Jindal unveils plan to aid mentally ill - NOLA

[southern_belle]

Potentially violent patients suffering from mental illness who are vulnerable to slipping through the cracks of a fractured post-Katrina health care system would be more effectively treated under a proposed law that gives judges the authority to mandate treatment for certain people, Gov. Bobby Jindal and other state leaders said Monday.

Jindal unveiled a package of legislation at a news conference in New Orleans, including a proposal to require involuntary outpatient mental health treatment that was prompted by the late January shooting of New Orleans police officer Nicola Cotton. Cotton was killed with her own gun, allegedly by a man described by his family as a paranoid schizophrenic in and out of mental institutions his entire adult life.

"Nicola's Law is designed to balance the issue of public safety with ensuring that people have the dignity of getting the care they need," Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said at St. Thomas Community Health Center on St. Andrew Street.

snip

Patients would not be affected by the law unless they demonstrate a history of failing to comply with treatment. A judge first would have to find that the person was either hospitalized twice in the past three years for a mental illness or in some way acted violently or threatened violence during that same period.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-10/120642256187070.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

[MadLinguist]

1. Uh Oh! mental health in New Orleans is needed, but this is not the way

If being hospitalized twice in the past two years is sufficient to impose "involuntary health treatment", the mentally ill are placed in an even more powerless position. The situation that led to Nicola Cotton's death was the paucity of mental health services in the city. The services that are available are overburdened to the max, so the follow-up and oversight procedures are mostly non-existent. Jindal is making a stupid punching gesture which will not improve mental health in New Orleans one iota.

[RB TexLa]

2. You know we can't have people determining what treatment they are going to get

for themselves. Mental treatment is the first step, next Jindal will give doctors the power to force health treatment on people. What did you think all those contributions from doctors and medical billing companies were buying from this guy?