Involuntary Hysterectomy

Resident of New Mexico , but this happened in Arizona.
My advance directives were completely disregarded during the C-section delivery of my daughter,and my uterus was removed after her removal from my body.
Can advance written medical directives be disregarded if a person is considered incompetent?
I was also forcibly adminstered a blood transfusion, against my written and verbal directives.
I was kept in restraints for 10 days prior to this operation.
I was physically battered while in 4-point restraints, resulting in a herniated disk of the cervical spine

[ALawyer]

Quite frankly something seems very strange with your story.

As to your questions, if a person is not mentally competent doctors SHOULD disregard their oral requests. And failure to follow advance written directives may or may not be actionable; if the person who gave them was not competent at the time, they certainly are not effective.

As for the restraints, facilities are obligated to use the least restraint reasonably necessary. Consult an Arizona medical malpractice lawyer.

To: ALawyer-
When you say "if the person who gave them was not competent at the time,...", do you mean competent at the time the written directives were initially filed , or at the time the medical intervention was done?
In other words, are advance directives voided if a person is later labelled "incompetent"?

There are several questions I would like to ask before submitting an opinion or advice on this matter.

1) Why were you kept in restraints for 10 days prior to the
birth of your baby?

2) Why was the hysterectomy done following delivery?

3) When you say you were "battered while in 4 point restraints," how were you battered, and by whom?

Pam

To: Pam SJS
To answer your first question:
Why was I kept in restraints for 10 days?
According to the hospital security guard, the restraints were court-ordered to prevent my escape because I refused a voluntary placement in that particular hospital.

My dear;

Something about this makes me very leary of even posting an opinion. My suggestion is that you consult a good psychiatrist....perhaps after a little treatment from a good shrink, including Lithium or some ECT, your legal problems might disappear!

Pam

[Edited by PamSJS on 02-22-2001 at 01:25 PM]

Another reply to PamSJS:
Your question "Why was the hysterectomy done following the delivery?"...
In my opinion, the hysterectomy was probably preplanned by the medical personnel involved,once they decided to keep her alive. In my opinion, the hysterectomy was probably a form of sterilization.
According to the doctor who did the surgery, they couldn't get the bleeding stopped from the surgery, so they "had to" do the hysterectomy and the blood transfusion. I have come up with absolutely no information that any alternatives to these procedures were even considered.
I am concerned that they may try to say that they were court-ordered to do the hysterectomy.

Another reply to PamSJS:
How was I battered? The second night I was in the restraints, a female member of the nursing staff came into the room. I initially avoided making eye contact with her, or engaging in conversation with her. She became angry, and accused me of interfering with the fetal monitor, after complaining that the baby's heartbeats were not getting picked up consistently. She then started jerking me around by the shoulders,very violently,causing my neck to pop, and also causing excruciating pain in my left arm, leg, neck, and back.
I do not feel that I provoked this attack in any way. Those restraints were so F!%^&#$* tight that I couldn't even move my fingers. I do not consider it "provocation" to avoid making eye contact with a health care provider!
I also made a complaint the next morning about this attack; my complaint was used against me to have me involuntarily committed at a later date. According to the people involved with my care, the attack did not happen!

Another reply to PamSJS:
I don't believe in psychiatry and I am not interested in dealing with any more psychiatrists; I may have to anyway, especially if I want custody of my daughter back. She is now 18 months old and severely developmentally delayed.
As for your suggestion about lithium: that is a toxic drug and I prefer to deal with life's problems without it.
Did I mention that my daughter was clinically dead at the time of her birth? In my opinion, that was the result of the forcible administration of an extremely dangerous psychotropic drug during this ordeal. The drug is contraindicated during pregnancy; one of the known risks of the drug is bleeding inside the brain. Guess what? My daughter experienced bleeding inside of her brain after her birth. I am also going blind with a cataract, another known risk of this unnamed drug. You think I want to mess with this s^#9? F*!# NO! Please excuse my language.
If you are interested, I would like to invite you to view pictures of my daughter on the web. She is a beautiful baby,but the pictures are very medically descriptive.

Dear Hilljilly;

After all of that, I am still not clear as to WHY you were in the hospital in the first place. You have also indicated that your child has been removed from your custody, which leads me to my original question. For all of the PROBLEMS you seem to have, you fail to list the ORIGIN or give us a place to start, so that we might help you resolve your predicament.

I think you have entered this forum looking for a sympathetic ear from someone who is willing to give you hope, without knowing the real issues involved here.

Unless you are willing to provide honest answers to these questions, you cannot expect us to deliver opinions or advice on "half the story." It just doesn't work that way.

I'm sorry if I have offended you. But you obviously need some help....and I don't think it's the kind my colleagues and I offer.

Pam

First of all, let me clarify my goals in this matter:
I want to file a personal injury lawsuit in federal court over this matter. I think I've got good grounds for it. The main issue I have is with the violation of my advance written directives, and the physical battering that has resulted in permanent, disabling injuries.
Quite frankly, I am overwhelmed by all of the details involved with such a case.
According to the Arizona Living Wills and Health Care Directives Act, "Health care agents are required to make treatment decisions in accordance with the patient's wishes as expressed in the directive".
Does my case sound to you like that was done?
So far, I have come up with four different causes of action:1. Gross Medical Malpractice, 2. Lack of Informed Consent, 3. Battery in the Form of Unauthorized Medical Treatment, and 4.Battery in the Form of Physical Violence.
It looks to me like I will need to file this lawsuit pro se, because every attorney I have contacted has declined the case. There was one attorney who offered to handle "the case", but she seemed more interested in the juvenile case than the personal injury cases; I am also unable to come up with the retainer she demands, because of all the collection action against me.
There may also be some criminal action taken against the hospital personnel. I want to push this, as well as economic sanctions against the involved parties. Obviously, I want support for these matters, or I wouldn't be coming on this forum.

In response to "ALawyer"'s post (the fist reply to my original post): You don't sound like a lawyer who is interested in protecting a patient's rights.
Just as it was a futile waste of my time to file those original advance written directives, it would be a waste of money to join a legal plan under these circumstances.
As for your opinion that "doctors should DISREGARD the oral requests" of a person labelled incompetent..it seems to me that a person is going to be labelled "incompetent" any time that person says something a doctor doesn't want to hear.

Dear Pam: I'm not looking for a sympathetic ear, just some legal solutions to these problems.
One of the things I want to do is get a no-contact order against the employees of the defendant hospital.
I would also like to get compensated by this hospital for my injuries; I consider these injuries to be permanent and disabling. That hysterectomy is irreversible. It will probably be another year before I can be considered a candidate for cataract surgery, and I MAY lose my driver's license and employment because of it.
I wish I could tell you more about how I wound up in the hospital, but I'm sworn to secrecy during the investigation. Please consider me a "survivor" not a "victim"

GIVE IT UP!

If you have had lawyers decline the case, doesn't that give you a hint!?!

You, dearie, certainly have issues!

You have such hostile words! Do you have issues also?

When I was a kid, we had a saying:
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words shall never hurt me

Even though you probably didn't intend to, you HAVE helped me, by letting me know what kind of thinking I will be up against.

Do you really think I should "GIVE IT UP"? I refuse to!
I consider this an issue of basic human rights.

Are you a malpractice defense attorney?