Michael Jackson may have caused woman's death

In the latest chapter in the Michael Jackson drama, an elderly woman died after Michael Jackson arrived at the ER with the flu.
The woman's daughter claims that the hospital staff temporarily took off a ventiliator and moved her to a smaller room to accommodate the allegedly-flu-stricken Jackson.
His temperature was recorded at 96.9, below normal.
(Hard to believe you could have the flu and not have a fever. FredT could you help us with this info?)

The family has hired an attorney and plan to sue both the hospital and Jackson.

Maria Elena Ortiz, the ailing woman's daughter, said she was in the room when Jackson came in. She was also present when her mother was moved and objected.

"Why does she have to be moved if he's coming in for a stomach flu?" Ortiz said. "I said, 'My mother just had a heart attack and I think it's more critical than a stomach flu.' They didn't say anything."

No one knows if moving Ruiz added to her trauma, but family members said they were told her heart was functioning at 30 percent and other organs were failing. But they say the chaos caused by Jackson's arrival distracted staff, and robbed them of precious time with their mother and grandmother as she died.

abcnews.go.com...

ed. to repair code and change title






[edit on 25-2-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

I was hoping that this thread was some kind of joke....

I can't believe what I just read...

The larger room was kept for Jackson, the family says. Hospital records show Jackson, 46, told emergency room staff he had severe abdominal pain. His body temperature, 96.9 degrees, was below normal and he had tears in his eyes. The initial emergency room report said he could go home anytime.

I hope that these people sue him and WIN !!! If I could get on that Jury, they'd get all of his money... well, that's if there's anything left after his current trial...

he's already in major debt per news reports a year or two ago. she'll sue and win and pray he gets off on the charges against him so he can be out of jail and performing and earning her money.

Well, it's a hospital, what can you do? Don't you know that better insurance will get you better service? It's all about money, not saving lives. If they weren't getting paid, they wouldn't do it. Maybe that woman should have paid for some better health insurance.

I could understand the hospital being sued, but Michael Jackson? I mean, how is Michael Jackson responsible? That's like saying a train operator is responsible for a bridge breaking under it.

It sounds like the hospital is at fault for not kicking the disgusting paedophile out when he obviously wasn't sick - physically at least. They reported on GMA that the woman's family couldn't get into the new room to spend the last moments with her, because of jackson's security in the corridors. Sue him, he may not have any money but they can get a big chunk of his kiddy trap fantasy land and the rights to his songs.

Yes it is possible to not have a temperature if sick with the flu. A variety of reasons for this including taking tylenol/motrin before he arrived. Also operator error may have been the case as well. As simple a task as it is, it can be messed up. He also could have been between spikes and they caught him in a valley. The immune system works beter in a warmer environment.

Was his admission bogus and sympathy seeking? Yes!!!

1) Most people get some fluid and are sent home. The people that are admitted are severly dehydrated and/or in severe respiratory distress with potential for failure.

2) Hours after the MD said he was sick, he checks out of the hospital not clear yet if he went AMA (aginst medical advice)

3) The $$$$$$. Jackson is in all likelyhood a private pay patient. Since he is paying cash for the stay, the hospital would have admitted him for a stubbed toe.

In regards tot he woman that was moved. We move critically ill patients all the time in the PICU and we even transport the sicket kids you can imagine over great distances. SO the move in not likely the cause of this womans death. Also, Jackson may have been in an Isolation room and untill it was determined that he was contagious, all other patients would be moved out if this was the only such room avalible, but only the staff knows for sure.

Im curious how they got this information as the federal HIPPA laws have been violated this hospital is gonna get slapped with some fines for sure.

Great find DTOM SHows that this pedofile monster will go to any length to generate a few cheap minutes of publicity.

Fred, thanks for sharing your medical knowledge. Just another great thing about ATS: so many people in so mant fields willing to share their expertise

I did wonder about his temp. The way the story runs, you assume he's NOT sick. But, I wondered if you WERE sick with a fever, but had chills if you would record a lower temp.

I agree that MJ used his celebrity to get treatment and avoid his day in court.

@ Jamuhn
If you're gonna sue, why not sue MJ, too. He's collectible. His celebrity may have caused issues with the deceased's treatment. Who's to say?

This is ridiculous! If you so into the hospital and your sick enough to be admitted...do you have control over what the hospital does!? My gosh people, get a life....this is clearly the hospital at fault, probably the administrator!!

Lady V, which part is hard to believe? That someone can be rich enough to get admitted to hospital for a hang nail? Or that the bereaved family will try to sue the hospital AND the rich and famous? Or that people sue for everything these days?

If MJ had any class, he'd offer the family some $$ before the lawsuit gets served. He could use some good publicity.

I'm not against the family suing if they want to, though I don't believe in suing people, never have....I'm having a hard time seeing how anyone can blame MJ for what the hospital does......

MJ doesn't have to be at fault here. He could be seen as indirectly responsible, just his presense.
I'm no legal mind here, but it seems to me that people sue people who's biggest crime is they have a big wallet. The deceased's family sees MJ's arrival at the hospital as having had a negative effect on her medical care and treatment. MJ has lots of $$.
I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying this is the way our legal system seems to be going.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
@ Jamuhn
If you're gonna sue, why not sue MJ, too. He's collectible. His celebrity may have caused issues with the deceased's treatment. Who's to say?

Even if MJ wasn't sick, is he no longer permitted to go to a hospital because he is a celebrity? Blame the people who actually committed the act and not the person who was the motive. If a wife is cheating on her husband with another man, and the husband kills the wife, do we convict the "other man" with manslaughter?

Maybe pity is a good thing but in michaels postion I think that he needs alot of help!

I ran high temperatures when I was young and even nearly died from a fever while in transit from Japan to San Antonio in 1969. In the last ten years or so, I have noted that, having bought one of those electronic thermometers, that my temperature is always below normal, even when I am sick as a dog.

No physician I have ever discussed this with has a better explanation than 98.6 is an average normal temperature and that my temperatures, while lower, are still normal. That still doesn't explain why I never seem to have a fever or if having a 98.6 temperature constitutes a fever for me.

As far as Jackson is concerned, it matters little whether or not he had a temperature or even what he told hospital staff. What matters is if hospital staff, for any reason, took a person off a ventilator who required such to sustain her life and whether or not her life was lost as a result.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I did wonder about his temp. The way the story runs, you assume he's NOT sick. But, I wondered if you WERE sick with a fever, but had chills if you would record a lower temp.I

Actually "chills" are percieved and shivering is the bodies way of generating warmth. As is goosebumps and hirs standing up is all a compensatory responce to being cold or trying to generate heat.

Folks, a couple of medical points here:

You don't catch the flu instantly. There's a 1-4 day incubation period.

Yes, it's possible to be very ill with a temperature of 97 or 98. I have a low normal body temperature (96.4) and when I have a temp of 99, I am VERY ill.

I think if they're going to sue someone, they can sue the hospital for poor procedures. However, the flu was present there in the hospital in other patients and it would be hard to prove that the flu came from Jackson and not someone else.

I think they're a pack of goofballs, myself.

Originally posted by Jamuhn
I could understand the hospital being sued, but Michael Jackson? I mean, how is Michael Jackson responsible? That's like saying a train operator is responsible for a bridge breaking under it.

Yes Jam.....not MJ's fault...it was the choice of the Hospital staff........they are the ones who should be sued.....they wont win sueing MJ I would think.

Something that I haven't heard on the TV, radio or on ATS is the possibility that MJ was having a panic attack.

It was stated that his temp was below normal, suffering from stomach pains, and had tears in his eyes. The stress of the jury selection may have gotten to him.

I have no sympathy for this man who has made bad choices in the past and could be a pedophile, believe me.

I'd also like to know what MJ's employees (body guards... still the Nation of Islam? ) said when they entered the ER. Did they demand a private room, or was it specifically because he was private pay?

Heck, didn' t we hear news reports just a few days ago saying that MJ was placed right next door to a pediatric unit?

What an absolute joke. I hope this womans daughter gets thrown out of court on her bum. She's obviously upset and looking for someone to put the blame on, and hey, MJ seems to be a good scapegoat, let's see if we can get some money out of him while we're at it...

What is it with people these days? They'll sue you for breathign too hard, sue the coucil cos they tripped over their OWN child in a public park, sue the military cos they twisted their ankle on a set of stairs with NOTHING obstructing them. I'd like everyone to please slap themselves upside and head and repeat after me "don't be dumb....don't be dumb.....don't be dumb"