My son died in a mental health facility. If we keep protecting dangerous hospitals, he won’t be the last.

From the Washington Post. Full article at the link

On Nov. 23, I received the call no parent wants to get – my only son was dead. My beautiful, 24-year-old boy was gone. It is a nightmare I have yet to wake up from; one I will never wake up from.

I could barely hear the words from the other end of the line; my cries were drowning them out. I was driving when I received the call, and had to pull over to call my son’s father. Then I had to drive home to deliver the news to my daughter, Paris. How I made it home without getting in a wreck is a mystery to me.

Two-and-a-half months prior, my ex-husband, Kristoff St. John, and I had placed our son, Julian, at Telecare’s La Casa Mental Health Rehabilitation Center in Long Beach, Calif. on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold. Julian had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 17 and had become suicidal while off his medication and on a powerful substance – meth. The staff upgraded him to a 14-day hold, and then lengthened it again for an indefinite period, to give him adequate time to get off of meth.

Like many parents of children with mental health issues, our goal was to find help for our son who suffers from a horrific illness for which there is no cure. We knew that, with proper medication and therapy, Julian had a chance of living a comfortable life. So we sought help from Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health, which referred us to Telecare’s facility. The county says it pays Telecare $17 million per year to contract 190 beds at La Casa. We had hoped that the facility would help him withdraw from meth and get back on his meds, and that within the year, Julian would come home – alive.

But we made a fatal mistake placing our son in the care of La Casa, one of many mental health facilities in this country that contracts with state and local governments. Like many before him, Julian didn’t make it out alive.

Of course, the problem is that these people are trusted to do things the are not capable of doing.

Timberlawn mental hospital cut off from federal funding over safety issues

From a much long report in the Dallas News

Federal regulators are taking the rare step of kicking one of North Texas’ largest psychiatric hospitals out of the Medicare and Medicaid programs for leaving patients in “immediate jeopardy” of injury or death.

[...]

Timberlawn flunked a make-or-break inspection, a final chance to prove it could fix an array of problems after promising improvements for months.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that unlicensed personnel were monitoring patients and some patients were going more than 12 hours without seeing a nurse. Electrical cords and other unsafe objects remained in rooms within reach of suicidal patients.

“These practices posed an immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of patients,” inspectors said in a report.

The state said it is moving quickly to evaluate its enforcement options.

“The issues have been egregious and incredibly disheartening. We are absolutely looking at the full range of penalties, including license revocation,” said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. “Our inspectors have been in and out of the facility since February, citing issues and not seeing progress. It’s turned into a critical situation.”

Much more information at the link, which includes hand wringing over what they will do when a dangerous and unsafe facility is shut down.

An abrupt end for Houston psychiatric hospital Cambridge facility gives up license and discharges its last patient

One of Houston's largest inpatient psychiatric hospitals closed suddenly last week, leaving a void in a city already underserved.

The 148-bed facility at 7601 Fannin had operated as Cambridge Hospital since 2012. On Monday the phone was disconnected and its website contained only the stark message: Cambridge Hospital is closed. Attempts to reach officials at the facility were unsuccessful.

The hospital surrendered its state license on July 7 and discharged its last patient the same day, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Those in Houston's mental health community said the closing was not entirely unexpected.

"I was hearing that this was coming," said Steve Glazier, chief operating officer at Harris County Psychiatric Center, the area's largest facility with 250 beds. He said administrators acknowledged financial struggles to him more than a year ago.

[...]

Cambridge Hospital began operating in 2012 in the space that once housed IntraCare Medical Center, once the second-largest inpatient facility in the county.

IntraCare closed after losing its certification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which had declared it "an immediate and serious threat to patient health and safety."

Houston Hospital Leaders Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Alarming Psychiatric Fraud Scheme

Details of the fraud allegations against Riverside General Hospital executives

The bulk of the Medicare and Medicaid fraud allegations against Gibson, et al. center around Riverside’s psychiatric facilities, which are classified by the government as a “partial hospitalization program” (PHP) A PHP is technically an outpatient treatment facility, but is geared toward the round-the-clock care required for patients enduring a severe mental illness. Under government guidelines, mental health patients receiving care at a PHP must be routinely seen by a psychiatrist, guided through a care plan, and carefully monitored throughout the course of treatment.

According to the allegations, Riverside collected more than $158 million in funds from Medicare and Medicaid on behalf of PHP patients who rarely, if ever, saw a psychiatrist for their illnesses. Moreover, Riverside regularly billed the government for psychiatric services that were never rendered, mostly because the patients were in the advanced stages of dementia and unable to participate in the treatment.

Patient care aside, Riverside is also accused of offering kickbacks and financial incentives to executives group homes, as well as recruiters tasked with increasing referrals of mental health patients to Riverside’s facilities.

In addition to the three main participants listed above, six other individuals recently pled guilty to conspiring with Gibson to bring in the maximum number of Medicare and Medicaid clientele.

According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, “The former President of Houston’s Riverside hospital, his son, and their co-conspirators saw mentally ill, elderly, and disabled Medicare beneficiaries as commodities to be turned into profit centers – not as vulnerable individuals in need of health care….Rather than providing needed medical care to a historically underserved community, the defendants ran a longstanding hospital into the ground through their greed and fraud. According to the evidence presented at trial, the defendants had patients sit around the facility watching movies while they received no treatment. Meanwhile, the defendants billed Medicare more than $158 million for care that was never provided. This brazen fraud cannot and will not be tolerated.”

See Also

Department of Justice Press Release, “Former President of Riverside General Hospital Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison in $158 Million Medicare Fraud.” June 9, 2015.

Vista Del Mar Hospital Employee Arrested For Sexual Assault Of Psychiatric Patients

A Report from KEYT TV3 news

Police arrested 37-year-old Juan Pablo Valencia of Ventura Thursday on charges of sexual assault and rape of hospital patients.

Victim after victim came forward since the first incident was reported in October 2014—each with almost the same story. They were psychiatric patients at Vista Del Mar Hospital in Ventura and say Valencia sexually pursued them and continued to do so after their release.

The first victim reported the assaults occurred in 2013, with the rest of the victims coming forward in February 2015.

Valencia was initially arrested on January 2015 on the 2600 block of N Ventura Avenue. He was again arrested Thursday on the 600 block of Count Square Drive.

He is being held at Ventura County Jail under numerous sexual assault charges including rape of an intoxicated and institutionalized person.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information regarding sexual misconduct by the suspect is urged to contact the Ventura Police Department at 805-339-4328.

During A Raid on A Psych Hospital, The FBI has a hard time getting Pizza Delivery

Although everyone thinks of this as a joke, it has been verified by Snopes as a real event

FBI agents conducted a "search and seizure" at the Southwood Psychiatric Hospital in San Diego, which was under investigation for medical insurance fraud. After hours of poring over many rooms of financial records, some sixty FBI agents worked up quite an appetite. The case agent in charge of the investigation called a local pizza parlor with delivery service to order a quick dinner for his colleagues.

The following telephone conversation took place:

Agent: Hello. I would like to order nineteen large pizzas and sixty-seven cans of soda.
Pizza man: And where would you like them delivered?
Agent: To the Southwood Psychiatric Hospital.
Pizza man: To the psychiatric hospital?
Agent: That's right. I'm an FBI agent.
Pizza man: You're an FBI agent?
Agent: That's correct. Just about everybody here is.
Pizza man: And you're at the psychiatric hospital?
Agent: That's correct. And make sure you don't go through the front doors. We have them locked. You'll have to go around to the back to the service entrance to deliver the pizzas.
Pizza man: And you say you're all FBI agents?
Agent: That's right. How soon can you have them here?
Pizza man: And you're over at Southwood?
Agent: That's right. How soon can you have them here?
Pizza man: And everyone at Southwood is an FBI agent?
Agent: That's right. We've been here all day and we're starving.
Pizza man: How are you going to pay for this?
Agent: I have my check book right here.
Pizza man: And you are all FBI agents?
Agent: That's right, everyone here is an FBI agent. Can you remember to bring the pizzas and sodas to the service entrance in the rear? We have the front doors locked.
Pizza man: I don't think so.

Click.

As Snopes explains:

Origins: The above-quoted tale about FBI agents trying to arrange for pizza delivery to a psychiatric hospital is one of those pieces that serves to remind us that no matter how bizarre, far-fetched, or incredible a story may seem at first glance, it should never be entirely discounted without at least some effort being made to verify it.

This anecdote began circulating on the Internet in 1995, often attributed to a "Center for Strategic and International Studies report on GLOBAL ORGANIZED CRIME" or "a talk by R. James Woolsey, Director of Central Intelligence, given at a conference on global organized crime." We initially reproduced it on our site with no judgment as to its truth or falsity, expecting that it would eventually be revealed as a work of creative fiction by some Internet prankster. To be thorough, we sent a routine inquiry to the FBI's San Diego office about the story and then promptly forgot about it, assuming that the FBI had much better things to do than spend their time debunking silly tales spread via e-mail.

We were quite surprised, therefore, when several weeks later we received a response from FBI Special Agent Wayne A. Barnes, who confirmed for us that the incident described was real and supplied us with additional background detail about it.

In 1993, the FBI was assisting the Department of Health and Human Services in investigating health care fraud. A medical organization that operated psychiatric hospitals in nine different cities had come under suspicion, and law enforcement agencies had scheduled coordinated raids on all nine of those facilities to take place on the same day (so that none of the hospitals could alert the others). The unexpectedly high volume of records seized in a morning raid on the Southwood Psychiatric Hospital in Chula Vista, California, meant that the investigation there turned into an all-day affair. When the agent in charge of the operation realized his men were running on empty after long hours with no food, he attempted to order pizza from a local delivery outfit, placing the call now immortalized in this piece. Contrary to what is stated in most versions of this piece, though, the FBI was not taping all of the hospital's calls that day; the conversation reproduced above was reconstructed from the memories of agents present at the event.

And yes, the FBI men did get their pizzas, but the food was not delivered to the hospital — several agents had to drive over to the restaurant and pick up their pies.

ABC15 Investigation: AZ mental hospital fails to investigate, protect patients from sex abuse

ABC15 TV has been investigating the Arizona State Hospital, and here is the tip of a very big iceberg. There is much more in the original and related reports. What we share below is merely a highlight.

The Arizona State Hospital has failed to protect vulnerable patients from sex abuse and dangerous sexual activity; and in several cases, officials have failed to investigate serious allegations, according to a two-year ABC15 investigation.

[...]

The ABC15 Investigators reviewed thousands of pages of hospital, police and court records to compile a list of sex crime allegations at the Arizona State Hospital. By cross-referencing the records, ABC15 was also able to identify repeat offenders and victims.

From 2012 through 2014, we found: 

• There were 63 allegations of sex crimes, including rape, sex abuse and molestation.
• ASH investigated 24 of those allegations.
• ABC15 could only confirm 10 allegations resulted in reports with Arizona Adult Protective Services (APS) or law enforcement.

State law states that APS or a peace officer be notified immediately if there’s a “reasonable basis to believe that abuse or neglect of the adult has occurred.”

But several hospital sources have told ABC15 incidents go unreported, and they fear retaliation if they do report incidents outside of ASH.

“Staff has been basically threatened that if they do contact APS that repercussions will happen,” said one hospital source. “It goes unreported because staff is in fear of their jobs.”

Unreported allegations and crimes by healthcare officials can be a serious matter.

Arizona State Hospital has a long history of problems, it is a target rich environment for investigators Here are some of the Videos related to this report

Psychiatric patient kills himself at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina

From the Charlotte Observer

A patient at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center killed himself in the seventh-floor psychiatric unit April 6, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

The incident involved a 56-year-old Rock Hill man about 4 a.m. on the Monday after Easter. Police investigated and concluded the man committed suicide, according to the April 6 incident report.

The man’s death comes 16 months after another Presbyterian patient attempted suicide by jumping out a window on the same unit. The 25-year-old man suffered broken bones but survived.

The latest incident was reported by Novant Health to the state’s Division of Health Service Regulation, said Alexandra Lefebvre, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. She said details are not released until an investigation is completed.

Naturally, Novant Health issued a generic statement asserting that they follow the best practices, they are taking things seriously, etc.

Chicago's West Side Hartgrove Psychiatric Hospital focus of widening Justice Department probe

Highlight/Lowlights from this Chicago Tribune article

The Justice Department's criminal probe into Universal Health Services has entered a new and more serious phase, focusing on potential wrongdoing by the corporation as a whole and not just its individual facilities.

Universal, the nation's largest behavioral health firm, had previously disclosed a federal investigation into 18 of its 190 psychiatric centers across the country.

But in late March, the department's Criminal Frauds Section notified the company that "Universal as a corporate entity" is now under scrutiny, according to a regulatory disclosure filed by Universal on Tuesday.

As federal agents examine allegations of fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing by the corporate office, they have highlighted one facility in particular, the company disclosure said: Hartgrove Hospital on Chicago's West Side.

[...]

The Justice Department began investigating Universal facilities in Illinois in 2008 after the Tribune documented allegations that juvenile state wards and other youths were sexually assaulted at the firm's west suburban Riveredge psychiatric hospital.

The state Department of Children and Family Services in response commissioned the University of Illinois at Chicago's psychiatry department to examine conditions at Riveredge, Hartgrove and other psychiatric facilities that serve Illinois wards.

In a 2010 report, the UIC experts described an environment of chaos, physical attacks and sexual assaults of young patients at Hartgrove, saying the West Side facility was regularly understaffed and over capacity.

Also part of the expanding federal probe is Universal's Rock River Academy, a 59-bed Rockford resident treatment center that promises intensive, round-the-clock care to female state wards who suffered abuse and neglect, as well as disadvantaged girls with mental health problems.

Universal Health Services says it's under criminal investigation

From a Report in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Individual hospitals in the behavioral health unit of Universal Health Services Inc. have long been dogged by federal investigations into their billing practices, but the King of Prussia company disclosed Tuesday in a regulatory filing that it was under criminal investigation at the corporate level.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filing updated legal matters noted in UHS's Feb. 26 annual report.

"UHS and its subsidiary facilities have cooperated with the investigating agencies and will continue to do so," the company said in a statement. "Due to the pendency of this matter, we are unable to make any comments about specific matters."

In the SEC filing, the company said it was not clear if the investigations would result in financial penalties.

UHS shares closed down $2.26, or 1.9 percent, to $117.71 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

In the Philadelphia region, UHS owns Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital in Fort Washington; Fairmount Behavioral Health System and Friends Hospital, both in Philadelphia; the Horsham Clinic in Ambler; KeyStone Center in Chester; and Hampton Behavioral Health Center in Westhampton, according to its annual report.

Friends Hospital, on Roosevelt Boulevard, is the only local facility listed as under investigation in UHS's annual report. The 219-bed facility, which UHS acquired in 2010 when it bought Psychiatric Solutions Inc. for $2 billion, received U.S. Department of Justice subpoenas in 2010 and 2011, covering periods before UHS ownership.

In addition to disclosing that the investigations of Hartgrove Hospital, in Chicago, and others now includes UHS, the company's SEC filing said that in March two additional hospitals that treat people for addiction, depression, and other mental illnesses had received subpoenas,

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General issued the latest subpoenas for certain documents covering the period since 2008 to Central Florida Behavioral Hospital and University Behavioral Center, both in Orlando.

Long Island woman says psych ward doctors believed she was delusional for insisting Obama follows her on Twitter

From the New York Daily News

A Long Island woman’s insistence that President Obama follows her on Twitter made doctors at the Harlem Hospital psych ward think she was delusional and suffering from bipolar disorder — but she was actually telling the truth, a lawsuit charges. Kam Brock’s frightening eight-day “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” ordeal at the mental facility included forced injections of powerful sedatives and demands she down doses of lithium, medical records obtained through her suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court show. They also indicate that doctors didn’t believe the leader of the free world followed her on Twitter — though @BarackObama follows over 640,000 accounts, including hers. They were also skeptical she worked at a bank, records show.

“I told (the doctor) Obama follows me on Twitter to show her the type of person I am. I’m a good person, a positive person. Obama follows positive people!” Brock, whose Twitter handle is @AkilahBrock, said.

A “master treatment plan” from Harlem Hospital backs up the Astoria Bank worker’s story.

“Objective: Patient will verbalize the importance of education for employment and will state that Obama is not following her on Twitter,” the document reads.

It also notes “patient’s weaknesses: inability to test reality, unemployment.”

Adding insult to insanity, the hospital hit Brock with a bill of $13,637.10, she charges in her suit seeking unspecified damages.

The bizarre experience began Sept. 12, when the NYPD seized her prized 2003 BMW 325Ci in Harlem because they suspected she was high on weed, her attorney, Michael Lamonsoff, said. Cops found no marijuana but confiscated her ride anyway, he said. The NYPD declined to comment.

The following day, Brock walked into the NYPD’s Public Service Area 6 stationhouse in Harlem to retrieve her car, her suit charges. Brock — an eccentric 32-year-old born in Jamaica with dreams of making it big in the entertainment business — admitted in an interview she was “emotional,” but insisted she in no way is an “emotionally disturbed person.” Nevertheless, cops cuffed her and put her in an ambulance bound for the hospital, her suit charges.

“Next thing you know, the police held onto me, the doctor stuck me with a needle and I was knocked out,” Brock said, tearing up. “I woke up to them taking off my underwear and then went out again. I woke up the next day in a hospital robe.”

Lamonsoff said race may have been a factor in the way Brock was treated. “How would you act if you were being told you were crazy?” he said. For eight days, she attended group therapy, endured injections of sedatives, and took lorazepam and lithium, medical records show, according to Lamonsoff.

When she was finally let go, the doctors didn’t tell her why she was being allowed to leave, Brock said. Harlem Hospital declined to comment. The city Law Department said the suit would be reviewed.

Third patient death in 13 months at boutique psychiatric rehab center Sierra Tucson

From an extended report from the Arizona Daily Star

Sounds like this boutique psychiatric center for the well to do has a history of grabbing for the money and cutting corners for fun and profit.

Many more details at the link

A third patient in 13 months has died while in treatment at the Sierra Tucson center north of Tucson, an autopsy report says.

The report from the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office released last week says a 55-year-old Pennsylvania man hanged himself with a belt in his room at Sierra Tucson on Jan. 23.

According to the report, the man had been on suicide watch and he left a suicide note inside a tote bag next to his bed. Witnesses told investigators that he was discovered in his room, “unconscious but still breathing,” two hours after staff began looking for him, the report says.

The suicide is the third patient death at Sierra Tucson since January 2014 and the fourth since August 2011.

Autopsies determined two of the patient deaths to be suicides and two as undetermined. The deceased patients, all male, ranged in age from 20 to 71.

[...]

The upscale, nationally known Sierra Tucson facility is situated on a 160-acre site at 39580 S. Lago del Oro Parkway along the Pinal/Pima County border. It has 124 beds, plus 15 acute level beds.

In the latest case a married father of two, who had checked into Sierra Tucson on Jan. 4 for severe depression and chronic pain due to neuropathy, was found dead in his room at 12:41 p.m. Jan. 23.

[...]

The facility has programs to help patients with addictions, mood disorders, chronic pain, eating disorders and trauma through its “Sierra Model” of integrating therapies such as massage, yoga and acupuncture with traditional psychiatry. Most patients are in their late 30s and early 40s. A majority of patients self-pay at a cost of about $1,300 per day.

[...]

The state has reprimanded Sierra Tucson numerous times since 2009 for failing to follow its own policies on patient care

A proposed settlement in the class action lawsuit vs psychiatric facilities SLS Residential Inc., SLS Health, Inc., SLS Wellness, Inc., Supervised Lifestyles, Inc. in the state of New York

As seen in this PDF from the website of Sussman & Watkins

An important point is that it is highly recommended that any claims be submitted by the end of next week, the 13th of February 2015

NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT (Romano, et al. v. SLS Residential, Inc., et al.; No. 07cv2034 (MHD))

A proposed settlement has been reached between the plaintiff class and the SLS defendants in this class action lawsuit.

You are receiving this notice and the attached Claims Form because you were previously identified as a member of the class. The terms of the proposed settlement are as follows:

• A total Settlement Amount of $3,000,000 (Three Million Dollars) distributed as follows:

• Payment of a total of $1,929,000 to 269 class members. Individual awards are based on length of stay at SLS during the class period (July 1, 2004 - May 31, 2006).
• Payment of $108,000 in service awards to class member deponents;
• Payment of $150,000 service/incentive award to the class representative;
• Payment of $740,000 in attorneys' fees to Sussman & Watkins;
• Payment of $58,500 to Sussman & Watkins for out-of-pocket costs;
• Reserve fund of $14,500.

There are 269 class members. Individual settlement awards range from $500 to $17,000. The amount you receive is based on the length of time you were at SLS client during the class period of July 2004-May 2006. In addition, more weight has been given for periods in which class members resided in the Multicare houses or PAT townhouses than for time spent in the SDL apartments or Case Management. A copy of the Settlement Agreement and the plaintiffs' legal brief requesting that the Court approve the Settlement is available at the website of Sussman & Watkins, which is www.sussmanwatkinslaw.com
To the extent that any of the 269 class members exclude themselves from this settlement or do not submit claims forms after the final deadline, their unclaimed settlement awards will be aggregated and distributed to the remaining class members. That means that you may receive a second payment several months after the first, but the size of that payment will not be able to be determined until after the final deadline for submitting claims forms.

For instructions on submitting a claim, or if you want to object to, or exclude yourself from, this proposed settlement, [...] (or) For all questions about the Settlement, you may contact Class Counsel at:

Sussman & Watkins
PO Box 1005
1 Railroad Ave.
Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 294-3991
Michael Sussman: sussmanl@frontiernet.net
Christopher Watkins: chris_sussmanl@frontiernet.net

Once you have completed the Claims Form, mail it back to Sussman & Watkins. The initial deadline to mail back your Claims Form is February 13, 2015. There will be a second chance for Class Members to submit Claims Forms after the Court gives final approval of the settlement, but you should get your Claims Form in now to avoid any problems regarding your claim. If you lose or misplace your Claims Form, you should contact Sussman & Watkins for a new one.

Timing of Settlement Payments: The settlement funds will be distributed within thirty days or so after the Court has given its final approval of the settlement. Currently, the Fairness Hearing for the judge to make that determination is scheduled for February 24, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., but it may be adjourned or continued. You can check the website of Sussman & Watkins (www.sussmanwatkinslaw.com) for updates regarding the status of the settlement, including notification of when the judge has given final approval of the settlement and the anticipated date settlement awards will be mailed to class members who submitted Claims Forms

As seen here (PDF) New York State had ordered Putnam mental-health company SLS to giveup permits to operate

The state has ordered a private Putnam County-based mental-health provider that treats teens and young adults to surrender its operating certificates after the mental-health commissioner upheld charges that the for-profit facility violated patients' rights and ignored state regulations.

More information here on the fallout from the state shutdown

A Putnam County-based, for-profit mental health provider that treats teens and young adults lost its latest legal battle when an appellate court upheld the state mental health commissioner's decision to revoke its operating certificates because it violated patients' rights and ignored state regulations.

The state OMH is already moving toward shutting down the 20-year-old company.

"We are gratified by the decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department, which unanimously upheld the (OMH) commissioner's final determination revoking all three operating certificates," Leesa Rademacher said in a statement. "OMH will immediately begin working cooperatively with SLS to (ensure) that all patients currently being served by the programs will be transitioned to appropriate care settings."

[...]

Pleasantville resident Glen Feinberg, an attorney who has alleged his son received abusive treatment while an SLS patient, said he does not think it can successfully appeal the latest ruling.

"The courts are not likely to overturn the unanimous ruling upholding OMH's determination that SLS lacks the character and competence to operate a licensed facility in New York state," Feinberg wrote in an email Tuesday.

VA to look into overmedication reports at Tomah center

From an AP Report in the San Francisco Chronicle

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is launching an investigation into reports of overmedication and retaliatory management practices at the VA Medical Center in Tomah, the agency said Thursday.

Veterans Health Administration specialists plan to visit the western Wisconsin facility within two weeks to review medication prescription practices, the federal agency said in a statement Thursday afternoon. They also plan to send representatives from the Office of Accountability Review to look into allegations of retaliatory behavior.

"My sense is that this isn't just unique to Tomah," U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat whose district includes Tomah. "We have a system-wide issue that needs to be addressed when it comes to pain management with our veterans."

Kind and other Wisconsin lawmakers had sent requests to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald this week seeking an investigation

Tomah VA spokesman Scott Farley said in a statement the medical center will fully cooperate with the investigation.

A recent story from The Center for Investigative Reporting noted the number of opiates prescribed at the Tomah VA had more than quintupled between 2004 and 2012, even as the number of veterans seeking treatment there has declined. Health care professionals have complained about the medical center's practices for several years.

Here is more info from The Center for Investigative Reporting Looks like the main culprite is, of course, another damn psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan

Politicians from both parties and government bureaucrats are rushing to look into allegations of rampant overmedication, retaliatory management practices and preventable overdose deaths at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin, that The Center for Investigative Reporting revealed last week.

In the story’s wake, the VA has begun “actively reviewing allegations of retaliatory behavior and overmedication at the Tomah VA Medical Center,” said agency spokesman James Hutton. He said the facility’s chief of staff, psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan, has been temporarily reassigned to the VA regional office while an internal investigation takes place.

But the problems disclosed should not have surprised politicians or federal officials: Health care professionals at the hospital have complained for at least five years about Houlihan’s prescription practices and his retaliatory management style – filing numerous reports with those in charge of oversight.

“It’s about time,” said Robin Weeth, a former social worker at the hospital who wrote to the VA inspector general in 2012 with a long list of allegations, including that “veterans are overmedicated and have been driving while impaired, fallen asleep while smoking and set themselves on fire.”

Today, Weeth reports that he never heard back from the inspector general.

The CIR story reported that the number of opiates prescribed at the Tomah VA had more than quintupled between 2004 and 2012, even as the number of veterans seeking care at the hospital declined. It included details of the August death of a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran, who overdosed while in the hospital’s inpatient psychiatric ward.

[...]

The VA inspector general had closed an investigation into the Tomah VA before Baldwin even got in touch, in March 2014. The inspector general’s report noted that Houlihan’s narcotic prescriptions were “at considerable variance compared to most opioid prescribers” and “raised potentially serious concerns” that should be brought to the attention of the federal agency’s leadership. But the report suggested no punishment.

Weeth said he believed that Jason Simcakoski, the 35-year-old former Marine who fatally overdosed in the Tomah VA psychiatric ward in August, still would be alive today if the inspector general had come down harder on Houlihan.

[...]

Much more information at the links

A hidden outbreak of sexual abuse in British hospitals has been discovered, based on police reports in the last three years. A significant proportion of victims were molested by mental health personnel.

As Reported in the Guardian

Be sure the check out the full story at the link Also see this related news item in the Dailly Mail and this news report in the BBC from last year

Sexual violence soars in UK hospitals

Records show 50% rise in reports of sexual attacks, with more than 1,600 in past three years

A hidden outbreak of sexual abuse in British hospitals has been disclosed in new figures revealing that more than 1,600 attacks were reported to police in the last three years.

Records obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show a 50% rise in reports of sexual violence in hospitals since 2011. It includes a total of at least 157 rape allegations.

Statistics on sexual abuse reports in hospitals were released by 38 out of 45 UK police forces. They document 1,615 attacks that are known about including cases on NHS wards, private clinics and other health centres. But prosecutors have said that up to 90% of sexual abuse goes unreported, suggesting the true figure could be much higher.

Last year the Metropolitan police received reports of 17 rapes and 124 other sex abuse crimes inside London hospitals.

Most police forces were unable to provide a firm breakdown of the types of hospitals where rapes and sexual abuse had been reported. However, the Met, which accounted for 20% of all reports, said the issue was a particular problem in mental health units, with a significant proportion of alleged victims identified as vulnerable due to mental health problems.

Luciana Berger, the shadow minister for public health, said the figures revealed a serious problem for the NHS and called for an urgent review of hospital security.

Individual cases of abuse in hospitals have been well documented but this is the first time the scale of the problem has been reported. The figures account for all reports of abuse, although a small number are understood to relate to historic attacks that occurred before 2011.

One victim described being groomed by her mental health support officer for five months. When she bumped into him years later it triggered a suicide attempt before she eventually reported him. However, the man resigned before the investigation concluded and authorities were unable to take action against him.

“I was in a vulnerable position at the time; certainly not in a position to consent to what he was doing,” she told the Guardian. “What have I gained by coming forward? Nothing. I’m just a person who has made allegations that haven’t been proven.”

In another case, a mental health patient described psychiatric hospitals as a “playground for predators”, after she was raped up to 60 times by a member of staff. The woman had been taken to Little Brook hospital in Kent after a breakdown and was warned she would be sectioned if she tried to leave. She described her ordeal to the BBC earlier this year. “At times I was on a very heavy amount of Valium, not to where I was unconscious, but the sedative combined with my already defeated self, I was like putty. He would pull the covers back, do what he had to do and leave, all very quickly. I didn’t move.”

When asked whether anyone else at the hospital knew about her abuse, the woman said: “I strongly suspect it can’t have been completely missed. I can’t believe how it could have been so frequent and not picked up on.”

She was eventually paid £100,000 compensation, but her attacker avoided jail after receiving a suspended sentence. A third case saw the care assistant Naraindrakoomar Sahodree jailed in 2010 for repeatedly raping a multiple sclerosis sufferer in her bed at a central London hospital. He had managed to get the job despite already being struck off the nurses’ register. In court, his victim said that Sahodree made sure she could not call for help by removing her warning buzzer.

Berger said: “A zero-tolerance approach to sexual abuse must be pursued in the NHS. All victims should feel safe to come forward and every incident properly dealt with by the police, courts and health service, to ensure every perpetrator is brought to justice.”

Berger said it was particularly worrying that people in mental health units appeared to be at high risk. “These are often some of the most vulnerable patients and their safety must be guaranteed,” she said. “Ministers must order an immediate review of security, with a focus on mental health units.”

Nat Miles, senior policy and campaigns officer at Mind, said: “It’s completely unacceptable that sexual abuse is so prevalent within mental health units. Many people told us they are often seen as vulnerable and therefore an easy target by perpetrators, and are more easily discredited and less likely to be taken seriously if they report a crime.” She added: “Too often, crimes on wards are dealt with internally and not reported to police. It’s vital that frontline staff are adequately trained, so crimes are taken seriously, and dealt with quickly and appropriately.” An NHS England spokesperson said: “It is of course essential that both NHS and independent hospitals do everything to ensure that patients are safe and feel safe in their premises, and where concerns arise the police must be able to bring to bear the full force of the law.”

Police seek assault charges against 16 Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees

A Reported on the Michigan Live website (much more at this link)

Related information here

Assault and battery charges are being sought against 16 employees of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital accused of abusing patients, according to Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley.

Hadley said the police have turned the case over the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office last week.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Carrie Klein said her office now needs to do its own investigation, which won't be completed until after the holidays.

"We have a tremendous amount of material to review," she said. "There's a tremendous amount of video."

She said it's unclear whether the employees could face misdemeanor or felony charges.

"It depends on what we find," she said.

New rules set for ‘boarding’ psychiatric patients by the Department of Social and Health Services in Washington State

As seen in the Spokane Review

Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services said it complied with a Friday deadline set by the state Supreme Court to stop “warehousing” mentally ill people in emergency rooms and hospitals just because certified treatment facilities are already full.

[...]

The state had been keeping people in regular hospitals or emergency rooms without treatment while waiting for space to open up. The average length of such stays was about three days, according to the state. The high court struck down that practice, called “psychiatric boarding,” in August. It gave the state until Friday to comply.

[...]

Under rules that took effect Friday, noncertified hospitals that offer a bed for a psychiatric patient must state that they’re willing and able to care for the patient, set up a mental health treatment plan and provide a mental health professional to see the patient daily.

Deadline upcoming in Lawsuit for Investors in Psychiatric Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: PSYS)

As seen on GroundReport.com

The Shareholders Foundation announces that a deadline is coming up on February 2, 2015 in the settlement reached in the securities class action lawsuit filed on behalf of investors who purchased shares of Psychiatric Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: PSYS) between February 21, 2008 to February 25, 2009.

Investors who purchased a significant amount of shares of Psychiatric Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: PSYS) between February 21, 2008 to February 25, 2009, have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 – 1554.

The settlement proof of claim form or detailed settlement notice for the settlement in the Psychiatric Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: PSYS) Investor Securities Class Action Lawsuit can be downloaded at: http://shareholdersfoundation.com/case/psychiatric-solutions-inc-nasdaq-psys-investor-securities-class-action-lawsuit-09212009

In order to submit a claim an investor has to submit the claim proof to the class action claim administrator in a timely manner. The deadline to submit the proof with the class administrator is February 2, 2015. The class action administrator for this case is Gilardi & Co, LLC.

The lawsuit was originally filed in in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against Psychiatric Solutions Inc over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between February 21, 2008 and February 25, 2009.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that Psychiatric Solutions Inc and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing between February 21, 2008 and February 25, 2009, materially false and misleading statements concerning Psychiatric Solutions Inc safeguards and controls over its operations, including at its Riveredge Hospital facility.

The plaintiff accuses that the defendants downplayed incidents at Psychiatric Solutions Inc facilities, indicating that the deficiencies had all been resolved and that defendants assured investors that corrective actions had already been taken at its facilities to improve the quality, safety and risk management. The plaintiff claims that as a result of defendants’ false and misleading statements, Psychiatric Solutions Inc stock (NASDAQ: PSYS) traded at artificially inflated prices between February 21, 2008 and February 25, 2009. On July 17, 2008, the Chicago Tribune issued an investigative report which disclosed unreported violence among juvenile patients at Psychiatric Solutions Inc’s Riveredge Hospital facility.

As a result of the Chicago Tribune’s investigation, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services placed a hold on admitting youths in the custody of the state to Riveredge Hospital. As a further result, the Department of Justice initiated an investigation into the facility and its operations, so the lawsuit. Then, on February 25, 2009, Psychiatric Solutions Inc announced the fourth quarter and year-end financial results due. Psychiatric Solutions Inc missed its 2008 income guidance from continuing operations of $2.02 to $2.03 per diluted share, instead reporting $1.92 per diluted share. The guidance miss was based upon the problems at Psychiatric Solutions Inc’s Riveredge Hospital facility, including the effect of the continuing hold at the facility by Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, additional charges related to the investigation and an increase in Psychiatric Solutions general and professional liability reserves, so the lawsuit.

Psychiatric Solutions Inc, located in Franklin, TN, is a provider of inpatient behavioral healthcare services in the United States. The Company operates 95 inpatient behavioral healthcare facilities with approximately 10,000 beds in 31 states, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Psychiatric Solutions Inc reported in 2007 Total Revenue of $1.46068 billion with a Net Income of $76.21 million and in 2008 Total Revenue of $1.7659 billion with a Net Income of $107.88 million. Shares of Psychiatric Solutions traded recently at $29.63 per share and were down from a 52 week High of $40.90 per share and almost $42 per share in 2007.

On November 15, 2010 Psychiatric Solutions Inc was acquired by Universal Health Services Inc.

Those who purchased shares of Psychiatric Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: PSYS) have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.

Contact:

Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
Michael Daniels
3111 Camino Del Rio North – Suite 423
92108 San Diego
Phone: +1-(858)-779-1554
Fax: +1-(858)-605-5739
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com

East House Receives Grants To Help Former Rochester Psych Patients

From this short report on WXXI of Rochester NY.

East House, a local organization that provides services for adults in recovery from substance abuse and mental health disorders, has been awarded more than $500,000 in two state grants. The money will help people who are no longer being served by the Rochester Psychiatric Center and other inpatient psychiatric units.

The grants, administered through the Monroe County Office of Mental Health, will provide services to 116 people in a six-county area including Monroe, Wayne, Livingston, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties.

Of note is prospect that the Rochester Psychiatric Center is offloading these clientele because they will be accepting more patients

Some neighbors in the Upper Mount Hope area are expressing concern over the recently announced proposed changes to the Rochester Psychiatric Center. A spokesperson for the New York State Office of Mental Health confirmed to 13WHAM News that it plans to add 29 forensic beds to the building on Elmwood Avenue.

The facility was recently in the news because of the murder of a patient

Lawsuit: Family of man who died at Oregon psychiatric hospital says retaliation caused death

As reported in the Statesman Journal

You can read the lawsuit filing at this link

Sounds like people tried to cover things up, and retaliated when these efforts failed

The family of a man who died in Oregon State Hospital early this year is suing the State of Oregon, alleging Chris Crawford's death was the direct result of hospital staff retaliating when he alerted police and the media to patient sexual abuse in the hospital.

Crawford died on Jan. 3, and the state has never released any information related to his death, in spite of investigations by the Oregon State Police, Marion County Medical Examiner and Office of Adult Abuse Prevention and Investigations.

The tort claim was filed Dec. 5 by Dennis Steinman of Kell, Alterman & Runstein, LLP in Portland, on behalf of Crawford's sister, Lisa Feehely.

It alleges the following:

Crawford, 48, discovered in August 2013 that a hospital nurse was having sex with a patient, which is illegal. He reported the relationship to two hospital supervisors, who told him "they were aware of the relationship and that (he) should keep the information confidential."

He disagreed with that direction and instead told the Oregon State Police, the Statesman Journal and the Oregonian.

In October 2013, staff changed Crawford's living arrangements. He had been living on a ward where patients were granted a fair amount of independence and where he was not expected to take much medication. He always took some to treat his bipolar disorder, but the dose was minimal.

Staff moved him to a different ward, where he was watched by a staff member who never left his side. He was given far more medication, which "put him in a state of near-constant sedation."

He died three months later, after telling friends and family he feared for his life. The toxicology report that followed showed at least eight distinct medications in his system.

"(Oregon State Hospital) and its agents owed a duty to Mr. Crawford to keep him safe from harm," Steinman wrote. "Instead, OSH retaliated against Mr. Crawford because he had reported unlawful conduct of an OSH employee to the media. In doing so, OSH subjected Mr. Crawford to an unnecessary and destructive medication regimen that significantly impaired his quality of life and led to his untimely death. ... OSH's employees were deliberately indifferent to Mr. Crawford's rights and their actions were a substantial factor in his death."

The claim includes allegations of wrongful death, violations of whistle-blower laws and violations of Crawford's constitutional rights.

Public records later showed Crawford had been correct about Jennifer Barren, the nurse he claimed was sleeping with a patient. She resigned from the hospital on August 13, 2013, and the Oregon State Police closed its investigation on Sept. 13.

The state issued its own report, which found Barren had sexually abused a male patient for as many as two years.

The report said Barren and the patient were caught on a security camera six times going into a linen closet. It also found that the relationship apparently continued after Barren had resigned and the investigation was underway. Phone records showed Barren and the patient spoke on the phone at least 110 times, for a total of 113 hours, between Nov. 8 and Nov. 24.

The report was not released publicly until March 2014, two months after Crawford died.

Crawford was admitted to the hospital in 1992, when he was 27, after being found guilty except for insanity on one count each of burglary, attempted rape and sex abuse in the first degree.

Court records show he was convicted on felony escape charges twice during his time at the hospital, once in 1999 and once in 2003.

However, Steinman said Crawford was a "very high functioning patient" for nearly all his time in the hospital and he had participated in many programs and activities, enjoying a fairly high level of freedom.

Hospital spokeswoman Rebeka Gipson-King said the hospital would not comment on the tort claim. The hospital has not released Crawford's autopsy or the state investigation into his death.