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Today’s article is about, “Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: The ICU Team is Refusing Dialysis and Inotropes for my Brother in ICU, is this Ethical or Legal?”

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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: The ICU Team is Refusing Dialysis and Inotropes for my Brother in ICU, is this Ethical or Legal?

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, today’s tip is about a client that we’re working with who has their 33-year-old brother in ICU after cardiac arrest and he’s not waking up, and he has hypoxic brain injury. It’s part of the cardiac arrest because he had CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) for quite some time and he’s not waking up now. Now, like many other patients in the ICU, the kidneys are failing, and the ICU is basically denying dialysis or hemofiltration for him while his blood pressure keeps going down and they’re saying he’s not a candidate for dialysis or hemofiltration.

Now, I agree he’s probably not a candidate for dialysis, because dialysis would make a low blood pressure much lower, but hemofiltration is a much more gentler approach. Therefore, he should be a candidate for hemofiltration to save his life and give him a chance. He’s only been in ICU for three weeks, which is not a long time. So, the ICU is now saying that hemofiltration is not a candidate because there’s a risk of brain herniation.

Now, let me tell you something here, I worked in intensive care and critical care for over 20 years in three different countries. I have worked as a nurse manager in intensive care for over 5 years. I have also consulted and advocated for families in intensive care all around the world here at intensivecarehotline.com since 2013. You can look up our testimonial section. You can look up some client interviews and I can say without any exaggeration that we have saved lives through our advocacy.

Now, coming back to our client. Now, the intensive care team says, “Oh, he’s not a candidate for hemofiltration because he’s at risk of brain herniation.” Never heard of it, and I’m sure there’s some literature out there that maybe there is a very small chance of brain herniation, maybe there is, but I haven’t seen it in over 20 years of intensive care nursing and to deny someone potentially lifesaving treatment, and saying they’re at risk of brain herniation, well, if you’re not doing hemofiltration, the patient is going to die anyway. So, where are your morals and your ethics here to give this young man a chance?

So, it’s complete and utter nonsense to say, “Oh, we’re not going to treat him because he’s at risk of brain herniation.” Well, there are side effects and risks for treatment for anything, but it’s getting better because his blood pressure is so low, sort of 80/40, he needs inotropes and vasopressors, and now they’re saying, “Oh, well, he can’t have inotropes or vasopressors.” Because again, he’s at risk of the kidneys shutting down completely. Once again, nonsense.

Can it happen? Absolutely. Chances are very slim that it does happen. Like with anything, there are side effects for everything, but not trying will definitely kill this young man. Trying might save his life.

Now, there might be an argument will he recover from his brain injury? We don’t know, but we certainly won’t know if he’s going to die. You have to give people a chance and let the families make a decision.

So, it is so critically important that in those situations, you do your research because if you are like 99% of families in intensive care, you won’t be able to make informed decisions and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. You need that outsider’s input, and you need that second opinion, because otherwise, in a situation like that where the intensive care team is walking all over the family, most families don’t even know that’s what’s happening because they’re not informed. At least, this family here is informed and can take other steps to turn the situation around.

You have to question everything. One of my mentors told me, that you have to question everything, and that’s true in all areas in life. You have to question yourself. You have to question whatever is going on. You have to question everything, and when you have a loved one in intensive care, it’s often life or death. You can’t afford to get it wrong.

We have so many families contacting us and saying, “Oh, 12 months ago, 24 months ago, my mom, my dad, my spouse, my sister, whoever died in intensive care. Now, I’m reading a website, I didn’t know there was a second opinion, I didn’t know there was consulting. We just believe everything we were told.” Well, can you afford that? You have to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life, good and bad. Just take full responsibility and then see how your world will change, in any case.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

Question everything, get a second opinion so that you can make sure your loved one gets the best care and treatment, and more importantly, for your peace of mind. You need to make sure you can make informed decisions, and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

Now, we have created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care where we answer your questions. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions, intensive care related. You can get access to the membership by going to intensivecarehotline.com by clicking on the membership link, or by going to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you also have access to 20 eBooks and videos that are not publicly available, that answer all questions intensive care related that are specifically designed for families in intensive care.

Now, I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to doctors and nurses directly, I talk to you and your families directly, and I ask all the questions with the intensive care team that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care. Once again, the goal is for you to make informed decisions, and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. I know at the moment you don’t have any of that.

I also represent you in family meetings with the intensive care team so that you go in those meetings with a strategy. Again, 99.9% of families in intensive care have no strategy when dealing with intensive care teams. I’m here to help you with that.

We also offer medical record reviews in real-time so that you can make informed decisions, and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence in real-time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care. if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com.

Now, if you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.
 

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