Should Colleges Advise Parents of Students' Medical Problems?

[frazzledspice]

A New York family is suing MIT because their daughter committed suicide there.

She had been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment twice during the year and a half she was a student, and had numerous visits to the campus health office.

The parents knew of one inpatient hospitalization, but never knew the extent of her distress.

Apparently, colleges are prohibited to let parents know if their children are in a life threatening situation once they are over 18.

The college said that students would not feel comfortable coming to them with suicidal feelings if they thought the school would let their parents know.

I do feel that at some point a student becomes an adult, and colleges shouldn't disclose their medical problems.

But if a student is under 21 (the age right now is 18) shouldn't schools let parents know if their children are suicidal (or if they have serious drug or alcohol problems) if the parents are:

- paying the bills
- supporting their child
- claiming the child on their medical insurance
- claiming the child as a dependent on their tax returns.

My sons never had any serious health problems in college, so we were never in this situation, but I certainly would have expected to be told if my child were hospitalized for any reason, medical or psychiatric.

When my second son was in University of Missouri, he had two friends who were hospitalized. One, who had been very active in campus radio with him, died of bacterial meningitis. Her parents lived in Virginia. I certainly hope that they were contacted before she died. It would break my heart to think they didn't have a chance to say goodbye.

Another got into a collision with a truck on the last day of finals. The hospital tried to locate her parents. My son was one of her roommates, and he and another roommate sat vigil, not knowing if she were going to live or die, until her parents arrived. Luckily, she recovered completely.

I imagine that younger people might feel differently about this than people who have actually sent kids off to college, as I have.

[kurt_messick]

There is also a difference in many locations between primarily 'physical' hospitalisations versus primarily 'psychiatric' hospitalisations.

At some of our local hospitals here, if you check into a stress care clinic or some such place, you won't be listed in the inpatient register, you won't be reported to the paper as an intake, and you won't even be acknowledged as a patient if someone calls for you (including parents).

This is a standard precaution for many reasons -- sometimes the parents are the cause of the stress, and the patient needs protecting; how do you verify who is calling; there is a suspicion in the public view about people who check into clinics like this, and many might not opt for treatment and help if they thought that to get such would ruin reputations, job prospects, etc.

It is not a happy situation, but there is some reasoning behind it.

[phoenixx]

Hmmm, interesting question.

I sent myself to finish high school and get two college degrees, so your criteria didn't apply to me, however; I thiknk your criteria for parental notification seems fair. They apply especially if the parents are claiming the child on their taxes and listing them on their health insurance.

The college staff have a point, there are legal ramifications to doing this that have to be addressed, perhaps in the form of the student signing a waiver for disclosure if they are on the insuranc of their parents? Also, it is a proven fact that students who have to tell their parents things like this tend to keep it to themselves until it is too late, and I don't know how to get around that obstacle.

Leslie

[cristina1]

If the student is on the parents' medical insurance, wouldnt the parents become aware when the insurance company is billed? My husband carries our insurance, and when the bills get paid, he is the one who receives the statements in the mail.

In the event of a physical illness or accident, there is always someone notified. I remember all of those forms to be filled out - who to notify in case of emergency. Whether it is a college student or an adult on the job - or anyone else - they notify SOMEONE.

I do believe that psychiatric patients are different though. How do we know what the cause of stress is? It could very likely come FROM the parents. I have to agree with Father Kurt here - there are reasons behind all of it.

[pisces]

This is just my opinion, but I think colleges should butt out of their student's lives. A college's job is to educate the students, PERIOD.

It's not the college or university's job to act as a go-between for parents and students.

I'm guessing that a majority of students wouldn't apply to a school that was going to go snitch on them to the parents every time they had some scrape or fall.

Children that are over 18 aren't babies anymore, and I'm presuming that when both parent and child make the choice to go off to school, move out and away from the nest.....and when the parents freely support that....they both must believe that the child is capable of handling their own problems on their own. This is what it means to go off to school apart and away from your parents.

Do we now want University Staff to have a personal phone line into each and every single parent? Students freak out for a variety of reasons. If the parents didn't think the student could handle being away from home, they shouldn't have financed and bank-rolled the students trip away to college.

I'd say sue the hospital for negligence or wrongful death. It was the hospital's treatment that caused the suicide, maybe from (you guessed it) psychotropic drugs that have all kinds of side effects. The hospital is the one responsible, and/or the parent's themselves, if anyone. Let the hospital notify the parents.

The College is going to argue that lots of students have stress and they ALL don't commit suicide. And, if the parents knew about prior psych treatment, then it was for the parents to make themselves aware of any situations that might arise.

If the parents had power of attorney for medical treatment, or if they had a special legal guardianship, and/or trustee-conservatorship over the student, then that makes the parents, NOT THE SCHOOL, even more responsible to keep abreast of the goings-on in their child's life.

It's bad enough that these colleges and Universities have to go chasing after students, now they have to go chasing after student's parents also? I don't think so!

[magenta321]

Ok, yeah, I'm young. I graduated college last year. I went to college when I was 18.

A few things. A lot of college students are not on their parent's insurance. Many parents have to pay $$$ to keep their children insured (depending on their benefits packages). My university had a standard $300 fee for insurance. You had to pay this unless you could prove you had other health insurance. This was a pain. Many people just paid the money.

Also, I did have to use the university health center a few times when I had bronchitis and/or strep. They would NOT bill my insurance. They would send me a bill, which I could then submit to my insurance. I could have chosen to pay the bill myself, or submit it to my parent's insurance.

As for mental health, there are a lot of problems with reporting it. A lot of people are ashamed that they need it. They won't go for help if they know other people will find out. Also, as stated earlier, the parents might play some part in the mental illness or depression or what have you that the child is facing. They could add to it.

My young p.o.v. is that if you are old enough to die for your country, you are old enough not to have your university snitching on you for going to a hospital.

The health center at my university was the alternative to planned parenthood for the girls who went to my school. I don't know what percentage, but the majority of girls seemed to be on the pill. Depends on your religious/moral beliefs what the right thing to do here is. I think its great that the girls were being responsible and staying on the pill. Now, many of them would never dream to let their parents know about it, so they'd pay a few bucks to the health center when they got their bills (the bills for the pills, lol), and they were done with it.

Yes, if a child is a danger to themselves, it is sad that the parents are kept in the dark. However, they are adults, legally, no matter how you slice it. As such, they do have the right to privacy when it comes to their medical histories.

Actually, this is reminding me of a story that comes from my hospital. A "child" who was over 18 was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric reasons. He happened to have a father who was a doctor. His dad was also his primary care physician. The hospital automatically sent a report to the dad (as his PCP) even though the "child" had not asked them to. Both the "child" and his father sued the hospital successfully, as I understand it. It's kind of a secretarial urban legand that we have, so I can't verify this. (It's always given as a warning to only send reports to doctors who ordered tests, unless the patient states otherwise, and not to assume that the PCP should get a report).

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

I did my own thing re: college - paid my bill, had my own insurance, etc. They had my father's name and number as an emergency contact (I was not living with him) but never used it as far as I know.

I would NOT have wanted my father notified of any physical or mental emergency. I used the clinic for a pregnancy scare and would not have wanted that to get back to him regardless of the results. I used the college mental health department and would not have wanted that to get back to him either. Had I thought either was a possibility, I would have gone elsewhere - or nowhere. Yeah, dad was a major contributor to my needing mental health services.

Just my 2 cents

mj

[poseidon]

A lot of college students are not on their parent's insurance. Many parents have to pay $$$ to keep their children insured (depending on their benefits packages). My university had a standard $300 fee for insurance. You had to pay this unless you could prove you had other health insurance. This was a pain. Many people just paid the money.

You kinda stole my thunder there. At the University of Wisconsin, we had to pay a special fee, too, and we got insurance through the University Clinic and Hospital.

At UW, at least, the few times that I needed to use it, the service was unbeatable. We were getting top-notch medical care (LOL wouldn't surprise me if we were unknowing medical experiments) if you didn't mind the wait. And, yeah, shrinkology was included.

I would think it would have been a violation of the doctor-patient confidentiality doctrine if the doctors and medical staff would have discussed anything with anyone without my signed authorization.

Unless this daughter was a minor (under 18), I can't see how it is any of the parents' business what the daughter's condition was. Despite their closeness in relationship, I'd question their right to be notified.

[pluckyduck]

Count me in the "I was on my own at 18" bunch. My mother, God rest her soul, would have been the reason I was on the ledge at that age.

Seriously, once a kid is legally of age, for better or for worse, he/she has the right to make his/her own calls about the level of involvement of parental units. I left home at 18, while I was still in high school, and was outraged that the university still required a financial disclosure/financial aid form signed by my mother. Mom refused to sign it. I did what anyone else in my situation would have done, forged her signature. It was either that, or forget college.

So, I would probably would have sued anybody who dared disclose anything to her.

Guilty disclaimer: Mother was a loving woman who just wasn't quite right in the head sometimes. We made up sometime after she came to accept the fact that she was no longer in control of my life.

Andrea
a good daughter, really

[jgibson2[$]]

The legal principle here is patient confidentiality. You just cannot go spouting off about people's medical problems. It's against the law in most jurisdictions and it's unethical. The college shouldn't officially have been a party to her medical and psychiatric problems.

Those parents may be able to sue on behalf of their daughter's estate -- but it would be a malpractice claim against whatever psychiatrists didn't recognize that she was suicidal. That's IF she presented as suicidal. Depression is so lethal because too many depressed people don't seek help when they're hitting bottom.

There is also an enormous reluctance to hospitalize even suicidal people. My sister was taken to the hospital by a stranger she confided in -- thank God! She was seriously suicidal. They wanted to have her sign a "safety agreement" and go to MY house where my children live. NO WAY IN HELL! I told them AND her that I'd just drive from one psychiatric facility to another until someone kept her if they put her on the street, but I wasn't voluntarily going to put her in MY car without a minimum hospital stay. Fortunately, her electrolytes were dangerously out of whack, so they had to keep her for medical reasons.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Originally posted by pluckyduck
Count me in the "I was on my own at 18" bunch. My mother, God rest her soul, would have been the reason I was on the ledge at that age.

Seriously, once a kid is legally of age, for better or for worse, he/she has the right to make his/her own calls about the level of involvement of parental units. I left home at 18, while I was still in high school, and was outraged that the university still required a financial disclosure/financial aid form signed by my mother. Mom refused to sign it. I did what anyone else in my situation would have done, forged her signature. It was either that, or forget college.

So, I would probably would have sued anybody who dared disclose anything to her.

Guilty disclaimer: Mother was a loving woman who just wasn't quite right in the head sometimes. We made up sometime after she came to accept the fact that she was no longer in control of my life.

Andrea
a good daughter, really

Hey, I had forgotten about that! I had the double-whammy with the parental-signature-required-on-financial-aid-form situation. Mom died just before I graduated high school. One scholarship/financial aid organization kept sending back my application for her signature despite my repeated letters to them accompanied by her death certificate. Dad's name I just forged. Unfortunately, he made good money and Reagan signed some financial aid law extending how long I had to report Dad's money, so I wasn't "financially independent" in the eyes of the school until I was a senior. So I just paid for college with a supermarket job

mj

Medical, yes.

Psychological, only the fact that counseling has been sought and that it may impact performance academically in case the parent wishes to withdraw a child to save on tuition.

The details of the problem should *not* be discussed unless it is a serious medical issue that may justify a decision to place the individual under strict supervisory care.