Abstract of the statutes of the United States and of the several states and territories, relating to the custody of the insane / By Charles F. Folsom, with the assistance of Hollis R. Bailey.

  • Folsom, Charles Follen, 1842-1907.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Abstract of the statutes of the United States and of the several states and territories, relating to the custody of the insane / By Charles F. Folsom, with the assistance of Hollis R. Bailey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    the hospital, who is not cured, the commissioners may authorize his dis- charge if proper provision is made for his care, but no one under a criminal charge or conviction shall be discharged without the order of the district court and notice to the district attorney. If an insane person cared for within the county out of a hospital is shown to be no longer in need of care or restraint, the commissioners shall order his immediate discharge. Any patient in the hospital who is cured shall be immediately discharged by the superintendent, who shall furnish him with suitable clothing and money not exceeding $20, unless he is otherwise supplied. The relatives of any patient who is found incurable, but not dangerous, may take charge of and remove him with the consent of the board of trustees of the hospital. The trustees, whenever it is necessary to make room, may order the removal of incurable and harmless patients, and the commissioners of the counties where they belong shall at once provide for their care. If for want of room, or for other cause, it becomes necessary to dis- criminate in the reception of patients, a selection shall be made in the following order: (1) Recent cases (of less than one year's duration). (2) Chronic cases (of more than one year's duration), presenting the most favorable prospects of recovery. (3) Those for whom application has been longest on file. (4) Other things being equal, the indigent. If a patient escapes, the superintendent shall cause search to be made, and shall notify the commissioners, who, if the patient is found, shall have him returned. Each county shall pay the expenses of its own patients, and the State shall pay for patients who have no settlement. Patients in the hospital may receive special care, if their friends make an agreement with the superintendent and pay for the same. The relatives or friends of any patient in the hospital shall have the privilege of paying any portion or all of the expenses of such patient. If an insane person has property, his estate is liable for his support, but the board of supervisors, if they deem it a hardship to take such estate, may forbear to do so, to such extent as they think just and reasonable. There shall be a visiting committee of three persons, of whom at least one must be a woman, who shall have full power to visit the hospitals, send for persons, examine witnesses under oath, discharge or prosecute employes for cause, and correct abuses. Inmates shall be allowed to write to this committee once a week and to receive letters from them, and the same shall not be opened by the superintendent or other officers. The committee shall annually report to the Governor. If it is alleged on oath that a patient is not insane and is unjustly deprived of his liberty, the judge of the district or circuit court of the county in which the hospital is situated, or of the county in which the patient has his settlement, shall appoint a commission of not more than three persons, one of whom shall be a physician, and, if two are appointed, one a lawyer. They shall go to the hospital, see the patient and examine the records and the officers, in such a manner as they deem most prudent. They shall then report to the judge the result of their inquiries, and shall get for him a written statement of the case made by the superin- tendent. If the judge finds the person not insane, he shall order his