Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
Illinois - Legally - What are the rights of the biological adult children of a hospital patient? Is it any different for the son or daughter if they were legally adopted by a different man (same mother)? My birth father, who I have kept contact with throughout the years, had a stroke. He is going to be recovering for some time (thank goodness his stroke wasn't fatal). I've gone to the hospital to sit with him every day since he had the stroke. His current wife, who is his 3rd wife, was not filling us (his adult children.. to which some are his both biologicaly & legally & I just biologically) on the results of his MRI, artery & heart tests, etc. So while I'm there sitting with him, I ask the doctor myself. It is my understanding that this current wife has called the doctor and chewed him out for talking to me. She's not quite right in the head so typically I would just ignore this, but do I or his other children have legal rights to know their father's condition? Obviously we love him and we are concerned about him. :( I feel terrible for the doctor that she called & did this too. :( His wife seems to be more concerned about getting access to what little money he has (next to none) and about keeping his children out of loop (wants us to know as little as possible) then about the wellfare of my dad. (She even chewed out her own son for mowing their lawn for them, and my half sister, who is currently living with them, for cleaning their house for them.) We have suspicions about her to boot... We fear for our dad's well being & life. Nothing we can proove at this point though. Needless to say, we are having a hard enough time emotionally since our dad had a stroke...
1 Answer from Attorneys
HIPAA, a federal law, governs these issues. It is very complex and often misunderstood. Here's the URL to the federal Department of Health & Human Services pamphlet "guide" for patients as to these issues:
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/consumer_ffg.pdf
I think you will be most interested in #2 on the top of page 2. If your dad is communicative, he has the final say in who gets to hear what, not your step-mom. If he is not but if he made out and signed an advance directive or other legally recognized document that appoints a surrogate to act for him, then the person or persons appointed in the instrument as personal representatives may have a right to information. If your dad is disabled and you are concerned about his ability to care for himself and/or his financial affairs, you could consider the drastic step of having one of you appointed as his Guardian, at least temporarily, and thus become his personal representative, but that could be a costly and bitter battle w/ your step-mom. This is why it is so important for people to consider having a surrogacy appointment available; family battles during a health crisis can result in harm to the patient through misguided or conflicting direction to the medical team. If your dad is communicative he may be able to make out a legally sufficient surrogacy instrument even at this juncture (it would help to know if the hospital will recognize it under the circumstances) and appoint one of you over the wife but again be prepared for some difficulties.... But as long as he's communicative, it is essentially his choice as to who can receive medical information on his condition.
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