Chapter 21 - WHAT MEDICINE COULD ESTABLISH
Harbor Path’s defense depended on one argument.
Dad truly had heart problems.
Therefore, intervention had been reasonable.
Dr. Hannah Lee testified during the federal evidentiary hearing.
She had treated me ten years earlier.
Now she reviewed Dad’s hospital records independently.
“What can medicine establish?” the prosecutor asked.
“Mr. Avery experienced an arrhythmia associated with fatigue and chest discomfort.”
“Was he confused?”
“Not during documented examinations.”
“Could an arrhythmia affect judgment?”
“In severe circumstances, reduced blood flow may affect cognition. That did not occur here.”
“Did he require medical care?”
“Yes.”
“Did he require a guardian?”
“Medical need does not answer a legal-capacity question automatically.”
“Could Harbor Path know that before evaluating him?”
“No.”
“Did Harbor Path file its incapacity description before evaluating him?”
“Yes.”
The defense approached.
“Doctor, are family members sometimes unreliable about an older person’s decline?”
“Yes.”
“Can patients hide symptoms?”
“Yes.”
“Can early intervention save lives?”
“Yes.”
“Then why criticize Harbor Path for acting quickly?”
“I am not criticizing speed.”
“What are you criticizing?”
“A conclusion documented before observation.”
The attorney displayed Dad’s medication photographs.
“Does this open pill organizer concern you?”
“Without context, it tells me a pill organizer was open.”
“The keys hidden in a drawer?”
“It tells me keys were inside a drawer.”
“Mr. Avery asleep during a home visit?”
“It tells me he was asleep.”
“You refuse to interpret obvious warning signs.”
“I refuse to invent the missing sequence.”
The prosecutor then played part of the body-camera recording from Dad’s house.
Celia told paramedics he had become incoherent.
Dad could be heard giving his full name, date of birth, medication list, cardiologist’s name, and a precise description of what he had signed.
He sounded tired.
He did not sound incapable.
Medicine proved that he needed help.
It did not prove that Celia had the right to choose the help.
That distinction had saved me once.
I had been sick enough to require emergency treatment.
I had still been capable of saying:
I am too sick to sign.
Dad had needed cardiac care.
He had still been capable of saying:
I want her to leave.
May you like
Illness could create vulnerability.
It did not create ownership.
