Recently, the New York Times published an article telling the story of Scott Jerome-Parks. Jerome-Parks was diagnosed with tongue cancer, and doctors recommended radiation therapy to treat his cancer. Jerome-Parks agreed to this treatment, but little did he know that during his treatments the computers would be programmed improperly which would result in an overdose of radiation. This overdose occured on three consecutive days, not just in one single incident. The tragic error exposed Jerome-Parks to seven times the intended treatment. By the end, the treatment left him deaf, struggling to see, unable to swallow, burned, with his teeth falling out, with ulcers in his mouth and throat, nauseated, in severe pain and finally unable to breathe. He died in 2007 at the age of 43, only not from the diagnosed tongue cancer, but from the radiation overdose.
In the case of Jerome-Parks, there were opportunities to catch the mistakes, but operators failed to notice the preventable errors. While opponents of health care reform have proposed distractions, like limiting the rights of injured patients, this horrible tale shows just how wrong-headed a proposal that is. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), preventable medical errors kill as many as 98,000 people every year at a cost of $29 billion. That’s like two 737s crashing every day for a whole year.
Instead of focusing on so-called "tort reform" and limiting the rights of people like Jerome-Parks, patient safety must come first. I understand that doctors are human, and that humans make mistakes, but when you have been professionally trained to heal the sick, and are devoting your life to making sure your patients survive their ailments, there is no excuse for letting a mistake this severe go unnoticed for three days in a row.
If you discover an improper drug administration hurt you or a family member, please call a lawyer who specializes in such cases.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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