Lets watch this lawsuit play out, the hospital appears to cling only to the notion that no one made decisions on her behalf because her condition was short term and resulted in death within hours. Yet even in this case the author says "Federal health privacy laws say hospitals should not disclose details about a patient except to the nearest family member or someone with power of attorney. " so lets see what happens.We had the strongest power of attorney possible in the state we were living in. The hospital wanted a ‘real’ copy of the document instead of the copies my partner had. Of course it being Saturday at 1am, the lawyers were not available to give us ‘real’ copies until Monday. Also the ban on same sex marriage and civil unions was cited, they were saying it banned ‘anything designed to simulate marriage’. They said our power of attorney did so and thus might have made it void, again requiring our lawyer’s presence for verification.
sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrxgaysuit0626sbjun26,0,3396801.story
Here is a story of it happening in Florida. I believe the case was already ruled against the surviving partner, that she had no rights, even with power of attorney and no right to claim anything was done wrong or any harm was done to her, or their children.
So suing does even do any good.
The lawsuit was dismissed already in late 2009.Lets watch this lawsuit play out, the hospital appears to cling only to the notion that no one made decisions on her behalf because her condition was short term and resulted in death within hours. Yet even in this case the author says "Federal health privacy laws say hospitals should not disclose details about a patient except to the nearest family member or someone with power of attorney. " so lets see what happens.
Well that is unfortunate but it is not as bad as it sounds. The hospital’s defense was no one was admitted in as a visitor nor did anyone other than medical people make a decision. So the court did not address the power of attorney. By no means should we give up on existing legal means The frustration from these issues are well placed. The most important issue here is hospitals and their attorneys will certainly visit this issue and better inform their staffs of proper procedures, so this can actually be a win for SSA people.The lawsuit was dismissed already in late 2009.
miamiherald.com/2009/09/30/1258772/lesbians-case-against-jackson.html
The hospital’s defense was that it didn’t have to let anyone in, no matter what. There aren’t laws requiring visitors. However, this completely ignores the fact that in the same ward, families were visiting people just as sick as this person’s partner with no issue at all.
Keep in mind, this could DID have a power of attorney document and they had it ON HAND when the person was admitted.
Florida does not recognize the power of attorney, period. It would have let this person’s genetic family in, as it did for everyone AROUND this dying person. They simply would not allow this partner and their children in. It does not recognize marriage, civil union, domestic partner or anything contractual designed to mimic it. Most of the east coast and south states are this way.Well that is unfortunate but it is not as bad as it sounds. The hospital’s defense was no one was admitted in as a visitor nor did anyone other than medical people make a decision. So the court did not address the power of attorney. By no means should we give up on existing legal means The frustration from these issues are well placed. The most important issue here is hospitals and their attorneys will certainly visit this issue and better inform their staffs of proper procedures, so this can actually be a win for SSA people.
pathiaFlorida does not recognize the power of attorney, period. It would have let this person’s genetic family in, as it did for everyone AROUND this dying person. They simply would not allow this partner and their children in. It does not recognize marriage, civil union, domestic partner or anything contractual designed to mimic it. Most of the east coast and south states are this way.
My solution is to simply not ever, ever ever ever ever travel to the southeast or east of the country. If I’m not there, it can’t happen.
Only THIS hospital has visited the issue. This thing hardly made national news, no one cared, none of the other hospitals in florida even so much discussed it. It will take similar events happening at each and every single hospital to ‘fix’ the issue.
It has happened to me more than once at the SAME HOSPITAL (same as same for me, not same as this couple’s incident) and despite complaints both times NOTHING has changed. My solution was to FLEE the state for the west coast.
I am in the hospital three or four times a year. It is not extreme when you have the chance of being in the same situation, if not worse. There are members of my family, that would abuse me if my memory was lost in another stroke and try to erase my partner’s existence, like the before mentioned story earlier in this thread about a transsexual in a coma. I have no doubt they would try it. They would erase my past if they could, completely.pathia
These statements seem extreme. A simple internet search shows the case brought national and international reviews. It is also a topic on legal blogs, not to mention an actual federal court review. The key here is to understand attorneys will now hunt the lawsuit which does not allow a judge to escape the core issue. That happened here and is common, now every hospital knows to take such a stand is to put yourself in the cross hairs of a lawsuit
I am sorry for your situation. Peace be with you.I am in the hospital a lot, it is not a very rare situation for me. My partner has been removed several times while I’m in the hospital. Part of the reason why I moved to the other side of the country was to make it as difficult as possible for anyone but my partner to come visit me. Legal options completely failed, so it was easier to make time and money barriers.
I agree with you that health insurance was a huge driving factor behind the homosexual “marriage” issue, altho now it seems to have become an issue all on its own. Insurance, but also inheritance and hospital visitation.I remember the first time that I heard that gay employees wanted their partners covered on their insurance plans. It seemed ridiculous to me at the time. It must have been 15 years ago. I have come to believe that these situations (excluding the SO from hospital access) was a major player in Gays acting for marriage rights. I don’t think Gays had any other choice but to seek out the same rights the rest of us enjoy in this country. If you are married you are allowed to make decisions for your partner. If you are married, you can partake ininsurance benefits.If we had treated peole with respect the first time around, we wouldn’t be debating this minutia now.
Can someone cite any hospital visitation laws? I worked in a large hospital for almost 10 years and no one ever gave me any information regarding limits to who can visit who. I worked on all floors and never saw this issue in action or heard about it.I agree with you that health insurance was a huge driving factor behind the homosexual “marriage” issue, altho now it seems to have become an issue all on its own. Insurance, but also inheritance and hospital visitation.
I am not at all for homosexual activity or “marriage,” but really, I think that allowing adults to chose who can and who can not visit them in the hospital is not only sensible but the right thing to do. It doesn’t have to have anything to do with same-sex or inter-sex issues. You have people who are in the process of a bitter divorce, unfinalised, and the horrible spouse can visit but not the best friend?
I don’t think we should change the marriage laws but the hospital visitation laws. Unfortunately homosexuals are better organised than people with bad family members so it is seen as a homosexual issue rather than just a human issue.
I don’t believe there really are any, which is why it’s rather random whether a person can visit or not. Hospital is allowed to set it’s own policy and even then, I think the staff are given leeway to their own judgement. That’s why most lawsuits fail when it happens, because no law was actually violated.Can someone cite any hospital visitation laws? I worked in a large hospital for almost 10 years and no one ever gave me any information regarding limits to who can visit who. I worked on all floors and never saw this issue in action or heard about it.
Peace,
Ed
Partners get thrown out for visiting and trying to assert their Power of Attorney rights. Mine was threatened with arrest despite us having legal documentation otherwise. It took 3days before our lawyers got back to the hospital (it happened over a weekend). But by then it didn’t matter as I had gained consciousness. I was very lucky.We’re only talking about visitation, correct? We’re not talking about anybody making the medical decisions for the patient if the patient cannot do so for themselves. In my opinion, anybody that has been important in the patient’s life should be allowed to visit, their sexual orientation shouldn’t even be a part of the equation.
The only time I’ve ever seen a hospital enforce visitation restrictions is when the visitor is under the age of 12.
Quoted for truth!Perhaps the problem is with the “family only” visitation policy.
If it is “family only” then, no, a homosexual lover isn’t family,
then neither is someone’s best friend of 20 years.
Agreed. I have had a close friend for many years who I would trust with my medical decisions far more than my own family. “Friends are the family you choose”.Quoted for truth!
Platonic friendships are so undervalued in our society. Sometimes it is the closest relationship single people (widowed, never married, etc.) have.
Well there is always the Power of Attorney…Agreed. I have had a close friend for many years who I would trust with my medical decisions far more than my own family. “Friends are the family you choose”.
As has been repeatedly stated by multiple people in this thread, sometimes they ignore that and there are even news reports of when it happens, unfortunately after the fact.Well there is always the Power of Attorney…
I agree that the insurance issue was a major component of the gay marriage movement. But I do not think it is reasonable. This is quite a different issue from hospital visitation. I think hospital visitation comes under patient rights. Patients should be visited by whomever they want–family or friend–whoever’s presence will help the patient convalesce. Gays have the same right to marry as anyone else does; they can marry a person of the opposite sex. They just don’t want to. There was a comedy movie called “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” about how two straight guys posed as gays so they could get married and receive insurance benefits. So, if gays can have same-sex marriage, does that mean straight people can also have same-sex marriage? One might ask, why would they want to? but there are solid financial reasons why they might want to. If they’re two people who want to be roommates and share expenses, they’ll save lots of money by marrying.I remember the first time that I heard that gay employees wanted their partners covered on their insurance plans. It seemed ridiculous to me at the time. It must have been 15 years ago. I have come to believe that these situations (excluding the SO from hospital access) was a major player in Gays acting for marriage rights. I don’t think Gays had any other choice but to seek out the same rights the rest of us enjoy in this country. If you are married you are allowed to make decisions for your partner. If you are married, you can partake ininsurance benefits.If we had treated peole with respect the first time around, we wouldn’t be debating this minutia now.
We ought not encourage same-sex couples to use legal loopholes to cobble together a Frankenstein version of what marriage is. There is no moral warrant to recognize a series of legal documents that, in the end, do nothing more than establish legitimacy to an intrinsically evil relationship.Well there is always the Power of Attorney…