26-year Old Man Dies During Sleep Study

[torontoCPAPguy]

Let me just bring from the back of my mind what happened to my mom when she went in for a simple xray for a fall that she took at age 75 not too long ago. She has COPD (emphysema).

When she arrived for the xray she way placed on a gurney flat on her back. Well, HELLO? We have a great deal of trouble breathing when we are flat on our back. Just let us roll onto our side for a while. Nope. Stay on your back. She is getting excited so let's sedate her. Long story short - blood oxygen plummets. Blood pressure skyrockets. Bingo. Heart Attack. Two weeks on a respirator intubated. And then when she gets out of ICU? No doctor comes around to see her. For three days. I finally barged into the Chairman's office at the hospital with security guards in hot pursuit and simply said that I wished to be arrested so that I could have the papers and TV come to see me jailed for trying to get care for my mom. She had a doctor examining her five minutes later. Oooops. They had forgotten to assign a doctor to her upon her transfer from ICU to the general medicine wing. Duh?

Regretably, doctors do not testify against doctors otherwise we would have a much higher level of health care throughout North America. There are just some folks that should not be in positions of authority, in especially where life and well-being are concerned.

We never got any straight answers and never will. This poor family will likely never get any straight answers and this is a case that will never make it to a grand jury because, very simply, no evidence will ever be available for a decision. A civil case? Same issue. Too little data. One might consider a civil case just to get a shot at information so that they can get some closure. It won't bring back the lost son but at least it will get some questions answered.

From the reports I have been reading it reminds me of a case where I was on an airplane in Las Vegas where a fellow stated that he had a bomb in his luggage. Well, on came the air marshalls and FBI and whomever and hauled him off the plane.... but when the passengers including myself wanted to deplane? No way. You stay on the plane or you lose your ticket. OK - eat my ticket I want off this plane. Nope. Nobody is leaving the area. Period. Armed security guards to back it up too. Fire trucks with guys in silver foil suits surrounding the plane well away from the terminal. And we two hundred passengers remain stuck on the plane. Can't leave. Held captive. In the end the airline sent a letter in response to my complaint stating that things were handled according to plan and everything was under control. And here is a $25 gift certificate for your next flight (we never flew with them again). The good news is that they are no longer in existense and they were a biggie. The bad news is that this kind of nonsense goes on all the time and getting it into criminal court or civil court is almost if not totally impossible... even if it is just a matter of curiousity as to the circumstances.

I feel badly for the family but I think that the fact is going to be that they will never get closure on this matter. It was probably exactly what I described but they will never get an answer and the funny thing is that a thorough post mortem should unccover almost anything that would have caused a bleed. But I read nothing about the bleed in any of the reports I have seen. Something smells like a dead fishie.

I know that I will not attend another sleep study without some serious changes. I got the creeps during the last one and my instincts are usually right.

[socknitster]

This is a good reason why ALL sleep studies should be carried out within a hospital. My son's psg was at a hospital for children and i felt safe with him there. There should have been a tech there to immediately help this young man when he was in distress. I think there is more to this story and I hope more info comes out after an autopsy.

[roster]

Brandon Harris



Brandon Harris

Blog:

About me:
What it do mane this ya boi mouze boogie a.k.a. da Big Mouze Dawg b.k.a. mouze montana 1st off let me get moment of silence 4 tha followin people My granddad George phelps Sr. next is my uncle George Phelps Jr Tha only father i eva knew next is my homeboi'z my boi cedric white, timothy white jonathan smith a.k.a.Jon-jon & my homegurl regina patrick I love y'all i'll c y'all when i get there. Now down 2 buzinezz Bout myself I'm 23 yrs old i have NO KIDS NO DRAMA, born & raised in da syxx kirkwood 2b xact. Mouze is 1 of tha most charismatic, Flamboyant guy'z u will eva meet I'm loyal azz knicca i enjoy clubbin drankin hangin wit tha Maniakz kliq promotin muzik b'n on da road & enjoy myself 2 da fullest lookin 4 a nice young lady 2b by my side @ all tymes & keep it 100 wit me @ all cost & just be herself round me & don't be afraid 2talk 2me bout anythang if u think u can follow those guidelines than hit me up if u on dat b.s. keep it walkin. mouze is a very determined mane who hepls those who helps themselves he strives 4 da best evaday he wakes up
http://www.myspace.com/MrMouzeBoogie

Brandon seems like a young man who had a lot of love for his family and friend and a lot of hope for his life. Too bad it ended so early.

[Slinky]

One of my in-lab studies I needed a bathroom trip and wasn't getting any response from the tech so I unplugged the wire box myself and was half way to the bathroom when the tech ran in. She was busy w/her other patient who was having a tough time but I just couldn't wait any longer. It was go myself or wet the bed!!! It just so happened, altho this was a 4 bed facility, she was the only tech and there only 2 of us having a study done. The "rule of thumb" is pretty much 1 tech to 2 patients wherever you go.

[elg5cats]

[quote="Slinky"]One of my in-lab studies I needed a bathroom trip and wasn't getting any response from the tech so I unplugged the wire box myself and was half way to the bathroom when the tech ran in. quote]

You may have given this tech a real scare.......Headlines: PSG Patient sleepwalks out of clinic.....then gave her relief you were only headed to the bathroom.

elg5cats

[Muse-Inc]

Holy cow Rooster, I live here and never heard this story! Wonder what in the heck really happened. One of the posts to the story said it might have been one of those unpredictable pulmonary embolisms...won't know 'til the facts are out. Something went horriby, horribly wrong for that young man.

My PSG was in the Sleep Lab directly across a private 2-lane street from St Joseph's Hospital ER; made me feel more comfortable as I was terrified of dieing from apnea while lieing flat as I normally sleep propped up on several pillows. 2 techs for the 2 of us undergoing a PSG. One or the other Tech answered me immediately on the intercom; just once did I wait a few mins and the Tech who responded apologized, both Techs were in with the other person, who had dementia, who woke up disoriented, was upset, and pulling off wires. Both sleep rooms resembled a bedroom, soft colors, photo art on the walls, TV showing a video on sleep apnea while I was wired up, only complaint was that the bed was really soft (course I sleep on one that's extra-firm so that may be relative ); there were 2 bathrooms just on the other side of the second bedroom & fixed up like a home bathroom, nice linens, hair dryer, makeup mirror. The recording room had glass walls and looked like a mini version of Houston Control at the Johnson Space Center.

[roster]

Holy cow Rooster, I live here and never heard this story!

I wondered when you would chime in. A friend in Atlanta notified me about the story and will keep me up to date. Any more info from him I will post here.

[Phillysnooze]

What a tragedy! How can this have happened? I hope you will keep us informed of the medical findings.

My deepest sympathy to the family of this young man.

[amos]

Muse,

The only site that I have seen this story is on http://www.cbsatlanta.com (Channel 11).

amos

[amos]

Muse,

The only site that I have seen this story is on http://www.cbsatlanta.com (Channel 11).

amos

[amos]

Sorry for posting twice and making a mistake twice. CBS is Channel 46 or Comast cable 9.

amos

[roster]

Sorry for posting twice and making a mistake twice. CBS is Channel 46 or Comast cable 9.

amos

That is very sad - the lady will bury her son not knowing the cause of death or even the time of death. I understand they may need to wait for the coroner to state the cause of death, but they could tell her the time and the symptoms.

I hate to see more people scared away from sleep studies. There are already too many who refuse to go.

[timbalionguy]

There has to be a lot more to this story than meets the eye. 'Lots of blood' is the clue. Whatever went wrong here had to be drastic and uncharacteristic. This is so unusual thta it behooves the coroner to get to the bottom of this. In the end, the cause of death should be be immediately obvious. Yes, this is a tragedy of the highest order. But should it scare people from having sleep studies? No, it shouldn't because it was so unusual that it prrobably won't happen again soon, if ever.

I, too will be very interested to hear what the officiaal findings are.

[Tielman]

Here's an updated article: http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/emory-sl ... ews_128746

He had several conditions including Diabetes, and he died of a coronary.

[Autopapdude]

These wildly sensational posts such as "26 year Old Man Dies Suddenly During Sleep Study" do no good for this board. They are tabloid type stories, and might scare people who are otherwise committed to having their sleep apnea treated. I wish they would stop, as they're conjecture, and contribute nothing useful in an apnea support group. Basically, the headline along is misleading, and inflammatory. The man didn't die as a result of the sleep study--he obviously had a zillion medical conditions. I feel sorry for his family.