Complaining Into Thin Air

A lady who was illegally involuntarily committed here at the Barbara Arons Pavilion has been attempting to achieve some sense of justice for what she has been put through. (The Judge at the Certification Review Hearing saw that there was insufficient evidence of her being a danger to self or others.)

Complaints have been filed with the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, to the Dept of Health Services Licensing and Certification Division, the Office of Civil Rights in the Dept of Health & Human Services as well as a direct complaint to the Medical Director, Dr. Michael Meade, the Medical Director of Valley Medical Center's psychiatric facility.

Apparently, they do not open the mail as nothing was heard back from any of them.

The Medical Board was able to get the offending Psychiatrist to finally get her records sent but there are key notes missing for some reason, so those now need to be gotten.

Unfortunately, the lack of effective oversight appears to be more of the rule than the exception.

For one thing, when I visited the Board of Psychology in Sacramento, they went over the complaint process with me - they use the Medical Board for complaints - there are so many complaints that are submitted that they just cannot handle all of them.