Adult Medical Kidnapping in New York: 1950s Air Force Veteran Held Hostage in Hospital

Laredo Regular just wants to take his grandfather home, but a New York Hospital is keeping him hostage. Have we entered into a new age of "elder abuse" that includes medical kidnapping? Not happy with the medical treatment his grandfather was receiving, Laredo and his mom sought to transfer him to a different facility. They are the holder of a Health Proxy as well as POA (power of attorney) for their family member, and filled out the required forms for an AMA (or Against Medical Advice) hospital discharge. But the hospital would not discharge him, and later both Laredo and his mother were dragged out of the hospital room and banned from the hospital. The Laredo family has sought help through various legal entities—the police, attorneys, and the political system; all of whom, we are told, are in complete agreement with the family, but have not been able to get the hospital to budge from its decision to hold the grandfather against their will. How can a hospital have so much power to defy police, attorneys, and the political system?