the doctor did an MRI and through the latter part of her life, kept ignoring repeated requests to deal with that hip. She suffered through this cancer thinking it was arithritis. A major part of the illness was pneumonia and continuous upper respiratory infections. I must mention that I live in Ga. and the other 5 siblings in Va and Md. Mother live in Pa. and would not move as she loved Pa. Of course, this made it difficult to track her and assist her in monitoring her visits to the doctor. Mother was always the type of woman who like to keep her "business" to herself; always an organized person. We have since tried, to no avail, to get an attorney to prove his negligence. I am still looking for someone to go over, verbatim, her medical records. To my knowledge, there has been no mention of her need to quit smoking. We, the family, also believe we have a case against the cigarette company.

I guess it really does take a poet to effectively take on medical incompetence and professional arrogance. This book is a heartbreaker. It's also beautifully written and unforgettable. A story of mature love and unnecessary loss. This subject could not have been handled more brilliantly if every medical journal in the country addressed it. Of course addressing wrongful death and medical malpractice is not really in vogue in political circles today. Thank God for the lawyers! And thank God Sandra Gilbert was able to pull herself together after the loss of her husband to tell us this story and absolutely make us feel the loss, the tragedy, and the anger. It made me cry. Read it. It's important.

This is a chilling story of the coverups that, while not routine, exist in large medical centers. While the novel has a tragic ending, it reveals a comedy of errors, and the unsettling subsequent covert response. The reader walks away recognizing that a woman as intelligent and as well-connected as Gilbert can still be stonewalled by "the system", and leaves the rest of us wondering what our chances are. Even with this, the reader is in complete empathy with Gilbert and her family, and the obstacles that they faced in seeking the truth.