Bleed Out

source: Bleed Out

Ive seen and been in situations like this before. Ive been pushed out of a job for speaking up. Of course it is one sided. Its a documentary by the people affected.

I wish every person in America would see this film. The film tells a specific story to illustrate the dynamics and costs of medical errors which are the third highest cause of death in the US. It does a great job of presenting a complex story comprehensively and skillfully making this an informative and watchable film. The story doesn't rely on developing a victim to draw the viewer in. Both mother and son, the film maker, come across as regular people who've managed to live well for the most part and who enter the encounter with the healthcare system expecting a reasonable standard of care with some accountability to the patient. The mother had had two successful knee transplant surgeries and was being operated on by the same surgeon. Sadly, things went wrong and that one bad surgery lead to a cascade of errors that went on and on because there was no accountability built into the system and each error meant more care and more profit for providers. The mother's suffering is terrible as is the son's although he minimizes it as the film maker. He maintains a steady focus on the imprenetable wall that surrounds the healthcare system and prevents patients from ever holding anyone accountable for care that creates harm rather than benefit. This documentary seems totally believable and accurate to me and it depicts the extreme suffering that our medical system imposes On many patients toward the end of their lives. I've experienced unresponsive hospital systems where no one is in charge and as a patient you have no way to get pain or questions about what really happened in surgery addressed. Its maddening and terrifying and as long as everyone (except the patient and floor nurses) are making ridiculous amounts of money without being held accountable for outcomes nothing will change. Watch it and WAKE UP! The ACA that a court declared unconstitutional recently included some outcome based incentives in the healthcare system.

Phenomenal. The storytelling is incredibly engaging, heartbreaking and compelling. I walk away a much wiser consumer of health care and will never look at medicine the sane way again. To think that medical errors is the third highest reason for death is stunning. Things must change!!! Thank you for sharing your story and I am so sorry for what has happened to your mom!!!!

When tort reform went into effect at the time of President Bush's administration, many thought that capping amount a malpractice victim could recover would result in lower medical costs. Boy were these people wrong. All this has done is let big hospital chains and physician insurance companies keep their money when they have been the perpetrators of horrible wrongs against patients and their families. It's time to revisit these state laws and allow victims adequate compensation. This documentary examines the case of the mother of the director and the years of struggle she has endured since she became the victim of harrowing medical error. The documentary is well done and you, the viewer, will not want to miss a minute. There is no boring droll here. Please watch and become enlightened.

This is a heart wrenching personal story that highlights the problems that the Director and his family encountered as they sought accountability for the mistakes made in their Mother's medical treatment. For those looking for an unbiased expose on the healthcare system in the US, this is not it. Instead, the Director tells his own personal story that is real and could very easily happen to anyone, which makes it all the more poignant. Two areas highlighted that I was not previously familiar with, were the 'tort reform' laws and the eICU's, both of which are seriously concerning.

1) ALL these ten star reviews and ratings are accounts created solely to review this film. 2) The data from the WHO show that the US has a lower rate of these kind of medical accidents than the UK NHS or Canada has. It is certainly a sympathetic story but the claims made about it being due to the" for profit system" is ludicrous and NOT supported by the data. In fact this kind of accident is 30% more likely to occur in a non for profit facility!

I do not think it is a coincidence that for profit hospitals, medical providers, emergency service providers, plus the insurance companies and medical equipment and pharmaceutical providers are all making sure they can protect their "take" from each patient and seeking to reduce any possibility of their being accountable for bad outcomes. All together the money from their special interest groups have swayed Federal government policies and then State policies. The Citizen's United decision in the 90's just opened the door further for money to overrule public opinion. The state of Wisconsin is one of many that is pro-business which means corporations come first generally. The medical device Da Vinci used for surgeries is another latest example of special interests overruling public opinion. The device can be awesome in the hands of surgeons and people trained to use it. Even the manufacturer recommends people be trained on it and there is a 5 tier training program. Yet, 70% of the doctors using it are not trained on it and the number of medical errors created using it are up to 30%. When asked who is responsible for the doctors being trained no one wants to take responsibility. Not the doctors, not the hospitals, not the State, not the Federal government, not the insurance companies, no one. Who ends up paying? Taxpayers when the patients can no longer pay for the damage it caused or their deaths. Amazing that some hospitals that are not focused on a for profit model are rarely having these issues is it not and have a higher percentage of positive outcomes. Spoiler follows: On a side note, one reviewer made a comment about it being one sided which is why I only give it a 8 but they also implied something suspicious was going on 8 days before her 2nd surgery for the failed hip replacement. Maybe they missed the part about her being in overwhelming pain and her personal doctor stating it was unexplained and her family demanding they do something about it which was the reason why she was still there 8 days before the 2nd hip surgery that really screwed her over. It was later found the 1st hip replacement had broken inside of her.

As a person in their 50's the biggest thing that bothered me was more than the healthcare issues exposed. It was this: why were the only options (a) Mom in some facility or (b) Mom at home with a full time worker to care for her? We easily saw there were family members, most of all the SON making this film, so why was it never an option for Mom to live with them? THAT is by far the most disturbing aspect of this entire film. What is happening in this society that someone would make such a film and that never even came up throughout? It should ALWAYS have been Plan A. Always. For me, it seriously detracts from the validity of this film and its credibility in my eyes. Selective information at best, rating it low as a result. Sad, because the other issues raised might have been able to be taken more credibly. But given that intentional omission, I conclude that all the information in the film is selective.

The healthcare, insurance and legal systems are so biased and unfair to the general public. This film documents the struggles of one family to show the awful care to a family member over 10 years. The deck is so stacked against the public. There is almost no accountability by the professionals and they continue to harm patients all across America. Well done film. All families with a loved one in a hospital or other care center should watch. Be an advocate for your lives one and keep them safe.