Eugenics in Champaign
I finally got the medical records I’ve been waiting for. I asked for them around 3/14 and just got them today. To be fair they’ve been waiting for a week for me to come get them, but that’s still 5 weeks to xerox not all that much. The important docs were not in the set I was given, but I managed to get them because they were in another file. I’ll be fair and chalk that up to crappy record keeping.
The record largely reflects what I thought. Patient was admitted on 3/10 and didn’t “wake up” (their words) until 3/14. She was documented as having communication difficulties and was recorded in several places as not being able to communicate effectively or for that matter meaningfully. But here’s the catch, apparently she signed on 3/12 permission to be sterilized. Based on the medical records, she was in absolutely no position to consent to that. The doctor/nurse/hospital took it upon themselves to ensure that someone they thought was unfit could not have any more children (aside of say, addressing the problems instead).
I’m still going to hold the rest of the info (i.e. the names) until I can figure out if this was a matter of policy (which I imagine it was, if they did this to one person, they’ll do it to others) or just a one-off. When I figure that out, I’ll come full on with the story. Stay tuned.
