If a hospital thinks an accident was an attempt at suicide can they hold you against your will only releasing if you sign POA to someone?

You cannot be forced to stay in a hospital unless you've been legally declared incompetent or harmful to yourself or others. The POA is just the hospital mitigating their liability. Your Mom should have told them to piss off (as she was walking out the door).

It sounds as though there are some larger issues here.

Who said that your mother was "held against her will until she signed a POA? Is this info from your mom, your brother or the hospital? I'd get the other side of the story if I were you.

Your mom took an overdose of something; your profile says she has vision problem. Who is managing her meds? Have you asked her opthamologist if her vision is good enough to do her own medication setup and administration from here on in?

What is your mom's cognitive and mental status? Has she been seen by her own doctor or a geriatric psychiatrist since this incident?

I agree with Sendme2help that she should not be alone. She needs oversight if she took the overdose either intentionally or accidentally. I don't want to talk about the suicide part of it, but if she did it accidentally it would mean she needs some help with medication management. Is your mother living alone? Is there anyone who could help her manage her medications? I wondered if you thought she might be ready and willing to go into assisted living if she is having trouble.

I suspect there are some legal protocols that the hospital staff was following. There may also have been some CYA issues as well.

Don't leave your mother alone for awhile. If you and your brother see some problems in independent living, can she stay with you, or can you start planning for assisted living?

Advise your mother to voluntarily admit herself for care, thus preventing others from taking the nuclear option leading to legal incompetence. Get her a private physician who will likely discharge her after a helpful medication review. If you trust that it was a mistake, or even if you don't, she can get better. Give her the time, of course one is temporarily incompetent if they took too much medicine.

I expect the hospital needed someone to take responsibility and your brother was "johnny on the spot". Once your mother is released and assuming she is of sound mind she can change her POA. In fact, this seems like a wake up call to get her affairs in order, Will, POAs and Advanced Directives.

I was wondering what good a POA would be in such an instance as this. A POA doesn't have the power to force any kind of issue unless a parent is deemed incompetent.