A Chicago emergency room nurse was handcuffed in the hospital and placed in the back of a police car by an officer after telling him a DWI suspect had to be admitted into the hospital before she would do a blood draw.The nurse, Lisa Hofstra, was the charge nurse on the night of August 1 when an officer approached her at 4am and asked her to perform a blood draw on a suspected drunk driver. Ms. Hofstra informed the officer that the suspect would have to be admitted to the hospital before any blood work could be performed. The officer apparently didn't like that response and before Ms. Hofstra could inform hospital administrators she was handcuffed and escorted out of the hospital. (See video here.)
I guess it's not enough that the state legislature has stripped motorists suspected of drunk driving of their basic constitutional protections - now the police are going after emergency room nurses who perform their job -- caring for patients -- instead of jumping when asked to by a police officer.
Ms. Hofstra has filed suit in federal court over the incident.
