Need help in NJ with Dr. Kevorkian clones

Here is some info I found:

The Life Legal Defense Foundation:

CHALLENGING THE HOSPITAL’S ACTIONS

"In trying to prevent a patient’s healthcare provider from withdrawing treatment against the patient’s and family’s wishes, one might initially request the court to issue a temporary order prescribing the healthcare of the patient2 and simultaneously file a petition to determine whether the hospital’s acts or proposed acts are consistent with the patient’s desires as expressed in an advance health care directive or otherwise made known to the court.3"

16 Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 730; see also Conroy, 486 A.2d 1209, 1225 (N.J. 1985) (noting that where the doctor’s advice and the patient’s wishes regarding medical treatment conflict, the patient’s decision must be accorded respect).

More:

Challenging the Hospital's Actions

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Here’s one New Jersey attorney on The Life Legal Defense Foundation Board of Advisors:

Anne Kindt, Esq.
California/New Jersey

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Information about Durable Power of Attorney in NJ:

Durable Power of Attorney

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Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials:

1. Main page and Introduction to Clinical Trials for Pancreatic Cancer Patients:

Treatment Trial Guide

2. Main search page for Clinical Trials for Pancreatic Cancer where you can differentiate in the search for Pancreatic Cancer in Stage I through Stage IV, Stage IV-A and Stage IV-B and Recurrent Pancreatic Cancer

Beginning of Search Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials

3. All Current Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Clinical Trials:

All Current Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Clinical Trials

4. All Current Pancreatic Cancer Supportive Care Clinical Trials:

All Current Pancreatic Cancer Supportive Care Clinical Trials

1) Get him to another hospital, pronto.

2) Get a really nasty lawyer and sue their pants off!

Simplemines, prayers extended for your husband and for you.

Here is some general information about bioethics in medical care and about obtaining a bioethics consult. It was on the State University of New York (SUNY) website and you might find it helpful when discussing your husband's care or when searching for a legal advocate.

You might even be able to get a local referral by phoning the contact people listed below:

Upstate Medical University Center for Bioethics and Humanities State University of New York (SUNY):

"Sometimes families, patients, physicians, and staff have difficult decisions to make about health care. While these matters are best discussed with those involved, differences of opinion can exist and are often difficult to resolve. The University Hospital Ethics Committee can help.

1. What is the Ethics Committee?

The Ethics Committee is composed of doctors, nurses, social workers, lawyers, administrators, clergy and community representatives with experience and training in medical ethics. The Committee meets regularly to consider issues related to health care.

2. What is an Ethics Consultation?

An ethics consultation provides information, education and perhaps another perspective about the ethical considerations that pertain to a health care situation or decision.

An ethics consultation might be helpful when there is a question about:

starting and stopping life support equipment (breathing machines)

a Do-Not-Resuscitate order (D.N.R.)

refusal of treatment

who should make the final decision about what is the best medical treatment

Living Wills and Health Care Proxies
treatment recommendations that don’t seem right

If an ethics consult is requested, one or more members of the Ethics Consultation Service will review the case and discuss the issues with the concerned patients, families, and/or staff. If indicated, the consultant will place a note in the medical record.

3. Who may request a consult?

Anyone involved in an ethical issue arising out of patient care may ask for a consult. This includes physicians, staff, trainees, families and patients.

4. How do I request on Ethics Consultation?

Patients may request a consult by contacting their doctor, a nurse or social worker, or by telephoning the hospital operator at 315-464-5540. When the request is received, a member of the Ethics Consultation Service will contact you. Ethics consultations are available 7 days a week. The Consultation Service is directed by Dr. Faber-Langendoen, who can be reached by pager through the hospital operator or through her office at 315-464-8464."

Ethics Consultation

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Here's some background info on DNR:

March 1991 XII/7

CPR AND DNR REVISITED

National Review Online

April 13, 2005, 8:00 a.m.

Be Prepared - A person-to-person calling-the-shots plan.

By Rita L. Marker

Excerpt: A Directive you can live with

"...So what are people to do to make certain that their values are respected, their lives protected, and their medical care provided in a manner that they would choose?

Does this mean, as so many experts have advised, that everyone should have a living will? If, and only if, the term, “living will,” is being used generically to refer to an advance directive, the answer is “yes.” Frequently, lawyers and others who should know better call any advance directive a living will. But there are major differences between the types of advance directives. All living wills are advance directives, but all advance directives are not living wills.

A living will is the oldest type of advance directive. It is a signed, witnessed (or notarized) document, sometimes called a “declaration” or a “directive.” Most living wills instruct an attending physician to withhold or withdraw medical interventions from its signer if he is dying or in a permanently vegetative state. But, since the document is so vague and the attending physician may be unfamiliar with the signer’s views and values, the document could be interpreted by the physician in a manner that was not intended by the signer. A Washington State case provides a sad example of this.

Mary Jo Estep, a very active retired schoolteacher, broke her hip. As part of her rehabilitation she checked into a nursing home where, on admission, she signed a living will that stated she was not to receive extraordinary measures if she was dying. A few days before she was to go home, a tired nurse gave Ms. Estep the wrong medication — a mistake that could have been reversed easily at a local hospital emergency room. But that didn’t happen. Instead, a doctor wrongly interpreted her living will to mean that Estep would not want treatment. By evening, Estep was in severe distress, with her blood pressure falling and pulse weakening. She died that night. Legal experts in Washington later said that Estep’s case fell into the murky and untested realm of state law. Eventually the case was resolved when the nursing home was fined $2,500 for a medication error.

Mary Jo Estep’s case is unusual but not unique. Other cases of overly broad interpretations of living wills have taken place. Yet the problems with the living will should not deter people from having a different type of advance directive.

The most protective and the most flexible type of advance directive is the "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care." With this type of document you designate someone else to make health-care decisions on your behalf if you are ever temporarily or permanently unable to make those decisions for yourself. The person you name is usually called an agent, although some states call this individual a health-care proxy, health-care representative or health-care surrogate.

When you are able to make your own decisions, it is the responsibility of your health-care providers to let your know your diagnosis, to give you information about possible treatments, as well as the risks and benefits associated with those treatments. Then, it is up to you to give or withhold consent based on that information. If you have named an agent to make decisions for you that person stands in your shoes. The doctor gives your agent the same information that would have been given to you and then, based on prior discussions you and your agent have had and with the knowledge of your values, your agent gives or withholds consent for treatment.

You can, but need not, name a family member as your agent. In addition to selecting an agent who agrees with you, it is important that that person has the ability to be assertive when necessary. He should be a person who will be open to receiving necessary information and who will not be intimidated by a physician or ethics committee who may hold different views. .

Because the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is a legal document, it is important that you have one that is carefully drafted. It is not necessary, advisable, or even possible to write everything down about your wishes. There is no way you can envision every possible condition, treatment, or situation you could face at any time. The most important thing is to maintain communication with your agent about your wishes as they change from time to time. (Sometimes what we want now may be different than what we wanted five years ago.)

Because the requirements for a valid Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care differ from state to state, your document must comply with the law in your state. Some states require that the documents be witnessed. Others require that they be notarized, while yet others may permit either. Some states require that specific warnings or notices be included in any preprinted forms. Others do not. (If your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is valid when you sign it in your home state, it will be honored in other states when you are traveling or if you have moved to another state.)

Having a carefully drafted Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is vital for every adult — young or old, healthy or sick, disabled, or able-bodied. That is the only way to be assured that someone who has your best interests in mind will be making your medical decisions if you are ever unable to make those decisions for yourself..."

— Rita L. Marker is an attorney and executive director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.

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More: NRO: Be Prepared

She's not taking offense at the wrong thing. If her instincts tell her that her husband is in a hostile environment he probably is.

Some doctors and staff do, indeed measure their patients for a coffin, bending the rules and "taking shortcuts" because by law-of-averages they will be right, say, 80% of the time. Of course, that means 2 in 10 times they will be wrong and "innocent" lives will be lost.

You were lucky with your mom and with your older friend, but not all hospitals work that way. Each has a culture of its own and it even varies from ward to ward within a hospital. Sometimes arrogance, sleep deprivation and "paternalism" get the best of the doctors and staff. I speak, unfortunately, from experience. I'm fighting an uphill battle to hold the doctors and hospital that treated my father accountable for their actions.
http://users.starpower.net/neustadter/menu.html

So my thoughts are with this woman, and I would tell her to have your husband transferred out of there or walk into the hospital’s Risk Assessment office with a lawyer in tow.

She's not taking offense at the wrong thing. If her instincts tell her that her husband is in a hostile environment he probably is.

Some doctors and staff do, indeed measure their patients for a coffin, bending the rules and "taking shortcuts" because by law-of-averages they will be right, say, 80% of the time. Of course, that means 2 in 10 times they will be wrong and "innocent" lives will be lost.

You were lucky with your mom and with your older friend, but not all hospitals work that way. Each has a culture of its own and it even varies from ward to ward within a hospital. Sometimes arrogance, sleep deprivation and "paternalism" get the best of the doctors and staff. I speak, unfortunately, from experience. I'm fighting an uphill battle to hold the doctors and hospital that treated my father accountable for their actions.
http://users.starpower.net/neustadter/menu.html

So my thoughts are with this woman, and I would tell her to have her husband transferred out of there or walk into the hospital’s Risk Assessment office with a lawyer in tow.

sc2_ct advice was right on, and pre-emptive.

Why wouldn't you do as he suggested instead of threatening to do something AFTER life support was removed?

Call me suspicious.

Coleus, I haven't read too far down the thread so you might have already been pinged to this. This is one of the few moments I actually wish I still lived in northcentral NJ.

Prayers for your husband, and for you and the rest of the family. Do you mind naming the hospital he is at, and where you would like to transfer him to?

Can church members help at all, sit with him, especially if he can be moved closer to home?

Usually there is one doctor in charge - write a letter, have you husband sign it, and have it put in the medical records.

There are also hospitilization specialists - doctors who specialize in the care of patients in the hospital and one of those might be better in charge of your husband's case than his oncologist or primary physician - especially because your husband's most immediate problems are the result of treatment, rather than the disease.

Might he benefit from respiratory therapy?

Mrs VS

Videotape/ Voice record(borrow/beg or steal one) all future doctor/hospital admin contact.. Get a lawyer.. Call a meeting and record that too.. Make them know they are being watched..

They honor their money as Holy not your husbands LIFE..

Maybe I didn't explain this correctly...

The resident HOUNDED me. ALL day. I mean ALL day. I said NO. He didn't give up.

That's unethical and CRUEL. He made that first day about a million times worse, hovering over me like the Grim Reeper.

I had to scream at him, "What part of 'no' don't you understand? End of discussion!" He saw he was upsetting me, and he REFUSED to stop. THAT is "compassionate care"? That's CRUEL and INHUMANE. This guy should be working on computers. He should be NO WHERE NEAR human beings!

Then when Junior saw it wasn't going to work with me, he started in on my husband's son. Absolutely unbelievable.

I also told that resident NOT to go NEAR my husband. When I saw him near the room a few days later, I told him I would file a complaint against him and have his license suspended. NO ONE has the right to harrass a person under severe duress into signing a DNR order that my husband DID NOT WANT. And someone who isn't interested in preserving life but making a bad situation worse shouldn't be near sick people.

Interestingly, I've never seen Junior in ICU since.

Oh, and yes, I do intend to file charges against him when all this is done. Junior needs a refresher course in human compassion.

And just to let you know, part of the reason why the little monster might've been so insistent is that he's from the same chemo group that accepted my husband into the hospital. The main dr. went on three-weeks' vacation when my husband was admitted to the hospital. Apparently NO ONE from the group was overseeing him as he developed sepsis and went into septic shock.

They ignored all of the signs of sepsis. I have no idea if anyone even saw him, and that might include this particular little geek.

I don't know if it's malpractice, and frankly, I don't give a rat's azz at this point. All I care about is my husband's life.

I'll make sure this little bastard can't do this to anyone else LATER.

I hope that sets you straight.

thanks for the ping........

help should be on the way.

Novena To St. Peregrine
Glorious wonder-worker, St. Peregrine, you answered the divine call with a ready spirit, and forsook all the comforts of a life of ease and all the empty honors of the world to dedicate yourself to God in the Order of His holy Mother.

You labored manfully for the salvation of souls. In union with Jesus crucified, you endured painful sufferings with such patience as to deserve to be healed miraculously of an incurable cancer in your leg by a touch of His divine hand.

Obtain for me the grace to answer every call of God and to fulfill His will in all the events of life. Enkindle in my heart a consuming zeal for the salvation of all men. Deliver me from the infirmities that afflict my body (especially.....).

Obtain for me also a perfect resignation to the sufferings it may please God to send me, so that, imitating our crucified Savior and His sorrowful Mother, I may merit eternal glory in heaven.

St. Peregrine, pray for me and for all who invoke your aid.

Prayer to Saint Peregrine

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called "The Mighty," "The Wonder-Worker," because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have had recourse to you.

For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fibre of our being, and who had recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favoured with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you.

(Pause here and silently recall the names of the sick for whom you are praying)

Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His great goodness and mercy. Amen.

St. Peregrine was born in 1260 at Forlì, Italy to an affluent family. He lived a comfortable life as a youth, and politically opposed the papacy. After he experienced the forgiveness of St. Philip Benizi, he changed his life and joined the Servite order. He was ordained a priest, and later returned to his home to establish a Servite community. There he was widely known for his preaching, penances, and counsel in the confessional. He was cured of cancer, after he received a vision of Christ on the cross reaching out His hand to touch his impaired limb. He died in 1345 and was canonized in 1726. He is the patron of cancer patients.

See if the hospital receives funding from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (UMDNJ).

UMDNJ foundation money was involved with the hospice Terri Schiave died at.

This thread has become a bump list for reference.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1593821/posts
UMDNJ chief to press for change

It's probably her choice to move him for sure and if this is some hospital from hell, she should do so.

thanks for the ping.

Sounds to me like this guy was ordered to try and get that signed by his superior.

The two reasons I know of them getting that aggressive would be.
#1 Your insurance wouldn't be able to cover being kept long term on machines and the hospital doesn't want the bill.
#2 They see a long term machine thing with no end that could bankrupt YOU for no reason and there is a concern by them for you.

The reasons that could be sinister I guess could happen in some places, I've just never heard of such things.
Anyway, looking at what you said, I would have concern and maybe like another member said, move him to another facility of your choice where you think he can get better care.

I also hope he is doing better by the way.

Best wishes and absolutely do watch over him like you are.