After Adult Daughter Disagrees with Mayo Clinic over Treatment, Parents Help Her Flee the Hospital

On Christmas morning in 2016, as 18-year-old Alyssa Gilderhus began to open her gifts, she suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm.

Surgeons had to drill a hole in her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain. Still, the surgeons only gave her a 2% chance of living.

Miraculously, after multiple surgeries at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Alyssa began to improve and was transferred to a rehabilitation unit on January 30. That is when the troubles began.

According to Alyssa and her family, after Alyssa’s parents disagreed with her doctor on several points, they eventually asked for her doctor to be replaced.

Instead, Alyssa’s mother was told that she was not permitted to participate in Alyssa’s care or be allowed on Mayo property.

Alyssa, who was legally an adult during the entire time she was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic, claimed that she asked to be transferred to another facility. However, she was never granted her requested transfer.

To make things worse, the family said Mayo staffers confiscated Alyssa’s cell phone, laptop, and tablet, and her family was informed that no one would be allowed to stay overnight with Alyssa or attend her treatment sessions.

Alyssa’s parents decided they needed to get their daughter out. Her father successfully managed to wheel Alyssa through the lobby, then outside, and finally–with nurses trying to stop them–into the waiting car where her mother was.  

With the police trying to track them down, Alyssa’s family arrived at an emergency room in South Dakota. There, according to medical records, the doctors examined Alyssa and ultimately disagreed with the Mayo Clinic, telling her that she could go home. Once the police learned the hospital cleared Alyssa to go home, they stopped their pursuit.

A few days later, Alyssa and her family finally returned home.

***

Unfortunately, a parent disagreeing with hospital staff over a child’s treatment can lead to CPS getting involved or worse. Over the years, Heritage Defense attorneys have had the privilege of helping several of our member families navigate through such situations.  

In one member case, hospital staff decided that a girl needed outpatient psychological treatment seven hours a day without her parents present. When the parents questioned the treatment, the hospital threatened to call CPS.

In another case, a hospital refused to treat a baby if born prior to 24 weeks.

Read the entire article here: Escape from the Mayo Clinic: Teen accuses world-famous hospital of ‘medical kidnapping’

Please note that by clicking the above link, you are leaving heritagedefense.org and may encounter inappropriate content and images that are not endorsed by Heritage Defense.

If you are a member of Heritage Defense and your family is ever falsely accused of child abuse or neglect through social services, we are ready to defend you and your rights. Please share this post and encourage others to learn more about Heritage Defense.

If you are not yet a member, please join today to have 24/7 access to experienced, Christian attorneys ready to defend your family.