Divorced Dads' Rights: Father Fights For Say In Son's DNR Order, Access to Medical Records

Submitted by Mastodon on Wed, 2012-11-07 23:17

Article here. Excerpt:

'While single-parent homes are more common than ever, less than 18 percent of custodial parents are fathers. Jack Frost, President of Father and Families in New York, discussed some of the frustrations of being an active, involved father without full custody on a segment for HuffPost Live.

One of his greatest concerns was not having access to his child's medical records in the early stages of his divorce. His wife made medical decisions concerning his son, including filing a do-not-resuscitate order without his consent.

But when Frost found that he legally had a say in his child's DNR order, he was still met with opposition.

"I told the doctor, I said I wanted the DNR gone. You didn't include me when you filed this. You were supposed to include me and you didn't," Frost said. "She just ignored me."'

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Comments

This father's anger seems a little misdirected at the doctor and caregivers.

Medical care providers are not lawyers. Their job is to provide care to the patient presented to them, not to decipher custody agreements. When an adult presents themselves as the patient's authority, the care providers are generally going to take your word that you are who you say you are. Forms for treatment of minors usually ask if you are a biological parent and if not, if you have authority to authorize treatment.

Now that his child's doctors are aware there is a parental disagreement about the DNR, they probably wont take anyone's word, they will want to see a court order before they do anything. The father needs to go to the court to work out the disagreement regarding the DNR. At that time he can also put more specific language in the parenting plan as to how and when he wants to be contacted by the mother in regards to health care decisions. If he gets a judge to remove the DNR, then he can show the court order to the doctors.

The father also has an ongoing responsibility to know his rights and to be in a position to exercise them. This guy had the rights all along to the medical records and the DNR decision. He is mad that nobody told him, which is an indication that he has never read his parenting plan nor has he ever requested his child's medical records.

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Submitted by Kris on Thu, 2012-11-08 07:24