Last year in May 2015, Kyler Prescott ended his life. Suicide is never the answer, but there are always different reasons it occurs. Kyler's mother feels that some of the pain that led to Kyler taking is own life was caused by his stay and treatment in a San Diego hospital.
The mother of a transgender boy filed a lawsuit against a U.S. hospital on Monday claiming its medical staff repeatedly addressed her son – who later committed suicide – as a girl.
In the landmark case, Katharine Prescott argues the Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego (RCHSD) in California discriminated against her transgender son based on his sex.
The 14-year-old transgender boy, Kyler Prescott, committed suicide about five weeks after staying at the hospital in 2015 where he was treated for having suicidal thoughts and self-inflicted wounds.
The suit claims the hospital violated anti-discrimination provisions in federal and state laws, including the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.
The plaintiff's attorney, Alison Pennington, with the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, said she believed it was the first case to claim an underage transgender person had suffered sex-based discrimination under the Affordable Care Act.
Less than half a dozen similar suits have claimed discrimination against adult transgender people since the law was enacted in 2010, she said. – nbcnews.com
In a telephone interview, the mother said filing the lawsuit was painful, but she hoped it would ensure no other parents or child go through the same ordeal. "I believed that they would be able to help him feel better," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "They really just made things worse."
According to the suit, RCHSD said on its website that it was competent in caring for transgender children and teens. But the complaint claims that the hospital's nursing and other staff "repeatedly addressed and referred to Kyler as a girl, using feminine pronouns."
The transgender boy, who had legally changed his name and gender, subsequently called his experience at the hospital "horrible," the complaint said.
The mother is seeking damages and restitution, as well as an injunction that would force the hospital to institute policies preventing the discrimination of transgender youth based on sex. – nbcnews.com
Kyler's mom, Katharine was on an episode of I Am Cait talking about the loss of Kyler and his bullied past.
“When my son was in despair, I entrusted Rady Children’s Hospital with his safety and well-being,” Prescott said. “Hospitals are supposed to be safe places that help people when they’re in need. Instead of recovering at the hospital, Kyler got worse because staff continued to traumatize him by repeatedly treating him as a girl and ignoring his serious health issues.
“It’s painful to speak out, but I want to make sure no other parent or child ever has to go through this again.” – washingtonpost.com
For more info on this, keep a watch on the Kyler Prescott Memorial Page.
I know we have a lot of nurses and doctors in the LGBT community, what are your thoughts on this?
Does your employer train you in LGBT issues, concerns?
Have you seen LGBT patients mistreated?
h/t: nbcnews.com, washingtonpost.com, Kyler Prescott Memorial Page