Homeless paraplegic victim of `dumping,' witnesses say
HOSPITAL VAN LEFT MAN ON SIDEWALK
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Even on Skid Row, where life and dignity are cheap, it was a shocking scene: a paraplegic man ``sliding along his bottom using his hands,'' carrying his meager belongings in a plastic hospital bag he clutched in his teeth.
Police said the man, who was dragging a colostomy bag behind him, had been dumped out on the sidewalk by the driver of a hospital van.
The witnesses to the dumping, all homeless people, began shouting, ``Where is his wheelchair, where is his walker,'' police detective Russ Long told the Associated Press on Friday. They told officers the driver responded that the man defecated in the van and had to be removed.
``It looks like a shocking case of neglect at this point,'' Long said. ``If there is an explanation it just eludes me at this point.
``He was sliding along on his bottom using his hands,'' Long said. ``He had a hospital property bag in his mouth, in his teeth, and he was trailing a colostomy bag, which was malfunctioning.''
The witnesses told police a van from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center pulled up to a tiny park in the grimy area near downtown at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, a side door opened, and a man, dressed in a green hospital gown and pants, began struggling to get out. The driver looked on.
``His pants fell around his ankles. He fell onto the curb with his legs dangling onto the street,'' Long said. ``He reached down and grabbed his pants, pulled his legs onto the sidewalk. Witnesses said the van would have run over his legs if he hadn't have done that.''
Other homeless people in the area helped the disoriented man into the park. A police bicycle patrol arrived by chance within a minute and called an ambulance.
From LeftIontheNews
1 comment:
The last time I was unfortunate enough to require hospital care, I stayed for a few hours and the hospital ran some routine tests. The bill ran into the thousands although the tests conducted were simple $75 clinical sample tests.
Private hospitals thrive on massive revenue, city subsidies and tax advantages. How often after all do you see a hospital having a "going out of business" sale? What would a used bed pad be worth anyway?
Hospitals who thrive on it's monopoly of the sick while receiving perks and incentives from public sources should be banned from releasing a patient into a potentially harmful environment that's incompatible with his/her ailments.
The fact that the hospital should be sued in order to compel the hospital into civilized health practices is an outrage. Our government has seen fit to regulate everything else in hospital operations, yet the user of those operations is beholden to the hospitals option of securing their welfare?
Perhaps a private hospital can't be forced to provide treatment, but it should certainly be required to insure that it doesn't release patients into an environment that is likely to make the condition(s) worse.
If it's true that the hospital made a commitment to change their practice and still has not, then I would expect (and hope) that the hospital will be sued senseless to established a precedent in this case that equals the apathy it has shown towards it's customers (patients). We'll be watching this case to see what the legal outcome is.
Those who paint the issue as a Religious issue (as the name Presbyterian means nothing - its private business).... or a political issue....the hospital is likely staffed with people from both political pursuations... aren't doing the issue any favors whatsoever.
Osolating people, by branding whole classes of people who aren't involved in what the hospital did is negligent and discourages valuable support from these groups.
If we accuse Dems of purpetuating this act, we basically drive them away from the issue... if we do the same with republicans - we drive them away... This issue needs MAXIMUM support from everyone who is receptive to caring. Those who want to play games with the story, only end up hurting the cause in the end.
Focus on the hospital. It's their failed policy and careless apathy that lead to the dumping of this man... and the more folks who speak out on it, the better!
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://weeklyviceblogspot.com
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