The best advocate

By John Joseph, MS2 Wayne State School of Medicine

We completed the first day of the Marseille Patient Safety Summer Camp and I can say already that I am so glad I took the time to make the trip out. Marseille is a beautiful place and the enthusiasm and passion of the participants and leaders has reignited my interest. The lesson that stood out the most to me today was the video put together by Drs. Mayer and McDonald on the heartbreaking case of Lewis Blackman. His mother, Helen Haskell, fought tremendously for Lewis while he was in the hospital (and she continues to fight the system that killed him to this day) after a routine surgery. She trusted her instincts that something was wrong and repeatedly pushed for more senior physicians to examine Lewis, over and over and over. I was shocked that despite her insistence, that her requests… Continue reading →