Residents of the building heard their neighbor shouting at her elderly mother, concluding that the mother was in danger. As a result, the daughter was forcibly hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital for a month, and could have been hospitalized again had she not appealed to the court, which in turn realized how easy it is to hospitalize a person today, even if the relevant committee in the Ministry of Health does not have an evidentiary basis for this.
Following a chain of events that led to this, the daughter was forcibly hospitalized for the first time in her life on the grounds that she denied her mother medical treatment - following complaints from neighbors, as stated. However, at the end of her involuntary hospitalization, to her great regret, a committee appointed by the Ministry of Health ordered her to be hospitalized for another month. At this stage, Attorney Nava Narzenger of the Legal Aid Department at the Ministry of Justice entered the picture, and appealed on her behalf to the Tel Aviv District Court.
"My client, who was forcibly hospitalized, is the one who helps her mother, while the mother refuses to receive medication – and not the other way around," Attorney Narzenger explained to the court.
The Lack of Evidence – and the Damage
Judge Zion Kafah accepted the appeal and ordered the daughter's release, after discovering a completely different picture from the one presented by the committee.
"I spoke to each of the two separately, and the version they gave is the same," he said. "The allegation that the appellant was depriving her mother of medication was denied by them. An explanation was also given from both that it was the mother who refused to accept a nanny and that the appellant respected her wishes. The mother emphasized that the treatment given to her by the appellant was sufficient for her."
Meanwhile, the judge strongly criticized the Health Ministry. "The appeal to the committee cites factors, including the Israel Police and a social worker," he wrote in the ruling, "but no documentation of them was placed before it – and the above is a clear example of the damage caused as a result of the failure to collect the required evidentiary infrastructure."
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