Nurse: Woods resisted medication before heart attack
5:15 PM Fri, Nov 13, 2009 | Permalink
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By W. Zachary Malinowski WARWICK, R.I. -- A registered nurse testified Friday that Michael Woods was resistant to receiving medication at Kent Hospital about two hours before he suffered a fatal heart attack on July 26, 2006. Jessica Parker, a veteran nurse at Kent, South County and Newport Hospitals, said she was working in the emergency room that night when another nurse, Gerald J. Quaranto, approached her and asked her whether she would administer an intravenous push to Woods. Quaranto is a licensed practicing nurse and authorized to provide the treatment. "I didn't know anything about Michael Woods or his condition,'' she testified. Parker said that Woods was restless, tossing and turning on the gurney. "Stop doing this,'' said Woods, according to Parker. "I don't need all this. This is ridiculous.'' She said that Woods eventually relented and she administered the intravenous push. Parker followed Quaranto as a witness Friday in the negligence lawsuit that James Woods has filed on behalf of his brother's surviving son, Peyton. Mark B. Decof, Woods' lawyer, has claimed that Kent Hospital doctors ignored warning signs that Woods was suffering from a serious heart condition and failed to take actions that could have saved his life. Woods, a local businessman and two-time candidate for Warwick mayor, was 49 years old. The hospital has denied those charges and its lawyer, David W. Carroll, has argued that Woods' coronary artery was so severely blocked that there was nothing the hospital could have done in time to save him. Earlier in the day, Quaranto returned to the witness stand for a second day of testimony. He admitted that he made an error when he completed a report at 6 p.m. that chronicled Woods' final hours alive. He was not pronounced dead until 7:30 p.m. "What's the reason for that?'' Decof asked. "At that time, it was a dramatic experience for me, knowing Mr. Woods,'' Quaranto testified. "I was just so devastated I don't know why I put that down.'' James Woods, who sat at the defense table, repeatedly lowered his head into his hands during testimony about his brother's death. The trial resumes on Monday in Kent County Superior Court before Judge Daniel A. Procaccini. Dr. Kelli Naylor, the doctor who took over the Woods case in the treatment unit, is expected to testify. 
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As a registered nurse who isn't involved in this case both sides have presented compelling arguements to this point. However, as a RN my assessment thus far is that the Wood's family needs to begin the grieving process and the hospital needs to look at their protocol for this type of emergent situtation. Additionally Mr. Woods resitance that afternoon regarding his treatment and the care he was receiving was because he was a gravely ill man and scared for his life. Not because he didn't want emergent treatment.
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It’s with utter disgust that I find James Woods pursuing this case when its already been made clear in the media that his brother had chronic heat disease to such an extent that it would have been impossible to have saved his life even with the best will in the world.
Doctors are not Gods they are human beings just like you and me, they are trained to do a job and in the case of doctors to a very high standard, they devote their lives trying to save others, occasionally they make mistakes but don’t we all?
Can you really hold a doctor or hospital to ransom because a patient dies of heart failure when his heart is already badly diseased through years of abuse, in this case he came in complaining of a sore throat and running a slight temperature so why would the hospital need to carry out further tests especially after the patient says its alright its only a sore throat and not showing any outward signs of heart failure.
To proceed with this case and tie both urgently needed hospital staff and doctors up for weeks on end when they could be at work saving lives is wrong, no matter how you see this ITS WRONG, Live are being lost unnecessarily due to this case, and seems to be driven by money, Greed and large settlements rather than common sense.
Perhaps James should donate money or set up a memorial room to his brother in the hospital and make amends instead of trying to discredit the doctors and staff.
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Why does Kent have LPNs working in a critical area like the ED? Should LPNs be assessing patients? Why save money with a cheaper type of staff? How about hiring a bunch of RNs with CEN certification? Is this not penny-wise but pound foolish?
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Olivia, where do you expect Kent to get the money to do that?
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