Wealth Preservation and Preventive Law Alert Number 2

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Medical Protection For Minor Children

Who is authorized to take your children to the hospital when you are unavailable?

This Preventive Law Alert was written by: John Goodson, Colleen Manley and Christine Goodson Forakis.

These Preventive Law Alerts are patterned after an annual publication to all mountain climbers called “Accidents in North American Mountaineering” which writes up all mountaineering accidents describing the accident, what caused it, how it may have been prevented so that further mountain climbing catastrophes may be avoided. The Preventive Law Alerts are the equivalent of “Legal Accidents in North American Law” – a description of the legal catastrophe and how it may be avoided using preventive law techniques.

The Legal Catastrophe

Last summer, John Goodson’s granddaughter, Tara, was invited to go with her friend to a cabin in the mountains near Payson, AZ. Her parents were busy in Phoenix that weekend. Tara, a very creative child, showed her friend a magic trick on how to make a quarter disappear. She swallowed it and the quarter became lodged in her throat. Her friend’s family drove her 35 minutes to a small hospital in Payson. The doctor could not operate on her without her parents consent. They could not tell anyone other than the legal parents the diagnosis because by doing so they would violate the Federal HIPAA laws and be subject to criminal penalties and civil fines. They could not operate because no one with Tara had the legal authority to consent to medical care other than “first aid.” Also, no one was able to assure the hospital that the medical bills for Tara would be paid.

The hospital called Tara’s parents who, while Tara gurgled, choked, and cried, drove two hours to be present to take care of the situation because only her parents could receive the diagnosis and authorize the corrective surgery.

The Preventive Law Solution

We discovered that few parents give “Medical Authorization for Minor Children” (MAMC) or what we call “Baby Sitter Forms” when they (1) leave their child with someone else, or (2) when the child visits with someone else.

WORSE THAN THIS, WE FOUND NO BABY SITTER FORMS IN EXISTENCE TODAY THAT HAVE ALL THE PROTECTIVE PROVISIONS NECESSARY TO CARE FOR THE CHILD IN AN EMERGENCY AND AT THE SAME TIME PROTECT THE DOCTOR, HOSPITAL, AND THOSE WHO CARE FOR A CHILD IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.

Imagine a disease with no vaccine. That is what we have had in the United States until now – a legal catastrophe to which all children are exposed and no preventive law document to protect our children.

We want every child in the United States to have a duly executed “Medical Authorization for Minor Children” (MAMC). All the children in your family must have a MAMC duly executed and ready to copy with the names of persons you trust as custodians to take care of all the emergencies that may happen when your children are not with you.

The form designed by attorney John F. Goodson, President and founder of the College of Preventive Law is one that will be immediately acted upon by the medical professionals without them worrying about their liability for lawsuits later, or about their violating HIPAA laws or not being paid for their services.

This legal document must be prepared in such a way that it will be acted upon without delays – where the hospital staff is not questioning the document and waiting until they talk to the hospital attorney. A delay in surgery with a broken bone situation may result in permanent impairment or slower recovery; a delay in treating a laceration or skin tear will result in scars that are difficult for a plastic surgeon to erase later.

The College of Preventive Law MAMC has all the protective information in it for each child:

• Blood type
• Allergy information
• Family doctor
• Family hospital
• Other medical cautions
• Medical insurance carrier and contact information
• Right to add additional custodians on the form if your first named approved custodians are not available

The MAMC authorizes the named custodian to:

• Take the child to a medical facility or a medical practitioner to care for it or operate if necessary
• Incur medical bills for the child payable by the parents
• Use first aid to care for the child
• Discipline the child as reasonably necessary
• Drop off or pickup the child from school, doctor appointments, sporting events etc.

The custodians named in the MAMC are protected from lawsuits as long as they exercise their “best efforts” and are not guilty of intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence. The parents will hold the custodian harmless and protect them from lawsuits, if any, arising out of the custodians actions in caring for the child.

To further authenticate the MAMC and prevent delays in its implementation, we have it notarized and a signed lawyers certificate of its legality.

We urge you to notify your family and friends to seek this protection. Be sure you do this before you assume responsibility for someone else’s children. Every sports coach, scout master, school group must insist that the parents of their students do this before they accompany children on trips.

EVERY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL SHOULD HAVE A MAMC FOR EVERY CHILD IN THEIR SCHOOL.

Do not allow children to stay overnight at your house without insisting that their parents bring a MAMC for each child that you are responsible for.

We help prevent legal accidents in North America!!

For additional information, please call (602) 252-5110.

www.goodsonmanleyforakis.com

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