Advice On Pneumonia

D

dmnshnlz1

New member
my girlfriends gran died in the early hours of this morning of pneumonia, now the doctors did say she had 12- 24 hours left to live maybe a little longer...they gave her some fluids and anti biotics and her blood sugar levels went back up....

she told the doctor she wasnt in any pain and wouldnt require any morphine..now with her having pneumonia her heart rate slowed down..., and eventually she fell asleep at around 9pm, the doctors came in and administered morphine when she told them before hand she had no pain or discomfert, now i know that when you fall asleep your heart rate drops, and with the dosage of morphine it would of made it even slower.

so is there a possibility the doctor who administered the morphine without prior consent be at fault for our loss during the night?
 
Sorry for your loss. It sounds from your message that your loved one was in very critical condition and she made her wishes very clear.

Would the morphine have hastened her death, I do not think so. I believe when she went to sleep she was already dying.

Again my condolences.
 
Henda,

I think you are asking some very good questions...it may be that some posters on other boards would better be able to address your concerns regarding the morphine.

I do know that older people often require less medication than others....and many medications errors kill...so if I were you, I'd get some more info.

Bethsheba
 
Maybe the doctor thought she was in pain so he administered the morphine to make her more comfortable. She may have said she didn't need it before she went to sleep but if morphine was included in her medication orders, then legally, the doctor can give it to her. It wouldn't really be up to the patient to decide if they need morphine - the doctor normally makes that decision. Plus she only had hours left to live anyway so giving her morphine wouldn't have caused her any harm. A good friend of mine works in a nursing home and she said morphine makes patients more comfortable when they are already dying.
 
Pneumonia can be very painfull(i've had it 18 times) , I'm sure the doctor was jsut trying to ease her last few hours and morphine will ease the coughing assosiated with the Pneumonia too.
 
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