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VA Patient Rights Violation.

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Thomas.P

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I am a Marine Corps veteran. I recently went into the West LA VA Medical center for emergency treatment of a pre-existing liver ailment. A psychologist made the decision to put me on a 72-hour hold allegedly due to my mental history as contained in my file. They then put me on a 14-day hold involuntarily without justification beyond my file's history, principally because it was a holiday weekend and regular, competent staff was not available. I was placed in a prison-like setting with inmates who were, frankly, frightening. I was left fearing for my life. When the regular staff returned, I was suddenly, and without explanation, released, without EVER having being provided any sort of psychological care or evaluation. I was held against my will not with cause, but because it was a holiday. One's civil rights DO NOT go on holiday, ever. I was tormented and have suffered irreparable damage forcing me to delay the pursuit of my life's dream: studying physics at University of California Santa Barbara. I was forced to drop out of college, and my disability now renders me unable to take care of myself financially.

Frankly, I am intimidate by the VA and the psychologists power to hold me against my will. I've acquired a copy of my medical records and they reveal gross incompetence, cover-up, and what I see as malpractice (though I do not know the law concerning mental ailments). I do not see how a mental ailment differs so significantly from a physical that they can essentially invent reasoning on the fly when they have none. I am looking to get justice for this, but I am a college student with no access to the funds needed to pursue it. I would like to know, firstly, if there appears to be a legal violation here. And, if so, I would like to know if anyone is aware of where I can go to get the assistance I need in pursuing this legally. Thanks.
 
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Isis1

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I am a Marine Corps veteran. I recently went into the West LA VA Medical center for emergency treatment of a pre-existing liver ailment. A psychologist made the decision to put me on a 72-hour hold allegedly due to my mental history as contained in my file. They then put me on a 14-day hold involuntarily without justification beyond my file's history, principally because it was a holiday weekend and regular, competent staff was not available. I was placed in a prison-like setting with inmates who were, frankly, frightening. I was left fearing for my life. When the regular staff returned, I was suddenly, and without explanation, released, without EVER having being provided any sort of psychological care or evaluation. I was held against my will not with cause, but because it was a holiday. One's civil rights DO NOT go on holiday, ever. I was tormented and have suffered irreparable damage forcing me to delay the pursuit of my life's dream: studying physics at University of California Santa Barbara. I was forced to drop out of college, and my disability now renders me unable to take care of myself financially.
first. thank you for your service.


now, did you have a legal question?
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
If there was a violation, it would be false imprisonment or possibly battery (if they physically prevented you from leaving), not malpractice. If you contact your veteran's service organization, they may be able to point you towards legal consultation.

It seems like your problems are caused by your disability and not the actual experience of being held for a few days against your will. If that alone has caused you to drop out of school, I would suggest perhaps you DO have a psychological condition that requires treatment. If your condition is service connected, have you applied for disability compensation from the VA?
 

Thomas.P

Junior Member
I am not going to delve into my personal medical history, but I DO have a condition that requires treatment. I am a disabled veteran. Does this allow any hospital I enter to imprison me against my will, simply because I have a psychological illness which requires treatment, and am receiving treatment for? It is a condition like any other. When someone attempts to provide me treatment, and it makes my issue SEVERELY worse due to being the WRONG treatment, is that not the very definition of malpractice?

Furthermore, since when do civil rights take a holiday? I was imprisoned under the guise of treatment. Whether that imprisonment is for a day or 1,000 days, it makes little difference. Our constitution is there to protect these rights; apparently, it doesn't protect those rights when an individual is disabled?
 

LillianX

Senior Member
I'll preface this by saying that I grew up in a Marine Corps household. My dad was injured in the Gulf War, when I was in 5th grade, and we've been dealing with the VA ever since. I tell you this so you can understand that I have some pretty strong negative feelings about a lot of things about the VA, and that this bias tends to effect the advice I offer in situations related to it. I'm going to do what I can to be objective, for the sake of others who may read this thread in the future seeking help. You should feel free to PM me if you want to discuss anything more specific.

Wikipedia has (surprisingly enough!) a pretty thorough explanation of 5150 in California. Read over it and what, if anything, you think was violated: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5150_(Involuntary_psychiatric_hold)

No one here known the specifics of your case. I don't suggest that you post them publicly. You don't need your medical history splashed all over the internet. However, because no one here knows the specifics, it's going to be impossible for anyone to decide whether or not you have a legitimate complaint. There is, however, an excellent option available to you.

Make a well thought out, thorough list of the issues you have with what happened to you. Take it, as well as a copy of your medical records, to an attorney, and see what he or she thinks. If the attorney is willing to take your case on contingency, you have one. If not, you probably don't.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Depending how you presented to the hospital, it MAY have been legal for them to hold you for the time that they did. Only a review of your individual circumstances can show whether the hold was legal or not. If it was not legal, you may have remedies for torts committed, but this does not meet the definition of malpractice, which has to do with the treatment provided, not whether they falsely imprisoned you. It's just a different type of lawsuit.
 

Thomas.P

Junior Member
I'll preface this by saying that I grew up in a Marine Corps household. My dad was injured in the Gulf War, when I was in 5th grade, and we've been dealing with the VA ever since. I tell you this so you can understand that I have some pretty strong negative feelings about a lot of things about the VA, and that this bias tends to effect the advice I offer in situations related to it. I'm going to do what I can to be objective, for the sake of others who may read this thread in the future seeking help. You should feel free to PM me if you want to discuss anything more specific.

Wikipedia has (surprisingly enough!) a pretty thorough explanation of 5150 in California. Read over it and what, if anything, you think was violated: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5150_(Involuntary_psychiatric_hold)

No one here known the specifics of your case. I don't suggest that you post them publicly. You don't need your medical history splashed all over the internet. However, because no one here knows the specifics, it's going to be impossible for anyone to decide whether or not you have a legitimate complaint. There is, however, an excellent option available to you.

Make a well thought out, thorough list of the issues you have with what happened to you. Take it, as well as a copy of your medical records, to an attorney, and see what he or she thinks. If the attorney is willing to take your case on contingency, you have one. If not, you probably don't.

Thanks, that's a good point about taking my case with a contingency.
 

Thomas.P

Junior Member
Depending how you presented to the hospital, it MAY have been legal for them to hold you for the time that they did. Only a review of your individual circumstances can show whether the hold was legal or not. If it was not legal, you may have remedies for torts committed, but this does not meet the definition of malpractice, which has to do with the treatment provided, not whether they falsely imprisoned you. It's just a different type of lawsuit.
If what they did was "legal," then this is a civil rights issue and the law needs to be seriously revised. I maintain that it was not legal, and I have medical documentation to support that.

Still, there are 2 portions to this: My involuntary hold, and the "treatment" provided, which was none. The purpose of the hold is to provide a severely ill individual with acute treatment, correct? Then where was my acute treatment? Assuming they legally held me, it must have been either malpractice to hold me to begin with, or negligence to hold me and take no action. Something is just not right here.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
The purpose of a hold is to prevent the patient from harming himself or others and to obtain EVALUATION of whether it is safe to release them or further committment is necessary.
 

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