Vile and beyond any justification

[kitanzi]

http://blog.mattalgren.com/2009/09/hospital-forces-lesbian-to-die-alone/

I am too damn tired to have any words, I can only hope the people responsible for this also die alone, kept from their families and reviled by the people responsible for their care.

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Yes. (I thought I'd posted this on LJ, but apparently not -- only on FaceBook. With comments very like yours.)

[poltr1]

This is just horrible. I don't know who to be angry at more -- the hospital or the judge who dismissed the lawsuit.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much on this case personally, but bcholmes linked to this but then later linked to this analysis (http://expanding-x-man.livejournal.com/511304.html?thread=2911304#t2911304) that suggests that this wasn't a cut-and-dried case of discrimination.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

This analysis appears to say is that apparently the hospital is legally allowed to treat *anyone* (or possibly just anyone who is not married) like this, and the fact that in practice they only treat gay families this way is not something the law can do anything about.

Something I think we should change.

As for the hospital's "statement" about treating gays and lesbians equally, I am frankly astonished that the spokeswoman could get the words out without choking.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

You're responding to the wrong person. Like I said, I haven't done any reading on the subject at all, I'd just seen the link passed along in relation to this topic.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I would hope these people die alone, except that wouldn't be fair to their family members who still love them despite their serious flaws.

But otherwise, yeah.

[eveningstartwo.livejournal.com]

What bothers me about this--especially *as* a hospital worker--is that they disregarded the power of attorney and let her father make the decisions. That boggles my mind. The no-one-in-the-trauma-unit thing is so damn subjective that ...

Damn happy everyone in my family pretty much is of the same mind and I'm sorry--het privilege. Not that this is right, not that it couldn't happen to me and mine but it's damn sight less likely.

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

My browser couldn't handle kitanzi's blog.mattalgren link; it crashed. So I'm a bit short on background. I don't know any details about alleged bias in the hospital's treatment of the patient. But be it noted that official spokespersons are really good at saying things without choking on their words. It's part of the job description.

I agree with almost everything expanding-x-man said in the analysis linked to above by epi_lj. One minor quibble is that being in an ICU does not necessarily mean no visitors for the patient unless the patient is in quarantine and the highest level of precaution is required for anyone entering that room. And even then I've seen a visitor suit / glove / mask up and be allowed a short visit.

One major problem for the plaintifs was that they may have had a Power of Attorney and a Living Will, but they apparently did not hold the patient's Health Care Proxy, a far more relevant and powerful document. The agent(s) named in a Health Care Proxy would have the legal right to intervene on the patient's behalf in regards to treatment (or refusal thereof) and probably also would have had visitation rights. Sadly, such does not seem to have been the case.

Did I mention that I'm neither a lawyer nor a health care professional?

All this being said, it doesn't seem that the plaintifs had a legal case, despite the BS from the hospital about ICU visit limitations. But what should be obvious to anyone with even a bit of humanity is that the hospital acted abominably and uncaringly. Death is forever, and dying alone can be a needlessly fearful ending.

My condolences go out to the bereaved. And my wishes for strength and perseverance go out to anyone who is now fearful of what the future may hold for them or their loved ones if a similar fate becomes theirs.

Ann O.