DUI - Medical Fraud Involved

[agrippina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA - Sacramento Cty

I need some help. My friend was involved in a car accident and was arrested for a DUI with a 0.10 BAC. He had a mild head injury from the accident. He was allegedly taken to the hospital the night of the accident, but there are several problems with what's on the police report and the medical discharge paperwork.

1. His signature is not on the medical discharge papers. It says instead: "Pt unable to sign. Pt going to jail"
2. The time of his booking to jail and the time of his discharge from the hospital are within minutes of each other. The hospital and the county jail are about 15 miles apart.
3. The description of his symptoms from the officer at the time of arrest is completely different from the description the medical report has.
4. The doctors who allegedly evaluated him didn't sign off on the paperwork until 4 days after.
5. He doesn't remember ever being transported to the hospital, and says he was completely lucid and remembers everything that happened that night.

All of this is documented in the medical paperwork we got from the hospital. His lawyer says that the medical paperwork is neither here nor there, and doesn't seem to believe that it will help build his case. However, he seems to believe that he can get the case dismissed because my friend has GERD and that there are some case laws about people who have been arrested for DUIs with a breathalyzer having the charges dropped on that basis.... I feel like the GERD case is much more of a stretch than the discrepancies I mentioned above in the medical documentation. I worked in the medical field for awhile and even just for not having a signature on the documentation I can't see how that could be considered legal. I can't understand why the lawyer he hired doesn't see this as even worth considering.

If anyone can give me any advice I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking about telling my friend that he needs to find a new attorney. Specifically, I'd like to know if any laws were broken and which ones they were.

Is it legal when someone is in police custody to say that the patient is unable to sign medical paperwork on their signature for the medical discharge paperwork? Even when my cousin went to jail she was checked out by a doctor and signed all her medical clearance paperwork....

 

[CdwJava]

The medical paperwork will have little to do with the probable cause for the arrest or the BAC. All times are approximate, and they don't change the fact that he was arrested, transported to a hospital, and then booked. If your friend does not want to pay the bill because he did not sign it, that's an issue he can take up with the hospital.

The officer's observations are NOT a medical diagnosis and may not be reflected by the doctors simply due to a difference in the terminology.

Clearly your friend's memory is off if he does not recall being taken to the hospital and there is paperwork to reflect he was there. Unless, of course, he's going to allege some massive conspiracy to frame him for a DUI ... a much greater long shot than even the acid reflux Hail Mary.

There appears to be no laws broken here. A DUI requires two things: One, reasonable suspicion for a detention (traffic stop). And, two, probable cause for the arrest (i.e. reason to believe he was impaired while operating a motor vehicle). The ONLY reason time might come into play is when it comes to the time the evidentiary blood or breath sample was taken after his arrest. If more than three hours, something might be made of that. Otherwise, no.

 

[agrippina]

Thank you for your feedback.

How can they say he was transported to a hospital if his signature is not even on the paperwork? And if he was booked at exactly the same time as he was discharged from a hospital 15 miles away?

 

[ajkroy]

Thank you for your feedback.

How can they say he was transported to a hospital if his signature is not even on the paperwork? And if he was booked at exactly the same time as he was discharged from a hospital 15 miles away?

I have worked in hospitals that have police and sheriff substations located right in the hospital. Perhaps they began the paperwork there, since your friend was most likely in custody while he was at the hospital.

Hospital documents are legal documents. Claiming they are forged is a HUGE burden to prove. Emergency Departments get busy, and sometimes, the providers don't get around to the paperwork until their next shift. That just means that they were busy, not crooked.

I'm curious, regardless of your friend's GERD situation...had he been drinking at all that day?

 

[agrippina]

Thanks again for the feedback! Yes, the other details about the doctors not signing off until later I understand is neither here nor there. But I am still waiting for someone to say something about the fact that my friend's signature was not on the medical discharge documentation....that's not illegal? I don't believe it was necessarily forged, I just don't believe it was carried out properly.

Yes he had been drinking before the accident. He and I each had a couple of glasses of wine about 2 hours prior to the accident. In addition to that he had a beer (12 oz) about 15 minutes prior to the accident.

 

[Proserpina]

Thanks again for the feedback! Yes, the other details about the doctors not signing off until later I understand is neither here nor there. But I am still waiting for someone to say something about the fact that my friend's signature was not on the medical discharge documentation....that's not illegal? I don't believe it was necessarily forged, I just don't believe it was carried out properly.

Yes he had been drinking before the accident. He and I each had a couple of glasses of wine about 2 hours prior to the accident. In addition to that he had a beer (12 oz) about 15 minutes prior to the accident.

There are many legitimate reasons why a patient's signature might not on the discharge papers.

But even if his signature is missing for no reason, what do you hope to gain from that?

 

[agrippina]

There are many legitimate reasons why a patient's signature might not on the discharge papers.

But even if his signature is missing for no reason, what do you hope to gain from that?

Legitimate reasons - what are some examples of those in this case? Where the cop wrote over the signature portion "Patient unable to sign - Patient going to jail"? If that is legal, that's the first time I've ever heard of that. Even prisoners sign off on medical discharge papers when they are processed.

What I hope to gain is some credence for the case. He had a head injury and it is questionable whether he was properly medically evaluated, without his signature. It may be grasping at straws as you guys seem to believe, but I can't think of any reason why a medical document that doesn't have his signature on it and can be considered admissible in the case. If there's no point in pursuing this, then I guess it is what it is.

 

[cbg]

Why don't you post a link to the law you believe has been violated. Just so we're all on the same page.

 

[justalayman]

He had a head injury and it is questionable whether he was properly medically evaluated, without his signature.

so are you saying now that he was at the hospital?

His signature has nothing to do with the validity of any exam. Signatures are for the business end of a hospital.

 

[agrippina]

justalayman - I don't know if he was at the hospital or not, since I was not there. He says he doesn't remember going to the hospital. There is paperwork from the hospital though that says that he was - with NO signature from him.

cbg - sadly I have no idea what specific laws have been broken, which is why I came onto this forum.

Really? This is all legal?

 

[cbg]

I'm not seeing anything illegal.

So ARE you saying there's a giant conspiracy to say he was at the hospital when he wasn't? If not, what ARE you saying?

And what is your ultimate goal here?

 

[agrippina]

So ARE you saying there's a giant conspiracy to say he was at the hospital when he wasn't?

No

If not, what ARE you saying?

There's no signature

And what is your ultimate goal here?

To get his case dismissed or at least to get him the best possible deal from the DA.

 

[Proserpina]

His case isn't going to be dismissed.

You weren't actually there with him, were you? So you can't actually tell us what did or did not happen - correct?

 

[Proserpina]

Legitimate reasons - what are some examples of those in this case? Where the cop wrote over the signature portion "Patient unable to sign - Patient going to jail"? If that is legal, that's the first time I've ever heard of that. Even prisoners sign off on medical discharge papers when they are processed.

You haven't worked in a hospital.

What I hope to gain is some credence for the case. He had a head injury and it is questionable whether he was properly medically evaluated, without his signature. It may be grasping at straws as you guys seem to believe, but I can't think of any reason why a medical document that doesn't have his signature on it and can be considered admissible in the case. If there's no point in pursuing this, then I guess it is what it is.

How do you think it occurs when the patient cannot sign his name because of <insert hand injury here>?

What do you think happens?

 

[Silverplum]

Yes he had been drinking before the accident. He and I each had a couple of glasses of wine about 2 hours prior to the accident. In addition to that he had a beer (12 oz) about 15 minutes prior to the accident.

And what about this part?