My April article written by Judy Hobson of The Guardian, published April 8, 2012 is titled "'An ECG Could have saved my child': Two of Kathy Moyle's daughters and a grandson died suddenly. Had she been aware of a genetic link, she says, they might still be alive"
Link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/08/ecg-could-have-saved-child
Summary
The article is a report on a woman, Kathy Moyle, who after 25 years has learned the what killed her three seemingly healthy younger family members suddenly and unexpectedly. After the first death of her daughter who literally just collapsed and died, it was reported that the cause of death was an abnormal artery. Then later on, Kathy's grandson died in similar fashion - he was riding his bike, then collapsed and died. At this point, no doctor or medical personnel advised her family to get screened for heart defects or that there may be a heredity link. A year later her other daughter was watching TV and collapsed. After this death, the coroner's office got permission to send the recently deceased daughter's heart to a specialist for examination - it was sent by mail and never reached the specialist which Kathy Moyle didn't learn till 6 months after. She was angry because the heart of her daughter could have given an insight into why she and perhaps her sister and the grandson died. Then one day Kathy Moyle was watching a documentary about a rare inherited disorder that affects the electrical rhythm of the heart, Long QT Syndrome. She spoke to a geneticist and was referred to a specialist for screening. It was discovered that she had Long QT Syndrome and that her daughters/grandson had inherited it and that that was most likely the cause of their deaths. If she and her family had received screenings (ECG - Electrocardiography) after the first death of her daughter, her other two family members might still be living.
One Question I have:
Do you think it was wrong that Kathy (and her family) were never advised to get an ECG screening by doctors after the death of her second family member? Do you think that could be considered malpractice? I mean come on, if two young members of the same family die unexpectedly - something fishy has to be going on and doctors are the ones responsible for figuring that out!
I think it is weird that her family would die so suddenly, but after the first two deaths, I think that the doctors would notice and would want to look into these deaths and the possibility of genetic disorders. I don't think the situation should considered malpractice, but as a time when the doctors were under informed and unaware of what was truly going on. I wouldn't blame the doctors, because they probably did not know about this event.
ReplyDeletei think the doctor should have said something when a death happened in her family twice. it is not a something random happening to them if its health problems that they died from. it could be a family trait but could be cure if they found it early and did something. doctors should look at these things to be able to help the paitent and can prevent this from happening to them. i feel like its the doctor's responsibility to tell them if they noticed this pattern in a way in their relatives. it is thier job to make sure they are healthy
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't blame the doctors for not knowing, but rather not picking up on the clues and not telling Kathy Moyle to screen herself and her children, in case if they really do have some type of hereditary genetic disease. It's the doctors' responsibilities to ensure the health of their patients and they need to be on their toes, especially since there's so many technologies today that can mutate genetic information and cause even more weird hereditary genetic diseases.
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