My father was in my care for 2.5 years, I had full Medical and Legal Power of Attorney. When he was sent to the hospital for a minor fall he developed pneumonia so they started feeding him through an IV. After he recovered from his pneumonia the hospital recommended that he go to an after care facility for rehab so I chose one for him. He developed a fever there and they sent him back to the hospital for tests. They found a tumor in his intestine, not knowing if IT was benign or not my STEP-brother had him put into Hospice there at the hospital and had his feeding tube terminated. My dad died peacefully a couple of weeks later.
I feel that this was completely wrong of the hospital to let my dad's stepson to determine his life span, especially when he had no Power of Attorney over my father.I would like to talk to an Attorney regarding this.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
A.
P.S. My step brother would benefit from my father dying as his mother was my dad's beneficiary, so my dad's life insurance would go to my step brother.
A Litigation attorney for malpractice for the hospital issue and perhaps a Wills, Trusts and Estates attorney for the beneficiary issue.
Maybe it's just me tonight, your other answers sounded harsh. My guess is talking to an attorny would help alot so that you can understand what happened legal wise and take a course of action or not. Personally, i don't feel like long drawn out legal stuff is worth it, better just to move on, but that doesn't mean you can't talk to someone and then decide.
Have you checked to see if there is someone at the hospital that can explain policy to you??? if you are thinking of sueing that might not be the best idea, but if you just want to understand what your rights were...
My condolences.
Dear A., I am not sure of the legalities of these types of issues. I just wanted to give you my sincere condolence on the loss of your father. I can only imagine how heart broken you must be after losing such an important person in your life. I hope with time you can find comfort in your fond memories of him. As a caregiver it is especially difficult for us to loose a person we were so devoted to. I'm sorry for the circumstances that are causing you further stress at such an emotional time. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.
L.
What are you seeking to gain actually? Sounds like your dad had a long life and you say he did die peacefully..... Are you suing your brother or the hospice? I don't think I get it.
Add on: Now that you've mentioned life insurance I see your dilemma. I would seek an atty that does wills, he would also know the ins and outs of the beneficiary situation. The problem with life insurance is that if Dad only named his wife ans beneficiary and didnt put any second beneficialries in, it will probably stand as is and go to your stepbrother. You and he dont have an amicable relationship I take it? Moral of the story: Pay attention to senior parents so you know what is really going on when we are left to pick up after they go. My step dad just passed recently..... but we were very good about all of us getting on the same page so there were no ill feelings in the end.
Prayers go out to you for your loss and strength to deal with what is.
how did your STEP-brother have the authority to do this? my sister cant even take my son to the hospital and get him treated when he fell out of the buggy and had a concusion.
I'm a social worker in a hospital and the first thing that came to my mind was, was your father still "decisional". If he was lucid and could make his own decisions, he could have decided to go on hospice himself and signed the papers. If he was not decisional and you were making all of his medical decisions, did the hospital have the POA papers on the chart each time he was in the hospital so the hospice would know who was the decision maker? I'm guessing you were involved in your dad's life---did you tell the hospice employees that you were POA? Hospice is such a wonderful program for so many; I hope they took good care of your dad. My condolences.
Look for an attorney that specializes in elder law and/or medical law.
I'm confused by this though. I worked as a social working in nursing homes for several years dealing with just these issues. Where were you in this when they found the tumor and he was moved to hospice, the feeding tube removal, etc. All of your POA paperwork should have been on the chart and if you knew this was going on you could have stopped it easily unless your father had provisions in a living will that he did not want life prolonging procedures if it was determined he was terminal.
Legally, you were the decision maker but you have to make sure everyone knows that is the case. If you aren't there or don't provide the paperwork to the hospital they have no way of knowing who would be the decision maker and would go to the closest family members starting with the wife and moving on from there. If you provided them this info and were involved in his care while he was in the hospital then they were in the wrong. But if you knew this was going on and didn't step then you really have no recourse. I know these situations and family dynamics can be so difficult during these times. My condolences to you.
Not clear what you are trying to do here...sue your stepbrother? I would *hope* that you wouldn't be after the hospital who followed family orders to remove the tube.
what about the attorney who drew up the power of attorney paperwork?
maybe I missed something....why didnt you step in when the step-brother overstepped his boundaries? If your dad was in hospice for several weeks, thats plenty of time to point out SB didnt have authority. why didnt you speak up to the hospital right from the get-go? if you had power of attorney you should have been on the paperwork and should have spoken up immediately!! I'm afraid you wont have a leg to stand on legally as it sounds like you knowingly stood by and did nothing. sorry about your dad passing.
