James's Project
How could a mother who helplessly watched her newborn son die due to medical malpractice and poor communication turn down a $750,000.00 settlement? For Mary Ellen Mannix, the decision was an easy one. Even though the settlement money would have helped pay for the funeral, grave blankets, and the loss of the Mannix’s home due to enormous medical bills, it also came with the infamous "but" clause. The "but" clause in the settlement offer was that Mary Ellen could have the money "but" would not be able to speak to anyone about what happened to her son. There was no amount of money in the world that would have stopped Mary Ellen from speaking out so that no other mother would have to endure what she and baby James did.
James Matthew Mannix was the fourth child for Mary Ellen and Michael Mannix. Prior to James’s birth, they were informed that he had a discrete coarctation of the aorta. The Mannix’s were informed by James’ surgeon, a nationally known pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon who has had surgical procedures named after him, that out of all the congenital heart defects, this was no big deal and James would be fine. Yes, James would have been fine had there not been a series of medical mistakes and mis-communication that led to his death.
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After James underwent his corrective surgery, Mary Ellen’s maternal instincts kicked in. Even though she had no medical background, she knew something was not right. Despite her plea for answers and knowledge, she was met with "everything is OK" or you are just being an overly concerned new mother. The more Mary Ellen wanted answers to questions that any new concerned mother would ask, the more she was left in the dark, lonely, isolated, and unable to fight for her newborn baby that could not fight for himself. She was trying to speak on behalf of her baby that couldn’t, yet no one listened.
In the months and years that followed baby James’ death, Mary Ellen painfully learned about the truths of medicine and her dead-ended excursions with the healthcare system. Her eye-opening experience prompted her to write a book called Split the Baby, which truly expresses a real life view of patient safety and doctor-patient communications. Mary Ellen did not stop with just the book. She developed James’s Project to help guide parents through the elusive healthcare system and also offer helpful seminars and teaching tools on how to take control of a child’s health from birth to 12 months of age. You can also follow Mary Ellen at James’s Project blog.
Every doctor, nurse, mother, father, healthcare provider and lawyer should read Split the Baby and educate themselves in James’s Project. Even if one child is saved, Mary Ellen has succeeded in her goal.
In addition to Split the Baby and James’s Project, Mary Ellen is currently working on a new book called Connecting Our Hearts: Restorative Practices in Health Care. This companion to "Split the Baby: One Child's Journey Through Medicine and Law" offers real life examples of how patients and clinicians who have shared preventable medical errors were able to share candid conversation, data and increase transparency to improve patient safety through a unique restorative conference.
Readers will learn about a number of practical restorative practices modalities and their effective implementation in healthcare as proactive and reactive tools. These tools are evidence based practices that have been used in all areas of conflict resolution. The author demonstrates their transdisciplinary implementation that readers will be able to use in their own professions.
Some of these tools have been incorporated in a curriculum the author developed which is now used in professional development training at a large hospital accrediting entity, customer service companies, and large group clinical practices. Others have been used in peace-building strategies in conflict ridden areas like Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Jamaica, and Brazil.
