One of the psychiatric patients who recently reported being raped at the UVa Medical Center was denied an exam, but she was given morning-after pills to prevent pregnancy. Her medical records confirm this. These rape allegations are the source of the recent firing of Medical Center employees that had been conviced of felonies. Claudia Pinto has a detailed story about this in today’s Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
four six and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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What are were the Medical Center’s reasons for denying the exam? It strikes me as unreasonable right off the bat, but I suspect that the story is more complex than that.
From The Daily Progress: “The woman’s doctor ordered the exam, but it was canceled after an unnamed police investigator did not recommend it, according to the patient’s records.
“The police inspector … felt that there was no evidence for a sexual assault against the patient and did not recommend a forensic gynecology exam,” the records state. “Given this, the exam was canceled. However, this is a different issue than the potential for pregnancy and whether we should treat empirically for this, especially since the patient’s mother and nursing staff report her to be an unreliable historian.”
Tom Goodrich, a registered nurse and sexual assault nurse examiner at Martha Jefferson Hospital, explained that authorization from the police or a commonwealth’s attorney is required for a nurse to use a Physical Evidence Recovery Kit, which is part of the forensic exam. The kit calls for the collection of clothing and foreign matter found on the victim, including semen.”
For the rest of the story just click on the link provided by cvillenews.com
Kevin Cox
The Daily Progress is running a correction today. According to the correction, “Hospitals need authorization from police or commonwealth’s attorneys to use a Physical Evidence Recovery Kit, a part of the forensic examination in sexual assault cases, only to seek state reimbursement for the costs of the exam.” The hospital could have and should have provided the patient with the exam she requested.
Kevin Cox