"If at age 20 you are a conservative then you have no heart. If at age 30 you are a liberal then you have no brains."
Sir Winston Churchill
ADVOCATE FOR TERM LIMITS

Obama obviously knows very little about economics, specifically that "Society stagnates when independent productive achievers begin to be socially demonized and even punished for their accomplishments." This dilemma fogs Obama's reality. To him, accepting this truth is a "false choice", his answer to things he doesn't understand. And by the way... where is John Galt?

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

THE CASE OF PRISONER JUSTINA PELLETIER

To those who have not heard the story of Justina Pelletier, prepare to be outraged.  To  those who are familiar with it ...prepare to be outraged again.

Her ongoing nightmare was first chronicled by Boston Globe reporters Neil Swidey and Patricia Wen in December of 2013.  Justina is now a 15 year old young woman from West Hartford, Connecticut who was diagnosed at Tufts University Hospital with Mitochrondrial Disease by the Chief of Metabolism Services , Dr. Mark Korson, who had been treating her for three years.  Mitochrondrial Disease is a group of rare genetic conditions that effect energy, the stomach, the muscles, the brain and the heart.  Justina was the second daughter in a family of four daughters to be so diagnosed.

In February of 2013 while suffering from the flu, she  was rushed by ambulance accompanied by her mother Linda, to Boston Childrens Hospital (BCH ) in Massachusetts at the recommendation of Dr. Korson to see her Gastroenterologist, Dr. Alex Flores who had transferred to BCH from Tufts.

When Justina and her mother arrived at BCH she was not seen by Flores.  Instead her case was taken over by the Psychiatry Department at BCH who within three days came to the diagnostic conclusion that instead she was suffering from Somatoform  disorder which in laymen's terms translates for some into something like "your condition and related manifestations are all in your head".
When Linda and her husband Lou, who was on the telephone were notified of this, they were also notified that the Doctors from BCH were unilaterally withdrawing several medications prescribed by Tufts.  Both parents were vehement in their objection to this and demanded that Dr. Flores examine their daughter.


The BCH team then further notified the parents that they were prohibited from seeking any second opinions including from Dr. Korson.  Dr. Flores later admitted that he was also prohibited by BCH from even talking to his patient, Justina.


Lou Pelletier arrived at BCH the next morning determined to bring his daughter and wife home.  He noticed almost immediately that security guards were blocking every exit.  The BCH Doctors then told the parents that they had referred Justina's case to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families with the recommendation that DCF take emergency custody of Justina on the basis that Linda and Lou Pelletier had been committing "Medical Child Abuse" which is a medical/legal "catchall phrase" as described by the two reporters.  It is controversial because it is very elastic and can stretch the meaning and substance of parents acting against the best interests of their child in a medical setting.


By Valentine's day 2013, Lou Pelletier had had enough and told the nurses he was taking his daughter home.  The hospital called security who again blocked all the exits and Lou called the the Boston cops.  When the police arrived they were informed by the medical staff that a 51A complaint had been filed against the parents and the case would be heard by a Judge the next morning.  The parents were then blocked from seeing Justina and the nightmare began in earnest.


The next day Suffolk County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Johnston took custody of Justina away from her parents and transferred it to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on an emergency basis.  Justina was then sent to a unit called Bader 5 and placed in a locked room in the Psychiatric wing of BCH.  Bader 5 is reserved for seriously disturbed adolescents  even though there was no history whatsoever, that she had ever suffered or was suffering from any emotional or psychiatric malady.  This locked facility for at risk patients would be her home for the next nine months until her father broke an unconstitutional gag order from Judge Johnston and went public with his daughter's ordeal. As a result a contempt motion has now been filed against him.


Since Justina's incarceration, the family has retained legal counsel but their ability visit their daughter on a daily basis has been restricted for dubious reasons, to once a week under supervision.  Dr. Mark Korson has tried in vain to convene a meeting of all interested parties, including the parents in order to arrive at a consensus for the future treatment of Justina. 


The staff of both BCH and DCF have continued to treat the parents as both troubled and trouble makers without seemingly understanding the emotional toll being taken on them and her siblings.  The Judge appears to believe everything he is told by the hospital and the state while also being angry over the violation of his gag order which Allen Dershowitz has said is unconstitutional.


It has further been disclosed that the Pelletier case is just the latest in a series of at least five others at BCH where parents lost custody of their children to the BCH Psychiatry Department, one of whom  reportedly died while in their care.  This practice, which is not contained to BCH, has given rise to a sardonic appellation.  It has become known as "parent-ectomy".


Kathleen T. Higgins an RN who formerly worked at BCH and who is a mandated reporter for child abuse situations has accused BCH in a statement to DCF of "causing Justina to be unjustly and illegally imprisoned".


Justina's physical condition has deteriorated markedly since she became a ward of the state and was taken off her medication.  She cannot walk and is confined to a wheel chair while suffering from a variety of physical and emotional symptoms including edema of her lower extremities.  It should be remembered that just six weeks prior to her going to BCH, she was ice skating.


In late March of 2014, Judge Johnston granted permanent custody of Justina, a citizen of Connecticut who is now in a residential psychiatric facility in Framingham Mass., to the State of Massachusetts.  This done even while DCF was attempting to  transfer her to a facility in her home state.  Lou Pelletier is now seeking a writ of Habeas Corpus to have his daughter restored back to her family.  


This is about as frightening a case of violating both individual and parental rights and protections that I have ever seen in this country and the facts presented here today are just a synopsis of all that has unfolded.  The level of Judicial, Medical and Governmental malpractice is close to, if not actually, criminal.


The ongoing case of Justina Pelletier demonstrates in stark and dramatic fashion, how far down the rabbit hole the nation  has fallen.  The Judge and the staff at both BCH and DFC involved in this horror should  not just be removed and fired but arrested and tried for false imprisonment, for child abuse, and for violating the civil rights of Justina Pelletier who is an American Citizen who has an unalienable right to her life, her liberty and the pursuits of her happiness. She has the right that her dreams...the dreams that all young girls  have... should not turn to sackcloth and ashes  because she has become a pawn of the arrogant and powerful.  To help her and her family go to FREE JUSTINANOW.COM  ON FACEBOOK.


ERLANDSSON

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