You know the scenario. Following the horror and trauma of a heinous rape, the victim goes to the authorities to try to get some redress for the tragedy that just happened. But the person in charge glibly responds, “Well, you shouldn’t have worn such promiscuous and revealing clothing.”
Such a response would be considered heinous and irresponsible in today’s climate. Blaming the victim instead of going after the perpetrator of the crime was standard practice in days gone by but people are slowly learning that a grave injustice had been done in the case of the rape and a response like that is simply unacceptable. But that was the kind of response I received from the medical establishment. And I have since learned that the response they gave me is “standard practice.”
When I asked the president of HealthCare Partners to look into the situation of Ruth’s death, he assigned it to Dr. William Chin, the “Vice-President for Quality.” After a length delay, he determined that no wrong was done and that “the patient failed to tell the doctors about her symptoms.” That written response, given in a letter, appalled me, and made me so infuriated that I was ready to sue them. Anybody who knows Ruth will know that she would not have hidden anything from the physicians. Also, as I read through the medical notes, all they needed to know was there in the medical readout. What really hurts is that she, as well as I, told the doctors all they needed to know– even asking them to look at a very specific location. Which they failed to do.
I have since learned through other people that this kind of response– suggesting that the patient failed to do something– is standard practice and a canned response given whenever there is a question of wrongful diagnosis. In this way, the victim will have to work harder to prove their point in a court of law, in the same way that a rape victim works harder to prove her case. And we know that if the rape perpetrator has bountiful resources behind him, gaining a conviction against him is close to impossible.
With Ruth, no justice was done. And it hurts.