Wednesday, March 10, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Legislature
shouldn’t let
patient safety
program expire
J
essica Barnett died when she was
17. She had started fainting when
she was 12. It looked like a seizure.
Her lips would go blue. She was put on
epilepsy medication. The fainting didn’t
stop.
Her grandmother read an article about
Long QT syndrome. The Mayo Clinic
defines it as “a heart rhythm condition
that can potentially cause fast, chaotic
heartbeats. These rapid heartbeats might
trigger you to suddenly faint. Some peo-
ple with the condition have seizures. In
some severe cases, LQTS can cause sud-
den death.” The family thought that’s
what Jessica could have. It is treatable.
They had her tested. One test was
positive. Some at a different clinic
were ruled negative. Her doctors didn’t
believe that was what she had.
Jessica fainted again one day. It was a
bad episode. Paramedics couldn’t revive
her and she died.
Genetic testing after Jessica was dead
confirmed she had Long QT syndrome.
Her parents wanted answers. They called
the CEO of the hospital to try an arrange
a meeting with her doctors. They were
denied, so they decided to sue.
Her parents gathered up her medical
records. Jessica’s mother discovered the
cardiologist never even looked at one of
the tests. It was only sent to her general
practitioner because that was the hospi-
tal’s practice. Other tests were apparently
misread. The family was tested. Her
father had it as well, though he showed
no symptoms.
A lawsuit was settled out of court.
Another 18 months after the lawsuit
was settled and five years after Jessi-
ca’s death, the parents finally got to meet
with her doctors. They didn’t know the
family had requested to meet with them.
They had not been told.
“The physicians jaws dropped open.
They were thinking: ‘If we’d actually
spoken to this family we may not have
had to go through litigation,’” Jessica’s
mother said. “They were right. All we
ever wanted was to have our questions
answered and know they were making
changes so this wouldn’t happen again.”
The Oregon Patient Safety Commis-
sion discussed this case and cases like
it. This case was from Canada. All those
details we provided are courtesy of the
efforts of the Canadian Patient Safety
Institute and Jessica’s family. Where it
happened, though, does not matter so
much as what can be learned from it.
Passed in 2013 by the Oregon Leg-
islature, the early discussion and reso-
lution system allows for an open con-
versation between patients, families and
medical providers when serious harm
occurs. Participants can speak candidly
and reconciliation can be found without
an adversarial lawsuit.
But the program will go away with-
out action by the Legislature. It is sched-
uled to sunset on Dec. 23, 2023. Sen-
ate Bill 110 introduced at the request of
Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Patient
Safety Commission would get rid of the
sunset provision. It was state Sen. Tim
Knopp, R-Bend, who moved the bill be
sent to the Senate floor for a vote with a
recommendation that it pass. It should.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Take part in Wyden’s River
Democracy Act invite
I ranch near Union and irrigate from
Grande Ronde tributaries — Catherine
and Little creeks. I was not caught off
guard by the introduction of the River
Democracy Act because I, like all Ore-
gonians, received an unprecedented
invitation from Sen. Ron Wyden to
highlight streams worthy of protection.
Some might think that Wyden’s ask
was only for recreationists. However,
for my ranching business, the water-
shed’s ecological health is essential.
Moreover, my hometown’s water qual-
ity, infrastructure and economy depend
on what happens upstream, whether the
waterway is on private or federal lands.
If we continue neglecting our flood-
plains’ health, fires and flooding will
further erode infrastructure and threaten
our safety. Windblown trees and ice
jams are already threatening Union
due to channelization. Imagine what
would happen if fire took over our for-
est lands with little vegetation to slow
snowpack melting. With the fire-man-
agement tools offered in the act, we are
less likely to see huge amounts of sed-
iment choking creeks, flooding out pri-
vate properties and silting in irrigation
systems.
While some seem concerned that this
legislation will negatively impact pri-
vate property and water rights, this is an
opportunity to build resilience down-
stream by restoring the waterways
upstream — enhancing the value of pri-
vate property and water rights.
Sen. Wyden invites us now to mod-
ify the River Democracy Act. Whether
using livestock, forestry practices or
enhancing recreation opportunities,
the River Democracy Act gives us a
voice and opportunities for regenerative
management.
Cattlemen, don’t be caught off guard.
Grass-fed beef from
Wallowa County
Roy and I lived in Enterprise from
1995-2001. Roy worked in the schools
and I worked at Wallowa County Mental
Health. We loved living there.
We live in Newberg, Oregon now. A
few weeks ago we were passing Burger-
ville when we saw a sign “Wallowa
Burgers from GrassFed Beef.” We each
had one. They were huge and delicious.
We wondered which farm they were
from. Imagine our surprise to get a Chief-
tain with the Carman farm article in it. Yes,
the beef was wonderful and made us feel a
little at home. Lots of good memories.
Roy and Karen McConaughey
Newberg
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
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Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
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Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
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SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
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USPS No. 665-100
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
U.S. SENATORS
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
Be part of the solution.
Andrea Malmberg
Union
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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