healthcare
Situation 1.
In April 2012 you are the administrator of a local psychiatric hospital. The medical director just met with you to discuss the following situation:
Last night Mary was admitted to the psychiatric hospital. She is delusional, and she believes she is God. She is four months pregnant. She denies she is pregnant, but that God is making her belly bigger. She has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She denies she is ill. Prior to being hospitalized she was not involved in any prenatal care. She states she wants to return home to save the world from its many demons. There is little evidence that she is a danger to herself but her ability to take care of herself is questionable. The medical director would like her to take antipsychotic medication, but she refuses these saying the medication is poison. The doctor indicates Mary’s family disagree whether she should stay in the hospital and whether she should take antipsychotic medication. The medical director states in his opinion the medication would remove her delusions causing her to accept she is pregnant and allow her to adequately care for the baby. In his opinion, without the medication, her psychiatric condition would worsen. There is some evidence that antipsychotic medication can cause birth defects in a small percent of cases. Her religion is opposed to medication of any form.
In June of this year, just days before you were to retire, you receive a notice that Mary’s daughter from the above pregnancy is suing the hospital and the medical providers alleging that the antipsychotic medication given to her by the hospital doctors caused her (Mary’s daughter) to suffer a facial deformity
Discuss the legal issues and how would you advise the hospital regarding these events?
Situation 2
Mr. Smith is a patient at South Coast Hospital. He is 46 years old and has two minor children. He is in a coma. There is some hope that research will lead to a cure for his condition. He cannot feel pain. He is not aware of anything going on around him. He is unable to communicate or understand in any way. He is fed through a feeding tube which has been inserted into his stomach. His wife has asked to have the feeding tube removed so that he would starve to death.
Mr. Smiths children want him kept alive. With the tube remaining in the stomach Mr. Smith would live indefinitely at great financial cost and hardship to the family. Two weeks prior to the onset of the illness which resulted in his admission, Mr. Smith told his best friend Abe that he wanted to live as long as possible and he did not believe in the “pulling the plug stuff”.
Mr. Smith’s parents have come forward with a Health Care Proxy form signed by Mr. Smith while hospitalized and while heavily medicated, naming Mr. Smith’s mother as the Health Care Proxy. The mother is the beneficiary of Mr. Smith’s life insurance policy. Discuss the legal issues raised.
