Hold Henry Ford and Sparrow Health Systems Accountable for Killing my Dad, Bruce Davis
Hold Henry Ford and Sparrow Health Systems Accountable for Killing my Dad, Bruce Davis
The Issue
My father, Bruce Davis, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in June 2015 at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Gazala Khan, MD was the main Oncologist responsible for my dad’s care. She stated that he had a tumor on the head of his Pancreas. He was immediately placed on an extremely aggressive treatment plan, inclusive of extensive Chemotherapy and targeted radiation treatments to shrink the tumor enough for surgery. The treatments destroyed his body. Dr. Christopher Steffes, MD at Henry Ford Health System also attempted an unsuccessful Whipple Surgery on him, causing an infection to develop that nearly killed him. Furthermore, doctors at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, MI were very negligent in their care of my father toward the end of his life. Under the care of Sparrow Health System, my dad’s metal stents that were placed to relieve some of his discomfort by doctors at Henry Ford were not maintained, causing them to erode and puncture a hole in my dad’s stomach. This expedited his death.
My dad died on September 11th, 2016 at 9:04 A.M. One day after my 19th birthday (September 10th). Upon his death, an independent autopsy was performed, which concluded that my dad had no tumor on his Pancreas, and that there were no cancerous cells found in his body. The exact verbiage from the autopsy report is, “no mass in the head of the pancreas” and “the gross and histologic appearance of the pancreas suggests the mucinous cysts are benign because there is no evidence of invasion/metastases and the associated cells do not have a malignant/high grade appearance. In living individuals, these lesions may undergo a malignant change but there is no gross or histologic evidence of that in this case”. Translated, this means that there was no cancer found at the time of death, and there is no evidence that there was ever any cancer present. My father suffered for a year and a half unjustly because his black life was not valued and was instead exchanged for the lucrative payments that go along with a Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis. Additionally, the Forensic Pathologist who performed the autopsy stated that the hole punctured in my dad’s stomach by the metal stents should have been detected through simple medical imaging. The level of incompetence and greed in the healthcare industry is deadly.
My mom and I consulted with the top medical malpractice attorneys in the state of Michigan to determine who would be best equipped to obtain justice for my father. We chose one, but he was unsuccessful. In Michigan, it is necessary to have expert witnesses to testify on behalf of the victim. An expert witness in this case would be another doctor, specifically an Oncologist, to testify that my dad was misdiagnosed, therefore mistreated. Do you think there are any doctors willing to risk their career, reputation, and livelihood to speak out against the injustices of the healthcare system versus a black man? Absolutely not. Once again, my family was failed by another system that was supposed to help us.
My family tried to fight for my father through the legal system, but we were unsuccessful. My dad is the best man that I have ever known. He did not deserve to be treated as though he was nothing. Based on the results of the autopsy, he should be alive today. He should be here today to celebrate Father’s Day. He deserves to be compensated for every single unnecessary chemotherapy and radiation treatment received, each unnecessary surgery and outpatient procedure, each lie told to him by medical professionals, each day trapped in a hospital and nursing home, each day of unbearable nausea and other intense symptoms that arise from receiving cancer treatments, each day while sick and after his death that he hasn’t been able to financially provide for his family because he was the sole provider for us, each anniversary missed with his wife of 23 years since his death, each major event and other memories missed in the lives of his three children and four grandchildren, and the list goes on and on. Both Henry Ford and Sparrow Health Systems should be in contact with my family in the very near future to discussion options to attempt to apologize for this gross injustice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my father’s story and for signing this petition. If you feel compelled, please continue to share this petition on various social media platforms and tag the doctors and hospitals involved, and any other party that you feel would be helpful in obtaining justice for my dad. Thank you in advance.
If you would like to read the full story about my father’s life and death, please click the link to my blog post below. My dad was an amazing human being, man, husband, father, provider, etc. His death has negatively impacted my family in an unexplainable way. I don’t think we will ever fully recover.
2,154
The Issue
My father, Bruce Davis, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in June 2015 at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Gazala Khan, MD was the main Oncologist responsible for my dad’s care. She stated that he had a tumor on the head of his Pancreas. He was immediately placed on an extremely aggressive treatment plan, inclusive of extensive Chemotherapy and targeted radiation treatments to shrink the tumor enough for surgery. The treatments destroyed his body. Dr. Christopher Steffes, MD at Henry Ford Health System also attempted an unsuccessful Whipple Surgery on him, causing an infection to develop that nearly killed him. Furthermore, doctors at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, MI were very negligent in their care of my father toward the end of his life. Under the care of Sparrow Health System, my dad’s metal stents that were placed to relieve some of his discomfort by doctors at Henry Ford were not maintained, causing them to erode and puncture a hole in my dad’s stomach. This expedited his death.
My dad died on September 11th, 2016 at 9:04 A.M. One day after my 19th birthday (September 10th). Upon his death, an independent autopsy was performed, which concluded that my dad had no tumor on his Pancreas, and that there were no cancerous cells found in his body. The exact verbiage from the autopsy report is, “no mass in the head of the pancreas” and “the gross and histologic appearance of the pancreas suggests the mucinous cysts are benign because there is no evidence of invasion/metastases and the associated cells do not have a malignant/high grade appearance. In living individuals, these lesions may undergo a malignant change but there is no gross or histologic evidence of that in this case”. Translated, this means that there was no cancer found at the time of death, and there is no evidence that there was ever any cancer present. My father suffered for a year and a half unjustly because his black life was not valued and was instead exchanged for the lucrative payments that go along with a Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis. Additionally, the Forensic Pathologist who performed the autopsy stated that the hole punctured in my dad’s stomach by the metal stents should have been detected through simple medical imaging. The level of incompetence and greed in the healthcare industry is deadly.
My mom and I consulted with the top medical malpractice attorneys in the state of Michigan to determine who would be best equipped to obtain justice for my father. We chose one, but he was unsuccessful. In Michigan, it is necessary to have expert witnesses to testify on behalf of the victim. An expert witness in this case would be another doctor, specifically an Oncologist, to testify that my dad was misdiagnosed, therefore mistreated. Do you think there are any doctors willing to risk their career, reputation, and livelihood to speak out against the injustices of the healthcare system versus a black man? Absolutely not. Once again, my family was failed by another system that was supposed to help us.
My family tried to fight for my father through the legal system, but we were unsuccessful. My dad is the best man that I have ever known. He did not deserve to be treated as though he was nothing. Based on the results of the autopsy, he should be alive today. He should be here today to celebrate Father’s Day. He deserves to be compensated for every single unnecessary chemotherapy and radiation treatment received, each unnecessary surgery and outpatient procedure, each lie told to him by medical professionals, each day trapped in a hospital and nursing home, each day of unbearable nausea and other intense symptoms that arise from receiving cancer treatments, each day while sick and after his death that he hasn’t been able to financially provide for his family because he was the sole provider for us, each anniversary missed with his wife of 23 years since his death, each major event and other memories missed in the lives of his three children and four grandchildren, and the list goes on and on. Both Henry Ford and Sparrow Health Systems should be in contact with my family in the very near future to discussion options to attempt to apologize for this gross injustice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my father’s story and for signing this petition. If you feel compelled, please continue to share this petition on various social media platforms and tag the doctors and hospitals involved, and any other party that you feel would be helpful in obtaining justice for my dad. Thank you in advance.
If you would like to read the full story about my father’s life and death, please click the link to my blog post below. My dad was an amazing human being, man, husband, father, provider, etc. His death has negatively impacted my family in an unexplainable way. I don’t think we will ever fully recover.
2,154
The Decision Makers
Petition created on June 21, 2020