Case Details

Summary:

Upon my release from jail, I was informed that I would be transferred to Harborview Hospital for a 72-hour hold. However, no such order was documented in my release paperwork, and I had no medical or psychological concerns at the time. I was officially released from jail and in my street clothes but was not permitted to leave the facility.

Two officers came over and put handcuffs on me and had me follow them to a vehicle, which looked like it was used to pick up stray dogs and bring them to the pound. The back had no windows and there was hardly enough room for my legs. It was not something I had ever seen before. We left the jail and drove directly across the street to Harborview Hospital and pulled into the emergency room entrance.

When we arrived at Harborview’s emergency room, the situation was confusing and disorganized. Two officers escorted me into the building and immediately shouted toward the nearest hospital staff member, asking where they should place me. The staff member approached and began asking the officers questions—questions they were unable to answer. The hospital employee then walked us over to a computer at the nurse's station and asked me to sit in a chair beside it while he and the officers attempted to determine who had ordered the hold. I overheard the staff member mention, during a phone call, that the court contact was someone named Marianna. I did not recognize the name, but I heard the officers mutter a few words in acknowledgment as if they knew her.

Eventually, I was moved from the chair to a nearby hospital bed. It was positioned awkwardly and offered no privacy—there was no curtain or partition. Shortly afterward, several hospital staff members approached me. One nurse, in particular, was carrying a large syringe and spoke rudely. As she moved closer, the other staff surrounded the bed, forming a wall around me. Their presence felt intimidating and borderline threatening. The nurse grabbed my upper arm and wiped it with an alcohol pad. I immediately stated that I felt fine and did not want any medication. Despite this, the officers forcefully pushed me onto the bed and held my arms down. I panicked and shouted for them to stop. They insisted it was necessary to "calm me down," even though I had remained calm up to that point and exhibited no signs of distress. The nurse injected the syringe into my arm without informing me of what the substance was and without performing a medical screening.

Afterward, I lay on the bed feeling dizzy. Eventually, I was walked to a small room away from the main emergency area. It appeared to be a converted supply closet, containing only a small bed and no sink or restroom. Once inside, the door was shut and locked behind me. I was confined to the space, unable to leave, though I could move about within its limited area.

A few hours later, someone informed me that I was being moved to another floor. Soon after, a group of staff arrived with a hospital bed and asked me to climb onto it. Once I laid down, they raised the side rails and pulled out leather restraints. I immediately felt a surge of panic. They proceeded to tie both my arms to the rails. Then they rolled the bed out of the room, through the main ER floor, past other patients and hospital staff, in what felt like a public display of humiliation.

We arrived on what I believe was the 8th floor, where I was placed in a crowded room with several other patients. Each bed had curtains for partial privacy. I remained restrained as I listened to a nearby patient yelling at the staff. Eventually, a male staff member approached me and began speaking. His name badge read “Shane J,” which stood out to me since it matched my own first name and middle initial. Distracted by the coincidence, I missed much of what he said. He later returned with a portable x-ray machine and took a chest image, even though I had no respiratory symptoms, cough, or chest pain.

After the x-ray, a doctor informed me that I would moved to a medical floor and admitted as a patient because he was concerned about a dark spot found on my lung. He said an order to get an MRI was put in. Still strapped to the bed, I was taken to another floor of the hospital and placed into a private room. A nurse came in and connected an IV and handed me a small plastic urinal then released one of my arms from the restraint.

Later that evening I was taken to the MRI room and given a contrast agent through my IV, which made me nauseous and caused me to throw up. Once the scan was complete, I was returned to my room.

Later, the medical team reconnected my IV and listed a few medications—one of which was Haloperidol, Risperdal and another for leg cramps. One medication was administered via injection to my abdomen, and the other was given as a pill, if I recall correctly.

Shortly after the injection, I began experiencing severe, involuntary muscle contractions. My limbs twisted and stiffened, my neck locked, and my stomach began to spasm violently—it felt like being repeatedly punched from the inside. My speech became slurred, and I started drooling. Panic set in, making it even harder to breathe. I had no idea what was happening to me. The spasms lasted for over two hours, and the abdominal pain continued through the night.

The next day, various medical professionals came through to ask about my medical and mental health history. They ordered bloodwork, and nurses changed the IV bag regularly. At this point, I was officially admitted to the hospital as a medical patient.

Then came the test results. I was shocked to learn that I had tested positive for neurosyphilis and possibly tuberculosis, along with signs of an acute lung infection. I was confident that my vaccines were up to date, so they ran more tests and ultimately ruled out TB. The treatment plan included 500 mL of intravenous penicillin per day for seven days, along with a lumbar puncture (spinal tap).

While this may have been the appropriate treatment, I never consented to it—I had been admitted under duress and without voluntary agreement. To make matters worse, I was moved from the medical unit to a psychiatric floor midway through my treatment, which ended up being two weeks and for reasons that were never explained.

Notes:

• It was not until after I was released from jail and then the hospital did I find out there was an order from the court for a 72 hour hold, but I was not given the paperwork while in jail nor did I receive anything related to it while I was in the hospital.
• The initial judgement states a triage evaluator would do an evaluation to determine the necessary treatment. I was not evaluated before being treated and admitted as a medical patient.
• I received a letter from Apple Health, my former provider, saying I did not need to be in the hospital for treatment and to release me on April 5th. Instead, the hospital kept me on psychiatric floor until April 15th and continued the intravenous penicillin treatment.

In Washington State and King County:

• Tuberculosis (TB): King County saw a 15% increase in TB cases in 2021 compared to 2020. Seattle accounted for a significant portion (43%) of these cases. There was a notable outbreak of TB in Washington state prisons in 2021-2022, considered the state's largest in 20 years. This was attributed in part to the suspension of routine screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Syphilis: King County experienced a significant rise in syphilis cases, including congenital syphilis, with a 67% increase in congenital syphilis cases in 2023 compared to 2021. Syphilis cases increased by 49% in Washington between 2019 and 2021. Public Health - Seattle & King County formed a Syphilis Task Force to address the epidemic.