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CA law would ban patient dumping

February 21, 2007 — 8:01pm ET
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State and local officials in California plan to announce today the filing of a bill which would make it a crime to dump patients on the street. The bill comes in the wake of a large scale investigation of patient dumping by the region's hospitals, targeting at 55 cases of sick homeless patients who were allegedly left on the street on Los Angeles' skid row.

To date, authorities have had a hard time building cases against the hospitals targeted, given that there's no California law on the books which specifically prohibits dumping a homeless person on the curb. If the new bill passes, however, it would become a misdemeanor for a hospital to transport patients anywhere other than their home without their informed consent. Individuals who broke the law could face a $1,000 fine and two years in jail; facilities could see penalties of up to $10,000.

If the bill doesn't have legs, though, it's not clear whether city and state officials will be able to proceed with their legal actions against suspect hospitals. City attorneys have filed charges of false imprisonment against a Kaiser Permanente hospital for dumping one homeless woman on skid row in 2005. In turn, the Los Angeles Police Department is announcing that it will arrest anyone who engages in such patient dumping on false imprisonment charges. However, legal experts say the charges may not stick in either case.

To earn more about the legislation:
- read this Los Angeles Times article

Related Articles:
Hospitals accused of dumping homeless. Report
Kaiser faces patient dumping charges. Report
LA hospital investigated for patient dumping. Report

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Comments

By Anne Llewellyn | Posted 10:36am | February 24, 2007

There is a law to prevent patient dumping for hospitals it is the EMTLA law. This law ensures that transfers are safe and require patient's permission as well as providers approval. There is a fine of $50,000 per professional per incident. The patient dumping as detailed in your report fits this criteria.

By Anonymous | Posted 4:00pm | March 5, 2007

Where are hospitals supposed to send homeless people once they are discharged?

By Jason Grant Garza | Posted 5:54pm | June 26, 2007

What a farce ... I went thru a similar process ... just type my name into a
search engine ... Jason Grant Garza ... I got denied emergency services ...
got a "Nurse Ratched" letter from the arresting agency seeking information
and records, I went to CMS & L/C (Center for Medicare and Licensing and
Certification) over the illegality only to have them ignore my paperwork, I
went to federal court (no lawyer thou I asked, No due process ... not
allowed to speak), I then went to the Inspector General (who have now fined
the hospital - years later) ... except the victim is left with nothing. No
damages, restitution, etc ... the perps (CMS,L/C, SF General) all still
have their jobs and I am left to die. Please call Bevan Dufty
(415-554-5646) at the SF Board of Supervisors if you don't believe me. Call
Nancy Peolsi's Office (415-556-4862) since I have been involved with them
for over six years and still sit here empty handed and damaged ... and the
band plays on! Mind you this new law would do nothing for the poor ... the hospital and city lawyers would fight and we all know justice is for the rich. Just examine my case ... I asked for a lawyer ... now, I'm dead right ... was I or anyone entitled to JUSTICE. It's a cute law with no real application since JUSTICE IS FOR THE RICH!!!! Type my name into a search engine and the "reality" will become abundantly clear and so will the B.S.

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