A startling incident of the government forcing a medical examination on an 11 year old boy in Colorado has been reported by a number of media outlets including the Washington Times, the Rocky Mountain News, WorldNetDaily, and AP.
It seems that they boy was injured while goofing around, but it was not a life-threatening injury, and the boys' father, a former medic in Vietnam, was treating him.
Apparently a neighbor called paramedics, but the father declined their treatment, which is where the trouble began.
"The paramedics were not at all respectful of Tom's decision, nor did they act in a manner we would expect from professional paramedics," the acquaintance said.
So the ambulance crew, who also could not be reached by WND, called police, only to be told the decision was up to the Shiflett family.
The paramedics then called the sheriff's office, and officers responded to the home, and were told everyone was being cared for.
Then the next day, Friday, social services workers appeared at the door and demanded to talk with John "in private."
They were so persistent Tom ended up having to get John out of the bathtub he was just soaking in, to bring him to the front porch where the social workers could see him, the family reported.
Then, following an afternoon shopping trip to town, the family settled in for the evening, only to be shocked with the SWAT team attack.
The sheriff said the decision to use SWAT team force was justified because the father was a "self-proclaimed constitutionalist" and had made threats and "comments" over the years.
However, the sheriff declined to provide a single instance of the father's illegal behavior. "I can't tell you specifically," he said.
The Washington Times article indicates Social Services sought a warrant from a judge before calling out the assault team.
On one hand, at least Social Services did seek a warrant from a judge, which is more than these jack-booted thugs often do.
The proof in the pudding, however, seems to be in the doctor's "treatment" of the boy after the raid:
After the raid, a doctor recommended Jon be given fluids, Tylenol and ice to treat the bruises, according to a copy of the child's patient after-care instructions.
Wow! Apparently the dad was able to figure that out.
There are times when medical expertise is needed. There are other times when the average human being possesses enough intelligence to assess an injury and take care of it themselves.
This arrogant, elitist attitude from so many in the medical community (my mother works in the medical community, and I have several friends who work in the medical community, so don't get me wrong) is why I avoid doctors when possible. I don't like being treated like a 5 year old. I don't have a medical degree...but I'm not a moron, either.
But apparently this elitist attitude cuts across vocational lines, as paramedics, social services, the courts and law enforcement were all involved in this raid. Though the judge probably didn't have the same firsthand knowledge of the nature of the boys injuries that the paramedics and social workers did, and law enforcement was just executing a court order. But we have to be very careful about trampling parental rights.
On a semi-related issue, this same attitude, both from those in the medical community who foist it on the public, and those in the public who worship doctors as demi-gods, is part of why health care spending is so huge in this country: no one can be trusted to treat a bruise or scratch on their own.
And it's not only turning us into a nation of whining babies, as this incident illustrates, it can quickly turn into an outrageous flirtation with police state tactics.
5 comments:
Besides the boy's father, the doctor was the only adult to display some sense in this affair. With over 20 years experience in the ER, personally, I would have refused to see the boy without his parent's consent.
I really hope that the magistrate, the paramedic, the social worker and the sheriff and deputies all learn the hard way the foolishness of their actions. I am sick of stupid, frivolous lawsuits but this is one I hope gets taken all the way to a very profitable end for this family.
Good point, Theo. In the context of this story, I was probably too hard on the medical community because you're right: the doctor in this incident did display good judgement in not going overboard with medical treatment.
I've been treated like a moron by enough doctors (and elitists in other professions) that I tend to have that knee-jerk reaction against such "you don't know what's good for you" attitudes, especially in medical matters.
No need to apologize, Bob. I know how doctors can be. Remember, I’ve been on the receiving end of the medical stick much more than the average man my age, and my doctors have irritated me many times—for the same reasons that you cite.
I am the medical director for a large Emergency Medical Service and supervise dozens of paramedics and EMTs. The vast majority are professional, well-trained, dedicated and very reasonable when dealing with patients and families. The one or two that I have had trouble with over the years was due to their attitude not their abilities. There is just this small percentage that want to make everything about them. Their decisions are calculated to make them look good, often at the expense of the patient or the department.
In this case, the paramedic was embarrassed when the father declined the medics recommendations. The recourse was to go to the sheriff and social services and probably paint a picture that was exaggerated well beyond reality, leading these agencies to over-react. I put most of the blame on the paramedic. And I wonder where his medical director was during all this. If anything like this happened in my department I know my crew would have me involved almost immediately.
Bob, you better have that knee jerk attended to by a physician.
;-)
Bruce -
Argh, Bruce! Do I hafta?
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