By Yvonne Sam
Social and Political Commentator
The recent report of a woman, who has been in a vegetative state, giving birth at a long-term healthcare care facility in Arizona, is not only disturbing, repulsive and outrageously gut-wrenching, but at the selfsame time, deals a black eye to all adherents of the Hippocratic and Nightingalean Oaths, in addition to further highlighting the issue of the racial divide existing in the U.S.A.
The 29-year-old victim was a Native American of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. No other term should be applied to this case, but outright rape, as common sense dictates that a woman in that condition is totally unable to give consent to sexual intercourse, regardless of what form it takes.
Now after DNA samplings of all male staff associated with caring for the patient, Nathan Sutherland, a 36-year-old Licensed Practical Nurse has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse.
The birth of this unfortunate infant and the vegetative state of the mother has not only opened the eyes of the world, but has also brought representatives of the homo sapiens genre into a reflective mode, regarding their roles as humans and interaction with each other.
According to Disability Rights Organization, individuals with disabilities are sexually abused at almost three times the rate of the general population disabilityjustice.org/sexual-abuse/. Other groups say rates of sexual assault and rape are twice as high for those with disabilities sapac.umich.edu/article/56.
Nevertheless, people who live with disabilities are targeted for sexual abuse more often than those without.
The Hacienda HealthCare facility has stated that since the arrest of the accused, one doctor has resigned and another suspended, both of whom were responsible for the care of the woman www.azfamily.com/primary-care-doctor-for-woman-who-gave-birth-at-hacienda/pdf_f6b7c8fa-1ea7-11e9-8171-27dca1989da0.html.
Some people have said that heads should roll. I totally disagree with such a measure, demanding instead, for the entire facility to fold, and the medical and nursing team especially, be retrained, and re-brained, before they ever regain their licences to practice.
Imagine being subjected to care, so brutally negligent that an entire pregnancy, normally of 40 weeks duration, ran its course, totally unnoticed by humans, tasked with her care and occupying planet Earth. How much attention did she receive, on an ongoing basis from trained personnel, that no one observed the widening abdominal girth, so indicative of either pregnancy or an abdominal mass? What about her breasts?
According to OB/GYN Dr. Greg Marchand, who was in no way involved with the care of the patient, although the victim was in a vegetative state she was still able to feel pain during the baby’s birth. He further pointed out that, unlike traditional childbirth, the woman in the vegetative state would not have been able to push the baby out, giving room for the potential of severe complications or even fetal death.
Another investigation could well be underway, spearheaded by The Arizona Center for Disability Law, a nonprofit law firm that receives federal funds and “dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals, with a wide range of physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory and cognitive disabilities. According to spokesperson, Janet Rico, “Were there other physical signs that someone failed to recognize or take action on earlier, than her actually giving birth?”
To add more fire to the ongoing fury, the long-term prognosis for the baby, though alive, is not entirely favourable. At birth the baby coded and had to have resuscitative measures instituted. For most of her life, the mother was receiving Phenobarbital, 90 milligrams twice daily, a barbiturate used to control her seizures, and one which would put most people to sleep most of the time. While it is not known to cause any side effects, nevertheless it can be very sedating for the baby.
Dr. Mark Wellek said that Phenobarbital and other medications that the mother was receiving, could cause serious developmental problems in the baby, from attention deficit disorder, to severe mental disabilities. And because the baby had to be resuscitated at birth, he said the risk is even greater.
Dr. Wellek added that these symptoms likely won’t show up, until between the ages of 4 and 7, but even with the baby brought back to life, the challenges likely have only just begun. “Huge. Not just a problem, huge. And if this baby grows up just slightly delayed, that would be a miracle,” he said.
If a privately-owned healthcare facility that touts itself as being an industry leader in caring for the intellectually and developmentally challenged, employs caregivers that fail to notice an ongoing pregnancy in one of their charges, only at the time of birth, then pray tell me how well are the other patients faring? Incidentally, where were the doctors at the facility? According to Hippocrates, the “father of medicine”: First do no harm. Did the doctors fail to notice the alarm.
It is blatantly apparent that the State of Arizona was also negligent, in ensuring that residents of their healthcare facilities are dwelling in facilities that totally respected the standards, set by law.
As a devoted member of the healthcare profession, I am left still wondering how many others victims, still residing at Hacienda HealthCare facility — or any other facility, elsewhere on this planet — unable to care or defend themselves, will suffer a similar fate.
Defenseless females must be protected from rape, for sex without consent is evil bent.
Yvone Sam, R. N, BSc.N., MEd., S.C.M, R.M.N, a retired Head Nurse and Secondary School Teacher, is Vice-president of the Guyana Cultural Association of Montreal. A regular columnist for over two decades with the Montreal Community Contact, her insightful and incursive articles on topics ranging from politics, human rights and immigration, to education and parenting have also appeared in the Huffington Post, Montreal Gazette, XPressbogg and Guyanese OnLine. She is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Caring Canadian Citizen Award.
