Hospitals and doctors have a lot of responsibility since the lives of many people are in their hands. The environment is burdensome and stressful, and sometimes they don’t get a break. Doctors, too, are human and can make mistakes. However, this case on Reddit is a bit complicated because a former employee of a hospital in Texas alleges that they were fired after reporting medical misconduct. The sad thing is that because of the misconduct, a person lost their life, and it seems that the hospital wanted to keep quiet about the situation.
Redditor Leather_Yam6774 shared on r/legaladvice a very difficult question that may make many people cringe. OP claims to have worked at a hospital in Texas until they became a witness to a medical misconduct that caused the death of a patient. OP added that he tried to report this situation, but the hospital retaliated against them. This situation is more complicated because there are no further details, probably for privacy, so people could not easily find out who Leather_Yam6774 really is. It is understandable because OP also needs to be careful and protect themself from further repercussions, but he still wants to know if they should contact the family and reveal the truth to them. The situation caused a lot of debate among Redditors in the comments, but most of them are giving advice such as:
“Should I report what I know to the family?”
MartinO1234
That is an ethical question, not a legal one. As others have pointed out, that might be a HIPAA violation.
“I reported it but was fired in retaliation.”
That is a matter for an employment lawyer. I think you should address the first question to your lawyer, when and if you get one.
I am just pointing out that there are two separate issues here.
Most users felt like the former worker, with an ethical obligation to denounce the situation, and even wanted to tell the family the truth. However, it is not that easy because there could be significant repercussions for the hospital itself. So many advised that the best course of action for OP would be to contact a good lawyer and acknowledge that her retaliatory dismissal was neither fair nor legal. Of course, many details are not in the story that will be of great importance to a case. Still, too many people are on OP’s side and hope that justice can help OP and the affected family.
