God Speed Murtha

[Nunul]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... htm?csp=hf

I didn't like you. That said, death sucks.

The dead know one thing: it is better to be alive.

[Nunul]

PS: Abe Vigoda still lives

[noivad]

PS: Abe Vigoda still lives

Thank goodness!

[Starsword Eojek]

He seems to have died of antibiotic resistant infection following the surgery. It may be a reason people are now starting to do something about it. As usual, it takes a dead congressman to make stuff happen.

[Maeght]

He seems to have died of antibiotic resistant infection following the surgery. It may be a reason people are now starting to do something about it. As usual, it takes a dead congressman to make stuff happen.

From what I read, he died as a result of likely complications from nicking the intestine in the process of having his gall bladder removed. The key problem seems to be the delay between the nick and return to care.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Lawmakers ... l?x=0&.v=1

Complications are rare. But they include nicking the intestine, liver or bile duct as doctors struggle to squeeze an inflamed gallbladder through a tiny opening in the abdomen. And if an intestine or bile duct is perforated, spotting it quickly can mean the difference between survival or death from massive infection.

"Every hour we delay diagnosis, the chance of overwhelming sepsis goes up," said Dr. Kevin Olden, a gastroenterologist at Washington Hospital Center -- who wasn't involved in the congressman's care at two nearby hospitals.

Murtha, 77, was first hospitalized with gallbladder problems in mid-December at the National Naval Medical Center, and eventually had his gallbladder removed there. Then on Jan. 31, a few days later, he came to another hospital's emergency room with a fever and infection. The Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., said he died there Tuesday from "major complications from surgery" at the first hospital.