Admitted to Hospice and Palliative Care without Consent-HALO Newsletter

Admitted to Hospice and Palliative Care without Consent

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By Dorothy Knightly

My husband, William F. Knightly Jr., died on April 26, 2017, from untreated sepsis, which he contracted at a New Hampshire hospital while under the “care” of a hospice and palliative care specialist.

In early February 2017, my husband had lung and lymph node biopsies with negative results. The oncologist said they didn’t know if he had kidney cancer and wouldn’t know unless they took out his kidney. William refused. If there was nothing wrong with it, he said, they would take it out for nothing. The oncologist wasn’t happy. His whole demeanor changed toward my husband and me.

After having the biopsies, William started getting weak. The oncologist prescribed Cipro (an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections). He had all the side effects listed for Cipro, but the doctor overlooked them and just assumed that my husband was dying of lung cancer.

Hospitalized by deception

We refused when the doctor asked if William wanted to be admitted to hospice care. My husband told the doctor that he didn’t want to die; he wanted treatment. The doctor responded that my husband would be admitted to the hospital for a short time to get his strength back and his pain controlled.

On March 16, 2017, my husband walked into the hospital on his own two feet and was admitted, at which time he was given Dilaudid (a pain-control medication) intravenously. The next day, William told me that a man visited him. We weren’t told this man was a hospice and palliative care (HPC) physician who was there to handle William’s pain medication. The doctor started him on 15 milligrams of MS Contin (extended-release morphine) twice a day and 15 milligrams of morphine every four hours if needed for breakthrough pain. Without his knowledge or consent, William had been admitted to hospice.