Thread: Illegal dies at West Side hospital before deportation

Undocumented immigrant in coma dies at West Side hospital before deportation
Mexican man in U.S. 11 years had brain hemorrhage in July, sister says
By Judith Graham and Deanese Williams-Harris | Chicago Tribune reporters
2:38 PM CDT, August 27, 2008
A 30-year-old Mexican man who was in a coma, and whose treatment for a brain hemorrhage at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago ignited a dispute over whether hospitals should send medically needy undocumented immigrants back to their countries of origin, has succumbed to his injuries at the West Side hospital.

The disagreement over the little-known practice at hospitals revolves around Francisco Pantaleon, who arrived in the U.S. 11 years ago and suffered a severe brain hemorrhage in mid-July, according to his sister Socorro. A father of two, Pantaleon worked at a carwash and has no health insurance, she said.

According to a statement from the medical center, Pantaleon died just after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The medical center had said it believed there was "little hope for recovery," and officials arranged for Pantaleon to be transferred to a hospital in Acapulco at UIC's expense. An official said his immediate family consented to the move.



But Pantaleon's sister and cousin protested that arrangement and retained lawyers in hopes of preventing it.

"This is an injustice," his sister said last week. She worried that Pantaleon wouldn't be able to find adequate care in Mexico.

The dispute touches on two hot-button issues, immigration and health care. With the exception of pregnant women some children and people in medical emergencies, illegal immigrants generally have no right to health care in the U.S. But access to long-term care—the kind of services Pantaleon appears to need—is not guaranteed even if the patients are U.S. citizens, with the exception of the very poor.

Legally, hospitals are bound to stabilize all patients in an emergency, regardless of their nationality or insurance status. Afterward they are required to arrange to transfer patients to settings where they can receive adequate care, said Doreena Wong, staff attorney for the National Health Law Program. The difficulty is, nursing homes in Chicago usually will not serve undocumented immigrants who don't have health insurance or any means to pay for care.

"We can't arrange long-term care here, so we try to do the best we can in the country of origin," said Dr. William Chamberlin, chief medical officer at UIC Medical Center.

That can be problematic, said Sonal Ambegaokar, health policy attorney at the National Immigrant Law Center. "The question is, is the hospital acting as an Immigration agent in effect by deporting this patient?" she said. In such cases, she suggests, immigrants may be denied due process.

"It's important to make sure that hospitals aren't permitted to dump patients on an international level when they can't do it on a local level," said James Geraghty, a Chicago lawyer working with Pantaleon's sister and cousin.

For hospitals, the crucial issue is limited resources. "Hospitals don't have the financial resources to meet all of the acute care needs [of patients without insurance], let alone take on all the chronic care needs that present with patients like this," Chamberlin said.

Members of Pantaleon's family appealed to the Mexican Consulate for help last week, said Ioana Navarrete, consul for the protection department.

"There were certain legal procedures that the hospital should have followed that they bypassed," she said, noting that the medical center failed to inform the consulate of plans to move Pantaleon, a Mexican citizen.

Chamberlin said hospital officials did not know that was necessary.

"We have worked with the individual who has had primary decision-making responsibility for the patient" and had that person's full consent, he said.

Efforts to reach Pantaleon's wife for comment were unsuccessful.

Howard Peters, senior vice president of government relations at the Illinois Hospital Association, said "the family ought to be grateful" that UIC found a facility in Mexico willing to take Pantaleon and volunteered to pay for the trip.

jegraham@tribune.com
dawilliams@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 7166.story

"O - WELL!!"

Here comes another lawsuit from the endless line of lawyers provided by the Mexican govt. Why can't we just close down most of the Mexican consulates ?

A coma - major damage and dead.

It is bad but bad things happen in this world. And this poor man's time was up; poor hospital, now.

Could say more but will not.

Efforts to reach Pantaleon's wife for comment were unsuccessful.

That's because she at her lawyer's office right now preparing to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit for wrongful death against the hospital.

"There were certain legal procedures that the hospital should have followed that they bypassed," she said, noting that the medical center failed to inform the consulate of plans to move Pantaleon, a Mexican citizen.

A U.S. hospital needs a consulate's permission to move a patient back to his own country?

That can be problematic, said Sonal Ambegaokar, health policy attorney at the National Immigrant Law Center. "The question is, is the hospital acting as an Immigration agent in effect by deporting this patient?" she said. In such cases, she suggests, immigrants may be denied due process.

In cases such as this, hospitals are NOT DEPORTING illegal alien patients--they are TRANSFERRING the patient to another facility for care.

Sorry for his death...but the worst part is that the Mexican Consulate wasn't there to help him...they could've easily offered to pay for his long-term care here in the U.S. or in Mexico.....but like the Mexicans love to do....they want Americans to pay for their expenses....they're entitled don't you know?

"There were certain legal procedures that the hospital should have followed that they bypassed," she said, noting that the medical center failed to inform the consulate of plans to move Pantaleon, a Mexican citizen.

Did the Mexican Consulate know he was in the U.S. illegally? IF answer yes, would they please call President Bush with total count of all in the U.S. so we do not have to guess. 10, 12, 20 or 30 million or whatever maybe the Mexican Consulate really know how many are here. Did he inform U.S. that he was entering? I know they only have to follow law when returning to Mexico.

Are they going to let him return for burial or is family still fighting? May his soul rest in peace.

Will the body be sent to Mexico?

The article this post deals with has an update:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 0936.story

It looks like we can expect a lawsuit:

The family is asking for a second autopsy because they want an independent review of the circumstances of Pantaleon's death. The first postmortem examination is being performed by the hospital.

"I'm not accusing the hospital of anything until I have a second report," said Pantaleon's wife, Maria, speaking in Spanish.

"Once I've seen the results of the second autopsy, then I'll make a decision about what to do."

We've already spent more than $250,000 worth of resources for this illegal alien. Now they're probably going to cost us more with attorney fees, court costs, and a possible settlement.

Now I understand why my two stiches and tetanus shot cost me over $700 (on top of my medical insurance fees)!

Here's an idea: treat anyone coming into the E.R., but run an E-Verify on them. If they fail the test, I.C.E. takes them away before they can leave. It could work...