AAtlanta Journal-ConstitutionEssay Preview: AAtlanta Journal-ConstitutionReport this essayArticle Case ResearchThe following is pertaining to a chosen article found in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, entitled “System was Deaf to Pleas; Mother Died.” Each day patients put their physical health and trust in the hands of health care providers. Unfortunately, there have been times when the physicians decision has caused harm to the patient or others. Enabling patient choice has been essential to palliative care. However, the choice agenda challenges one to question what palliative care will mean in the future (Choice and palliative, 2005). The following will discuss the major points, and the legal issues relating to the nature, sources, and functions of the law. In conclusion, it will discuss any recommendations that could have been made pertaining to the case in the chosen article.
The Choice to Palliative Care “A decision to seek palliative care should be considered as soon as possible after a patient’s death” (Kathryn G. Schoeppner, MD, of Harvard University Medical School, 2007). An article has been used to illustrate these statements. However, palliative care for patients in the United States is not currently considered in more than 200 publications related to palliative care. This article will focus on “A Georgia Doctor Who Letter” addressed to the Medical Council of Georgia and related papers. This letter includes the article, written in 2006. Read the next line to see “The Choice to Palliative Care” above:
The Choice to Palliative Care. “The Palliative Care for Children” was used to show that the physicians of Georgia may be willing to give a little more time before making a decision regarding palliative care, a fact that has been recognized before under a variety of circumstances. A large portion of a mother’s time before dying is spent receiving the help, care and attention they need to stay alive and not get sick or die. Although such a mother’s time to die may be short, the decisions that she makes regarding palliative care are often dictated by her own beliefs and decisions about the treatment to be sought. Thus, this article will discuss the role medical practice, with respect to the palliative care decision, has in the decision of a physician regarding palliative treatment. Many of the most prominent providers of palliative care are hospitals. The palliative care of hospital palliative care includes an intensive, long-term (i.e., less than six months) and long-term care. This hospital care will be followed by a short-term (i.e., less than four months) and long-term care; however, this short-term care will also be followed by longer-term palliative care. The practice of palliative care involves a number of types of services performed by hospital patients, including psychotherapeutic and surgical inpatient services, chiropractic practices, orthopedic health care, and nursing home care. The care that these medical services are provided depends on the level of health-care care that the care system provides. The palliative care process is designed to provide more information in order for the patient to understand and accept the care provided and the results of that care. Some hospitals provide palliative care during pregnancy. In addition, some hospitals are designed to offer services through other means such as inpatient and outpatient care. Therefore, palliative care is primarily done in hospitals. Despite what may seem like a common misconception, and even though it is important for the safety and well-being of the individual, hospital care must be supervised by a physician who has the necessary training. A patient needs to be informed of his risk factors and decisions and has to be evaluated for life-threatening diseases, including diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, and heart disease. During pregnancy and throughout pregnancy the individual can be physically and psychologically abused by others (Paso Pascaro, MD and Patricia Heffern, MD, of the University of South Carolina at College Park, 2005). Patients of all ages and ethnic groups may be at risk for developing high blood pressure because of chronic lower-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL)/pH 2c. An elderly person is at greater risk for developing coronary heart disease because of lack of cardiac care.
The most common
The chosen article was about a case involving the Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta. Na Young was admitted to the facility for physically abused her mother several times. She had even stated to the physicians and nurses, if released she would kill her mother. The patients bother also pleaded with the hospital to re-determine the release because of her physical and mental behavior. The physician did not even take into consideration the patients or brothers comments and still released her against their wishes. The patient demanded not to be released and rejected to sign the release forms. In 2005, Na Young with a history of psychotic behavior was released from the hospital. It was 12 days later on February 10, 2005 the patient immersed her mother with gasoline and set her on fire, which caused the death of Na Youngs mother.
There was another incident where a patient was released from the same hospital. In 1990, James Calvin Brady, was also released from the same facility by the same doctor even though he was diagnosed as homicidal and suicidal before his release (Man Shoots 5, 1990). Just one day after released he went to the Perimeter Mall and opened fire killing one and critically injuring four other people (para. 1). The Department of Justice (DOJ) began investigating Georgia state hospitals in 2007. This was only after several articles in the paper uncovered dozens of deaths from neglect and abuse to the patients. The DOJ sent a 63-page letter to Gov. Perdue, detailing the hospitals substandard medical care to include discharging patients based on unsatisfactory assessments and inadequate care to the patients.
The DOJ’s reports revealed that only 19 percent of the 10,000 treatment centers in Georgia are considered reliable, or are subject with over-administration of medication. Furthermore, a 2011 report by the ACLU states: “There is no credible evidence that those [Georgia] substandard [treatment facility] facilities perform a legitimate government duty.”
The GA Department of Justice has continued to monitor Georgia’s facilities despite the DOJ taking a “strong stand for patients” and working with the state to provide “better treatment to a wide array of patients than the federal system.”
This article will detail the health care deficiencies that the Department of Health and Human Services has brought to light.
The Health Care System: The GA Department
The Health Care System (HHS) makes up about two-thirds of the federal government. In 2007, the GA Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was among the first independent health insurance marketplaces to provide the same health care as all state, local and tribal health plans. Health care services were “distributed, accessible, and distributed, provided through, and from hospitals with an immediate financial benefit.” In July of 2007, the HHS released “In order to provide quality and affordable coverage for the poor, there must surely be a way for individuals or populations to access affordable health care.” In August of 2007, Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell stated, “[I]f one person becomes ill, there must be a path for medical coverage of it.”
The HealthCare system was established in 1983 by Gov. Deal. It has since expanded over 40 states via federal federal payments made in 1980, and provided services to hundreds of thousands of small business owners, including many who were poor, often underinsured and uninsured. This system provided for coverage to low-income people for their incomes. It has been described by Burwell as a “greatly expanded universal health care.”
In 1987, Governor Brown signed the Act of September 11, 2001, allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to administer the Affordable Care Act. It will expand CMS health care to include the ability to buy and rent health insurance, and help individuals, families and businesses avoid the cost of care. In 1988, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that “[d]espite adequate funding for the programs, the State’s underserved will be less able to afford quality care or provide essential services to their communities.”
The Affordable Care Act is one item that is expected to be rolled onto the November 2014 healthcare bill including an increase in the number of federal grants and tax credits and other government subsidies to help low- and moderate-income Americans afford the benefits.
The Affordable Care Act: A New Opportunity
Currently, insurance carriers in the United States have been able to deny coverage to hundreds of millions of American adults with no coverage. And the Affordable Care Act was one of several states that began rolling back the law in 2009. In April of 2012, at the outset of an important Congressional hearing, House Speaker Dennis Hastert described how the current law requires them to start accepting claims from non-American users during their “eligible time frame
There were several legal issues involved in this article. The first issue that was committed was patient safety. This article and other articles revealed that several patients have died and been injured to inadequate patient care and inappropriate patient monitoring. The second legal issue was neglect