Tag: Leahs Legacy

We can help prevent deaths from medical error

By Lenore Alexander (Executive Director, LeahsLegacy)

For many years I have understood that to travel by plane, you should not have to get a pilot’s license.

I still think that is true, and that’s because the airline industry, along with the government, has addressed the job of fixing what was wrong and making air travel both safe and accountable.

In the past, I used that analogy to explain why I didn’t think you should need a medical background to be a safe patient. Time, knowledge and reality have changed my opinion.

To read her opinion, please click here.

PPAHS Joins Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation in Call for a “Paradigm Shift” in Opioid Safety

by Sean Power
February 19, 2014

“It’s time for a change in how we monitor postoperative patients receiving opioids,” declares Dr. Robert Stoelting, president of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF). “We need a complete paradigm shift in how we approach safer care for postoperative patients receiving opioids.” Continue reading “PPAHS Joins Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation in Call for a “Paradigm Shift” in Opioid Safety” →

Continuous Electronic Monitoring Could Have Saved My Child, My Family, My Marriage and My Life: A 11-Year Reflection on a Medical Travesty

By Lenore Alexander (Executive Director, leahslegacy.org)

 The mother of Leah Coufal, Lenore Alexander is Executive Director of Leah’s Legacy, a non-profit advocate for mandatory electronic monitoring of patients on opioids.    She may be reached at lalexander@leahslegacy.org

(The article was first published in HealthCareReport.)

Eleven years ago, I found my 11-year-old daughter, Leah, dead next to me in her hospital bed.  And though I haven’t spent this time attending medical school, I now have a much better understanding of what happened during the 30 hours my child was in the hospital’s care.  It’s what’s come to be called a “perfect storm” – a cascade of mistakes and miscommunication. Continue reading “Continuous Electronic Monitoring Could Have Saved My Child, My Family, My Marriage and My Life: A 11-Year Reflection on a Medical Travesty” →