There is a GQ thread about the possibility of leaving the hospital on your own authority.
(Aside from some obscure laws, the answer is: If a judge didn’t put you in there, you’re free to go.
Another poster pointed out that some patients, when told that checking themselves out means, legally, they are assuming all risks associated with their terminating treatment. duh.
This offends me no end - are there really people who cannot bear the thought of being held responsible for their own lives?
It has nothing to do with being responsible for your own life. It has to do with your ability to successfully sue the hospital/doctors for malpractice if they had screwed up.
Way back in 1973 my appendix ruptured. I was living in Brooklyn, NY then, and walked (staggered) several blocks to Long Island College Hospital. They did everything possible wrong, including an incorrect diagnosis and botched surgery. Their systemic incompetence came damn close to killing me. Afterward, I lay in the hospital bed for 2 weeks (no food, no liquids, but I was allowed to smoke), not strong enough to get out of bed. Plus, I had no access to a phone, and they wouldn’t let me call anyone to tell them where I was. Finally, after 2 weeks, when I was strong enough to get out of bed, I just put my clothes on and walked (staggered again) out. My final recovery wasn’t until 2 years later.
In many cases it also means that insurance won’t pay for any future problems associated with leaving the hospital. That’s a risk which could run up into the thousands of dollars; it seems foolish to throw all that over just to get out of the hospital early.
I checked myself out once a couple of years ago. I had what turned out to be my first panic attack, but I didn’t know at that point what it was, so I had a coworker call an ambulance. I was taken to the hospital and by the time I got there my HR had slowed and I was feeling better. I waited on the stretcher in the hall for four hours, waiting to see a doc. I asked the nurse how much longer it would be and she guessed at least four hours. So I checked myself out. Had to sign a bunch of papers, but they let me go.
I did once. I was having a gallbladder attack and it went away while I layed around waiting to be seen. I already had an appointment with a surgeon for a few days later. I’m not saying that it was the smart thing to do, but I did it.
My sister did with appendicitis because she decided all she needed was a good fart. They called her back to come get it taken care of.
I had a flat of railroad ties catch my hand crushing one finger and making some additional breaks as well. The first hospital I went to admitted me and their plan was to amputate the one finger and fix everything else. I asked for a second opinion there and the doc they sent said the same thing. Not being all that sure and having some pretty funky vibes over the place, I checked myself out AMA and went to a different hospital with a better orthopedic reputation. Many of the letters of this post were typed using the finger Place A wanted to lop off.
The consequence was that I had to foot the bill from Place A myself; since I left AMA my insurance turned it down. I fought it a bit but they both won in the end and I went out of pocket. Big deal though - it was worth under a grand (this was a few years back) to keep all my body parts where I wish them to be.
I almost did, when I had my appendix out. I was slated to go home that day anyway, but I couldn’t pee yet. The bitch nurse didn’t believe me when I told her that my urethra tends to clamp down when I have abdominal trauma (happened with both births), and with all the fluids they were pumping into me, I needed a catheter post haste. I was ready to check myself out just so I could empty my bladder, and just go see my urologist (I happened to have an in & out catheter at home I could use in the meantime). But I was able to bear down and force out some urine, so I told them I peed and they checked me out normally.
In my experience, just because you’re a doctor doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot, and/or a megomaniacal control freak. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to check yourself out AMA in some situations.
And I’m so, so glad I decided not to have my babies in a hospital!
I think I left the hospital several hours earlier than the medical types would have preferred after my first kid was born. (Long labor - we were supposed to stick around for 48 hours to make sure he didn’t contract GBS, as I recall.) I don’t think it was technically AMA, though. I could see myself doing it in the future.
I went with “the thought has never occurred to me” because I’ve never been in a situation where I thought my medical knowledge was better than that of the professionals around me. I’ve also never viewed health care as an adversarial system as some people seem to.
I can’t vote because the only time I’ve been hospitalized overnight (knock wood) was to have my tonsils out when I was 5.
But… I did refuse to be admitted a couple years ago when I went to the emergency room… I had double pneumonia & strep throat at the same time & they wanted to admit me.
I didn’t have insurance and more importantly, no one to care for my dogs so I left with drugs. Pretty sure I was close to dying.
I haven’t left AMA, but I have bitched and whined until they checked me out earlier than they wanted. First time was after my daughter was born. She finally arrived at 7:30am. When they were settling us into our room the nurse commented that there was a baby bathing lesson at 10am. I explained that I’d been in labour all night, my son was 14 months old and I was pretty sure I remembered how to bathe a baby. When they woke me up at 10 for the class I started making calls. By 4pm I was out and home where I could actually get some rest. Only took that long because I had to wait for the pediatrician to look at my daughter before they would let me leave.
Second time was after surgery when my roommate was apparently the most popular person on the block. Constant visitors all day long, room so crowded I couldn’t get from my bed to the bathroom without making my way through the crowd, and absolutely no way to sleep without sedatives. As soon as I passed all their tests (no pain pump, walking, talking, pooping) I was out of there.