Posted on 07/01/2010 6:17:01 PM PDT by Domandred
A Boise mother loses her parental rights battle at the Federal Court Wednesday afternoon. In 2002, Corissa Mueller brought her baby to St. Luke's Hospital with a fever. The doctor wanted to perform a spinal tap to test for Meningitis, and Mueller wanted a second opinion. Within hours, police and child services were called-in and Mueller lost custody of her child.
The test was done anyway and the little Taige only had a cold. Mueller believes the hospital went too far, but the jury didn't agree. It took 16 days for the jury to unanimously decide that the Mueller's constitutional rights were not violated. "This is America I thought we lived in if this is what happens to a parent that goes to the emergency room with their child," says Mueller. Mueller says she couldn't believe how her personal ordeal ended. "Our motivation from the beginning was to set prescience on what parents have (when choosing medical care for their children). Our hearts are still in this and we're disappointed with the ruling," she says.
St. Luke's attorney Walt Sinclair says the verdict "vindicated the hospital, the doctor, and the Boise police officer involved in the case." Jurors did find the doctor "acted on bad faith when filing a report." Dr. Macdonald's attorney says "Basically we didn't have immunity in the case but he did not do anything that resulted in liability. He was exonerated but that was just a little definitional thing," says Richard Hall.
I'm not fully familiar with this story. The incident happened in 2002, the trial ended today.
Doing some research to find other details.
thanks for posting this.
That's the mindset in America now, don't question those in positions of authority. Be a good little serf, bow and scrape to those that know what's best for us.
Think that’s bad reporting. The whole thing lasted for 17 from what I can tell, I don’t think 16 of those were deliberation. I could be wrong though.
From the same people that will do an abortion at the drop of a hat. Sickening.
I have witnessed first hand how fast emergency rooms want to do spinal taps on children. If there is a fever, it becomes an automatic option. My niece was taken to the E.R. by her grandfather who said she was acting lethargic. They put her to sleep to do a spinal tap. She was sick and in pain for days later. What was the cause? Teething. Second opinions are intelligent when an invasive procedure is recommended. To me, this is punishment for questioning a doctor’s opinion. Plain and simple.
Holy crap!
This is scary.
http://www.cir-usa.org/cases/mueller_v_idaho.html
http://www.onpointnews.com/docs/taige.pdf
I hope they appeal this all the way to the Supreme Court.
It is a power thing.
Dr. tired of getting sh1t on by parents. A concerned parent with a legitimate concern, raises it, probably very emotionally and Dr. goes on a power trip. Dr. calls cops to show little missie mommy who is really the more important person.
I am truly sick of what we are becoming as a nation.
There has to be a whole lot of this story missing. Any Freepers out there familiar with the history on this story?
Idaho Parents Take Boise Hospital to Court Over Newborn's Forced Spinal Tap
Items from article
Child had a fever of 100.8.
Only 5% chance the child had meningitis.
Baby's fever dropped while in the hospital waiting for other tests including fluids, x-rays and blood work, before spinal tap, and before police called. Mom started asking about taking child home. That's when the hospital called the police.
Mom was not allowed to call husband who was at home with other children and consult even him about the spinal tap.
Oh nice links thanks. Going to get pizza I’ll digest the court documents with the pizza.
I’m a real mellow get along type, but I’m reaching my limit. I’m tired of this crap.
Could be some malpractice lawsuit fear of failure to diagnose/treat meningitis, too.
I agree 100% with your analysis.
This most likely has to do with all the unnecessary tests that doctors do, for fear of being sued for negligence (by the parents) if they don’t do them, in the very unlikely event the patient has the actual condition they are testing for.
The country’s legal system is beyond repair, just like everything else that has any connection to the government.
Words cannot begin to describe the pain with a spinal tap. I had one when I was a kid
Years ago I had a doctor tell me that he was going to do some procedure on one of my kids whether I liked it or not. I calmly explained to him that I knew where he lived, could hunt him down, and would definitely beat the ass off him if he so much as touched my kid. I then took the kid and left. Had he called the police I would have followed through, hunted him down and beat the ass off him.
I would have been bailed out of jail long before he would have gotten out of the hospital.
Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Power trips need to be confronted with even greater power trips.
I am frankly surprised that the father hasn’t already kicked this doctors butt.
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