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I am a Texas attorney who litigated a case like this of starvation in a hospital (result was an over a million dollar judgment). NOTE: I have no interest in taking this or any other case outside of Texas. Here is what you need to know now.
1. You will never get through to this or most any other doctor. He spouts talking points he learned in medical school and that have been firmly reinforced in practice. He does not think nutrition matters, and it is an affront to him for you to think otherwise.
2. You must get your mother protein. Demand to see your mothers blood test results. Look for serum albumin (a measure of protein in the blood and a marker for malnutrition). It will show both the reading for your mother and a range of normal including panic values.
When the body does not get enough protein, it gets protein from its organs. The lung is the largest organ, hence the saying: death by starvation is death from pneumonia. Ensure is high in protein. Glucerna is an Ensure like product for diabetics. They even make a clear liquid product.
3. The persons you need to ally yourself with are the dietitians. Their whole purpose is nutrition. They were taught that nutrition matters. They are used to fighting the stupid games doctors play. Insist on meeting with your mother's assigned dietitian and the head dietitian. Insist on reading the dietitian's notes in your mother's chart. Don't be surprised if she has recommended a feeding.
tube.
Good luck. Your mother depends on you.

Kathie4guv and Fatima, I so much wish a decade ago, when my mother was dying, that I had seen your advice and especially the link to the “Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.”

Many of us have not thought through what it means to live in an environment where we can no longer assume doctors and hospitals are there to save lives.

Jim Robinson and Onyx — I'd like to ask you to seriously consider whether Free Republic can do something in an organized way to investigate and possibly go after Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. The hospital only recently emerged from bankruptcy and that sets off major red flags in my mind.

What happened to MacMattico seems like something that at the very least needs to be investigated.

The weblink for the hospital is here: http://www.crouse.org/

Here are just a few links to information on the hospital's financial problems:

Crouse Hospital's School of Nursing flunks financial test
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/crouse_hospitals_school_of_nur.html

SYRACUSE FACES RISING HEALTH COSTS; HOSPITAL COMPETITION GROWS
http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/793/793.pdf

Here's a quote from the second link: “Crouse Hospital’s emergence from bankruptcy and attempts to regain lost market share have stirred hospital competition in Syracuse. At the same time, the pace of development of new physician-owned ambulatory and diagnostic facilities and acquisition of diagnostic equipment has slowed, but increased utilization has contributed to rising health care costs.”

Jim, Free Republic has a long history of doing a lot of good to expose bad things. We don't know all the facts. It is entirely possible that a good pro-life lawyer, after looking at everything which was done, would concur that the standard of care was the best possible under bad circumstances. None of our bodies are immortal and some people cannot be saved despite the best medical care available. Maybe the doctors did all that could be done. I don't know.

But I think it is well within the realm of possibility that we have, as the title of this thread says, “the Obama Death Panel in action.”

Jim, given your own medical difficulties, I think God may be giving you a platform on Free Republic to track and expose hospital abuse of seriously ill patients. That's your call, not mine, but I'd ask you to pray seriously about it.

I think there are a lot of pro-life doctors, nurses and lawyers on Free Republic who might be able to organize a “rapid reaction” squad to help people in future situations similar to that of MacMattico, and maybe save some lives while exposing Obamacare for what it is.

And as we all know, lots of people on FOX News, Breitbart, WND, CNS, the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other conservative media outlets read Free Republic regularly for story ideas. Maybe Crouse Hospital did everything right, but if there are any hospitals which harm or kill someone’s elderly parents via a “Death Panel,” they need to get called on the carpet.

Free Republic could take a local small-town situation and blow it up very quickly.

Please pray about this.