e word "by" in front of my name. The back cover is excellent but not finalised the words yet...but getting there - its been a long haul and some of you know just how long and it has changed drastidally from what i first wrote which some of you received...but it got better everytime I re edited it... The foreword and back cover was written by the founder of the medical error Action group who's name I will leave out until closer to publshing time but what she wrote is excellent,
"Medical negligence is a subject no one wants to talk about until it happens to them.
It is made all the worse for affected families because Australia's health system is saturated in cover-ups; a system so ruthless it does not matter if trusting patients end up dead.
When our loved ones die from their medical treatment, it is human nature to want an all encompassing explanation on what went wrong. The duty to our loved ones kicks in and drives us. We expect statutory authorities to act.
Therese Mackay, in demanding answers to 'what went wrong' with her late husband Don's treatment and care in a Sydney public hospital that led to his untimely and unnecessary death, was not only blocked by people with greater resources but also not helped by those people whose help she needed because of their institutionalized indifference.
No bereaved family with iatrogenesis the cause of death should have to steer the investigation to find the truth. The Mackay family so did. But those people in power who failed to exercise their statutory duty and do what is right did not consider that the Mackay family's efforts in wanting justice for Don would help others encountering the same tragedy when their loved ones too die from medical negligence.
The New South Wales health system let Don Mackay down. His family did not.
This is an account of a loving family's plight and fight for justice for the late Donald William Mackay 1950-2007."
