Institutional Bullying in Healthcare Settings

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Over the past 7 months to a year as I have become increasingly physically ill with a new health problem I've been victimized by a major healthcare corporation here in Georgia and they destroyed all my doctor/patient relationships, I was physically abused by an on-call neurologist in the ER after I came in with severe near syncope and lower GI spasticity and neuromuscular/movement disorder problems under the guise of his neuro exam (beaten with his hammer), he was very interrogative, asking pointed questions, told me my medical condition was in my head, lied about test results in previous records from another hospital, then his female resident came back into the room alone and plopped her but down hard on my left foot. Afterwards vicious libelous material was posited in my medical record by the on-call neurologist and the mid-level hospitalist.

Administration also sabotaged two very important trips out-of-state to two specialists. The two remaining neurologists who were trying to facilitate these independent evaluations were prohibited frpm helping me and commanded to terminate me as a patient. In a nutshell multiple doctors and Administration twisted around my quirks due to having Aspergers and spun it as though I was mentally ill and therefore my word, irrelevant. As a result nobody would take anything I said seriously within that system, and I was ultimately officially kicked out for making a valid official grievance.

You can read more about it at my blog; http://www.PatientsRightsAdvocate.com

I have run into alot of difficulty finding legal representation in order to get a court order to mandate that the system remove the libel from my record so I can pursue my medical testing and treatment in peace without new doctors becoming biased each time I would sign a release of my records to them.

Although all regulatory complaints on a state level have failed (they just write up the perpetrators' side of the story and send it to the patient stating "standard of care has been met") the case has now been taken up by the Office of Civil Rights although it took me an hour to get the investigator to understand this type of discrimination.

I am aware that this sort of thing happens alot in the autistic community but that it seems not to be gaining much media attention. I have attempted to interest local TV news in this topic because it seems as though the abuse of people wiith autism is often taken by NTs as no big deal. That is very disturbing that people out there don't understand what's wrong with this type of mistreatment!

I am an older Aspie and I'm concerned about what will happen to us as we age and are less able to defend ourselves physically in such events.

The media people I've contacted seem to be afraid to cover this and they just tell me to get an attorney (which I am trying to do. I've called many. Several attorneys have advised me to call the news media in hopes that will bring the right attorney out and also other patients whom this has happened to).

I'm willing to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if I have to. I seriously want to set a precedent so that this won't keep happening to others. If I can have a part in preventing this from happening to someone else I'm glad to do it. Not even an animal should ever be treated in the way I and others have been when seeking medical care! It is inhumane, and make no mistake about it, it is discrimination!

I have also written Health and Human Serivices' Secretary Sylvia Burwell to ask that existing Civil Rights laws be strengthened to expressly make this kind of scenario an added violation spelled out in black and white so there will be no loopholes in these laws allowing this sort of abuse.

It needs to be expressly added as an additional violation under Civil Rights Laws and add very clear cut consequences with proper enforcement spelled out.

I encourage everyone to write letters requesting an amendment be made.

Send letters to;

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Attn: Secretary Sylvia Burwell
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775

And here is where you can file an official Office of Civil Rights complaint if you have been discriminated against because of your autism or for any other reason; https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf

If you have been bullied and discriminated against in your healthcare I would like to hear your story. Together we can take action to see that this abuse against our people ends. We must band together to affect social change.