Rights Violated

[Tsarina]

I wasn't sure where to post this. Very briefly (it's still long, sorry) here is the situation:
I am a paraplegic and I use a wheelchair. I am also an alcoholic but am very sober and have been for a few months. In March of this year, I had been drinking for a day or two and I had spoken with a staff member of a treatment hospital and had an appointment to go in the next week. Two of my husbands relatives, however, came into my home and literally pushed my wheelchair out of the house (with me holding the tires and saying, "No!") and then they picked me up out of my chair and threw me into a van. In trying to defend myself, I bit one of them. The person I bit hit me in the head. I told them that what they were doing was against the law and they told me I was "FOS" meaning full of ****. At the hospital, the staffer previously mentioned acknowledged that he had spoken to me and had made arrangements with him to be evaluated the next week. The person whom I had bitten used that information (the biting) to say that I was a threat to others. I would not have bitten that person had they not physically violated and injured me. I was put into the hospital and given Librium. After one or two days, I was asked to sign myself in voluntarily. It was explained to me that if I did this, my name would be submitted to the DOJ and I would not be able to buy a gun for some years. That is fine with me but I am a volunteer with the city and am in my final year of studying towards a career in education. These two careers require getting finger-scanned with the city. I don't know what will show up if I am finger-scanned now or what would result in a background check. I am afraid my future career in education is in jeopardy because of the actions of the hospital. I was under the influence of prescribed drugs when I signed myself in "voluntarily" and could not be expected to fully comprehend what I was signing or to ask questions about what I was signing. I would not have signed the form unless I had been fully informed, understood absolutely what it entailed and agreed with its implications. Needless to say, I'm a little angry about this. I shouldn't have been at that hospital in the first place, unless on my own accord, and was brought there illegally (as I later learned from the police- what they did is called kidnapping.) I want the hospital to pay.
I have little access to the computer at work, but I will check this web site and my email as frequently as possible. If you would like specifics or more information, I will gladly answer any questions in exchange for advice or direction. My email address is:
[email protected]

Thank you very much

 

[Tsarina]

Nothing? Come on you're gurus!

 

[OC3902]

I was under the influence of prescribed drugs when I signed myself in "voluntarily" and could not be expected to fully comprehend what I was signing or to ask questions about what I was signing. I would not have signed the form unless I had been fully informed, understood absolutely what it entailed and agreed with its implications. Needless to say, I'm a little angry about this. I shouldn't have been at that hospital in the first place, unless on my own accord, and was brought there illegally (as I later learned from the police- what they did is called kidnapping.) I want the hospital to pay.

The police said this was kidnapping? Are they investigating this? Did they prepare a police report? If not, what reason did they give for not investigating?

What do you mean when you say you "want the hospital to pay"? The medical expenses? Was the form that you signed a contract? in which you promised to pay the medical expenses?

Parties to a contract have a duty to read a contract. There's no requirement that you have to understood absolutely what the contract entails and agree with its implications in order for the contract to be enforceable. If there was undue influence or fraud by the other party, then a contract might be voided. A party under the influence of prescribed drugs may be considered to lack capacity to enter a contract in the first place. If it was a contract in which you promised to pay medical expenses, and you don't pay, if the hospital sues for breach of contract, perhaps you could be excused from the contract on this basis, depending on your state's law...

It sounds as if there's a lot more going on here. You might want to consult a local attorney.

 

[Tsarina]

Upon being discharged from the hospital, I had to call the police from the taxi to meet me at my home to insure I could get in (my husbands family was there to prevent me from coming home.) I related the story of the first hospital trip to an officer and he said, "Well that sounds like kidnapping." He said if the family did again try to take me away from the house, call the police. It was left at that.

I think the hospital is responsible for "accepting" me against my will. I did not want to be there and was NOT a threat to others (or myself) as my husbands family alleged. There was no proof that I was a threat to others besides the fact that I had bitten my husbands mother but that was in self-defense because she was throwing me into a van against my will. SHE was the threat to me. I think the hospital was wrong in being a part of this. The medical bills were paid by my insurance but I feel that I should be compensated for the ordeal I went through. I was physically violated and the hospital was a part of it. I signed a form, it was a paper that stated I agreed to admit myself voluntarily and I only remember them saying that it would go to the DOJ and I wouldn't be able to buy a gun. That's all I recall of it. The fact that I don't even remember the first week of my stay, because if the Librium, means I could not have fully understood what I was signing. I was in the hospital for I believe 2 weeks, maybe a day more, and that was time off work, but that is not too significant as I still have my job. But I was violated and the hospital should know better than to allow a person to be brought there, absolutely calmly, against their will based on what another person, whom had no interaction with me until that morning, claims.
Maybe I'm being a little too dramatic, but I was insulted and am angry that it happened and was allowed to happen by the hospital, which is supposed to protect a person from harm. Should I take this post to the medical malpractice forum?

 

[rmet4nzkx]

What did your husband say about all of this?
Did his family come back once you returned from the hospital, was your husband there to take care of you?
Were you released on your own from the hospital without anyone to pick you up? Have you sought restraining orders against the people who "kidnapped you"?
Were you under the influence when you were admitted to the hospital?
Is there any followup treatment?
Have you consulted an attorney or called or contacted your local disability or NAMI group?

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Here is a link to all the NAMI groups in California
http://www.namicalifornia.org/affiliates.aspx
It does sound like you got 5150'd without due process
also call your local ILC here is a directory they will have resources to assist you or a list of attornys
http://www.cfilc.org/directory/
Also remember when dealing with the courts to ask for ADA accommodations under Rule 989.3 www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/titlethree/title3-102.htm

 

[Tsarina]

What did your husband say about all of this?
My husband is the one who called his brother and mother and told them to take me to he hospital (physically he could not do this himself.) He stands by his decision to do this; he doesn't feel he did anything wrong.

Did his family come back once you returned from the hospital, was your husband there to take care of you?
My husband did not want me back home. He knew I was being discharged and that I coud not stay any longer (at the hospital) and he refused to pick me up and told me that if I did come home, he wouold take me to a homeless shelter (which is why his family was there that night.) So, no, he wasn't there to protect me; he wanted me taken to a homeless shelter. He called two of my friends whom he knew I would call for help and he told them not to give me a ride if I called. On the phone (days earlier) he told me he didn't want me home and about the homeless shelter and even after a counselor told him of my rights (and his wrongs) I had to take a cab and have the cops meet me there to let me in (I didn't have my house key.) I also had to have the cops there to inform him of my right to be in the house (both our names are on the deed.)

Were you released on your own from the hospital without anyone to pick you up? Have you sought restraining orders against the people who "kidnapped you"?
I was discharged because my insurance had paid all it would pay. This was a detox program, most people stay for only 3 or 4 days, I was there 2 weeks. Plus, they needed the room for someone else. I have not sought a restraining order because I currently don't feel threatened by my husbands family and the police informed them, I think, of how wrong they were in what they did.

Were you under the influence when you were admitted to the hospital?
I had been drinking, I think for two days, but had slept it off and I was coherent and aware and able to function on my own. I spoke to the man I had made the appointment with by name (my memory was intact) and was able to answer questions and know what was going on.

Is there any followup treatment?
If you mean for my alcoholism, I have been sober since June 9, the only time I drank after this whole deal, and my husband and I are in counsleiong and I attend AA.

Have you consulted an attorney or called or contacted your local disability or NAMI group?
No, I thouhgt I would scope opinions here first.

 

[Tsarina]

It does sound like you got 5150'd without due process

What does that mean?

I should mention that I don't feel this is a case of violated disability rights. This could have happened if I were an able-body. And they didn't do it BECAUSE of my disability.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

I posted another while you were repling to the first.

It definately sounds like your rights were violated at the hospital but it will take an attorney to unscramble some of it. Look in Ca. W&I code 15600 this will give you a better idea of violations and Ca. PC 368.

Under Ca. law you are allowed to amend your medical records to correct informaiton, so you can submit a letter explaining that you were comitted against your will and signed the volluntary committment papers several days later, while overmedicated and under duress also add that you were released without any transportation home and did not even have your keys etc improper discharge procedures. Unfortunately that will not get your record corrected in your file or removed from DOJ etc, that will take further llegal action. Nami or cil should be able to advise on these matters.

What was your mother in laws hand doing in your mouth in the first place? I would have bit too, Darn those involluntary spasms

I'm glad you are on your road to recovery and that you and your husband are in AA and counseling together.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

rmet, clean out your PM's, they are full and not accepting any.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

What does that mean?

I should mention that I don't feel this is a case of violated disability rights. This could have happened if I were an able-body. And they didn't do it BECAUSE of my disability.

Perhaps your rights as a disabled person were not intentionally violated in your mind, but your disability allowed them violate them because of your mobility problems, you should have had appropriate transport etc so they were violated. They did it because if you were 5150's they would have called the police to pick you up and take you to the hospital, you would have been transported in a medically appropriate transport or ambulance. You wouldn't have bitten your MIL thus making you a "danger to your self or others" the basis of 5150 and if they had come you would have explained that you were preparing for treatment program next week, they would have had you evaluated and perhaps released etc. and most likely not 5150 you, your husband and his relatives knew that you wouldn't be commited so they took the law into their own hands with their intervention provoked your response. At that point you would have been committed either for fighting back or going willingly.
5150? go here for the full section caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/wic/5150-5157.html
California Welfare and Institutions Code
+ WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE SECTION 5150-5157
5150. When any person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger
to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, a peace
officer, member of the attending staff, as defined by regulation, of
an evaluation facility designated by the county, designated members
of a mobile crisis team provided by Section 5651.7, or other
professional person designated by the county may, upon probable
cause, take, or cause to be taken, the person into custody and place
him or her in a facility designated by the county and approved by the
State Department of Mental Health as a facility for 72-hour
treatment and evaluation.
Such facility shall require an application in writing stating the
circumstances under which the person's condition was called to the
attention of the officer, member of the attending staff, or
professional person, and stating that the officer, member of the
attending staff, or professional person has probable cause to believe
that the person is, as a result of mental disorder, a danger to
others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled. If the
probable cause is based on the statement of a person other than the
officer, member of the attending staff, or professional person, such
person shall be liable in a civil action for intentionally giving a
statement which he or she knows to be false.



5150.05. (a) When determining if probable cause exists to take a
person into custody, or cause a person to be taken into custody,
pursuant to Section 5150, any person who is authorized to take that
person, or cause that person to be taken, into custody pursuant to
that section shall consider available relevant information about the
historical course of the person's mental disorder if the authorized
person determines that the information has a reasonable bearing on
the determination as to whether the person is a danger to others, or
to himself or herself, or is gravely disabled as a result of the
mental disorder.
(b) For purposes of this section, "information about the
historical course of the person's mental disorder" includes evidence
presented by the person who has provided or is providing mental
health or related support services to the person subject to a
determination described in subdivision (a), evidence presented by one
or more members of the family of that person, and evidence presented
by the person subject to a determination described in subdivision
(a) or anyone designated by that person.
(c) If the probable cause in subdivision (a) is based on the
statement of a person other than the one authorized to take the
person into custody pursuant to Section 5150, a member of the
attending staff, or a professional person, the person making the
statement shall be liable in a civil action for intentionally giving
any statement that he or she knows to be false.
(d) This section shall not be applied to limit the application of
Section 5328.


5150.1. No peace officer seeking to transport, or having
transported, a person to a designated facility for assessment under
Section 5150, shall be instructed by mental health personnel to take
the person to, or keep the person at, a jail solely because of the
unavailability of an acute bed, nor shall the peace officer be
forbidden to transport the person directly to the designated
facility. No mental health employee from any county, state, city, or
any private agency providing Short-Doyle psychiatric emergency
services shall interfere with a peace officer performing duties under
Section 5150 by preventing the peace officer from entering a
designated facility with the person to be assessed, nor shall any
employee of such an agency require the peace officer to remove the
person without assessment as a condition of allowing the peace
officer to depart.
"Peace officer" for the purposes of this section also means a
jailer seeking to transport or transporting a person in custody to a
designated facility for assessment consistent with Section 4011.6 or
4011.8 of the Penal Code and Section 5150.


5150.2. In each county whenever a peace officer has transported a
person to a designated facility for assessment under Section 5150,
that officer shall be detained no longer than the time necessary to
complete documentation of the factual basis of the detention under
Section 5150 and a safe and orderly transfer of physical custody of
the person. The documentation shall include detailed information
regarding the factual circumstances and observations constituting
probable cause for the peace officer to believe that the individual
required psychiatric evaluation under the standards of Section 5105.

Each county shall establish disposition procedures and guidelines
with local law enforcement agencies as necessary to relate to persons
not admitted for evaluation and treatment and who decline
alternative mental health services and to relate to the safe and
orderly transfer of physical custody of persons under Section 5150,
including those who have a criminal detention pending.



5150.3. Whenever any person presented for evaluation at a facility
designated under Section 5150 is found to be in need of mental health
services, but is not admitted to the facility, all available
alternative services provided for pursuant to Section 5151 shall be
offered as determined by the county mental health director.




5150.4. "As

 

[Tsarina]

Thanks, you're very kind and extremely helpful. I will look up that information and go from there.

 

[Tsarina]

Ooops. I keep doing that to you!
I will print out and read all of that info and go from there. You're great.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Ooops. I keep doing that to you!
I will print out and read all of that info and go from there. You're great.

You're welcome & good luck.
-------------------------------
Also to Paridise, I cleared some space it's been one of those days

 

[Tsarina]

Okay I've read over the information that rmet so nicely provided and I think that the case may be this:
The hospital staff (admit staff, orderlies and nurses were present) all know the term 5150, right? And then they know also that any lay person cannot just bring someone to a hospital and declare them a threat.
So, my disability was a big role in this event because:
1) The offenders could not have physically apprehended me if I had been an able-bodied person, and
2) The hospital staff would NOT have been convinced that I was a threat to myself and others had I been WALKING around or able to simply walk away. The man I had made an appointment with even went so far as to hold my back to my wheelchair (restrain me) as the talking was going on. Being in a wheelchair, it is not uncommon for people to treat me as a child or assume I have a mental disability as well or to see me as less able than I am. I have a job, a home, a writing hobby/career, I volunteer and am soon to finish my Bachelor's degree. I am fully functional living on my own (I can dress, bathe, cook, clean, shop for food, etc.) without assistance. I am a senior in college and am intelligent; I don't need others to decide for me.

So, I guess my case is disability-related after all. The hospital treated me wrongly and it was BECAUSE of my disability that they did this and that they were able to do so. Where should I go from here? Do you recommend a disability rights lawyer or another specialty?

I'll be back on Monday. Thanks you so much for your time and contributions.