Nov 26, 2008 10:00 pm US/Mountain
Arvada Man Loses $6,000 For Unwanted Treatment
Written by Brian Maass
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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Gerald Schlenker says he was woken up and then hospitalized against his will.
CBS
Gerald Schlenker believes he's perfectly normal.
"As normal as anyone in the world," according to the 48-year-old Schlenker.
But Schlenker's quirky, non-conformist behavior prompted police and paramedics to hospitalize the man for hours, at a cost of almost $6,000, prompting Schlenker to consider legal action over his unwanted hospitalization.
"I was kidnapped -- physically removed to make somebody happy," said the divorced father of three.
His odyssey began May 24.
Schlenker was living with a friend, Stephen Vermeer, at Vermeer's Arvada apartment.
The two men had been drinking at a nearby bar. Schlenker left the bar and walked home at about 10 p.m. He said he washed dishes, did some laundry and went to bed.
"I was sleeping. I was in my bed sleeping like I always do."
But Vermeer stayed behind at Binkers Pub. Employees and patrons say Vermeer became violent after buying drinks for two women. He smashed a window and left the bar. Arvada police were called and were directed to Vermeer's nearby apartment. Officers arrested Vermeer on a criminal mischief charge at about 2:30 a.m. at the apartment.
They also looked around and found Gerald Schlenker sleeping in a bedroom. They woke him up, sat him on a couch and began questioning him. They checked his driver's license and found he was not wanted for any crimes and had nothing to do with the earlier disturbance at the bar involving his roomate. At one point officers asked Schlenker to take a portable breath test to measure his alcohol level. He refused.
"They said you need to blow into this I said 'I don't think so.'"
They asked if he had been in the military.
"None of your business," was his response.
Groggy and annoyed at the questioning that he said went on for 20 minutes, Schlenker said he began providing officers with nonsensical and made up answers hoping they would leave so he could go back to sleep. It had the opposite affect. Officers called for an ambulance noting that Schlenker had been "acting strange."
"We felt compelled to call in paramedics to do an evaluation," said Susan Rossi-Medina, spokesperson for the Arvada Police Department. "He was acting erratically and we didn't know if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or having a reaction to medications he may have been on. That's why we called paramedics."
Rossi-Medina said officers were also concerned that after they left, Schlenker might drive or leave the apartment and walk into traffic.
"We need to be sure that if we're going to let this person leave he's going to be safe and community members are going to be safe as well," said Rossi-Medina.
Paramedics from Pridemark Paramedic service arrived and examined Schlenker. While they found nothing physically wrong with him, they noted he was "resistive ... irrational ... a poor historian ... agitated."
Over Schlenker's objections, police and paramedics decided he should be hospitalized for further examination.
"I said I refuse medical treatment. There's nothing wrong with me, leave me alone," said Schlenker, who admits he became more agitated and combative as he began to realize he was going to be hospitalized against his wishes.
Mike Donner, president of Pridemark Paramedics, said Schlenker was not acting rationally or normally and paramedics didn't think he was mentally capable of declining medical treatment. So just after 3 a.m., they tied him to a gurney for the trip to the hospital then inserted an IV.
"Because of what police called us for and what we were witnessing we felt he needed to go to the hospital for an evaluation," said Donner.
They took Schlenker to St. Anthony Hospital North where he remained tied down for another 8 hours.
Hospital notes show "he was acting strangely according to police and paramedics and he was sent here for further evaluation. He is combative and does not want to answer any questions. He does admit to alcohol use."
As Schlenker became more and more agitated with the situation, nurses injected him with Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic medication.
"I asked everyone nicely to stop it, there's nothing wrong with me. They wouldn't listen," said Schlenker.
Blood screening showed Schlenker had no illegal drugs or medications in his system, only the alcohol he admitted drinking hours earlier. He was measured at .163 blood alcohol content.
Finally, just after 11 a.m., nearly 9 hours after he was plucked from his bed, the hospital released Schlenker, apparently concluding there was really nothing wrong with him.
"I talked with patient," wrote Dr. William Sharp. "He is angry that he was brought to the hospital and feels that there is no new problem that needs medical attention."
Soon after, the ambulance service and hospital presented Schlenker with bills totalling nearly $6,000 for the unwanted medical attention.
"That is wrong -- how dare you," Schlenker said of the medical billing.
Schlenker, who is on disability and works part time, said he cannot afford to pay.
"It is the ultimate adding of insult to injury," said one of Schlenker's lawyers Darrold Killmer. "It's offensive that after all this treatment they inflicted on him they're asking him to pay thousands of dollars for his troubles."
"To be carted off from your own home, taken into custody and given medical treatment involuntarily violates the Constitution in so many ways; it's quite alarming," said attorney Mari Newman, who also represents Schlenker.
Schlenker is considering filing a lawsuit over the unwanted medical attention.
Arvada police say they did nothing wrong in the way they handled Schlenker.
"We needed to be sure Mr. Schlenker was safe and the community was safe as well," said Rossi-Medina.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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