Woman Reveals How She Fought the Healthcare, Legal and Foster Care Systems to Win Back Her Daughter And Her Life

Claire Power Murphy is well-educated, spiritual, thoughtful and intelligent person. You’d never think had been diagnosed with dementia. You’d never think she had a child removed from her home. You’d never think she had to move heaven and earth to get her own child back into her arms. Yet, Claire Power Murphy, author of Preserved to Serve from Author House (www.preservedtoserve.com) suffered through all of those experiences, and more.

And she’s not alone:

• According to the National Patient Safety Foundation, 42 percent of ALL hospital patients report patient care errors, with up to 40 percent of those complaints being misdiagnosis.

• The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that more than 84,000 children were taken from their parents by the government, with no statistic available for how many of them were eventually returned to their parents’ care.

• According to the American Bar Association, more than 117,000 complaints were filed against lawyers for misconduct or malpractice in 2007.

The key distinction is that Murphy is a member of all three statistical groups mentioned above. How she survived, how she wrested her child from the grip of the foster care bureaucracy and how she beat a legal system rife with conflicts of interest is an inspirational story for anyone who has ever been wronged by their doctors, their lawyers or the government, and it is also a guide for your listeners on how to survive just about any uphill battle against a bureaucracy.

The extent of Claire Murphy’s downward spiral and eventual redemption is so extreme, on both ends of the spectrum, it can seem difficult to believe.

But it’s true.

In her story, she recounts many times that the health care system let her down, the most poignant being the misdiagnosis of her daughter which led to the infant's removal from her home. This led to a myriad of troubles for Murphy and her family which included mountainous legal and medical bills, severe scrutiny by the foster care system and the loss of their home. She maintains the medical records were inaccurate and inconsistent and that her doctors were ignored in their intent to help her.

Murphy observed several inconsistencies and obstacles in her legal representation:

• Her doctors were ignored and not allowed to testify

• Counsel did not present key evidence

• The baby's birth and medical records were not procured

• Her “request for a writ of habeas corpus, which would require that the baby be presented to the court” was ignored

• Her attorney was a friend of the judge

• Her attorney played golf with the hospital's director of pediatrics

• Her attorney refused to go observe the baby in the hospital

At the hospital, Murphy was appalled at the treatment of her baby:

• Her daughter, Laurie, was transported around the hospital on a flat, metal gurney

• She was forced to drink only the formula supplied by the hospital, not the breast milk and vital living juices she was used to

• Her blood sugar levels dropped

• Her deficiencies increased

• A minor procedure was performed on the baby against the parent's wishes

• The doctors provided  by Murphy were “barred admittance”

When Laurie entered the foster care system, she fared no better:

• Laurie was moved from the hospital to a foster home without informing the parents

• She could not accomplish basic tasks, such as crawling

• She was being taken to United Cerebral Palsy “several times during the course of the week for evaluation and treatment of a muscular developmental problem.”

• She was being removed from the foster home because the foster mother was no longer able to care for her as she was “too much trouble, too sickly, cried too much, and required too many visits to the hospital.”

When the baby was finally returned to her Murphy and her family, they were forced to endure weekly, unannounced visits for 1 ½ years.

About Claire Power Murphy

Claire Power Murphy is a mother and grandmother who lives in Florida. She is the director of The Self-Rejuvenation Center, Inc. She is fervent in her religious beliefs and in her view that most health issues can be solved with some faith, exercise, sunshine and balanced, nutritional living foods. (www.preservedtoserve.com)