Hospital emergency rooms were holding 53 adults and 33 children while waiting for psychiatric beds at New Hampshire Hospital on Monday, and Ken Norton, director of NAMI-NH (National Alliance on Mental Illness), estimates that 8,000 people have been held in such circumstances without due process over the years.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court took up the state’s appeal of a “Jane Doe” case on Thursday involving a woman who was held in an emergency room against her will for 17 days. Supreme Court Justice James Bassett commented, “If we adopt the state’s interpretation of what an admission is, it’s like a Kafka novel: We’re in a place where somebody can be detained for days or weeks without any due process.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Galdieri, representing the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said the psychiatric care is not the state’s responsibility until the patient arrives at a state facility. If the community hospital that is boarding the patient until then is not providing mental health treatment, patients can sue the hospital for medical malpractice, he said.
Attorney Gary Apfel, representing “Jane Doe,” said the state legislature should not expect private individuals to confine others indefinitely without necessary services and without a right to challenge their confinement, and the commissioner should not expect private parties to deal with people who are homicidal or suicidal.
The state has faced challenges over the years due to a shortage of psychiatric professionals and patient accommodations, including a 2018 case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire. Despite a staff shortage, the state has been reluctant to hire more people and DHHS has relaxed its staffing requirements, resulting in a higher patient/staff ratio — a potentially lethal situation.
Senate Extends ‘Open Container’ Law To Pot
Senate Bill 60, passed by the state senate on Thursday, would align laws governing marijuana and alcohol. Anyone caught with an open container of marijuana in the passenger area of a vehicle would face a $150 fine and have his or her license suspended for 60 days on a first offense and a year for a second offense.
The senate also supported a bill to establish a matching grant program to help municipalities and communications districts expand broadband coverage with money from the recently approved American Rescue Plan. The bill prohibits funding for projects already under construction, but Wolfeboro Republican Jeb Bradley, its prime sponsor, said he would be willing to address funding for projects with a signed contract but where construction has not begun.
In another passing vote, the senate agreed to a bill that would allow absentee voters to correct mistakes they make on the outer envelope or affidavit before votes are counted election day, and it would allow the pre-processing of absentee ballots to speed up the count on Election Day.
Other bills that passed included raising the threshold for businesses having to pay the business profits tax from $50,000 to $75,000 in profits; a bill to train law enforcement personnel in de-escalation, ethics, implicit bias, and cultural diversity; doing a study on whether some form of remote meetings should be continued; and a study of the state’s charitable gambling activity and its proliferation.
Governor Opens Vaccinations To All In-State Adults
Governor Chris Sununu announced on Thursday that, starting on April 2, all Granite Staters age 16 and up will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccinations will not be available to college students who live out of state but live here while attending college.
In addition to regular vaccination sites, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon will hold its second mass vaccination event this Sunday. People still need to sign up at vaccines.gov.nh.
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