Question about story (pt refuse treatment)

[capribry]

Hi, in my A&P class today my teacher told us about a guy who cut his hand off b/c he had sinned. When he went to a local hospital he refused to get his hand placed back on b/c he had sinned with it. He even called his lawyer to come to the hospital b/c the doctors kept urging him to let them do their job. After the lawyer came, the doctors gave up on the surgery. 6 months later, the man sued the hospital for not replacing his arm, claiming that he wasn't in the right state of mind. I don't know who won the lawsuit(my teacher ended the conversation by saying that the man should have been shot) Anyways my question is what are the hospital suppose to do in a situation where a patient refuses treatment with a lawyer. Was the hospital wrong for not giving him treatment. And how can they be sued for doing what the patient wanted. Just a little curious.

[SFCardiacRN]

Anyone can sue. Winning is another matter. Based on the facts of this probably fictitious ethical dilemma, the hospital did no tort.

[capribry]

sorry guys that I can't give anymore info. about this case. I know that it happened in the hampton roads area of virginia, b/c my teacher said that it happen at a local hospital. I think that it might have been at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital b/c he pointed in that direction. Maybe I would look in my local newspaper archive to see if I can find anything. Thanks for your responses.

[scizzerin]

I saw a show, I think it was called "Real Stories of the E.R.", patient came in , said he cut his hand off with lawnmower blade, but the docs noticed he was a) very calm, b) precision cut at the wound site. Turns out, old boy lopped it off because of a fascination with being an amputee, had books all over his house about amputee support and what not, and had the hand in freezer bags in the freezer! They called psych, of course, but never did re attach. Don't know if he sued.

I like the Incredibles comment.

my fat roll is evil, can I get that lopped off?!

[DusktilDawn]

This could be the story your instructor was talking about, Capribry:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960513/05130030.htm

The premise of the suit is that the patient wasn't competent to make a medical decision and that the hospital should have contacted the patient's parents or sister for consent to reattach.

[DusktilDawn]

Here's a couple more articles on this case:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1997/vp970904/09040452.htm

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1997/vp970910/09100548.htm

The jury ruled against the plaintiff.

Initially the patient had consented to the surgery and was declared competent at that time after a psych consult. Two hours later, just prior to surgery, the patient was refusing surgery. Because the patient had earlier been declared competent to make the decision to have surgery, the surgeon contacted a Circuit Court Judge in regards to this matter. Since the patient had earlier been declared competent to consent to surgery, the surgeon was advised by the Circuit Court judge not to do the surgery.

[sanctuary, BSN, MSN, RN]

Slippery slope here. Psychiatric patients have won against hospitals, and Drs when they were forced to take psychotropic meds against their will. The point that they resisted the medication due to a psychotic process, and indeed a psychotic symptom (denial), made no difference. As someone noted earlier, this could have gone to court in either case.

[LoriAlabamaRN]

Wow, that leg thing is wild... never heard of anything like that! Anyone know of a link to that one?

[mysticalwaters1]

Wow, that leg thing is wild... never heard of anything like that! Anyone know of a link to that one?

I don't know but this was featured on that FX plastic surgeon drama show "Nip Tuck." Was it body dysphormic syndrome? Something like that. I didn't know if it was real or not but anything can happen!

[LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP]

You ca search around the net and find sites about it. Several sites are dedicated to people who are obsessed with amputees and want to become amputees themselves. Weird.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

you can watch a replay of the segment that was on primetime at http://abcnews.go.com/primetime/ at the right side of the screen are video links under broadcast plus. you want "webcast: amputation by choice". now that it's been mentioned, i remember that nip/tuck episode.