How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update)

Hey there, Stephen Dubner. We are replaying a series we made in 2023 called How to Succeed at Failing. This is the second episode. We have updated all facts and figures as necessary. As always, thanks for listening.

In early 2007, Carol Hamelgarn's life was forever changed by a failure, a tragic medical failure. At the time, she was working for Pfizer, the huge U.S. pharmaceutical firm, so she was familiar with the healthcare system, but what changed her life wasn't a professional failure, this was personal. My Nine-year-old daughter Alyssa was diagnosed with leukemia on a Monday afternoon and she died ten days later.

In this day and age of healthcare, children don't die of leukemia in nine days. She died from multiple medical errors. She got a hospital-quired infection, which we know today can be prevented. She was labeled. And when you attach labels to patients, a bias is formed.

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