-
PVI is now Patients’ View Institute – and Here’s Why
This week, the Patient Voice Institute becomes the Patients’ View Institute. Apparently, as we learned a couple of months ago, the phrase “Patient Voice” is trademarked. At least that’s what the letter from the lawyers said – the ones representing the company that claimed “trademark infringement”. After exploring our choices, voluntarily changing our name seemed…
-
Emily Henry’s Medical Awakening Story
I grew up in England and become a patient advocate and caregiver at the age of three, when my single-parent mum had her first heart attack, foreshadowing years of chronic health problems. Coupled with heart disease and all the secondary issues that came along with it, my mum was also prone to panic attacks, paranoia,…
-
Aviva Rubin’s Story: “You’re a ‘Survivor’ – Until You’re Not”
When you get through cancer treatment, is it time to take your “clean-bill-of-health-for-now card” and bolt…or something else? Aviva Rubin chose something else. Her beautifully written and intensely personal exploration of what being a “survivor” means to her exemplifies the Patients’ View Principle of Empowerment. In the fall of 2013, I was diagnosed with Marginal…
-
Mark Liang’s Story: Matters of the Heart
Mark comes from an extended family of physicians, but when a member of his family became a patient, he began to see the doctor/patient relationship in a whole new light. Mark’s grandfather lost his life to cancer, but before he passed away, he left a lasting impression on both Mark and his caregivers. For Mark,…
-
Launching Today: Patient Safety Call to Congress
Today, members of Congress across the country are opening emails and letters signed by more than thirty patient advocacy organizations and activists, asking for one thing: accountability for preventable medical harm. Why is this needed? 440,000 patients die “before their time” each year because of medical errors in the hospital, making it the third biggest…
-
“Please Let Me Die”
“My mother was…adamant about not having life-extending measures at her life’s end, let everyone know her wishes, and carried her living will in her purse. But when she had a heart attack and stroke in Stuart, Fla., the emergency room hooked her up to several machines, eventually transporting her to a respiratory care center which…
