Legal Considerations

The Josie King Story - Legal Considerations

Willene Phelps

HCS/478 Health Law and Ethics

November 10, 2014

Instructor: Barbara Scheibe

The Josie King Story - Legal Considerations

Health care providers hold the lives of those they care for in their hands. Each day and each shift they are faced with making legal and ethical decisions that are respectful of the patient and that will keep the patient safe. In the case of Josie King, an eighteen month old little girl, the nursing and medical profession failed miserably in this task. Instead of going home to play with her siblings, Josie died in what is supposed to be one of the world’s best hospitals. Failure occurred at many different levels including professional standards of practice, appropriate documentation, following the nurse practice act, and other ethical issues. The ramifications of these failures will be discussed throughout this paper along with how Josie’s family turned her story from a devastating situation into a program that helps save lives every day.

Josie was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment of first and second degree burns after falling into a tub of hot bath water. After ten days in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) she was making a remarkable recovery and was moved to a step down intermediate care unit. Her mom started noticing that Josie cried for any liquid she saw and voiced her concerns to the nursing staff which included an episode of Josie’s eyes ‘rolling back in her head.’ The nursing staff assured her everything was okay and not to worry. Within a short time frame Josie became worse and her mother insisted on the doctors coming to examine Josie. This resulted in Josie receiving two doses of Narcan, a drug to counteract the effects of narcotic drugs, and being allowed to drink. The doctors gave a verbal order for no further narcotics to be given. The next day Josie’s nurse came in with a syringe and administered a dose of methadone despite her mother’s protests that no narcotics were to be given. Soon thereafter, Josie’s heart stopped while her mom was rubbing her feet. Her mom immediately called for help and after resuscitative measures Josie was back in PICU on a ventilator. A few shorts days later Josie’s family said their goodbyes and Josie was taken off life support. Josie King died on February 22, 2001 from a string medical errors and lack of communication between teams (King, 2006).

Negligence, Gross Negligence, and Malpractice

By definition, negligence, gross negligence, and malpractice all occurred during Josie’s stay at Johns Hopkins hospital. Unfortunately, her story is not the exception; it is one of many within the health care industry. Current trends have created a breeding ground for lawsuits, lawsuits that motivate the health care industry to re-evaluate and improve patient care practices. The number one goal of health care providers is to do no harm. Unfortunately in Josie’s case this goal was not met and actions of the staff, as well as failure to act on her mother’s voiced concerns, resulted in her death.