Fearless officer: Major Sam Weller, left, who was decorated for his bravery, is pictured with his brother Tony in 1947
Posted on 08/31/2007 10:01:23 PM PDT by Stoat
The family of a distinguished war veteran have criticised the hospital where he was infected by a killer bug.
Major Sam Weller - who survived three years as a prisoner of war - died after catching Clostridium Difficile following an operation on his hip. His relatives said he had been let down by the country he fought for.
Major Weller, 88, had surgery at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital but he developed an infection and was given a course of antibiotics.
Weeks later he died and an inquest was told the medicine had left him more vulnerable to catching the superbug.
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Fearless officer: Major Sam Weller, left, who was decorated for his bravery, is pictured with his brother Tony in 1947
Yesterday, his family criticised the hospital treatment he received and standards of hygiene on the wards. His son Martin, 59, a council planning officer, said: "He was a wonderful man who served his country well. He didn't deserve to die like this.
"Gloucestershire Royal Hospital has an appalling record for C. Diff and here is another tragic case. My father died in a lot of pain."
Mr Weller criticised the hospital's record on "infection control" which he said had been visible to him and his family.
He refused to go into details, but said he felt "let down" by those responsible for his father's care.
The major's wife of 50 years, Berthe, added that her husband had considered the ward to be "noisy and grubby".
Major Weller, who served in the Gloucestershire Regiment, was decorated for gallantry.
During the Korean War, when he was taken prisoner near the Chinese border, he was described as a "fearless and resolute officer".
The Major was admitted to hospital after slipping on the floor at home and fracturing his femur.
Major Weller in later years
The coroner told the inquest hearing in Gloucester that Major Weller probably would not have died if he had not been given the drugs following the operation.
The inquest heard how the medicine can alter bacteria in the bowel, making vulnerable patients more susceptible to contracting C. Diff. Surgeon Nadir Kalap said Major Weller was given a seven-day course of antibiotics to combat low blood pressure and signs of an infection.
A post-mortem examination by pathologist Dr John McCarthy revealed the primary cause of death was C. Diff with heart disease a contributing factor. He said: "It's known that patients treated with antibiotics are at most risk of developing C. Diff."
Summing up the case, Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore said Major Weller would not have contracted the disease had he not had the antibiotics.
He recorded an accident verdict.
Martin Weller said his father, as he neared the end of the life, was in great deal of pain.
"It was difficult seeing him like that," he said. "As a family we are not seeking compensation.
"We are trying to prevent this sort of thing happening. The hospital needs to tighten up on procedures."
A spokesman for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it had been working hard over the past year to reduce rates of infection.
"We have been successful in our efforts and infection rates have fallen considerably," he said.
"However, we are not complacent and will continue to implement our wide-ranging action plan."
• Almost 56,000 vulnerable and elderly patients have been infected with C. Diff in the past year.
Between January and March alone, 15,592 caught the bug --an astonishing 22 per cent rise on the previous three months.
C.Diff, which is spread by dirty hands and bedding, is a bigger killer than MRSA. It claimed 2,247 lives in 2005 - a 69 per cent rise on the previous year.
It exists naturally in the stomachs of many healthy adults, where it is kept under control by 'friendly' bacteria.
Problems start if the balance of bacteria is disturbed, perhaps as a result of taking antibiotics for another infection.
Once the "friendly" bacteria are killed off, the C. Diff is able to multiply and produce the toxins which cause diarrhoea and, in the worst cases, a fatal infection of the abdomen.
The repeated use the term “super bug” is annoying. So an old guy dies from an infection, I dare say that is not uncommon. In fact it’s how my grandmother passed away.
It just bothers me how the author of this article kept talking about a “bug”. What the heck was it, a virus, a bacteria? It just reeks of sensationalism.
The article was written for a popular, diverse audience.
For those interested in more technical details, I provided a link to the CDC pages on the subject.
From that linked CDC page:
Clostridium difficile [klo-STRID-ee-um dif-uh-SEEL] is a bacterium that causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions such as colitis.
(Bold emphasis added)
Thank you! :)
we are not GOD and we can not live forever, no matter how many diseases or disorders we conquer....
maybe people think that a violent death at the hands of a drunk driver would be a better way to go.....
Comments:
Those guys could have been in the movies.
HillaryCare strikes again.
The headline is grossly misleading. This was not some young soldier who survived a PoW camp only to return home and suffer death at the hands of Communized Medicine.
I didn't get that impression from the article.
What I came away with was a story of a rampant nosocomial problem that is killing thousands of fine people long before their time.
He had gone into the hospital with a broken hip; a very common injury that is easily fixed these days.
But he died needlessly.
But, we all can read the same story and get entirely different impressions, I suppose.
Strange, I don't see anything in the title suggesting that he was young, or that the fault was Socialized Medicine.
Sam and Tony Weller? Someone in that family was a Dickens fan.
In younger, stronger, patients if it does not kill them it makes their recovery much longer and the related complications can affect them for years after-wards.
From her descriptions it is far messier than the article conveyed. She has always said that as a nurse, a hospital borne infection was her worst fear when she had her surgeries (Thyroid cancer related).
Definitely nothing to joke about.
Hard to understand how C-diff persists in surgical units.
The problem/issue is that the antibiotics he was prescribed to kill the suspected infection also killed the friendly bacteria allowing c. dificile to grow unchecked and kill him.
Based on what you wrote, it must have been a terrible death. No way for a hero to die.
Well, you know the whole "global warming" thing isn't working out so well for the Libs and the laimstream media. They have to create a new boogeyman to keep the myrmidons hysterical and distracted. Maybe the "superbug" is it?
Agreed on all counts....thanks very much for posting.
But he was a victim of socialized medicine. I think, though, that his having survived a PoW camp is irrelevant, and shouldn’t have been in the headline.
He was a victim of a nosocomial infection, the type of which is rampant not only in the UK but here in the USA as well.
I think, though, that his having survived a PoW camp is irrelevant, and shouldn’t have been in the headline.
The fact that he was a POW and a war hero made the story front page news, and brings added attention to a serious problem that healthcare professionals are trying to correct both here in the USA and in the UK.
Most people tend to have a very high regard for our Armed Forces people, and a higher regard still for those who have shown valor in battle. His personal history highlighted the terrible nature of the infection problem, how it can take our best people from us. His military status made his story stand out from thousands of others.
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