Mark Stephen Thomas's Answers

Can The State Refuse A Mentally ILL Person's Request To Be treated?

State and federal law provide that a hospital, including a government hospital, is required to stabilize and provide emergency services to any patient, to include psychiatric care, if that hospital is licensed to handle psychiatric patients. If the hospital does not handle psych, it must stabilize and transfer to another hospital that is licensed for psychiatric services. Further, the law in Florida is that state-owned and operated crisis "receiving facilities" must accept psychiatric...

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Who Deals With Violations of Hospital-City Contracts To Treat The Uninsured?

Florida's public records access law includes municipalities, so a simple public records request for any contract the city has entered, submitted to the city public information office, should suffice. If a contract exists, the city must produce a copy of it. Complaints regarding a Florida government's refusal to produce a public record should be submitted to the Governor's Office of Open Records in Tallahassee. Generally, there is no requirement for any health care provider to treat anyone....

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Is prescribing tylenol 3 to an expecting mother mal-practice and put the mother at risk of losing her baby to the state of fl?

I recommend that you consult with a medical malpractice plaintiff's attorney. Simply prescribing an opiate for labor pain is not necessarily negligent, and the hospital's nurse is as well not necessarily negligent for making a report to the government. Having said that, a newborn adversely affected after birth by a drug administered pre-delivery is probably not a typical expected complication covered under the doctor's and hospital's informed consent (what your fiancee signed upon admission)....

Can I sue a hospital as a patient without being fired as a employee?

The short answer is that there are no protections from retaliatory firing under medical malpractice law, but other protections may apply, it depends upon the circumstances. In short, if you are an "at-will" employee and the hospital terminates you because they believe it is in their best interests, it is the hospital's right to do so. There are specific exceptions. Fraud and abuse "whistleblowers" are afforded protection, as are pregnant women and others with special conditions. If you don'...

I'm a physician and was let go from a practice, can I force the practice to offer a way for patients to contact me if they ask?

The short answer is "no", without a contract provision that requires the practice to send any patients to you, the choice of practitioner is left solely to the patient. Your prior patients do not legally "belong" to either your prior practice or to you. The property interest involved is in the medical records of such patients. In Florida, a practice's medical records are the property of either the practitioner who generated the medical record by his/her treatment (i.e., you), or the...

Can the state of florida collect bills from my inheritance if I'm in a nursing home or become ward of state ?

The State of Florida cannot directly access your personal funds -- the State would have to sue you in court to obtain a monetary judgment for any money owed to it, just like any other legal party. However, if you are a Medicaid recipient, you signed an agreement that permits the Florida Medicaid program to recover nursing home charges from your assets. Some assets are protected, such as a homestead, but if you are residing in a nursing home, your personal home will at some point in time lose...

Is it possible to get a license from the Florida Board of Nursing with a juvenile misdemeanor marijuana posession charge?

As you state, a juvenile misdemeanor drug conviction or plea of no contest is not an automatic bar from licensure. Any such limitation on an R.N. license is in fact a discretionary matter for the Board of Nursing. The only related mandatory bars for an R.N. are a felony conviction for the sale of a controlled substance, or the felony conviction of an adult involving drug use with a minor. From a practical standpoint, the Florida Board of Nursing is very strict involving matters of fraud,...

In the state of Florida can a family get together to force an adult brother/ son to be put in rehab for trying to commit suicide

Your first step might be a hospital Emergency Department or a feestanding Crisis Stabilization Unit. Florida law provides for both voluntary and involunatary admission to a treatment facility for substance abuse, if the patient meets the admission criteria. If the patient refuses to present to a hospital or CSU, Florida's "Baker Act" provides that any person may contact the designated law enforcement authority (it varies, county-by-county), to take the patient into custody and transport the...

Health insurance what to do. Unempl for 1 1/2 yrs need health ins dropped by one after 6 mos had emerg surg and co

I recommend that you compare the cost and coverage of the plan your insurance agent has presented you with the Cover Florida plans at www.coverfloridahealthcare.com. By law, the Cover Florida plans cannot reject you due to a preexisting medical condition. Cover Florida insurance is based on benefit packages that have been approved by the state in a public procurement process, so you have some assurance that the insurance plan has passed a government review. Coverage is tiered -- some plan...

About hospitals

Yes. Under state and federal law a Florida hospital can deny you non-emergency care if you cannot pay for such care.