questions re. alcohol poisoning and hospital procedure

She's not suicidal, but she is depressed, and her drinking problem has spiraled out of control by now. They would probably want to keep her longer for psychiatric evaluation, wouldn't they? If they do, what would that entail?

No, actually. A standard involuntary psychiatric hold is 72 hours, and there are fairly strict guidelines. A person has to be identified as being a danger to herself or others. A patient can consent to the psychatric evaluation, and then it's no longer an involuntary hold.

The staff wouldn't tell the boyfriend much of anything, unless (at least in my state, California) he lied and identified himself as her husband or her registered domestic partner. I have straight friends who have registered with the state the same way that a gay couple would, just so they have the legal right to discuss and consent to medical treatment for an incapacitated partner.

For an involuntary hold longer than 72 hours, there has to be a hearing before a judge, and a valid-sounding reason to keep the patient in the hospital against their will. I have a friend who thought he was Jesus Christ and that the CIA was trying to poison him.

This was a normal guy who just snapped one day, and his companion spent a lot of money hiring a lawyer who was able to get the involuntary hold extended to 30 days. It was an expensive and complicated process trying to keep a mentally ill person in the hospital, even though they swore they were just fine and ready to go home.

The way the laws are now, unless he had a signed authorization form from her, and had it with him, they would tell him nothing. They wouldn't even admit she was there. The privacy laws regarding disclosure of medical information are quite restrictive. Even if he were her husband, no info without the signed form.

The fact someone was suffering from alcohol poisoning wouldn't necessarily be an indication they were suicidal. There are a number of young people who die each year from alcohol poisoning. It is usually a side effect of stupidity and involvement in college partying. The amount of alcohol varies from person to person in order to get to that point.

I think it is unlikely she would recover enough in a few hours to be released. I recall reading somewhere that it takes about one hour for one ounce of alcohol to clear the body. If she had consumed enough for it to be considered alcohol poisoning, it would take a lot longer than a few hours.

MM

MaryMumsy said:

The fact someone was suffering from alcohol poisoning wouldn't necessarily be an indication they were suicidal. There are a number of young people who die each year from alcohol poisoning. It is usually a side effect of stupidity and involvement in college partying. The amount of alcohol varies from person to person in order to get to that point.

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That's an important point, alcohol poisoning is usually accidental and happens much more often with very inexperienced and first-time drinkers who drink large amounts of alcohol beverages, significantly more than even an "experienced" drunk, while having little or no idea what it would do to them. Getting such a person to a hospital IMMEDIATELY can save their life.

With your character already having a drinking problem, what she has sounds a lot more like alcoholism. And describing that takes at least another post...

MaryMumsy said:

The way the laws are now, unless he had a signed authorization form from her, and had it with him, they would tell him nothing. They wouldn't even admit she was there. The privacy laws regarding disclosure of medical information are quite restrictive. Even if he were her husband, no info without the signed form.

The fact someone was suffering from alcohol poisoning wouldn't necessarily be an indication they were suicidal. There are a number of young people who die each year from alcohol poisoning. It is usually a side effect of stupidity and involvement in college partying. The amount of alcohol varies from person to person in order to get to that point.

I think it is unlikely she would recover enough in a few hours to be released. I recall reading somewhere that it takes about one hour for one ounce of alcohol to clear the body. If she had consumed enough for it to be considered alcohol poisoning, it would take a lot longer than a few hours.

MM

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I agree with this and wouldalso add that if she indeed had alchohol poisoning she would most likely be in ICU on a breathing machine for at least 24 hours until she starts to breath in her on. Alchohol is a depresses the respiratory drive and she would require mechanical ventilation for a short period of time- this is assuming she didn't vomit and aspirate the contents of her stomach into her lungs- a commom and frequent side effect of this- Boy friend would get NO information- none- zip zero-

Most people refer to them as 'hippa' (pronounced that way). Shorthand for HPPA, the healthcare portability and privacy act.

MM

The receptionist might tell him no information could be released due to the Hippa law. The form needed would a Consent for Release of Confidential Information.

What she might say is something like "Due to the Hippa law we cannot release information on any patient without that patient having first given consent. I'm sorry but we can't even confirm or deny that person is here."

Then he's gonna say "Expletive!" "I know she's here!"

He might ask to leave his name and contact information "just in case she shows up and wants to contact him."