Posted on 08/18/2006 11:11:03 AM PDT by BykrBayb
PLANT CITY -- Nurse Carla Sauer-Iyer won't lose her nursing license for discussing former patient Terri Schiavo's condition on television last year.
A Florida Board of Nursing panel dismissed a complaint against Sauer-Iyer on Thursday after a lawyer representing the Department of Health said rules requiring nurses not to disclose patient information also require them to report ``apparent neglect and abuse'' of patients.
``The obligation to protect the patient must prevail,'' Assistant General Counsel Kathryn Price told the probable cause panel.
Sauer-Iyer's 2005 CNN interview came after she raised concerns about Schiavo's welfare to law enforcement, officials at the convalescent center where she treated Schiavo in the mid-1990s and in two 2003 legal depositions.
Her March 22, 2005, interview -- during the last round of legal arguments before Schiavo died March 31, 2005 -- apparently was a last effort on what she felt was Schiavo's behalf, Price said.
She became an ally of Bob and Mary Schindler, Schiavo's parents, who battled Schiavo's husband about her treatment.
``It appears (Sauer-Iyer) made a public position solely with the intent to protect the patient,'' Price said, asking the panel to rescind a previous vote that found probable cause to act against her.
The panel did as advised, thus ending the threat to Sauer-Iyer.
``Justice was served today,'' the nurse said, smiling with relief.
In an earlier interview, she said she ``would be devastated if I could not take care of patients.''
Her husband, Rama Iyer, an engineer, stood next to her in the kitchen of their Plant City home as they listened on speaker phone to the 20-minute review.
Afterward, he called the attempt to revoke his wife's license ``a waste of taxpayer money'' and said the state should have studied the issues more carefully before filing its complaint.
``Common sense ultimately will prevail,'' Iyer said. ``Unfortunately, people have to go through some trials and tribulations.''
Sauer-Iyer, 42, said she lost her job at the Pinellas County center after contacting the police. She now works at a Lakeland nursing center.
Taking away Sauer-Iyer's license could have a ``chilling effect'' on nurses' willingness to report apparent abuse, Price said.
She drew a clear distinction between Sauer-Iyer's case and others in which nurses sold information or put patient information on a public Internet site.
``The governor's own legal team asked for her deposition,'' said Francis Manion of the American Center for Law & Justice in Kentucky, who represented Sauer-Iyer. ``What sort of message would that have sent if this had gone forward?''
He said highly-publicized legal proceedings made Schiavo's condition public record.
``The whole world was talking about this woman's medical condition long before Carla gave her interview,'' Manion said during a phone interview after the review. ``Once someone's medical condition is placed at issue in litigation, there is no privilege of confidentiality.''
The situation with Schiavo was ``an extremely unusual case'' in which her medical condition was the subject of long debate, Price acknowledged Thursday.
Schiavo's husband, Michael, wanted his wife taken off life support, while her parents opposed removing it. The Schindlers said she laughed, responded to them and could improve with therapy.
Court-appointed doctors, however, said she was in a persistent vegetative state and incapable of recovery. An autopsy agreed.
Sauer-Iyer, who worked from April 1995 to August 1996 at the center where Schiavo was a patient, said the brain-damaged woman communicated and let nurses know when she was in pain. She was a licensed practical nurse at that time, butcompleted classes to become a registered nurse in 1996 and got her RN degree in 1997.
Sauer-Iyer felt Schiavo's husband, identified as M.S. in a letter by her lawyer, ``was a threat to her patient's physical well being and she thus sought to protect (Terri) by making this information known,'' Manion said.
``As a nurse, a leader in the community, you have to stand up and advocate for patients' rights regardless of the possible risk,'' Sauer-Iyer said. ``I would do it all over again.''
Here it is. Thanks Mod. The cookies did the trick.
Yes, we all can and should thank God for this nurse's victory over evil. Not only did she win but Michael Schiavo lost. Think of what he would have done with a court saying it illegal for nurses to report patient abuse.
So, a nurse complains about the treatment of a patient who happens to be a political football, and the powers that be get her fired?
Pinellas County is Satan's winter home.
Michael Schiavo's nursing license is still under a veil of suspicion though.
There is justice in the world.
"Pinellas County is Satan's winter home."
Couldn't have said it better.
Great news! There should not even have been an issue.
He still hasn't been prosecuted. At least now, it's not illegal for the witnesses to testify.
Here in North Florida there will be another public opinion poll that matters on this issue. Randall Terry is running against Jim King, Fla. Senate President, who cast the deciding vote against Terri.
Thank God - Carla is a wonderful woman and a great nurse who truly cares about her patients. I have met her and can vouch that she is an asset to those for whom she cares.
She never wanted publicity - coming forward was certainly not a pleasant experience for her, and others in the hospice industry have not been kind to her.
Good thing for her.I'm surprised some liberal judge didn't decide to starve her to death like they did to Terri Schiavo !!!
Now if Jeb Bush would endorse Tom Gallager for Governor it would be a relief. Crist Let Terri Die and when he did that, Crist violated the Constitution and his oath.
PING!!
But you probably could have said it faster. It took me 20 years to figure it out.
Crist, and a lot of others let Terri die. Crist also publicly praised Greer for causing Terri's death.
This did not happen in Pinellas County. This was orchestrated at the state level. Tallahassee's just as far fetched as Pinellas County is.
It was useful to slander her while Terri was alive; now that the patient has been murdered, we see the case for that murder crumbling before our eyes.
I would never want Michael Schiavo as my nurse.
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the patient died.
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