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Opposition To SB 503 Is Growing In The Bay Area
SB 503, Is A Bill That Is Known As A “Deadly Shift in Nursing Home Care.”
SB 503 is an insidious bill that people need to know about, because if it is passed into law it would strip people of their constitutional right to make end-of-life decisions, and it would make it difficult for people to keep from being chemically restrained by nursing homes, and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), according to California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR)!While people are focused on maintaining their jobs, paying the bills, keeping the landlord off their backs as they are trying to keep a roof over their head and the utilities on, an insidious bill that has received little attention is facing some local opposition.
SB 503 is an insidious bill that people need to know about, because if it is passed into law it would strip people of their constitutional right to make end-of-life decisions, and it would make it difficult for people to keep from being chemically restrained by nursing homes, and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), according to California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR).
Many baby boomers are a heart beat away from landing in the hospital, and into a skilled nursing facility or a nursing home due to a possible surgery, injuries, disabilities or a devastating illness of some kind. Presently they are afforded certain rights under the constitution that protect them from the for profit, or nonprofit nursing home industry, and skilled nursing facility (SNF) industry, that may try to take advantage of them while they are having major health problems, while in their care. But this may all change if SB 503 becomes the law of the land according to California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR).
Local opposition is growing against SB 503, a bill supported by the California Department of Public Health (DPH), but is opposed by the organization called California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), including other local activists in the Bay Area.
According to CANHR, the bill (SB 503) radically shifts American law by forcing the residents/patients of a nursing home or a SNF whose rights are being violated to go to court, rather than the nursing homes that are pushing intrusive, involuntary “care.”
Joining the opposition against SB 503, local activist Lori Kossowski said, “SB 503 should scare the hell out of poor people, the elderly, injured, and the disabled. If passed into law, SB 503 takes the rights away from the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society. I am speaking out in total opposition to SB 503, and I hope others will join me.”
Additionally, Eleanor Walden is the Housing Chair of the Board of the Berkeley Gray Panthers, and she said, “The Gray Panthers have always supported people in whatever stage of life, to make there own decisions. To usurp this decision by a bureaucracy, is a constitutional as well as a civil rights violation. We stand firmly in opposition to SB 503, and stand firmly with all individuals and their right to make their own decisions.”
According to the California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), if passed into law SB 503 would permit nursing homes to chemically restrain and make end-of-life decisions for residents alleged to be incapacitated. The organization has been speaking out in opposition against SB 503, a bill which is known as a “Deadly Shift in Nursing Home Care,” in an effort to keep the bill from becoming the law of the land in California.
Located at 650 Harrison St., in San Francisco, CANHR is urging the public to join them in speaking out in opposition against SB 503 which apparently is scheduled to go before Assembly Member Jim Wood (D), and the Assembly Health Committee, on August 9, 2016.
Regarding more information about this insidious bill, according to California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), “Using a late-hour legislative maneuver called “gut and amend,” the California Department of Public Health (DPH) has introduced SB 503 (Hernandez), a bill that would permit nursing homes to chemically restrain and make end-of-life decisions for residents alleged to be incapacitated.”
In opposition to SB 503, CANHR said, “The Alameda County Superior Court recently found the law on which SB 503 is based to be unconstitutional. Rather than re-write the law to comply with the constitutional rights of nursing home residents, DPH is doubling down on its illegal features, expanding the law’s scope to include dangerous chemical restraints and irreversible end-of-life decisions. The bill radically shifts American law by forcing the residents whose rights are being violated to go to court rather than the nursing homes that are pushing intrusive, involuntary “care.”
In a sample letter that may be used by the public from CANHR about SB 503, it reads: “Imagine you are an elderly person who recently suffered a fall at home, injuring your leg and ankle. You are sent to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, you develop an infection and suffer mild delirium. As a result of the delirium, you are prescribed Ativan, a powerful tranquilizer, and Ambien, a sleeping pill, to make sure you stay in bed to protect your leg. You are sent to a nursing home for rehabilitation. You do not sign an admission agreement with the nursing home.”
“At the nursing home, you receive a notice that the nursing home physician, who has never met you, has determined you are not capable of making your own treatment decisions and so the nursing home will make them for you. The physician has proposed you continue to receive Ativan and Ambien, although they make you groggy and dizzy. He has also proposed the amputation of your leg because of the injuries sustained in the fall. The notice tells you that if you want to keep your leg or avoid the sedating drugs, you must contact an attorney and file a lawsuit. However, you cannot go to an attorney's office because the physician has ordered that you may not leave the facility due to your incapacity. You have no options.”
CANHR is urging the public to use the sample letter above to get the attention of legislators that are involved in passing SB 503 into law, as a way to stop the passage of SB 503, and to keep it from becoming law in California.
According to CANHR, if SB 503 becomes the law of the land, situations like the ones mentioned above in the sample letter are what may occur to patients in nursing homes or SNFs, and CANHR is urging people to contact Assembly Member Jim Wood (D), to tell him that they are speaking out in opposition to SB 503.
Simply put, CANHR wants the public to contact Assembly Member Jim Wood to let him know that they are opposed to SB 503, and to send their opposition message to him by fax.
Assembly Member Jim Wood (D) contact info may be found at the website listed below…
http://asmdc.org/members/a02/
Or Assembly Member Jim Wood may be reached by fax at the number listed below, according to CANHR.
Assembly Member Jim Wood
Chair, Assembly Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 6005
Sacramento, CA 95814
FAX: (916) 319-2197
Click on link below for an email contact for Jim Wood…
https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD02
CANHR is also asking the public to email a copy of their opposition letter/fax/email to CANHR: canhrmail [at] canhr.org
For more about SB 503, click on the link below to read a letter in opposition to SB 503 from CANHR…
http://www.canhr.org/legislation/2016/CANHR-SB503-oppose-letter-AssemblyHealth.pdf
More from CANHR: Click on link below for: No On SB 503: Non-Consensual Antipsychotic Drug Use In California
http://canhr.org/legislation/2016/No-on-SB503-Table.pdf
According to their website: “Since 1983, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a statewide nonprofit 501(c)(3) advocacy organization, has been dedicated to improving the choices, care and quality of life for California’s long term care consumers. Through direct advocacy, community education, legislation and litigation it has been CANHR’s goal to educate and support long term care consumers and advocates regarding the rights and remedies under the law, and to create a united voice for long term care reform and humane alternatives to institutionalization.”
Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com, or newzland2 [at] gmail.com
