Article as seen at www.ocregister.com
Thursday, August 17, 2006

She learned about malpractice the hard way
The widow of a malpractice victim teaches others how to prepare for the worst and fight for medical justice.
By BLYTHE BERNHARD
The Orange County Register

Christine Brown's 53-year-old husband, Thomas, went into St. Jude Medical Center for elective sinus surgery five years ago, but suffocated and died before the procedure even started.

The sudden death ignited Christine Brown's new passions: helping people navigate the medical malpractice maze and making sure everyone is prepared for unforeseen catastrophes.

Brown spent a year and a half tangled in a lawsuit with anesthesiologist Dr. Merlin Neff, sitting through depositions and haggling with attorneys. In the end, Brown was awarded a six-figure settlement.

The state medical board placed Neff on probation for incompetence in Thomas Brown's case and others. Last month, the board revoked Neff's license after he failed to pass a required competency exam.

Now, Brown has written a self-help book and talks to groups about her experience.

Q: How did you know that something went wrong in the operating room?

A: All I wanted was an answer: What happened? We needed to know what the (anesthesia) medication was for the sake of his children. In the records there were blacked-out notes, conflicting information. Then all the information to me just stopped cold. It kept triggering that something was wrong. Hints were being dropped to me by a handful of doctors who knew what took place. Every Friday morning I would call the medical examiner. He would say to me this is not looking right.

Q: Why did you pursue the lawsuit?

A:Things go wrong, I understand that. That's not what I thought happened. This was a simple, simple procedure. It got very glaring that there was a problem. My goal was to get (Neff) out of the operating room. People are very uneducated about checking out doctors. People still hold them on this pedestal. Somebody had to graduate at the bottom.

Q: What did you learn about the legal system?

A:I sat through 22 depositions. I learned how to play that game. It took a year and a half of incredible learning to find out how difficult it is to take on this system. I was supposed to wear black, wear Tom's wedding ring around my neck and address myself as Mrs. Brown. My goal is to make myself available to attorneys and families who choose to go through the legal course. To hear your kids deposed is very painful. It's a shocking experience. I had to find something redeeming out of it.

Q: Why did you write the book, "In Just a Split Second"?

A: To educate people. How prepared are you for a sudden death? Most people don't even have original birth certificates. The least I can do is get a message out to folks to save them this paperwork nightmare. Get two names on checking accounts, safe deposit boxes. The day somebody dies, save the newspaper for the financial dealings of that day. It's costly to go back and find the values of stock holdings for the tax return. Donate their stuff before the end of the year. When something like this happens, you really have to have things lined up. It can happen to any of us.

Q: Can you really prepare for something like that?

A: People think if you don't talk about it, it won't happen. We had talked about end-of-life issues. He said, "If you bury me in a suit and tie, I'll sit up." So I got his golf shirt and Dockers. I knew where he wanted to be buried. That made my life a lot easier.

Q: What was it like to lose your husband?

A: There will never be normalcy. I was only 50 years old. It's the worst age to lose a spouse. You aren't the really cute young wife; you didn't have 60 good years together. Things were going the way they were supposed to go. We were on the retirement track. Now I live alone. You don't buy dresses you have to zip up in the back. There are so many things you don't think about. You lose friends. No one knows what to say.

"People are very uneducated about checking out doctors," says author Christine Brown. "People still hold them on this pedestal. Somebody had to graduate at the bottom."

Tom Brown