I used to be under the impression that it was a violation of Federal law to practice medicine without a license. Over the last six months, I have discovered that:
1) Either the law has been changed and accountants are now permitted to practice medicine.
2) Hospitals in Texas, with the open collusion of the local district attorneys and possible the state attorney general, ignore this law.
3) Worse, there appears to be no interest by federal authorities in correcting this.
In January, I wrote an article which explained the criminally improper treatment a friend received at a hospital in Denison Texas. This hospital is associated with a world famous (blank-blank) center for rehabilitation. (Named after a country and western singer, there you asshole attorneys for the hospital go. You finally got me mad enough). Things have gone from bad to worse. With less than a fig leaf to hide behind, they now say that before they will allow her to be transferred to a hospital in Dallas which can help her; they must get approval. This approval is from the accountants in their home office out of state. THAT IS A MEDICAL DECISION BEING MADE BY AN INDIVIDUAL, WHO IS NOT LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE.
Obviously the law must have changed. If it had not, the administrator of the hospital would already be in jail. Moreover, the hospital would either be closed or under the supervision of competent medical professionals who ARE LICENSED to practice medicine. It appears that this hospital is in the Jack Kevorkian school of practicing medicine. They believe that they should be the ones to determine who should be assisted to die and who should be permitted to live. Under the REAL, law, that's called murder.
Every single day, either Charles, his mother Suzie or his housekeeper spend time, all the time the hospital will permit them to spend, with Donna. At least once, they deliberately allowed a bedsore, to advance the point it was life threatening. When called on this their comment was, "well I suppose we can treat it if you are really sure you want to treat it." I consider that statement as a direct statement of their intent. To make sure that the only way she ever leaves their care is via a mortician's slab.
I truly believe that the accountants who control the corporate purse strings have decided; if any outside medical facility is permitted to see the true records evaluate her condition independently, their criminal incompetence will come out. They will possibly suffer punishment by the state. Only, if they can kill her in-house, they can hope to cover it up.
The unfortunate truth is that I now know that Donna's case is NOT unique. This very hospital has murdered, I use the word murder deliberately, at least two other people in total disregard for the law. Those people were "disconnected", simply because the people involved did not have insurance. When Medicares limits kicked in it was simply cheaper to kill them than to treat them as they should have been treated. In both cases, the individual had not signed waivers of treatment and had not given any family member power of attorney. Still the hospital convened the family, or in at least one case one member of the family, to sign an order for the plug to be pulled. That order did not make it any more legal to deny treatment simply more likely that the family will not question the matter with legal authorities. In one of the cases involved, death was by slow starvation when the feeding tube was removed. If you will do a little research slow starvation is not a pleasant death. While one member of the family did sign a release to the hospital, legal or not, it did make the family accessories before the fact of murder. It gave the hospital an obfuscation point where they could blame the family for breaking the law. Very few people are going to report possible mistreatment of their relative to the authorities if they will be subject to prosecution for murder themselves.
As I understand the law, yes I checked, if you enter a coma from which you are unable to awaken, if you have not delegated power of attorney to one of your relatives, and you have not given an advanced directive signed and notarized to the hospital; a court order is required to permit one or more members of the family to make this decision for the person involved. If no court order exists, disconnecting life support is illegal and constitutes murder on the part of ALL parties associated with the event.
How can I call what this hospital is doing murder? Look up the definition of murder. As these deaths occurred in direct violation of the law, and they were knowingly caused with malice aforethought, read this as deliberate intent. The fact is, if the decision is made by one of the accountants running the hospital, the murder occurred during the commission of another crime. That crime is practicing medicine without a license. It is possible that this comes to the level of first-degree murder.
Making money almost always trumps correct medical care in many of todays hospitals. I know of cases when no resuscitate orders, signed be the patients themselves, were ignored. Extreme measures were used to keep patients alive. This occurred just as long as the insurance company continued to pay for the MIS-care the patient was being given. In at least two cases that I personally know of, the hospital, I am discussing; improperly pulled the plug the very instant that the feed trough the corporate hogs wallowed in was empty.
Please don't get me wrong. Not all hospitals are bad, but the ones like this one give every other hospital in the world a bad name. Just because the hospital looks new and bright, don't think it is safe for you to place your loved ones into it. Check it's reputation carefully. You may get several very bad shocks.
As for Donna, Charles fight to get her transferred to another competent facility continues. I wish I could say that I think he will continue, but I'm afraid that I have my doubts. To make things worse, one of the men he knows, at one time was, on the board of directors of that hospital. That man resigned when the current operating company took over. Too bad he could not have warned the world about what was becoming of that place.
Eventually, I think Charles is going to be forced to resort to legal action even though it will probably cost him money to do so. That three hundred thousand in pain and suffering will in all probability not pay the attorney fees and expert witnesses required.
The unfortunate truth is that hospitals like the one I'm talking about will quickly turn the image of a hospital from a place one goes to become well, to a place one goes to die.
I wonder why the state of Texas does not simply cut a deal with this hospital to perform their executions. I bet they would be good at it.
POSTSCRIPT:
They did finally succeed in murdering Donna. May her bright spirit rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment