Tag Archives: BATNA

Kings County Hsopital Center in Brooklyn Told Wrong Patients They Had HIV, Whistle-Blower Says

When I read this article, I instantly thought of the “Alarming Nights” case that we read.  Instead of Chris Lee needing to make a decision as to what to do in the case we read, we have the real life experience of Lili Hutchinson who made a decision.  Lili was apart of a lab that was apart of many cover ups which compromised patient safety.  Patients were being told that they had HIV when they did not or they were told they did not have Hepatitis-C when they did.  “The misdiagnoses and mix-up of samples prevented patients from receiving timely care, according to the lawsuit filed Nov. 4 in Brooklyn Civil Supreme.”

Lili Hutchinson decided to blow the whistle on this.  Back in 2002, she informed the inspector general of what was going on.  When nothing seemed to happen with that complaint, instead of let it go, she continued to press the inspector general and then informed the executive director.  All the while, her life was made miserable by coworkers and administrators who transferred her to different areas, filed complaints against her, disciplined her, suspended her for two days without pay and even denied her a promotion despite being overly qualified.  After years of complaints, the inspector general’s office still did nothing although it was found that her complaints did have merit.

Lili still did not stop there.  She complained to the Department of Health in 2011 and finally, the hospital was slapped with violations.  Lili however still did not stop there, she notified the state Health Department, the College of American Pathologists and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations of more glaring mistakes, which led to further violations against the hospital. The only reason why Lili is suing is because she fears being treated even worse, terminated.

My question is how far would you go?  Many times similar in the case, there are probably “less” consequences for turning a blind eye to certain things since things will continue business as usual.  The security guard and Dr. Link’s assistant did it in the case and all of Lili’s coworkers and supervisors seem to be doing it as well.  What pushed Lili so far?  She could have stopped at informing the Inspector General or even at the Executive Director but she chose to keep informing people and departments.  Maybe her BATNA was to endure the harassment as long as Justice was served!

I personally would’ve probably changed jobs instead of going through the torment for over a decade.  Once I changed jobs,, I would have probably still complained to those various departments since I would have felt safety in being semi-removed from the situation.  How far would you have gone if you were Lili?  What do you infer her BATNA was according to this article?  How often do you think situations like this happen and people turn the blind eye?