Protecting our families, especially children medically in the system - avoid medical kidnapping

by Rose Rohloff

Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

The current fulminated issues of "hospital kidnapping", and denying Rights of parents has existed for decades. Now health systems are using Department of Children Family Services (DCFS) to enforce. The following are true, documented cases of families, spanning decades, fighting hospitals for the health of their children. ​

In the Mid 1990s, a child was hospitalized in a Children's Hospital. "We had to fight the school system and the local Children's Hospital over coding of 'diagnosis' and school placement for our son: The only time we had to get a lawyer to fight against injustice. Our doctor said the underlying respiratory problem was allergy based, but the school system refused to place him in an environmentally safe school, with the local school having known poor air quality problems - a teacher was already being treated for recurring respiratory illness in the same classroom our child attended. We won. The doctor we trusted successfully identified our child's diagnosis and helped champion against the hospital. The hospital then sent us to a collection agency for refusal to pay for gross billing errors. When I called the collection agency and told them what we had already paid, they said we had overpaid. They told us to ask for an audit of the account and the result was that the hospital refunded us the money. When we requested in writing a copy of the whole medical record, the hospital sent without our name on it, and the postal service opened it. The hospital took a long time to respond to our complaint."

Posted on X 7/25/24 by Kelly DNP Functional/Integrative Medicine

Bottom line: Don't mess with us especially regarding our kids  WE KNOW HOW TO FIGHT!"                quoted by parent-grandparent

Another family with twins experienced an issue with the same hospital. "One twin was diagnosed with a malignant tumor at the base of her spine at about age three. The hospital did surgery. Everything looked good after that. Then, after recovering, the hospital insisted to do a series of chemo. After much prayer by the parents and our entire community, the parents discerned no, and had to fight the hospital. The parents won and the child grew up cancer free and graduated from high school without any further cancer."

In 2022, another case happened in a different state (as this is a national issue with health system conglomerations.) A young mother had a two year old child diagnosed with cancer. The latest lab came back White Blood Cell (WBC) of 2.8 (normal 4.5 to 11.0 × 109/L). The mother refused continued chemo treatment which would further drop her son's count. The child was not in protective isolation to add a layer of protection against being given an infection in the hospital. The hospital administrators called DCFS threatening her, along with her new six month old baby at home. This mother had to fight for proper care against open malpractice (if not manslaughter) of her child, with the hospital holding against the mother's will (medical kidnapping) with blatant coercion, threats and intimidation. With the correct second opinion and having to hire advocates, she was able to stop the care. 

Other parents, and children of elderly parents, across the country are experiencing similar situations of coercion, threats and intimidation from hospital administrators - including calling DCFS and the police; forcing families to hire expensive lawyers to even get a basic second opinion from a clinician they trust, and the stress with fear of actually having to go to court to fight for their loved one's ​Rights, who are being held (kidnapped)

within the facility, violating the Right to leave against medical advice (AMA); and above all, hoping they do not die before a court ruling can be made. ​

Health systems have been providing admission forms upon entry in many cases, while people are under duress, to have them sign digitally without the time to review and understand "the fine print", when being handed an iPad or touch screen for the electronic record. Sadly, all persons, parents, family members need to stop and take the time to read the full admission forms, red line out and initial any portions they do not agree with, to exercise their legal Right of informed consent, Right to Try, for avoidance of any and all illegal coercion or undue influence by nurses, social workers, clinicians and administrators. ​

One example of a form. A signed form should include the responsibility of hospital, staff enforcing quality care standards (e.g. to avoid hospital acquired infections and conditions), ensured care planning and care coordination, etc. Blanket consent is not informed consent, and should not include coercion upon ER visit with emotional compromised states. 

​Being a signed form, a copy should always be immediately given to the person signing. 

Example form from health system in California (boilerplate)