I feel like the subtext for all this is the doctor not thinking to give the Vitamin K shot because they've probably never had a baby who didn't have the shot right at birth.
Apparently it's a standard treatment, but if you've never (or rarely) had to consider the treatment in 15-20 years of medicine, why now?
This ultimately lies with the parents, but this is what will happen when doctors have to start treating illnesses that have been all but eradicated by modern medicine because parents are "doing their own research".
In the article, it mentions that they told the doctor that they refused the shot but were giving oral Vitamin K drops. So the doctor was aware.
Edit: Just wanted to add that it seems like the vitamin K might be a red herring. Per the article, it takes 10-12 hours for the shot to begin working. Yes, it should have been given anyways so it would help in the future but she died less than 12 hours after arriving. She needed blood transfusion more to replace anything that was already lost.
Yes, they are the primary culprits, but the medical system also fucked up majorly. They didn't run blood tests or even suggest a Vitamin K shot -- perhaps because they assumed she (like almost every other baby) already had one. It took hours for a baby in critical condition to get an ambulance. These things are inexcusable.
Did you read the article? It doesn't say what blood tests they did or didn't run. It says explicitly the doctor was aware of the lack of vitamin K shot. They did not have access to the vitamin K shot. There are only so many ambulances to go around, especially ones equipped for neonates. The fact that these freestanding ERs are allowed to claim to be real ERs is a major problem, and so is the lack of ambulances. But if you're so smart you're willing to risk your baby bleeding to death, shouldn't you at the very least have learned where the nearest pediatric hospital is?
I remember learning about the vitamin k shot in high school and how important it was. I dont remember anyone asking me about it after I gave birth. I would have said yes, so I maybe just don't remember. But the feels like something they should just do without asking. Nobody asks if they can cut the cord, it needs to be done.
There were no signs something could be wrong with 11-day-old Gwen until the bleeding started.
“How much blood is too much blood,” her mom, Stephanie, texted her midwife. Then Stephanie and her husband, Eric, rushed Gwen to the emergency room.
For nearly three hours, Dr. Nicole Malouf tried seven different methods to stop Gwen’s bleeding. She even called her husband, also a doctor, as well as a nurse at a different hospital, to see if she was missing something.
Stephanie had rattled through Gwen’s history: No fever. No vomiting. And she had mentioned to Malouf that she and Eric had declined the vitamin K shot for Gwen, trusting that oral vitamin K drops could protect her instead.
But because the injection virtually eliminated VKDB for decades, not all doctors know how to diagnose and treat it. Malouf would later say she had learned about vitamin K deficiency bleeding in medical school and during her residency but that she didn’t recall seeing it in practice.
Around 1:40 a.m., Malouf started the process to transfer Gwen to a hospital with pediatric specialists and a neonatal intensive care unit.
By the time the ambulance arrived, it had been nearly another two hours. One of the team’s first questions was whether Gwen had received a vitamin K shot.
The ER nurse told them they didn’t have the shot on hand. (Malouf said she asked for a vitamin K shot earlier, too, but was told it wasn’t available. She also did not think it would take effect in time.)
That was the first time since walking into the ER, Stephanie said, that anyone suggested that vitamin K may be the culprit — and the cure.
The baby would still be alive if the parents hadn't thought they were smarter than every available source of medical information. Many other things went wrong, but it really comes down to the fact that the parents "did their own research" and medically neglected their child. Had they allowed the global standard of care they never would have been in that ER in the first place. Had they asked a pediatrician instead of a homebirth midwife, they would have gotten a different response. Instead, they took their medically neglected newborn to a freestanding ER, which is hardly better than an urgent care, even though a hospital with pediatrics was in easy driving distance. They complain about the doctor pushing hard on the umbilical stump to stop the bleeding with the swab. These parents don't know anything, but chose to act as though they know everything, and their baby is dead as a result. What a tragedy, even more so because it was so preventable with one of the cheapest and safest ways we can prevent infant mortality. And they just said no.
The fact that healthcare professionals have to relearn Canon- that rashes now may be measles, that newborns may be bleeding to death because parents refuse Vitamin K, that elders are using an overdose of ivermectin for their disease of the week.....
I am glad I am retired. We are already burnt crispy with the patient load, the paperwork, the administrations we labor under. Now this.
This is remarkably sad. I used to work in healthcare and my work would occasionally bring me into contact with premature newborns. The vitamin k shot was an absolutely must-have. So I'm taken back that they weren't aware of VKDB. Has the pattern of parents declining the shot exploded so much that the practice has become a rarity, and knowledge of its importance just isn't getting passed down through the healthcare generations?
They could have given Vitamin K in the waiting room and it still would not have prevented this outcome based on the story. By the time a severe bleed occurs it’s too little too late. An IV and aggressive resuscitation blood and plasma transfusions are the answer but a free standing ED is a terrible place to manage a neonate, apparently no vitamin k available and limited access to resources and blood. It’s a failure by the medical system but far more so a public health and political failure that put the baby in this situation.
Tbh the parents are scum. It’s their fault and any lawsuit is just trying to shift blame so they don’t have to reevaluate their idiotic behavior.
User-no-relation | an hour ago
We did our own research claims another victim
The framing of the article is all wrong. The blame lies with the parents.
marcusesses | an hour ago
I feel like the subtext for all this is the doctor not thinking to give the Vitamin K shot because they've probably never had a baby who didn't have the shot right at birth.
Apparently it's a standard treatment, but if you've never (or rarely) had to consider the treatment in 15-20 years of medicine, why now?
This ultimately lies with the parents, but this is what will happen when doctors have to start treating illnesses that have been all but eradicated by modern medicine because parents are "doing their own research".
OkStudent1961 | an hour ago
In the article, it mentions that they told the doctor that they refused the shot but were giving oral Vitamin K drops. So the doctor was aware.
Edit: Just wanted to add that it seems like the vitamin K might be a red herring. Per the article, it takes 10-12 hours for the shot to begin working. Yes, it should have been given anyways so it would help in the future but she died less than 12 hours after arriving. She needed blood transfusion more to replace anything that was already lost.
flume | an hour ago
Yes, they are the primary culprits, but the medical system also fucked up majorly. They didn't run blood tests or even suggest a Vitamin K shot -- perhaps because they assumed she (like almost every other baby) already had one. It took hours for a baby in critical condition to get an ambulance. These things are inexcusable.
ade1aide | 4 minutes ago
Did you read the article? It doesn't say what blood tests they did or didn't run. It says explicitly the doctor was aware of the lack of vitamin K shot. They did not have access to the vitamin K shot. There are only so many ambulances to go around, especially ones equipped for neonates. The fact that these freestanding ERs are allowed to claim to be real ERs is a major problem, and so is the lack of ambulances. But if you're so smart you're willing to risk your baby bleeding to death, shouldn't you at the very least have learned where the nearest pediatric hospital is?
housewithapool2 | 2 hours ago
I remember learning about the vitamin k shot in high school and how important it was. I dont remember anyone asking me about it after I gave birth. I would have said yes, so I maybe just don't remember. But the feels like something they should just do without asking. Nobody asks if they can cut the cord, it needs to be done.
redyellowblue5031 | 2 hours ago
They give it to the newborn shortly after birth along with a few other shots.
I (husband) remember telling the doctor yes within an hour or two after my wife gave birth.
housewithapool2 | 2 hours ago
I know it happened i just don't remember it. I think it should just be part of the process.
TheMightyMisanthrope | an hour ago
They murdered their little girl with their actions and then blamed the doctor.
Oh how I hate the whole "did my own research" movement.
[OP] propublica_ | 2 hours ago
There were no signs something could be wrong with 11-day-old Gwen until the bleeding started.
“How much blood is too much blood,” her mom, Stephanie, texted her midwife. Then Stephanie and her husband, Eric, rushed Gwen to the emergency room.
For nearly three hours, Dr. Nicole Malouf tried seven different methods to stop Gwen’s bleeding. She even called her husband, also a doctor, as well as a nurse at a different hospital, to see if she was missing something.
Stephanie had rattled through Gwen’s history: No fever. No vomiting. And she had mentioned to Malouf that she and Eric had declined the vitamin K shot for Gwen, trusting that oral vitamin K drops could protect her instead.
The vitamin K shot is not a vaccine. It helps blood clot, preventing a rare, life-threatening condition called vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). In recent years, medical mistrust and misinformation have driven more and more parents to decline the shot.
But because the injection virtually eliminated VKDB for decades, not all doctors know how to diagnose and treat it. Malouf would later say she had learned about vitamin K deficiency bleeding in medical school and during her residency but that she didn’t recall seeing it in practice.
Around 1:40 a.m., Malouf started the process to transfer Gwen to a hospital with pediatric specialists and a neonatal intensive care unit.
By the time the ambulance arrived, it had been nearly another two hours. One of the team’s first questions was whether Gwen had received a vitamin K shot.
The ER nurse told them they didn’t have the shot on hand. (Malouf said she asked for a vitamin K shot earlier, too, but was told it wasn’t available. She also did not think it would take effect in time.)
That was the first time since walking into the ER, Stephanie said, that anyone suggested that vitamin K may be the culprit — and the cure.
What followed wouldn’t be enough. Read our full investigation: https://www.propublica.org/article/vitamin-k-shot-texas-lonestar-emergency-room-nicole-malouf
ade1aide | an hour ago
The baby would still be alive if the parents hadn't thought they were smarter than every available source of medical information. Many other things went wrong, but it really comes down to the fact that the parents "did their own research" and medically neglected their child. Had they allowed the global standard of care they never would have been in that ER in the first place. Had they asked a pediatrician instead of a homebirth midwife, they would have gotten a different response. Instead, they took their medically neglected newborn to a freestanding ER, which is hardly better than an urgent care, even though a hospital with pediatrics was in easy driving distance. They complain about the doctor pushing hard on the umbilical stump to stop the bleeding with the swab. These parents don't know anything, but chose to act as though they know everything, and their baby is dead as a result. What a tragedy, even more so because it was so preventable with one of the cheapest and safest ways we can prevent infant mortality. And they just said no.
New_Section_9374 | an hour ago
The fact that healthcare professionals have to relearn Canon- that rashes now may be measles, that newborns may be bleeding to death because parents refuse Vitamin K, that elders are using an overdose of ivermectin for their disease of the week..... I am glad I am retired. We are already burnt crispy with the patient load, the paperwork, the administrations we labor under. Now this.
Lokan | 2 hours ago
This is remarkably sad. I used to work in healthcare and my work would occasionally bring me into contact with premature newborns. The vitamin k shot was an absolutely must-have. So I'm taken back that they weren't aware of VKDB. Has the pattern of parents declining the shot exploded so much that the practice has become a rarity, and knowledge of its importance just isn't getting passed down through the healthcare generations?
Rizpam | 32 minutes ago
They could have given Vitamin K in the waiting room and it still would not have prevented this outcome based on the story. By the time a severe bleed occurs it’s too little too late. An IV and aggressive resuscitation blood and plasma transfusions are the answer but a free standing ED is a terrible place to manage a neonate, apparently no vitamin k available and limited access to resources and blood. It’s a failure by the medical system but far more so a public health and political failure that put the baby in this situation.
Tbh the parents are scum. It’s their fault and any lawsuit is just trying to shift blame so they don’t have to reevaluate their idiotic behavior.