Proposals: Give Mentally Ill Patients More Rights in the ER

By Hillary Chabot, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

Sep. 25–BOSTON — Methuen resident Evelyn Fields went to the emergency room to get treatment for heart palpitations.

Fields, who has a history of mental illness, said she was doped up with medication and held for three days instead.

“They weren’t treating me for my heart,” Fields said yesterday at a hearing meant to give the mentally ill more rights in hospital emergency rooms across the state.

Two bills before the Legislature would ensure the rights of mentally ill patients when it comes to restraints and seclusion.

Many mentally ill patients are often held in restraints, stripped of their clothing, and shot up with drugs without being asked when they visit emergency rooms, said Cathy Levin, chair of M-POWER ER rights campaign.

Officials at the Department of Public Health, who oversee hospital emergency rooms, announced a new working group to study and detail those rights yesterday in response to the rally.

“The goal of the working group is to bring all the stakeholders to the table … to learn about

best practices — both locally and nationally, and to develop policy and practice recommendations that will lead to change,” wrote DPH Commissioner John Auerbach and Barbara Leadholm, Commissioner of Mental Health in a joint statement.

However, neither commissioner believes any changes need to be made to current regulations.

Rep. Jen Flanagan, D-Leominster, said it’s sometimes tough to diagnose patients who are mentally ill, and the two bills should help the issue.

“A lot of emergency rooms aren’t equipped to deal with mental-health patients, and often they have different needs. This is something that definitely needs to be addressed,” Flanagan said.

Emergency departments, say opponents, are already burdened and would have more logistical hoops to jump through as they decide whether the patient must be treated for physical or mental symptoms, which could slow care.

Before the bill was heard by the Mental Health Committee, the Mental Health Consumer Theatre Company did a skit detailing several mentally ill patients who have died after they were misdiagnosed by emergency- room doctors.

“People with psychiatric disabilities are human beings, with the same needs, wants and pain as everyone else,” said Pittsfield resident Sally Filkins, who founded the theater company.

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