Sides discussing settlement in lawsuit over busing of Nevada mental patients

From a Report in the Las Vegas Sun

be sure to check out the link for more information

Settlement talks have emerged in a class action lawsuit accusing Nevada of misusing public funds for busing mentally ill patients to California.

The talks are the latest in a 16-month legal battle between Nevada and the city and county of San Francisco. A successful negotiation would end one of three busing-related lawsuits facing Nevada. Any money would compensate California for harboring indigent patients who were discharged from Nevada psychiatric facilities and given one-way bus tickets with directors to seek help in California. The settlement also would aim to outline new rules for transporting patients across state lines.

California officials say the busing cost San Francisco at least $4 million to treat 21 patients from Nevada, according to legal documents in a San Francisco district court. The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office said it has the names of 500 patients who traveled to California from Las Vegas’ Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital between 2008 to 2013. It’s unclear how many of the 500 sought treatment once they arrived in California.

Officials from both states declined to comment on the details of the settlement negotiations — a standard practice during legal settlements.

“Those are confidential by mutual agreement,” said Matt Dorsey, spokesman in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office.

Officials in Nevada’s Attorney General’s Office declined to comment for the story.

[...]

The news first broke after the Sacramento Bee newspaper uncovered that James Flavy Coy Brown, a Rawson-Neal patient, was sent on a 15-hour bus ride to Sacramento with no arrangements for care, housing or treatment. Hospital staff allegedly gave Brown a one-way bus ticket, peanut butter crackers and a three-day supply of medication to treat his schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. He had no family or friends in the area and was reportedly told to call 911 when he arrived.

[...]

They solved their budget problems by shipping the patients out of state.