“This is Chris. He’s 18 months old. There is something awfully wrong with his head, and no one will pay any attention to me,” I said as I sat my son down on the admitting counter in the emergency room of our local hospital at midnight. “I am going to leave him here until you figure it out.” Then I turned around and walked out.

Later, at 4 a.m., Chris had an emergency operation to relieve a hemorrhage between his skull and brain, a problem several doctors had missed for almost three weeks because they thought his mother was overly protective and anxious. Chris made it.

Many others in this book didn’t. In fact, statistics indicate that about 10,000 Canadians die each year as the result of medical errors made in hospitals.

This book is an attempt to breach the bulwark of silence thrown around those medical errors. It does so by letting victims speak for themselves. It reveals their agony and frustrations trying to uncover what went wrong and the ordeal of dealing with medical practitioners who defend themselves using public funds. Written by a coroner, this book contains lifesaving lessons and recommendations on what can be done to reduce the incidence of these often preventable tragedies.

248 pages with 33 true stories of medical nightmares across Canada PLUS Coroner Susan McIver gives practical suggestions for how you can protect yourself from similar disasters and how changes can be made in the way medicine is practised in this country. She points out that since most medical personnel are dedicated and careful, and also suffer when something goes wrong, improvements are already being made. Not enough yet, but medical practice is changing.

Price $24.95
softcover
ISBN 1-894601-02-5