Earlier this week Queerty reported that Roger Gorley had been arrested and forcibly removed from the hospital room of his partner, Allen Mansell, following an altercation with Mansell’s brother Lee. The incident was widely reported as a gay rights issue, but now Lee says he is not homophobic and only wanted the best treatment for his brother, who suffers from severe depression.
Kansas City’s KSHB interviewed both Lee Mansell and Gorley about the incident, which began when Lee, unable to reach his brother, phoned 911 and had transported to Research Medical Center.
The two men began to argue over who had the rights to make medical decisions for Allen. Roger insists he wasn’t being disruptive, but objected to Lee having had Allen admitted to the hospital.”That would be like me going over to his house and taking his wife and hauling her off to the hospital without talking to him,” he says.
Gorley also says that during his heated discussion with Mansell, hospital security became violent.
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“Hospital security came, and it started to hit me on my wrist” while he was holding onto Allen’s bed, Gorley says. “(They) hit me … because I was holding on, and they kept hitting and kept hitting and kept hitting.”
Lee Mansell says he’s not homophobic and loves Gorley as his own brother. He also reveals he’s received death threats since news of the incident went viral. “I’ve been called everything from a homophobe to things you can’t even say on TV,” he says. “I’ve had physical threats since someone was nice enough to post my email address online.”
Raquel Santiago
My heart goes out to both of them, this is getting more and more out of hand. This debate over medical care is going to continue depending on the laws of each state. Sounds like the security guard and nurse were out of line. My heart goes out to them. Kansas is really in the news a lot lately and mostly due to stupidity. I think the whole family needs a good sit down talk to work out their needs. They had no right to ask them for paperwork documenting the “relationship” They did have a legal right though to ask for the power of attorney but that should have been the end of it.
LaTeesha
Sounds like Lee is a nut case who ought to mind his own business. He doesn’t seem to recognize that his brother has a family. I hope Lee seeks the mental health treatment & counseling he appears to need. Maybe he couldn’t reach Allen because Allen didn’t want to speak with him. I wouldn’t want to speak with a family member who was as disconnected from reality as Lee appears to be.
LaTeesha
And the linked article seems to violate AP guidelines. The two men & even the brother, Lee, use the term “husband”. However, the article uses the term “partner” when not quoting the people involved. Not surprising, though. Probably the local reporter inserting his or her own bias & a way to deflect from the reality of the situation.
JAW
WOW… some more pieces to the puzzle… soon we will have a clear picture of exactly what happened…
Sounds like to me… Allen freaked out at home… 911 was called… Lee was at the house… Medics said that he should be admitted (keep in mind Allen suffers from depression)…
Lee called Roger and told him what was happening… when both Lee and Roger were at the Hospital, all hell broke lose.
Nurse said for both leave… lee left, Roger would not and caused a scene…
If my partner were in the hospital (esp for Depression) I would do what the Nurse said… then fought like hell for our rights away from my partner, so as to not upset him more.
I think Roger is as culpable as the Nurse… I assume that there will be more info to come
Any Thoughts???
tookietookie
Lee seems like a condescending homophobe liar. “I want them to be health and happy…as much as is possible.” Uh, huh.
Roger seemed slightly drunk during the interview. Wha?
I am thinking, is the field reporter cute or not cute. I don’t know. I am admire his nose shadows.
hyhybt
This is a very useful added perspective. It’s too bad this and the original didn’t come out at the same time; too many people can’t or won’t compensate for the tendency to disbelieve anything that contradicts a first impression.
Caleb in SC
If I recall correctly, Mr. Gorley had a health care power of attorney. That being the case, he, and he alone, would have the authority to make health care decisions for his partner. Period. Case closed. The hospital acted inappropriately by having Mr. Gorley removed. If the circumstances were slightly different — i.e., if Mr. Mansell were close to death — and there was no one around to make his health care decisions because Mr. Gorley had been forcibly removed, then the hospital would face some serious liability issues.
tdx3fan
@Raquel Santiago: This story is multidimensional. For starters, the hospital was clearly in violation of state and federal laws regarding how to handle this issue. If there is a power of attorney then that is the person who makes decisions according to the law, not the family.
However, if the POA would have been on file with the hospital (like it should be with every single hospital in the area in which you live so that they can verify before a situation arises) then this might have been handled differently.
In the end, we really do need gay marriage or at least national civil unions and a stronger national policy. If Obama actually holds this hospital accountable to national law, the hospital will lose its Medicaid and Medicare contracts and hospitals will think twice the next time. However, I really do not see that actually happening. Its one thing to change the law and make a nice speech, its totally different to actually enforce the law and that is where Obama normally falls short.
tdx3fan
@LaTeesha: While I agree with you, the reason behind the hospitalization is because the paramedics and police decided it was necessary. That basically means this was yet another psychiatric hospitalization for the patient. As long as the patient is taking his medication and is in a happy and stable home environment, there is no real need for constant psychiatric hospitalization. There is more to this story, and the patient (who we have yet to hear from) is clearly not a happy and well adjusted person.
gppm1103
@tdx3fan: There is definitely more to this story. It seems they both have issues that go beyond this incident.
But, these two guys need to know and should have known that anytime your partner goes into the hospital you should make sure you have proof you have power of attorney and medical power of attorney. You can’t just say you do.
When we get marriage equality a lot of this will change but even when that happens we MUST be able to prove we are married and do have the POA and POA(medical). You don’t have time to go home and fetch the documents.
Ours is on file with our Dr and I carry it in the car.
Tjenfang2
@JAW: Please keep in mind that another article not referenced in this one taxes the daughter of Mr. Gorely was in the residence when the brother Lee came to their home with paramedics in tow. He hen notified her father to go o the hospital to care for his partner.
What kind of trick is bing pulled when it seems this was premeditated by bringing medical care. If the brother claims to be close to Mr. Gorely, why didn’t he contact him first before heading over there with his plan. If you also read, Allen and Mr. Gorely have been o this facility as part of their procedure for Allen before and regularly goes there.
trilingual1946
RMC and the KCPD are completely in the wrong in this case and are facing civil and criminal liability as a result. Lee Mansell also is facing civil liability. Whatever he actually feels about his brother and his relationship, Allen Mansell has given Roger Gorley his medical power of attorney and that ends the matter. Roger has the authority to make medical decisions for Allen when Allen is incapacitated, not Lee. Allen has been hospitalized several times at RMC to treat his depression and even was attended by the same nurse, so he was known to them and they were aware of his relationship with Roger. The power of attorney was probably scanned into RMC’s medical records system at his first admission and is available to the nurse. All the nurse had to do was look at Allen’s medical record, which is computerized and available on computer terminals in every room. For whatever reason, the nurse ignored all of this and called security to remove Roger. That’s big fail #1.
It has also been reported that Allen specifically stated that he wanted Roger to be with him. Under the new Medicare/Medicaid regulations on hospital visitation, that was the last word. It’s the patient’s right to have whoever they wish with them in the hospital. The hospital violated those regs. Big fail #2.
Calling security which assaulted and battered Roger, handcuffed him, and forced him to the floor without any basis for doing that exposes RMC to both civil and criminal liability for violating Roger’s civil rights and under the Matthew Shephard Hate Crimes Act, as well as similar provisions in Missouri law. It also violates Kansas City’s own anti-discrimination ordinance. Big fail #3.
KCPD taking Roger into custody and booking him, with no basis in law for doing so, is big fail#4.
Roger and Allen shouldn’t have to worry about their financial future after this. And maybe having to pay a substantial amount will teach RMC and the KCPD not to do it again!
JAW
@Tjenfang2:
I hope that this is as easy as you make it sound… But I do not think it is…
Something must have been wrong at home, since the paramedics took him to the hospital… The paramedics do not just take a well person to the hospital…
Do you have any idea why they (the medics) did take him?
Why did Roger’s daughter let Allen and the paramedics in the house?
Why did she allow them to take Allen?
Why did she not call her Dad and have him speak to the paramedics?
Was Roger at the Hospital when Allen arrived?
If he was not, was Lee the only one that could take charge (since he is a blood relative)
Until we know why Allen was taken to the hospital… what the paramedics found when they arrived (do you have any idea)… perhaps it was an emergency and they needed to act
The list goes on
Your thoughts?
JAW
@trilingual1946:
I doubt that a judge will see them completely wrong…
First… I would bet that when KCPD arrived, that Roger had still not calmed down… So KCPD kept him locked in cuffs… nothing illegal about that.
The Karate chop is a standard procedure for trying to get someone to break their hold on something like the gurney.
This is from Fox 4 News…
Gorley was told to leave the room by nurses and security, but refused, the police report said.
“After several verbal attempts to get [Gorley] to leave the room, he continually refused and began to cause a disturbance,” the report said. “[He] began to cause a disturbance by physically resisting security officers as they escorted him out of the patient’s room.”
Arrest documents say Gorley was placed into handcuffs after a short struggle with hospital security.
When police arrived, hospital security officials said they wanted to arrest Gorley for trespassing and disorderly conduct. He was then taken to the police station to be booked, documents show.
http://fox4kc.com/2013/04/10/man-no-longer-allowed-to-visit-husband-at-kc-area-hospital/
Something else in the story mentioned that it was all happening in the Emergency Room (not a private room) Emergency rooms are crowded and can’t have people arguing and causing a scene.
The nurse can clear ALL people from a room if He/She feels it is best for the patient.
With Roger Screaming, refusing to leave (Lee was gone) causing a scene… Security was right to press charges… Since Security pressed charges, KCPD did their job and booked him… what is wrong with that??
Again… This is a very sad situation for all involved… many questions need to be answered
trilingual1946
According to the reports, Allen has been dealing with severe treatment-resistant depression and has been getting ECT (electroshock) treatments at RMC to bring it under control. On the day this incident happened Roger’s daughter, Amanda, was with Allen so that someone could be with him while Roger was out (working, I believe). Amanda and Allen went out shopping. When they returned home they found Lee there along with paramedics and EMTs that they had called on their own initiative, even though they had not authority to do so. Allen was apparently not having a good day to begin with and the emergency people seem to have convinced him to allow them to take him to the hospital and they took him to RMC. Amanda called Roger to tell him what happened and he got to RMC not long after Allen was admitted. Lee also was there. Allen had previously been a patient at RMC (several times) so they have his medical records on file, including, presumably, the power of attorney. Allen also wasn’t so out of it that he couldn’t speak for himself, and when the nurse told Roger and Lee to leave Allen said he wanted Roger to stay with him. Under the new Medicare/Medicaid regulations that should have been it. Allen has complete control over who he wants with him at the hospital. RMC also claims to have an LGBT-friendly visitation policy, so it apparently ignored its own policy in this incident.
The issue isn’t why Allen was taken to the hospital. He seems to have agreed to go there voluntarily, even though it was entirely inappropriate for Lee to have called the paramedics to Allen and Roger’s home and try to take charge of Allen’s medical care. The issue is what happened AFTER Allen was admitted at RMC. Once Roger got to the hospital, stated that he was Allen’s spouse, and that he had Allen’s power of attorney, that should have been the end of the matter. The hospital is obliged to honor his status as Allen’s next of kin and his ability to direct Allen’s medical care when Allen is unable to do that for himself. Instead, something broke down badly and the rest of the fiasco unfolded. But all of it was avoidable if the nurse had simply followed the law and the hospital’s own policies.
litper
@JAW Nice try Chick-Fil-A hospital spokesperson, but you won’t get away with your homophobia. I hope you’ll pay the big $$$!!!
JAW
@trilingual1946:
Interesting… there are sooo many stories going around about this it is hard to keep up
One version has Amanda saying that the KCPD took him out of the room (it was Hospital Security)
Most stories do not mention that it was all happening in the Emergency Room area… Not in a regular room that is more more private.
Here is another version… most seem to come from Roger and Amenda… so only one side of the story… This one mentions that it was police and not security that Karate chopped and knocked him down
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/04/12/1857741/what-actually-happened-to-that-same-sex-couple-in-the-missouri-hospital/?mobile=nc
Another story suggests that The Kansas law may have wiggle room to ignore Power of Attorney…
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/04/11/1852551/missouri-man-arrested-for-refusing-to-leave-his-partners-hospital-bedside/?mobile=nc
That article also talks about why Roger was asked to leave…
This was an issue of disruptive and belligerent behavior by the visitor that affected patient care. The hospital’s response followed the same policies that would apply to any individual engaged in this behavior in a patient care setting and was not in any way related to the patient’s or the visitor’s sexual orientation or marital status. This visitor created a barrier for us to care for the patient. Attempts were made to deescalate the situation. Unfortunately, we had no choice but to involve security and the Kansas City MO Police Department.
All of this shows that we need Marriage rights… period
hyhybt
@JAW: That makes no sense. He was removed for causing a disturbance, but he didn’t start causing a disturbance until they tried to remove him? It’s simply impossible.
@JAW: The biggest thing in that is that there’s supposed to be no restraining order. If that’s so, has he been allowed back?
JAW
@hyhybt:
actually he and his bro in law, Lee, were both told to leave, because they kept fighting in the Emergency Room… Lee left… Roger stayed… and refused to leave.
Yes he is allowed back in… one of the links mentioned it.
Again… there are sooo many versions of this event out there it is hard to keep up
One of the links that I just posted mentioned that Allen wanted to go to a different Hospital (St Luke’s)… That was where his Doctors were…
“Due to Allen’s sluggish state, the police determined he was a “danger to himself” and decided to take him to the hospital against his will. Rather than taking him to St. Luke’s Hospital in Lee’s Summit, the local hospital where his regular doctors are, they took him to the Research Medical Center in Kansas City, which he only goes to for his ECT. They ignored Amanda’s attempts to explain Allen’s medical needs and procedures.”
trilingual1946
Yes, at this point we can’t be positive about all the things that happened. However, Amanda’s account is contemporaneous and consistent, so it’s believable unless shown otherwise. Kansas law doesn’t apply, Missouri law does. However, the section you quoted won’t help RMC. It’s a for-profit hospital not affiliated with any religious denomination. The hospital hasn’t asserted any religious reason for the incident, in any case. In fact, RMC has made a big point about its having pro-LGBT policies. It’s possible that the nurse has religious issues with same-sex marriage, but s/he isn’t in a position to make a decision like that for the hospital. S/he can’t superimpose his/her private religious beliefs above the law or the hospital’s own policies. We don’t actually know if that was the reason the nurse called security on Roger. The nurse may have just been at the end of a long, bad day. Whatever the reason, the nurse did this as an RMC employee, as did security, so RMC is completely implicated.
It’s also perfectly understandable that Roger would be upset and might raise his voice after Lee tried to usurp his right to be with Allen and to make medical decisions on Allen’s behalf. The hospital says that both men were asked to leave, so that’s already an admission that it violated the law and its own policies. Besides Roger having stated that he was Allen’s spouse and held his power of attorney, Allen himself told the nurse that he wanted Roger to stay with him. Under the new Medicare/Medicaid regs, that was supposed to be the end of it. If someone should have been asked to leave, it should have been Lee, who had no legal relationship to Allen in these circumstances nor any right to be in the room. Unfortunately, the nurse screwed up totally and escalated the situation, which led to violence and the violation of Roger’s civil rights. Allen’s rights as a patient also were violated and his depression undoubtedly aggravated by seeing his husband beaten by security or the police and taken away in police custody. Given its own admissions, RMC now has little or no wiggle room to get out of this mess. If it were smart it would make a public apology to the two men and the entire community, accompanied by a check in at least seven figures. If they go to court in Kansas City, which has generous juries, they’re facing much more risk of an astronomically large judgment against them.
And yes, this is a textbook example of why we need marriage equality. If that were presently the law here this probably never would have happened.
trilingual1946
It’s difficult at this point to know if Allen was taken to the hospital voluntarily or not. If it was against his will then Lee’s Summit is also looking at liability. In any case, the EMTs seem to have concluded that Allen was having a mental issue. In that case it makes sense that they would have taken Allen to RMC, which has a psych unit, rather than to St. Luke’s, which doesn’t. All we know at this point is that when Amanda and Allen returned home after their shopping they found Lee, Lee’s wife, and Lee’s Summit police and EMTs waiting for them. Everything went downhill from there.
balehead
There’s way more to this story than the families are letting on…..but they are definately all looking to start a “lotto lawsuit”…
hyhybt
@balehead: Nah. They might sue, and they might win, but there’s no way to get to a huge payout. That would require the patient to have died because of poor care, or at least because they were following the wrong person’s instructions, or perhaps, if they were lucky in getting a sympathetic jury, simply on the grounds of their not being together for the last moments of life. But he’s alive, so none of that applies.
JAW
@trilingual1946:
… My Bad… it was Missouri, not Kansas in the article.
It appears that the police brought Allen in…
Due to Allen’s sluggish state, the police determined he was a “danger to himself” and decided to take him to the hospital against his will. Rather than taking him to St. Luke’s Hospital in Lee’s Summit, the local hospital where his regular doctors are, they took him to the Research Medical Center in Kansas City, which he only goes to for his ECT. They ignored Amanda’s attempts to explain Allen’s medical needs and procedures.
Amenda’s story has flaws… she said it was KCPD that attacked her Dad… But Her Dad (Roger) said it was security… Police and medical staff always wear gloves around blood… that is protocol.
Keep in mind that this all came down in the Emergency Room, There is No way the Hospital can allow a scene like this to continue…
I hope that they post the 2 911 calls… One form Lee and one from Hospital security… they should shed a lot of info on what happened. I hope that we do find out all of the details
trilingual1946
@balehead: Lotto lawsuit? I’m sure if you got beaten up by the cops at your spouse’s bedside for no valid reason whatsoever you’d be signing up with the first ambulance chaser that got to you!
trilingual1946
@hyhybt: Don’t know where you live, but Kansas City juries are famous for being generous in these kinds of cases. RMC should be worried. Better yet they should make a public apology to Roger, Allen and the community and accompany it with a VERY big check. Otherwise they might be facing an astronomical jury award.
trilingual1946
Whether it was the police or the EMTs who took Allen to RMC, that wasn’t unreasonable, per se, if they had diagnosed him with a mental issue. There aren’t many psych wards in town. RMC has one, St. Lukes doesn’t. However there could be issues if Allen specifically told them he wanted to go to St. Luke’s and they didn’t take him there.
I agree that a disturbance in the ER is not a good thing. But the fact that there was a disturbance at all is the fault of the nurse who wouldn’t honor Roger’s statements that he was Allen’s spouse and that he had Allen’s POA. The nurse didn’t do his/her job and then made things worse by bringing in security. I don’t think the discrepancies between Amanda’s and Roger’s accounts of who beat him are very important. It would be easy for Roger to be a bit confused about the facts because he was probably in shock about what was happening. However, it probably was security that was most at fault because it sounds like KCPD wasn’t called until they had subdued and handcuffed him. However, KCPD is at fault for not making appropriate inquiries before taking Roger and charging him. Roger hadn’t done anything wrong, he was well within his rights to be where he was, and the whole thing involves some serious criminal violations both by security and the police. I’m sure a jury will be able to sort out the exact facts and what blame applies to whom! In addition to the eyewitnesses, if this was going on in the ER there are probably security camera tapes, too, that can show what happened.
hyhybt
@trilingual1946: Anything, of course, is possible.
FStratford
Lee, the homophobe thinks he is not. No surprise there.
Atomicrob
This is sounding more and more like a family fight, played out in public. Obviously, you can’t have heated arguments in public places without someone reacting. Unfortunately, sounds like the hospital security staff exacerbated the exchange between the husband and brother-in-law by introducing the physical blows to remove the husband. Seems like they acted like a couple of goons when they probably could have talked it through. Weird situation. I can’t imagine bring treated that way. When my partner was in the hospital, the nursing staff and Drs. treated me with respect and answered my questions. Of course this is Massachusetts, but it shouldn’t matter. This makes another case for marriage equality. People have to respect the bond between two Individuals, and abandon their personal judgments and stereotypes.
GayTampaCowboy
Right now I”m just as concerned about WHY 911 was called in the first place! My understanding is that it was the BROTHER who called. If so, and he wants the couple to be happy and healthy, wouldn’t he have called the PARTNER – instead of 911. Add to that, the daughter was there trying to explain to the first responders – but they ignored her..and also it seems like they ignored the patient too!
I’d be FURIOUS too if i found out my “brother in law” called 911 before calling me! Next, i’d be even MORE furious that the “brother in law” didn’t support the partner’s right to be there!
I don’t condone violence or physcial threats of any kind toward the brother, but it sure sounds to me like he’s trying to spin his side of the story so the truth dosn’t come out that – and this is my prediction:
– he does NOT support gay marriage – nor his brother’s committment to his partner
– his brother has significant assets he’d like control over if he can get his brother declared mentally incapacitated
– he did this to prove that the partner is unfit to provide care or make decisions
Just my 2 cents!
Caliban
Based on what I’ve read, Lee called the authorities before he even saw Allen. Allen came home from shopping with Roger’s daughter and was immediately taken into custody, then the hospital. According to her Allen didn’t need to be taken in.
According to Roger’s daughter Lee hadn’t seen his brother since Christmas, which hardly makes him an expert on Allen’s condition and treatment. Maybe he really did have Allen’s best interests in mind, but something about this reeks of *force majeure,* trying to assert control over his brother and his partner just because he could.
To me what’s sad here is that thanks to this becoming a “viral” story that Allen’s mental illness has become known across the country when it should be private. How would you like your medical records, much less your mental health, being discussed by strangers? Allen’s right to privacy has been violated which, on top of everything else, is the last thing he needs. It does shine a light on the legal discrepancy between gay and straight couples, but at what cost? I doubt Allen is thanking anyone for having his life laid bare.
the other Greg
I hope some people reading this don’t get the impression that the Power of Attorney and health care proxy are some kind of intricately complicated forms that require a lawyer.
If you’re poor, ask a social worker.
Actually you can print them from the internet and get them notarized for $2 or $3.
dbmyers
@JAW: What more than power of attorney would you require to believe that the husband was legally in the right – to be there and to make decisions for the patient, as opposed to the brother – really?
Rangerboy
Hahaha – pathetic! As soon as it get public and generates heated reactions, nobody did anything wrong. From my point of view, all three parties have fault for whatever reasons, although I still would believe that all had the best intentions for the patient in mind.
So guys: talk it over calmly, apologize to each other for this misunderstanding and have a drink together. Get over it and see that the patient who is a husband and also a brother gets all the love, treatment and attention to get well again, as if something happens to him, all of you will be sorry and will be regretting for not having sorted out a minor issue in a peaceful and civil manner!