Please help me. My mother has just passed away by the heart attack
today. This is such an unexpected death for my mother, though.  My
mother is 67 years old. She used to have the arrhythmia symptom but it
was a mild one. Whenever my mother went to the doctor's offices, the
doctors, including the cardiologists, told us that there's no serious
problem.

I don't know how details I am supposed to reveal the situation.
Basically, she went to the cardiologist's office for a regular
check-up. What I was told was that she was doing the stress test and
she fell down.

She immediately went to the emergency room. Unfortunately, she passed
away while entering the door of the main emergency gate. What I was
told was that she transferred to the another hospital for the medical
examination because she passed away before she came into the emergency
room.

I can't even see her face because she is under the medical
examination. I didn't quite understand at first why I can't even see
her until next morning. Now I think I'm getting a little about the
situation that it's the law and that's the way it is supposed to be.

I think I need the time to cope with this sudden situation. I want to
have enough time to investigate why my mother collapsed during the
regular check-up and how I should handle this situation. However, I
don't think I have enough time right now because the funeral should be
held soon.

Here are my questions:

(1) I would like to keep the posibility to bring a lawsuit against
some physicians. Of course it is not a certain plan but please let me
be prepared for it. I'll definitely call to the lawyers tomorrow but I
want to know what I am supposed to do for the preparation here.

(2) The medical examinators will examine my mother's case. But
everyone else is isolated from that procedure. All we are going to
have is the report they make. Of course I must trust them to do in a
professional way and must trust the system. I am really nervous what
the result turns out, though. I was told that I can hire the private
physician as an investigator and do the job, but I don't know the
physician which I can trust 100% at this time. What is the best way to
deal with this situation?

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 11 May 2004 11:09 PDT

Hello theplayer-ga,

I am so sorry about your loss. Please accept my sincere condolences.

In order to answer your question it would be helpful to know where
(what city) your mother died. There may be local laws and regulations
that apply. Thanks.

~ czh ~

Hello theplayer~

First, please allow me to express my condolences. Loosing a parent can
be earth-shattering.  My father is dying of leukemia, so I well know
how difficult this can be. (And I have advanced warning!) Try to give
yourself alone time to overcome your shock.  Hopefully you have
someone to help you with all the preparations that must be made just
now, to take some strain off yourself.  Like most of us, when we go
through such a shock, you?re probably not thinking 100% clearly. Try
not to make any major decisions without first dealing with the reality
of your mother?s passing on.

Through your pain, you may have to remind yourself that doctors don?t
know everything there is to know about the human body?-not even the
best doctors in the world. It is possible that no one could have
predicted your mother?s death. It may feel better to place blame
somewhere?-to explain this horrible ?accident? in concrete terms. But
sometimes it just happens?-and nobody could have done anything.

There is no way for me to know whether or not this is the case with
your mother; I only mention it as a possibility.

However, if you feel strongly that you want to pursue an
investigation, the first thing to do is find a good attorney who deals
in this sort of case. That attorney should guide you in all the
aspects you?re asking about: What information to help him or her
gather, how to find a private medical examiner, etc. You also want an
attorney good enough that he or she will admit *if* no fault has been
done on the part of the doctors or hospital(s).

One of the best ways to find an attorney is to call the American Bar
Association; they will give you the contact information for a
reputable attorney who deals with this sort of case. You can contact
them at (800) 285-2221, or visit their website at:
http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/lris/directory.html

I hope this information proves helpful to you. I am posting it as a
comment because I don?t believe this information answers your question
in quite the way you were expecting. If it answers your question to
your satisfaction, let me know, and I will post it as an official
answer.

Best wishes,
Kriswrite