STEVEN MUIR

When I was in an intensive outpatient program, group therapy as a 9-5 job 5 days a week for 6 months, we had one hour of group every day in which we dealt specifically with the stress and trauma and problem-solving of trying to receive healthcare. Balking insurance companies, unhelpful doctors, abusive orderlies, denied medications, all kinds of logistical nightmares. We needed professional help for how hard it is to get professional help. 

    My most recent psychiatric hospitalization for schizophrenia took place this summer, at a hospital in Los Angeles County that will publically unnamed*. The admitting doctor called me a transvestite. I was told I could not be admitted to a bed because rooms were determined by gender. They sat me in the lobby in a chair for 30 hours, only feeding me once in the time I was there. The one meal they fed me consisted of a tuna sandwich, an apple, and an apple juicebox; apples being the only allergy listed in my chart. They told me a transfer was impossible and discharged me despite my stating only hours before that I was still actively suicidal and had access to a method. 

    I did not seek legal action for medical malpractice in this instance because I tried that two years ago against a different hospital and found two things. Firstly, the California Medical Board will only take complaints made against a specific doctor, not orderlies or nurses or a facility. Secondly, as someone diagnosed with psychosis, my testimony is essentially worthless in court and no lawyer will touch a medical malpractice case with me as their client. It’s almost needless to say that if a patient with psychosis cannot bring a case of medical malpractice against a facility which they admitted themselves to because of their psychosis, there is zero guarantee of treatment or even safety in seeking crisis care. 

    I am very far from the only person experiencing the healthcare crisis in the US. This doesn’t even touch on the price of necessary medications or the fact that over 90% of doctors say they cannot treat patients to the best of their ability because of disagreements with insurance companies. Single issue voting is something I have always vehemently disagreed with, but within the last few years I have come to be a single issue voter: I want anyone who will make it possible for me to afford the meds and services that would keep me out of potentially abusive crisis care facilities. And maybe that is not enough - maybe we need an entire overthrow of the system to reach healthcare that is not prioritized around money and instead around actual health. 

    But it is very hard to think about overthrowing a system when I cannot even count on staying out of the hospital. If you are in a position to effect change, to organize, to do anything, please do it.​

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Take one off the wall, peel the tape off the back, and take it home. Everyone should shoulder the current healthcare crisis, not just those who are dependent on the medical system.

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Additional Documentation by Institute