When we feel ill, we take comfort in knowing that our medical professionals are there to help with our scrapes, sniffles, and more serious health issues. But underneath their caring demeanor, sometimes the medical industry hides a dark and seedy underbelly. We're going to take a look at some of the worst medical scandals in history, and perhaps show that caution is important, especially when getting health care.
Ireland has long been a country of strong Catholic morals and change comes slow to the conservative ideals long held there. In 2014 a rape victim came to Ireland from a former country, pregnant with her assaulter's child. She then went to seek an abortion, and after being denied treatment in Ireland, attempted to cross to the UK to have the procedure performed. After being arrested she expressed suicidal ideation, and was found to be so by psychiatrists. After a long hunger strike she was unwillingly hydrated and had the child taken by Caesarian section at 25 weeks. She has since been granted status as a refugee, and began lawsuits against 11 organizations that were involved.
Losing a loved one is always difficult, but imagine how these families must have felt when they discovered that their loved one's had not only been killed, but that the funeral home's that contacted them were alerted to their passing by the murderers. This 2002 scandal certainly cast a terrifying light on exactly how shady some areas of the medical profession can be.
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Going back to Ireland, this scandal shows how careful one has to be when choosing an assisted living facility for their aging loved ones. Petter McKenna, a particularly difficult case with Down Syndrom and Alzheimers, passed away 13 days after admittance. Research revealed a complete sub-standard care system in the facility, with a complete lack of the monitoring of deaths by the Irish medical system as a whole. The whole thing led to a massive investigation and reforming of practices.
We've all heard the urban legend about people waking up in a bath-tub full of ice, missing a kidney. In life imitating fiction, India once hosted a massive multi-billion rupee scandal that involved stealing kidneys for transplanting. The theft took place with the donors being lured in with offerings of $$, and were then drugged and operated on, never to be paid. Remember, if someone offers you money for parts, maybe just keep them.
The Maternity ward is often a place of joy and celebration, new lives bringing brought into the world and families being expanded. But during the early 2000's there was a train of tragedy that ran through the Furness hospital, with gross negligence resulting in the death of 11 babies and one mother. Investigations revealed that cover-ups and corruption infested every level of the hospital, yet in the end there were no prosecutions made.
Ann Arbor Hospital was the location of the shocking murders of 10 patients. After a series of suspicious deaths, an investigation was held that revealed a team of two Filipino nurses working in tandem to administer poisons that resulted in respiratory failure. 200 agents and well over $1 million in man hour, laboratory time, and equipment were used in the investigation leading to the conviction of these two murderesses.
By far the darkest of all the cases mentioned, Alder Hey hospital was being used as a farm for human organs, especially those from children. What keyed off the investigation was an unusually high rate of death for children undergoing heart surgery. Everything from hearts to thymus glands were being harvested from these patients and sold to donors. It was estimated that 104,000 organs were stored and distributed through this abattoir.
