September 23, 2009
Crime and Punishment Department
Cop vs. Nurse Over Forensic Blood Work
Via the mysterious Dr. X comes an interesting lawsuit that touches on the issue of medical professionals performing forensic tests, a subject I recently blogged about. Here's how Frank Main at the Chicago Sun-Times describes it:
Lisa Hofstra said she was the "charge nurse" in the emergency room on Aug. 1 when the officer approached her at about 4 a.m. The officer requested she perform a blood work-up on a DUI suspect, the lawsuit said.
Hofstra told the officer the suspect needed to be admitted to the hospital before she could draw the person's blood. Hofstra said she told a police lieutenant that it was the hospital's protocol to wait until a suspect was admitted, and the lieutenant agreed, she said.
The lieutenant left the emergency room.
Then Hofstra called her supervisors, but before they could respond, the officer put her in handcuffs in front of her co-workers and escorted her to a squad car, according to the lawsuit.
She was then released at the scene, and no charges were ever filed. She says the handcuffs were too tight and she received injuries which were treated at the emergency room.
Hofstra's complaint against Officer Rodriguez and the city of Chicago includes Section 1983 claims of excessive force, federal and state claims of false arrest, and a state claim for battery.
I don't know any more than this, but clearly something crazy happened here. What kind of nutball cop disrupts the operation of a hospital emergency room by dragging away the triage nurse for no good reason?
There seems to be something missing from this story, however. I doubt that even the craziest nutball cops do things like this (very often) to people who are courteous and polite. My guess is that Nurse Hofstra "mouthed off" or committed some other imagined offense that cops like to interpret as a crime. Triage nurses have to be decisive and firm with demanding people, so perhaps she was a bit brusque in her dealings with officer Rodriguez.
She disrespected his authoritah, and he decided to teach her a lesson. Now her lawyers are going to teach him one.
2 Comments
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if according to state law that someone who is drunk, involved in a fatal or serious crash, they can draw the blood. no where in this story does it say that the suspect was involved in that situation and was brought to the hospital on a dui and the cop told the nurse to draw the blood for an alcohol level? no accident involved? he's wrong then. he was abusing his power and like a little kid stomped his feet,threw a tantrum then decided since he didn't get his way,arrested the nurse. he said he waited three hours? look at the time frame-i don't think so-again another lie. police in this city (not all of them) but a good majority of them think they can do what ever they want. also wasn't the officer standing out by his squad laughing? see how funny it is when he gets those charges placed against him in the suit the nurse files.
"I doubt that even the craziest nutball cops do things like this (very often) to people who are courteous and polite."
haha - you must be new to Chicago. Chicago Police officers often circumvent procedure to get their way. I support Law Enforcement, but if the nurse said "I need to talk to my supervisor before performing a medical procedure", that does not warrant arrest.
Taking a nurse out of an emergency room is risking injury to the patients who come in with emergency medical situations that need immediate treatment.
There have been instances where CPD have been so eager to get proof of a crime that they have electrocuted detainees, why not threaten a nurse to draw blood without the proper documentation and paperwork? (we all know about the convictions of several CPD detectives over torture=confession)