akflightmedic Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Here is the link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_...tal_deportation Short summary: Illegal immigrant with serious injuries post car accident, rehabbed to a 4th grade cognitive level, still paraplegic. Hospital spent over 1 million dollars over 3 year period caring for him. Hospital chartered plane and repatriated him to Guatemala without informing his relatives in either location. His guardian who is also his cousin protested and is now suing the hospital cause the man is now living in Guatemala with his mother in a one room very remote house 12 hours from the nearest major city with no means to call or travel there should his condition worsen. Is this right or wrong? Where do we draw the line with health care? What is our responsibility to illegal immigrants? Is three years enough along with some of the best rehab during that time which almost certainly returned him to the best possible condition he will ever be in again? Do we need to be concerned with the fact that the hospital knowingly sent him to a remote location and will probably decline in health and die soon? The remote location being his normal home (which now is not good enough). Another short recap: He came to the US, made good money doing crappy jobs to provide for his family in Guatemala. He is involved in car accident and becomes paralyzed and mentally impaired. Hospital cares for him and rehabs him for 3 years. Hospital gave him a FREE flight home to be with his family and long term caregivers. Now cousin wants to sue hospital for deporting him. Hmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaisu Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Wrong - as per my answer in the news bot thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief1C Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 You know, probably because he had no means to be cared for here, they put in that effort. Do you think they'd do the same for John Q. American? Maybe, but I doubt it. There isn't enough free or even donated funding to give everyone the absolute best, at no cost. Maybe just adequate, or skimming the edge; or for a real sick child now and then. I won't say he doesn't deserve care, because I'm a softy and a Human. But I think it sounds like they did pretty good for him. Maybe the person should look to some international medical foundation to offer supportive care, rather than suing the hospital. Tough call, I know what I'd like to say as John Q. Taxpayer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tniuqs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Armed with a letter from the Guatemalan minister of health stating the poverty-ridden country could care for him, the hospital sent him home. But he maintains the lawsuit is important because hospitals should not be allowed to deport people. They did not deport they repatriated BIG difference. Even if this means going back to your homeland to die, this not for me to say and it sounds as if the Hospital in the US did go above on beyond. I have done numerous repatriations, in passing, so if the Government in Guatemala is willing to take resposibility for their own citizens even if it is "suspected" to a lower level of care then so be it the buck has to stop somewhere with the current health care system stretched to its limits. Yes my position sounds harsh, but N.A. simply can not treat the entire world. The biggest issue is how did this illegal immigrant get into the US in the first place ? The companies hiring cheap labour should be held accountable then this issue would all go away, the corruption of those hiring illegal landed immigrants becomes the root cause of this entire problem. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Can we merge the two threads? Apparently his cousin by marriage was his legal guardian. She had to have been aware of the issues with his placement as he was already placed once in a NH and then returned to the hospital. I would hope the hospital informed her of the difficulty placing him again. Surely there had to have been alternatives discussed which might have included training his family in the U.S. for home care. As his legal guardian she also had some responsibility to stay informed about his care and to also help with finding alternatives. Now if the legal guardian and family only visited for appearance or rarely, there may be other issues involved to which they also failed to assume some responsibilty just like American families are often asked to do. I am also wondering what input his mother in Guatamala had since she is a nurse. She may not have been allowed to come to this country for visits by restrictions from her own country. Since it has been almost 10 years since his accident I wouldn't doubt his condition is deteriorating. But, that has been almost 6 years in his home country and I would say his mother is taking good care of him. It took an American nursing home less than a year to almost kill him off with decubitus ulcers. That is a sad statement on our own health care situations. Being this is in Florida, I can only speculate on what the nurse/patient ratio is. This country does provide long term medical to thousands of illegals. However, we are running out of options to warehouse these patients. Thre are long waiting lists and many of these patients take up ICU beds because they are on ventilators. It there is no longer a facility that can care for this patient available the family may have to help with options. The hospital may also have found placement a couple hundred miles away but the family may have refused it. Of course, there would have been a legal battle there also if the hospital got a court order placement. This family now has strong backing from every human rights group as the legal battles have been going on for over 6 years. This will be messy because we also have one of Obama's campaign promises to stop deportation of illegal Haitains. I linked this article with more detail in the other thread. Stuart hospital's deportation of illegal immigrant sparks legal battle http://www.miamiherald.com/569/story/1107995.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tniuqs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Thanks Vent ... I did not read that part in the news article ... GOOD JOB MOM/RN we could all be so lucky ... hey maybe developing nations and their very strong ties to family care something could be learned in the so called "developed nations" Since it has been almost 10 years since his accident I wouldn't doubt his condition is deteriorating. But, that has been almost 6 years in his home country and I would say his mother is taking good care of him. It took an American nursing home less than a year to almost kill him off with decubitus ulcers. That is a sad statement on our own health care situations. Being this is in Florida, I can only speculate on what the nurse/patient ratio is. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 From the new article: Jimenez, now 35, lives in a small village in Guatemala, where his elderly mother is his nurse. He has no medication. Family members say his condition is deteriorating. An appeals court in 2004 overturned Judge Fennelly's decision, saying he had no jurisdiction to authorize the return. Montejo then sued the hospital. The suit was initially dismissed, but the case was reopened two years later after another appellate ruling cleared the way. Some paraplegics do not always need medication. Decubitus ulcers would be his biggest problem and that would take preventitive measures and not medicine. A paraplegic who is not capable of caring for himself doesn't not have a long life expectancy. Granted Christopher Reeve was a quad but he died of sepsis stemming from decubitus ulcers after 8 years. He also had some well known specialists caring for him but they may have forgotten the little things. Elderly? The guy is 35. Yes if she had him when she was 45 that would put her around 80. It would depend on your definition of elderly. Some use that term for someone of 60. We have RNs working FT in their 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tniuqs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) An appeals court in 2004 overturned Judge Fennelly's decision, saying he had no jurisdiction to authorize the return. Just what would the US government do ... send in a covert Military Medical Rescue Ops ? I think you have it right Vent ... someone thats a legal immigrant is trying to line their pockets. As his legal guardian she also had some responsibility to stay informed about his care and to also help with finding alternatives. Now if the legal guardian and family only visited for appearance or rarely, there may be other issues involved to which they also failed to assume some responsibilty just like American families are often asked to do. I am also wondering what input his mother in Guatamala had since she is a nurse. Honduras is not American soil ... no matter what judge in the US rules the Laws of Honduras apply now. Besides this would be a huge insult to Honduras if "they" after 6 years allowed this happen it would be an international embarrassment for them suggesting that Hondurans can not care for there own ... cheers opps late entry: if she had him when she was 45 that would put her around 80 This is Honduras ... I bet she was under 30, just the way it is .... and if ANYONE suggests that 55 + is elderly ... come visit my house I have a knuckle sandwich for you . ta ta Edited July 23, 2009 by tniuqs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentMedic Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) Besides this would be a huge insult to Honduras if "they" after 6 years allowed this happen it would be an international embarrassment for them suggesting that Hondurans can not care for there own ... cheers opps late entry: This is Honduras ... I bet she was under 30, just the way it is .... and if ANYONE suggests that 55 + is elderly ... come visit my house I have a knuckle sandwich for you . ta ta I am confused if they want the patient back in this country or if someone just wants a settlement which the patient may never see. His legal guardian and attorney may control whatever monetary settlement gained. It would also be very difficult for him to re-enter the country as I believe his mother was not allowed to travel to visit him when he was injured. By the way, do you have the equivalent of the AARP in Canada? The one good thing about 50 is joining that association for the benefits and the magazine with cool travel specials. Edited July 23, 2009 by VentMedic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tniuqs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 AARP ? I thought we were going away from abbreviations ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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