Medicine and humanity
Many of us who have worked within the medical industry for years unfortunately are not shocked by the issues of personality/political unrest amongst the practitioner teams [see "Tearing at Children's Heart," 11/30]. I myself recently had a surgery at the hands of a surgeon so devoid in communication skills as to have jeopardized my postoperative care, I believe—and I challenged him on it at the time. Medical schools need to be devoting more attention to the importance of interpersonal communications than they do, and at the same time back it up in terms of credentialing parameters not only for the skills of surgeons but their humanity.
The individual who started the anonymous letter-writing campaign to patients' parents was at one and the same time doing something both courageous and reckless, not to mention that was a serious breach of medical confidentiality in terms of contacting the parents of patients, apparently accessing the addresses from the medical records. There is no mention in the article of whether there were any medical record reforms at the institution as a result of these violations.
There is also no clear understanding of the timeline of the existence of the letters, and particularly whether they continued after the anesthesia department's biomedical equipment engineer was deemed to be in the hospital management's disfavor (though not clearly guilty) and ultimately left the organization in favor of employment elsewhere. The unmitigated support of his department, which lamented the loss of his skills and his dedication, leaves me concerned about the power of employers to engage in character assassination by implication.
Is it any wonder that "behind-the-scenes" hospital-based drama of TV shows such as ER and Gideon's Crossing is so riveting when real life medical care is fraught with difficulties equally as outrageous?
SUZANNA BOELL
VIA E-MAIL
Accusations of trouble
While the Weekly has always a reputation for being somewhat sensational, your cover story titled "Tearing at Children's Heart" [11/30] may cause more harm for the cardiac families that you realize. Yes, there have been accusations of trouble at the Children's Heart Center over the past five years. Yes, there are tensions in the ICU, understandably in the place where children are fighting for their lives and many lose that fight. And there may well be conflicts between surgeons and staff and valid concerns that the hospital administration has been slow to act on. But to legitimize the anonymous letter-writing campaign of a disgruntled employee who has caused so much turmoil and damage to both a fine hospital and to grieving families is irresponsible.
Heart surgery is highly risky business but, rumors and the vaguely strung together allegations aside, the Seattle institution has one of the better track records in the country. I too grieve for the family who lost their son and it is indeed a tragedy for them. But at the same time I am outraged at this "anonymous" individual who has thrown salt on the wounds of grieving families because they have a beef with the head surgeon. It's destructive, not constructive, to anonymously raise doubts among the families of current and potential patients who are struggling to heal, all with the illegal use of those families' private contact information. That individual may fancy him/herself a crusader for right but their back door tactic of using families' emotions in the crusade is very wrong. And I am outraged that you have given that writer's efforts such prominent publicity.
CAROL TAYLOR
WOODINVILLE
Vomit
When will the Weakly's anti-Nader bleating end? This most recent one, "The Nader of progress?" [11/30] by Nina Shapiro, is the last straw. Isn't she the one who wrote the "kinder, gentler Skeletor" piece a while back? I don't want to hear one more nasal chorus of "Nader ruined the election for our Al Gore! Whah!" As Michael Moore likes to say, "Bush and Gore made me wanna Ralph"—and I did. But fence-sitting, crybaby, Political Coward "Liberals" make me want to vomit. Don't you understand what is happening? The Greens are not Democrats. We are moving beyond the tired stereotypes "conservative"and "liberal." Try to think outside the cubicle and get this through your heads: We are not with you. Al Gore is not entitled to anyone's vote. As a Nader voter, I am one of 3,000,000 Americans who are actually satisfied with our vote. The Greens are the only viable progressive party available. Globalization is for civilization, not just corporate trade. Unlike your two-headed plutocracy, the Greens are a global movement united around the idea of global citizenship, and that is simply the next logical step in human evolution. Won't you join us?
Also, try a little fact-checking before you go to print. Nader's "giant corporation disguised as a presidential candidate" quote was for Bush, not Gore. Even better, try this Nader gem: "The only difference between Bush and Gore is the relative velocity with which their knees hit the floor whenever Big Business walks through the door."
And quit reporting about the Dumbocrats "hurt feelings" as though it were news, because nobody cares.
MARK HOLLAND
SEATTLE
Idiots & their civil rights
