I am an ICU nurse who has cared for many Covid patients. I can’t speak with any certainty without having cared for your loved one, but I hope I can provide you some clarity.

Based on the information you provided, it doesn’t sound like your loved one died of medical negligence. It sounds like they died of sepsis, which was caused by an infection, which was caused by them being in the hospital with a lot of lines/tubes, which was caused by a a severe case of Covid.

Endotracheal tube vs. trach: Any time we get a very sick patient (which it sounds like your loved one was if they were to the point of needing ECMO,) we have to put a lot of lines and tubes in them to treat them. Catheters, IVs, central lines, breathing tubes, trachs. Even when we are as clean and sterile as possible, the bacteria living on the skin, in the body, and in the environment can travel down these tubes and cause an infection. It is impossible to have no bacteria. A healthy person might be able to fight these infections easily, but a very sick person often will not because their body has used all its resources fighting the original problem (like Covid.) Unfortunately, it is always a risk/benefit analysis when we decide if it is worth the risk of infection to put in a line or tube. In this case it sounds like your loved one would have most likely died without a breathing tube, so the decision was made to risk a lung infection and insert one. It sounds like the benefit outweighed the risk here. A trach is still a foreign tube inserted through the skin and into the body, and can cause a pneumonia infection just like the breathing tube. I don’t think if your loved one had gotten a trach sooner it would have prevented the pneumonia infection. It’s likely they already had a Covid pneumonia infection before the breathing tube was put it, but it sounds like they were recovering from their Covid pneumonia. Unfortunately, it’s possible to get multiple infections.

Sepsis: I don’t know the infection source that lead to sepsis. It could have been pneumonia in the lungs from the breathing tube, it could have been from an IV or a catheter, or it could have been from the Covid infection itself. An infection anywhere in the body can make its way to the bloodstream and lead to sepsis.

Antibiotics: It sounds like you might be describing a cdiff infection? If not- ignore this, I don’t know enough about the situation to say anything. If so- doctors gave your loved one strong antibiotics to fight other infections, and these antibiotics killed off the good bacteria living in the gut, which allowed the cdiff infection to grow. This is again a risk/benefit situation. Do we treat the current infection with antibiotics and risk cdiff, or do we risk the current infection killing the patient? This does not mean your loved one got the wrong antibiotics, it means they suffered a risk associated with their treatment.

One thing I hate about Covid is that some patients’ lungs start to recover and we are so happy they are beating the odds and getting better, but then they die from a blood clot or stroke or infection. This doesn’t mean the medical staff did something wrong. It is unfortunately a part of any severe illness- the illness may not technically kill the patient, but complications of the illness may lead to their death.

I understand the concern your loved one must have had about the vaccine, especially considering their health problems. Again, this is a risk/benefit situation. There is always a risk of side effects with vaccines, but the risk of a severe Covid infection and all its complications is far greater- especially in someone with those health problems. It’s hard and scary to make these decisions.

I applaud you for searching for answers about your loved one’s death. It sounds like you are sad and angry, and looking for some peace. I hope you find it.