Word: patient
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Last week, at 67, Donaldson joined the ranks of those whose cases have prompted major Supreme Court decisions. The court unanimously ruled that every mental patient in the U.S. who is held involuntarily has the right to be either treated or released. "A finding of 'mental illness' alone cannot justify a state's locking a person up against his will and keeping him indefinitely in simple custodial confinement," wrote Justice Potter Stewart. The Constitution, he ruled, prohibits forced incarceration of untreated patients "if they are dangerous to no one and can live safely in freedom." In short...
...shame when a patient must truthfully admit that he is perhaps appreciated and loved more by a mere nurse's aide than by his relatives? If nursing homes are "killer institutions," then all sons and daughters of lonely patients are guilty of premeditated murder...
...less than $2,000, but awards of $1 million or more have become increasingly common. Last month a Florida court awarded Dentist Leonard Tolley, 58, and his wife Elsa a total of $1,685,000 after finding that surgery following an automobile accident had actually worsened the paralyzed patient's condition. In California, there had never been a million-dollar judgment until 1967; there have been 13 of them in the past 28 months...
Their action is made easier by the fact that the traditional doctor-patient relationship has deteriorated badly. Patients rarely sue their family physicians, who often make up in compassion and concern for what they lack in technical skills. But few feel reluctant to sue an aloof and unfamiliar specialist who seems to take their respect for granted and often submits a sizable bill as well...
When a doctor writes a prescription, his patient often takes it to the nearest drugstore and learns only when the pills are handed to him what they will cost. Last week the Federal Trade Commission proposed new rules that would permit pharmacies to advertise prices for prescription drugs so that patients can shop for the best bargains. By doing so, the FTC estimates, consumers could save $130 million a year...