How to file an appeal?

N

Number6

New Member
Jurisdiction
Virginia
How do you file an appeal for a court ruling that was made in a mental health facility?

I was refusing to take medications based on the fact that I was misdiagnosed. My family has agreed with me in the past until the past few months. They have all become extremely condescending and cold/rude following me showing I have no intent to live up to their expectations.

Following a spat with family over their behavior my family had me TDO'd. During my stay I had to attend a hearing for forcible medication despite me being med compliant after a couple days of being admitted. A day prior to the hearing I was asked to sign legal forms allowing my aunt to attend to which I refused. She showed up the next day anyway and testified that I should be forced to take my medication.

Another thing I'm needing clarification on is if I should file a complaint with the state for civil rights violation or contact a lawyer outright or afterwards. I had a large cyst on my back which is infected, and after asking repeatedly for two days a nurse practitioner looked at it and prescribed me haldol claiming it was an anti-biotic. I've been in the mental health circus long enough to know that wasn't anti-biotic medication but agreed anyways. 4 days later I was having serious side effects such as mania, involuntary movements and the shakes. They also intentionally over-medicated me with this drug, giving me a total of 8 capsules a day which is entirely too much for even an actual anti-biotic, and didn't include it on my discharge paperwork.

I'm wondering the process for filing an appeal and the cost of doing so along with the proper agency to file a civil rights complaint with.

Thank you.
 
You need a lawyer, call some, ask if there is interest in representing you and how much you would be charged.

You can then ask about an appeal.

You don't want an unknown dummy on the Internet advising you about such important matters, mate.

You need a licensed attorney in Virginia.
 
Agreed. This is clearly not something you will be able to address on your own, especially while in a facility and medicated. You need legal counsel.
 
Number6 said:
How do you file an appeal for a court ruling that was made in a mental health facility?
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Courts don't operate in mental health facilities, so you'll need to clarify what you're talking about. How you appeal a court ruling in the State of Virginia depends on whether you're in state court or federal court, but the process starts by filing a notice of appeal. Any sort of step-by-step "how to" guide would be way beyond the scope of a message board.

Number6 said:
Following a spat with family over their behavior my family had me TDO'd. During my stay I had to attend a hearing for forcible medication
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Any hearing that took place at the facility where you were confined almost certainly was not a court hearing. What was it? I have no idea. You're going to need the assistance of a local attorney to help you with this.
 
I was discharged on Monday after a two week stay. Oddly enough it was the day after I threatened to sue if they were falsifying things on my observation sheet.

This past Wednesday I requested a copy of my medical and court records and was immediately asked if it was for legal reasons, then I was told they may refuse to release some documents.

My Drs office and the facility I was placed in are playing the same game stating the records clerks werent in on the day of my requests.
 
Number6 said:
I was discharged on Monday after a two week stay. Oddly enough it was the day after I threatened to sue if they were falsifying things on my observation sheet.

This past Wednesday I requested a copy of my medical and court records and was immediately asked if it was for legal reasons, then I was told they may refuse to release some documents.

My Drs office and the facility I was placed in are playing the same game stating the records clerks werent in on the day of my requests.
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You need to hire a lawyer.

Before you hire one, talk to at least three.

That way you'll acquire a better understanding of the remedies available to you, and the cost to pursue same.
 
zddoodah, It was in fact a court hearing. They have a small room in the ward I was in that hosts discharge and medical hearings. The man who was present represented himself as a lawyer acting as a judge for the city of Hampton, Va in which this particular facility is located. He also stated that I had the right to request the audio recording for up to 3 years after the hearing date.

I just got back from visiting them a second time and I will be contacting lawyers come Monday. They gave me a different excuse today, stating that the discharge summary was not completed and they can't release any documents to me until then.

I've been in this facility before and on one occasion I was set to be be discharged but had to wait an hour longer. My psychiatrist for this visit kept telling me I'd be released on a certain day then when that day came she push it back another day. This went on for about 3-4 days until I was randomly informed they couldn't keep me any longer. My psychiatrist wasn't too happy about this so she left without completing my discharge summary WHICH IS REQUIRED to discharge any patient.

I still have my original Summary for both these visits, the last one dated 11/6/17 (Monday, my discharge date) which will conflict with this "revised" discharge summary which most likely will have altered to added info to try and cover their behinds.
 
You should try to sit down with Number 2 to try to resolve your issue. And remind him you are not a number, you are a free man. Maybe you can even find out who Number 1 is.





Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
Highwayman said:
You should try to sit down with Number 2 to try to resolve your issue. And remind him you are not a number, you are a free man. Maybe you can even find out who Number 1 is.





Sorry, couldn't resist.
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Brilliant suggestion, but it omits numbers 3, 4, 5, and God knows how many more.
 
Lots of issues with your post. Are you saying you were involuntarily committed to a mental health facility? That can require a court hearing, or at least a judge (magistrate) to sign off on the TDO order. The bar is pretty high for those (trust me). Are you talking about a civil commitment hearing?

Haldol is not a pill, it is an injection. It is used to treat acute medical needs. The generic active ingredient in Haldol is available in pill form and 8 pills a day would not be evidence of an overdose as it comes in a large range of formulations. Even at its most potent, 8 pills would keep you well under the highest recommended therapeutic dose. Dyskinetic movement is a common side effect of that class of drug and also not evidence of overdose. In other words, if you have questions about your care and treatment, talk to your doctor.

Beyond that, I am not certain what you are actually trying to accomplish or what your legal question is.
 
It was a forced medication hearing, a week after I was admitted. I just came across more paperwork that will help my case. The release of information form that had my grandfathers name in it expired on Sept 1st.

The day of my admission my grandfather woke me up claiming my psychiatrist had called him asking why I hadn't been attending appointments, and wanted me to come in and talk to him. I told my grandfather no way, that they just wanted me into the psychiatric hospital due to things I discovered. More on that later.

My grandfather disappeared from the house, and shortly after local police arrived. They said my family was concerned about me and that the police wanted me to voluntarily go to the psychiatric hospital. I refused. They also claimed during this conversation that my Grandfather or Aunt had called the doctor, as opposed to what my grandfather told me earlier that morning. My aunt had a release of info formed I signed off on, but it was valid for 1 appointment on 8/22/17.

An hour later police show up with a TDO order, which I was given no good reason for. I was taken to the local doctors hospital and they still couldn't give me a good reason for my TDO. It wasn't until I spoke to them about why I had been at odds with my family that they sent me to the psych hospital.

Now back to what I found. Going back to March I have had my Grandfather and cousin making remarks about me masturbating and the pornography I look at while doing so.

A few days before being TDO'd I called my family out on placing cameras in my bed room. Shortly after my aunt grabbed my clean laundry from the garage (Only the shirts which were on hangers) and asked if she could hang them up as I had my bedroom door equipped with a locking knob.

I declined and the following day I looked directly at the wall underneath the shelf and found two small holes in the wall about 1/8 inch in diameter. At the "end" of these holes you could clearly see a camera lens. Also a week prior to this incident I ordered a law enforcement grade bug and camera detector. I was TDO'd the day the tracking info said it would be delivered.


When I came home from the hospital (my story and accusations changed absolutely not one bit even after 2 weeks and being back on my meds) I checked the closet and now you can clearly see a faint change in color under the shelf and the surface of the wall is riddled with raised areas, rough areas and lines that clearly show some time of putty knife was used to fill the holes in. I also found these in other areas of my room, on the ceiling and in corners of the room. Where the holes were drilled in the closet, there is a small dished area over the holes. I had a friend take a look at this and has verified from his years of construction work that some type of filler was used in these areas along with a coat of fresh paint over-top.

Also, Haldol is availble in but pill and capsule form aside from the injection. This is exactly what I was given.


Natural Medicines

This medicine is used to treat mania, but for me it caused it. I was not manic until 3-4 days of being overdosed on this crap.
 
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Also the Haldol was given under false pretenses after my forced medication hearing, and it wasn't part of my regimen of meds as it was not listed on my original discharge form at all. After 4 days I refused to continue taking it and they didn't try and force me to, they then switched it over to an actual anti-biotic medication. I was placed on Bactim.
 

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