News
Open Letter to Guardian
Posted on February 5, 2014 at 12:20 AM |
We have written an open letter to Karina's guardian and emailed it to him. You can read this below.
Dear Guardian :
We are writing to you out of concern for Karina
Hansen. We understand you have been appointed guardian to Karina Hansen
and that her parents have written to you requesting she be allowed to
have a second opinion provided by an international ME expert - Dr.
Nigel Speight. We
are respectfully requesting that you allow Karina Hansen to be seen by
this expert in a timely matter. We believe this young woman's quality
of life, and possibly her life itself, rests on this decision.
We
understand that being appointed guardian of someone with such a complex
illness can be a difficult task. We have taken the time to research some
matters which are relevant to this situation and might be of use to you
as you make this decision.
1. Karina has the right to a
second opinion. We understand that in Denmark this right to a second
opinion is applied in cases that are severe or life threatening. We know
that Karina's case is severe as clearly evidenced by her symptoms and
quality of life. (To learn more about severe ME please visit http://www.stonebird.co.uk/symptoms.html We also believe it is life threatening. Sophia Mirza is one example
of someone who died from ME after inappropriate treatment. You can
learn about her at http://www.sophiaandme.org.uk/
. We are very much afraid that if you do not seize this opportunity to
have Karina seen by these experts that Karina might suffer a similar
fate.
You can read about rights to a second opinion at http://www.who.int/entity/genomics/public/eu_declaration1994.pdf?ua=1 and at http://books.google.com/books?id=iDa_qL--W_oC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=Denmark+patient+rights+second+opinion&source=bl&ots=yMxoL6ihEp&sig=AOnN0vIkEDHE3rcHeONNW8Olhek&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wVPtUrH1FpTYyQGmoIDIDQ&ved=0CEcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Denmark%20patient%20rights%20second%20opinion&f=true
2.
We have researched more about Karina's rights as a member of the
European Union and we would like to share this information with you.
The European Consultation on the Rights of Patients, whose purpose was
to define principles and strategies for promoting the rights of
patients, provides an excellent point of reference to understand
Karina's rights. Especially applicable to Karina's case are the right
to refuse treatment, the right to change healthcare providers, the right
to enjoy the support of family during treatment, and the right to
"thorough, just, effective and prompt" attention to complaints. All of
these rights are listed at http://www.who.int/entity/genomics/public/eu_declaration1994.pdf?ua=1 .
3.
Another guiding principle that helped set these important healthcare
laws says that decisions made for the patient should take into account
"what is known and, to the greatest extent possible, what may be
presumed about the wishes of the patient." (Declaration on the
Promotion of Patients' Rights in Europe) Karina very clearly made her
wishes known prior to being taken from her home on February 12, 2013.
She said no to GET (graded exercise therapy) and CBT (cognitive
behavioral therapy). She also said no to treatment by Nils Balle
Christensen. Karina chose her parents to have her power of attorney.
Please listen to what they have to say about their daughter's wishes.
We
are a group of people from different countries that came together to
ensure that Karina's rights are being respected. We are nonpartisan and have no reason to want anything but what is best for Karina's health. We are making this letter public and we will also
share the letter written to you by Karina Hansen's parents (with their
full permission).
We request that you take all of these
guidelines into consideration and as Karina's state- appointed guardian
please make sure that her human rights are being respected.
Respectfully,
the managers of Justice for Karina Hansen
Categories: Campaign