archipelago
New Member
State: California
A long story, too much to go into, but I'll start with the basic question: according to the Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (1998), a recent hospitalization left me with treatment that violated 5/8 of the listed principles:
1. Information Disclosure
4. Participation in Treatment Decisions
5. Respect and Nondiscrimination
6. Confidentiality of Health Information
7. Complaints and Appeals (not as strongly violated)
The hospital I attended voluntarily (a behavioral health unit) refused to release me when I had already made plans with the weekly physician to be released freely. Instead, the attending (on call weekend doctor, not the treating physician) threatened me with a "hold" on no grounds whatsoever. A "hold" or a 5150 in California law is 3 days involuntary commitment on the grounds that you present a danger to self, others, or are impaired so as to present a threat to society or self.
I was not only none of the 3, but the nurse on duty who was ordered by the on-call doctor to make the "hold" refused to carry it out, because there were no grounds. The doctor then turned around and came back to the hospital after leaving in order to make the "hold" himself.
What caused this turn around in treatment, that up to that point was excellent care? I don't really know, but I venture to guess that I challenged his "authority" by simply correcting him when I said I had a right to see my file in a timely manner.
He would not discuss the matter with me, denied a phone call made by the head nurse about such a release of the file, denied my rights to the information, denied my rights to consult and discuss the treatment plan, now radically changed even though he brashly admitted that he had not read my file nor had no intention of doing so. And stated this in front of a nurse.
The situation escalated into a full weekend of battles where I was fighting just to leave because the very reason I went there was for refuge and peace and the doctor himself was undermining that treatment goal so much so that staying in the hospital was against my best interests.
But he threatened a "hold" instead, to force me to stay. And though someone, I'm not sure who at this point, talked him out of the hold idea as an impulse, he proposed then that I be forced to stay overnight, when I did not feel safe there any longer or he would put a hold on me if I tried to leave. That simply doesn't make any sense, and sounds to me like a bald attempt at coercion and maybe something like extortion.
The doctor also placed as condition of my release that I promise not to sue. Is not that also a threat of retaliation preemptively taken?
I am confused about what sorts of laws apply. Or whether or not this is worth going into. It was traumatic so I am not sure I am able to handle it now. However, if anyone has ideas about the statute of limitations I would like to hear that info or anything offered.
I see violations of civil rights (false imprisonment), discrimination (against the vulnerable population of those with mental health diagnoses), federal violations, medical ones, and so on.
The hospital CEO and President sent me a letter assuring me that an internal investigation had taken place already and the offending participants "counseled," but is that possibly just a cover up for not wanting any legal action?
What if I did decided, at a later date, to take this up and pursue it? Is there a possibility that it would help others who are in that very vulnerable situation and have things like holds and restraints threatened as punishment when that is against the rights of the person being treated?
I'm not interested in civil suits, or malpractice. I'm interested in the larger picture of what is the reality of those suffering in these hospitals and treated badly, even now, in the 21st century.
A long story, too much to go into, but I'll start with the basic question: according to the Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (1998), a recent hospitalization left me with treatment that violated 5/8 of the listed principles:
1. Information Disclosure
4. Participation in Treatment Decisions
5. Respect and Nondiscrimination
6. Confidentiality of Health Information
7. Complaints and Appeals (not as strongly violated)
The hospital I attended voluntarily (a behavioral health unit) refused to release me when I had already made plans with the weekly physician to be released freely. Instead, the attending (on call weekend doctor, not the treating physician) threatened me with a "hold" on no grounds whatsoever. A "hold" or a 5150 in California law is 3 days involuntary commitment on the grounds that you present a danger to self, others, or are impaired so as to present a threat to society or self.
I was not only none of the 3, but the nurse on duty who was ordered by the on-call doctor to make the "hold" refused to carry it out, because there were no grounds. The doctor then turned around and came back to the hospital after leaving in order to make the "hold" himself.
What caused this turn around in treatment, that up to that point was excellent care? I don't really know, but I venture to guess that I challenged his "authority" by simply correcting him when I said I had a right to see my file in a timely manner.
He would not discuss the matter with me, denied a phone call made by the head nurse about such a release of the file, denied my rights to the information, denied my rights to consult and discuss the treatment plan, now radically changed even though he brashly admitted that he had not read my file nor had no intention of doing so. And stated this in front of a nurse.
The situation escalated into a full weekend of battles where I was fighting just to leave because the very reason I went there was for refuge and peace and the doctor himself was undermining that treatment goal so much so that staying in the hospital was against my best interests.
But he threatened a "hold" instead, to force me to stay. And though someone, I'm not sure who at this point, talked him out of the hold idea as an impulse, he proposed then that I be forced to stay overnight, when I did not feel safe there any longer or he would put a hold on me if I tried to leave. That simply doesn't make any sense, and sounds to me like a bald attempt at coercion and maybe something like extortion.
The doctor also placed as condition of my release that I promise not to sue. Is not that also a threat of retaliation preemptively taken?
I am confused about what sorts of laws apply. Or whether or not this is worth going into. It was traumatic so I am not sure I am able to handle it now. However, if anyone has ideas about the statute of limitations I would like to hear that info or anything offered.
I see violations of civil rights (false imprisonment), discrimination (against the vulnerable population of those with mental health diagnoses), federal violations, medical ones, and so on.
The hospital CEO and President sent me a letter assuring me that an internal investigation had taken place already and the offending participants "counseled," but is that possibly just a cover up for not wanting any legal action?
What if I did decided, at a later date, to take this up and pursue it? Is there a possibility that it would help others who are in that very vulnerable situation and have things like holds and restraints threatened as punishment when that is against the rights of the person being treated?
I'm not interested in civil suits, or malpractice. I'm interested in the larger picture of what is the reality of those suffering in these hospitals and treated badly, even now, in the 21st century.
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