A discussion of the better things in life, including music, the arts, wine, beer, cigars, scotch, gambling the Quatloosian way, travel, sports, and many other topics. [Political and religious discussions and the like should stay off-site.]
A California couple who wanted a second medical opinion for their 5-month-old son said their ordeal turned into every parent’s worst nightmare. Authorities temporarily took their baby away from them, but the parents are now relieved to be able to hold their son again for as long as they want.
As far as I'm aware, at least here, CPS is unable to remove a child from a household without a warrant only when extreme risk to the child's wellbeing is evident. I don't think taking a child to a different doctor constitutes a risk to a child's wellbeing. Who knows, I may be wrong, but I guarantee I would have been locked up if someone tried to take one of mine like that and the hospital would have had a few more patients.
Disciple of the cross and champion in suffering
Immerse yourself into the kingdom of redemption
Pardon your mind through the chains of the divine
Make way, the shepherd of fire
Well, the way I recall it, the parents were told not to take their sick baby out of the hospital but took him out anyway. If they wanted a second opinion, they could have had doctor #2 come to the hospital.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." -- Pastor Ray Mummert, Dover, PA, during an attempt to introduce creationism -- er, "intelligent design", into the Dover Public Schools
They didn't simply seek a second opinion. From the article:
The family left the hospital without an official discharge to get another opinion on the boy’s heart condition, according to a report on TODAY Wednesday.
“I want to go to a different hospital and she told me again, ‘If you want to go, then you can go, but your son is going to be here,’” Anna Nikolayev told TODAY. “I took my son. Put him in the stroller. I just walked out of the hospital.”
There are ways to transfer your sick child to another hospital for a second opinion - simply picking up and walking out isn't always one of them. It sounds like the hospital hadn't yet determined how safe it would be to transport him or take him back home and yet the parents just up and took him anyway. If his murmur turned out to be serious, they could have done some serious damage. Sounds like child endangerment to me. Would it have killed them to wait for discharge or demand that the hospital transport him to another hospital for the second opinion?
When chosen for jury duty, tell the judge "fortune cookie says guilty" - A fortune cookie
This is just as bad as when parents of a sick child whisk him/her out of a hospital so that they can spend tons of money on a quack who assures that, unlike Big Medicine and Big Pharma, his/her "alternative/traditional therapies" are guaranteed to work.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." -- Pastor Ray Mummert, Dover, PA, during an attempt to introduce creationism -- er, "intelligent design", into the Dover Public Schools
I can see the problem. They could probably have gotten permission for an official transfer to the other hospital, but they would have to pay the ambulance cost out-of-pocket, as not being medically necessary. Similarly, they could have gotten permission for the new doctor to visit to provide a second opinion, but the doctor would not have access to any test equipment, and might not have access to the existing charts and test results. And, being Kaiser, they would have to pay the doctor out-of-pocket, as Kaiser doctors are employees of Kaiser.
I don't see a real option for them except to seek an emergency court order requiring a second opinion at the first hospital's expense, which might not be granted.
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!