More From BCH

[tpotter]

I received this from Beth Maloney today, and thought it important enough to forward on:

 

 

 

 

It’s been a beautiful, soft, snowy day here in Maine, and my house is resting in the middle of a winter wonderland. But it is with a heavy heart that I tell you Boston Children's Hospital has snatched two more children from their medically attentive and appropriate parents. The hospital had them taken into the state's "emergency" custody because it does not agree with the children's diagnoses made by physicians at Tufts. This time it is Mitochondrial Disease.

 

Both children - one five years old and the other fourteen - were under the care of a team at Tuft's Floating Hospital. The children are not related, but they share the same diagnosis and the same doctors. Both children were having GI issues. Both children went to BCH upon advice of their Tuft's physician who wanted the children seen by a GI doctor there. The children’s GI doctor had left Tufts for BCH with promises of a research team and money. Tuft's new GI team is not arriving until June 1st, and the children needed immediate help. The parents followed the advice of their Tufts physician and brought their children to the BCH emergency room.

 

The GI doctor was not permitted to see either child. The families were told he was being kept at arm's length because others within Children's do not agree with the diagnosis. The five years old's mother was essentially accused of Munchausen's by Proxy. The fourteen year old's family was told it's all psychological, that the girl has anorexia, and that she belongs in the locked psych unit. All of the fourteen year old's medication was stopped. The parents are permitted to visit their child for one hour, once a week, supervised by BCH staff. Guards were called to surround the family and friends and remove them from the hospital. Non-family members witnessed the fourteen year old's abduction...the parents were not even permitted to say goodbye.

 

Meetings were held this past week with U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch's office regarding the situation at BCH. His office has taken an interest in the fact that a hospital in his district is causing the parents of very sick children, who seek help in good faith, to lose custody of their children. Attached is a list of the towns in Congressman Lynch's district. If you live within one of these towns, will you please contact his office to share your own BCH horror story. The number is 617-428-2000. I know many of you are terrified to speak up because of the threat of BCH/DCF, but unless you begin to speak out publicly this travesty will not stop.

 

When powerful institutions secretly collaborate and then act without public accountability the result is always abuse.

 

Do NOT go to Boston Children's. You have no civil rights once you do. You are not entitled to a second opinion. If you challenge their opinion or seek to take your child to a different hospital, you risk that Children's will have your child taken by DCF.

 

I cannot overemphasize the seriousness of the situation at BCH. No child, ever, should be taken there for ANY reason. If you have managed to escape from BCH with your child, I recommend that you immediately notify the hospital in writing that you withdraw any consents you signed when your child was admitted. This is not legal advice. I am simply telling you what I, as a parent, would do for my own child - knowing what I know now. Generally, those medical consents remain outstanding for at least six months, often longer, and enable BCH to continue to probe all of your child's providers, teachers, and so forth for months. Believe me: they do it long after you've left the hospital. Do you want BCH in your life after you leave? If not, send your letter to Stuart Novick, the hospital's general counsel informing him in writing that any and all consents you signed are hereby immediately revoked and void. Make sure the letter states your child's name and date of birth and that you are the child's parent or legal guardian. Keep a copy. Give one to your child's providers. If BCH then continues to try to get information, it will be a HIPAA violation.

 

For those of you who have already lost custody, I would immediately notify the child's DCF social worker in writing, with a copy to the hospital's general counsel, that your child is not to be a participant in any medical or psychological research. You do have that right even when the state has custody. Write that your notice is being delivered pursuant to 110: CMR Department of Children and Families § 11:23. Make certain you keep a copy.

 

I thank God every day that we never made it to that place when Sammy was desperately ill. I believe in my heart they would have taken him from me. I am asking the thousands of people on this email blast list to please tell everyone you know to stay away from BCH unless they are willing to risk losing their child. We have succeeded in stopping PANDAS parents from going there. We need to cast a wider net.

 

I can only imagine how extensive this problem is because - obviously - not every child's parent who is in this situation manages to reach me.

 

Beth