We have a son who is missing, put out homeless by our county behavioral health system and local hospital...psychotic , suffering from scizoaffective disorder and anisognia. He didn't realize he was so ill, suffering from a very serious mental illness, not a bad behavior.
The Mental Health system in our state of il not only closed the psychiatric state hospital that would /could treat his disease but deserted him and now he will die with his rights on, as this broken system hides behind the HIPAA law and refuses to honor his right to be treated, not thrown out homeless.
We need this law that would give others treatment, even though the system is killing our son...

#19: -   Having been lost in the public mental health system myself, I grieve for your son and you.  But the answer is mental health systems that DON'T kick people out for "bad behavior" that they can't really control!  I've seen this "zero tolerance" garbage too many times.  I remember the man who lost his home for one episode of yelling at the landlady and calling her a b--ch.  Not a nice thing to do ... but millions of normal guys have done worse under stress.  We CAN do better, with mental health centers that respect what patients are going through, and include staff who have been there themselves.  Forced drugging is not the answer.  Families are promised this will "transform" their loved one and restore him to sanity.  In most cases, IT WON'T -- and the burden of side effects is terrible.  Many patients who are at least in touch with the system now will disappear onto the streets to avoid the next injection.  And many of our best programs will be de-funded by this bill!  Please take a look at the full-text letter before you support this tragically wrong-headed bill.