What President May Have Died from Medical Malpractice?

Today is President’s Day, and so we offer a test of knowledge and some interesting facts.

Which president’s death has been characterized as an assassination by some and as the result of medical malpractice by others?

Choose one before looking at the answer below.

___Abraham Lincoln
___John F. Kennedy
___James Garfield
___William McKinley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer: President Garfield was in office less than 4 months when he was shot by Charles Julius Guiteau in 1881. One bullet exited his body and another lodged in his chest. At the scene, a dozen doctors inserted their fingers and instruments into the wounds, and Garfield died 80 days later from infection and blood poisoning. Guiteau, the shooter, reportedly said, “Yes, I shot him, but his doctors killed him.”

Unfortunately for Garfield, most American doctors of the day did not believe in anti-sepsis measures or the need for cleanliness to prevent infection. Several inserted their un-sterilized fingers into the wound to probe for the bullet, and one doctor punctured Garfield’s liver in doing so. Also, self-appointed chief physician D. Willard Bliss had supplanted Garfield’s usual physician, Jedediah Hyde Baxter. Bliss and the other doctors who attended Garfield had guessed wrong about the path of the bullet in Garfield’s body. They had erroneously probed rightward into Garfield’s back instead of leftward, missing the location of the bullet but creating a new channel which filled with pus. The autopsy not only discovered this error but revealed pneumonia in both lungs and a body that was filled with pus due to uncontrolled septicemia.

In 1881, the “standard of care” for situations like this one did not include sterilizing instruments and washing hands, so a case for medical malpractice would likely not be supported. In tort law, the standard of care is the only degree of prudence and caution required of an individual who is under a duty of care. The requirements of the standard are closely dependent on circumstances.