Just heard on AAR's Majority Report:

[pnorman]

She mentioned "Patient dumping". In verifiable cases, hospitals would put patients unable to pay their bills into taxicabs. They were then dropped off in close vicinity of homeless shelters. There they wandered around in a disoriented state, until (hopefully) they were spotted and brought inside. Needless to say, these were the most vulnerable ... mentally or emotionally impaired, and with no friend or relative to complain. I am INCENCED, but I need a verifiable source

I wasn't able to recall enough to Google it. Can anyone here help?

pnorman

[fooj]

1. I think I saw bits and pieces of that on cable news today. Maybe CNN?

:cry:

[pnorman]

2. That's a little closer to "confirmed".

I've been "TV-Free" for at least 8 years, so I'd have missed that. I'll put "CNN" into the Google string and keep looking. I could still use a little more help though.

pnorman

[ellenfl]

4. go to cnn.com eom

[ellenfl]

3. there was a story on cnn (blitzer, i think.). eom

[Quakerfriend]

6. Yes, Blitzer did it this evening on the Situation room.

So much for hospital ethics.

[tocqueville]

5. check here

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_082065438.html

I saw the story earlier on CNNs webpage but can't find it again

[Iris]

8. omg.

This is horrible.

[pnorman]

12. Thanks, "toqueville".

That's PRECISELY what I was looking for! I can use it as it is, and also have enough data to Google further. Apparently, that is NOT an "isolated incident".

pnorman
PS: I LOVE my DU!!

[sheelz]

7. This has been going on for many years.

I'm surprised that they are even putting them in taxicabs. It's truly disturbing!

[SoCalDem]

9. Several links here.. This has gone on for a while

There was a story a few years back of an elderly guy with alzheimers left sitting in an ER for about a day.. People noticed the smell (he soiled himself).. He was too far out of it to even know his name, let alone who dumped him.. I don't think they ever found family


http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=patient+dumping

[Kingshakabobo]

10. CNN had the story.

Apparently, a homeless shelter has been keeping a log and installed security cameras to catch the cabs dropping off patients still in hospital gowns...

You would have LOVED the hospital spokesperson apologizing profusely.

[tishaLA]

11. A case of this happened here in Los Angeles yesterday

Kaiser Permanente hospital in LA county--I think in Bellflower, but I might be wrong--was caught patient dumping a patient in L.A.'s skid row (yes, the homeless section of downtown is actually known as skid row). Apparently Kaiser Permanente paid $38 to have the woman driven downtown near a shelter and left to her devices.

K-P immediately issued an apology and said they never did that and never would again, etc. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-dumping23mar23,1,1193808.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california">here's a link to the story in the LA Times. Might require registration.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. There is a whole group of laws governing this, called EMTALA.

http://www.emtala.com/2003regs.pdf

http://www.medlaw.com/regs.htm

EMTALA = Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (first passed in the 80's, revised since) which governs the rules by which hospitals may and may not transfer, and/or "dump" patients.

It is designed to deter the practice of dumping sick or unstable patients because of inability to pay.

[Shakespeare]

14. actually, it's "Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act."

Patient dumping is a violation of federal law, and hospitals caught engaging in it can be hit with nasty fines. Shame on them.

edited to add: I wonder if that's an error in the federal .pdf; my old boss lectured nationwide on EMTALA (meaning I created all of her powerpoint programs on it), and it's always been "emergency medical treatment and active labor act." I'll drop her an email and see if the name has been altered, or if that's an error.

[fooj]

15. Laws? We don't have no stinking laws!

Peace.

[acmejack]

16. I found it, but the link is dead!

"Three Los Angeles hospitals regularly put discharged patients with nowhere to go into taxicabs bound for skid row, hospital officials acknowledged this week.

Officials at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles and Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center said the practice is necessary because skid row is the only place in Southern California with a concentration of social services for the patients, including homeless shelters and drug and alcohol programs." (via The Health Care Blog)

The health care blog from LA Times it's in there somewhere, I read this article when it was originally printed. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-skidrow26nov26,0,4824407.story?track=tothtml

[pnorman]

17. Here's what I was able to Google from the above quote":

http://red-justice.livejournal.com/47017.html It goes into a good deal more detail. One can understand the plight of the hospital administrators, in this age of Compassionate Conservatism. But they're suposed to be running a fucking HOSPITAL, not a dry cleaning franchise! Presumably, they and all under their control, adhere to the Hippocratic Oath.

pnorman