Carney Hospital fires all 29 adolescent psych unit staff after sex assault investigation

(actual title) Carney fires 29 in abuse incident
Hospital says probe into sex assault on patient led to purge
The Boston Globe
Liz Kowalczyk
Globe Staff / May 28, 2011


Carney Hospital fired the staff of its adolescent psychiatry unit Thursday, after an investigation into an employee’s alleged sexual assault of a patient uncovered serious patient safety problems.

Hospital president Bill Walczak said he hired former attorney general Scott Harshbarger and his law firm a month ago to investigate the assault allegation and conditions on the 14-bed locked unit for extremely troubled teens.

When he read Harshbarger’s report Thursday, Walczak said he decided to replace the nurses and other staff on the unit.

The report described “serious concerns about patient safety and quality of care on the unit. It was not functioning properly. It was recommended by them to start over on the unit,’’ Walczak said in an interview. “We will have top- notch employees replace those who left. My goal is to make it the best unit in the state.’’

He would not provide details of the alleged assault or patient safety concerns, or comment on why the entire staff was dismissed, given that the allegation involved one employee and one patient.

Walczak said he was told about the accusations a month ago, soon after the incident allegedly occurred, and immediately reported it to state mental health officials and put the unit’s staff on administrative leave.

The hospital did not notify law enforcement because attorneys told its executives that it is up to the patient and his or her family to report the incident to police.

Massachusetts Nurses Association spokesman David Schildmeier said the Dorchester hospital fired 29 employees, including 13 nurses who are members of the union. He said he could not comment about what happened because the MNA had not yet received information from the hospital.

Marylou Sudders, a former state mental health commissioner, said replacing the entire staff is “an extreme measure’’ that may indicate “there was a culture of not reporting or not being assertive in protecting patients. It’s an extraordinary measure to fire everyone. It says to me they have a serious issue and are dealing with it seriously.’’

Walczak said the state Department of Mental Health, which licenses hospital psychiatric units, investigated the allegations this month. He said the hospital submitted a “plan of action’’ — including capping the number of patients on the unit at six for now — which the state accepted, allowing the unit to remain open. The hospital would not release the action plan, in part because he said the investigation is ongoing.

State officials would not provide any information to the Globe yesterday or release its reports on the matter.

“We are working with the hospital to make sure everyone on the unit is safe and that it’s operating properly,’’ said Health and Human Services spokeswoman Jennifer Kritz.

Walczak said the unit has not accepted many new patients during the past few weeks, and that nurses and counselors from other areas of the hospital are caring for four teens who remain there. Steward Health Care, which bought Carney and five other Catholic hospitals in the Caritas Christi network last year, has given the hospital $1.5 million to renovate the unit as a result of the investigation, which Walczak said will make it safer and improve care.

Harshbarger declined to be interviewed yesterday, but he released a statement echoing Walczak’s comments.

“Given the serious nature of what we learned while investigating the recent incidents, and recognizing the importance that Carney leadership places on patient care and safety, we have concluded that the unit cannot continue to function as it is currently composed. In our opinion, it would be prudent to replace the current personnel in order to ensure quality care for these vulnerable patients,’’ he said.

Sudders, the president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said safety is especially important on locked units because patients are not free to leave.

Lisa Lambert, executive director of the Parent Professional Advocacy League, which works on behalf of mentally ill children, said only the sickest patients are placed in locked psychiatric units and the teens there are often in danger of harming themselves or others and have “more significant and acute mental health issues.’’

In most units, staff are required to check on the teens at designated intervals.

“A lot of times the adolescents there can’t manage themselves or their moods or actions. Parents expect they will be in a place that is safe for them. That is a huge letdown and disappointment when it’s not.’’

Liz Kowalczyk can be reached at kowalczyk@globe.com.

Matthew Israel, Founder of the School of Shock to Face Criminal Charges

Care2.com
posted by: Kristina Chew
May 26, 2011
Video included

When I first heard about the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JREC) in Canton, Massachusetts, I couldn't believe that such a school existed. The JREC is a school for that uses electric shocks to discipline students with disabilities including autism, mental retardation or emotional-behavioral issues. The school was founded by a Harvard-trained psychologist, Matthew Israel and has long attracted controversy among disability rights activists, parents and experts in the field of mental health.

Today, the Boston Globe reports that Israel faces criminal charges over an incident in 2007, when two teenagers with disabilities who were residents at the JREC were wrongfully administered a number of shocks after a prank phone call by someone posing as a supervisor ordered them.

If the use of electric skin shock on children with disabilities is not troubling and barbaric enough, the suit against Israel also suggests how woefully poor the JREC's administrative practices are and also brings into question the training and supervision of its staff at all levels. From the Boston Globe:

A court official who works at the Norfolk County Superior Court said that today's schedule of cases lists a defendant named Matthew Israel facing two charges, misleading a grand jury and accessory after the fact to a crime.

The charges against Israel are believed to be related to the destruction of some of the center's digital surveillance tapes that would have showed what occurred the night of Aug. 26, 2007, in one of the center's residential group homes in Stoughton. That night, staffers received a prank phone call from someone posing as a supervisor, saying two teenagers, including Dumas's son, should be administered electrical shocks as punishment for bad behavior earlier that day.

As part of a deal with the Massachusetts state attorney office, Israel is to step down as director of the JREC that he founded 40 years ago and will be on probation for five years. The JREC's daily activities are to be overseen by a court-appointed monitor, as part of the agreement.

As the mother of a teenage autistic son, my beloved boy Charlie -- a child who has had some very severe behavior issues including self-injurious behavior -- I could never even imagine sending him to a place like the JREC where methods that amount to torture are used. As I wrote on a blog formerly known as Autism Vox, an ABC News story reported that families have been "willing to try aversive stimulation to save their son from self-destruction" and have described the JRC as the only school that would take their children due to the severity of their behavioral issues.

Indeed, despite widespread criticism about the methods used by the JREC, the state of Massachusetts has still given its approval for the center to keep functioning. But some states -- including New Jersey, where we live -- who had placed individuals with disabilities at the JRC have now stated that they will no longer send students there, due to the JRC's aversive practices.

The JREC has launched a national search for a replacement for Israel, the Boston Globe notes. While I respect the needs of families who feel the JREC is the right placement for their children, I don't think I'm the only one, and certainly not the only disability advocate, who thinks that the JREC should simply be closed. Here in the US in the 21st century, it is an embarrassment that a place that uses such aversive treatments including electric shock (delivered in a specially designed backpack) on individuals with disabilities is still allowed to operate.

My Favorite Mistake: Stevie Nicks [seeing a psychiatrist]

NewsWeek
by Stevie Nicks
May 01, 2011

The biggest mistake I ever made was giving in to my friends and going to see a psychiatrist. It was in the mid-1980s, and I had just gotten out of Betty Ford. I was feeling buoyant and saved and fantastic. But everyone said, “We’re sure you’re going to start using again. You should go to a psychiatrist.” Finally, I said, “All right!” and went. What this man said was: “In order to keep you off cocaine we should put you on the drug that we’re using a lot these days called Klonopin.” Stupidly, I said, “All right.” And the next eight years of my life were destroyed.

Klonopin is in the Valium family, but Valium is fuzzy and Klonopin is insidious because it’s so subtle that you can hardly tell you took it. I got through 1986 and 1987. Thank God I’d already written the words for my record The Other Side of the Mirror. But what started happening was that if I didn’t take it, my hands started to shake. I felt like I had a neurological disease or Parkinson’s. I started not being able to get to Lindsey Buckingham’s house on time, and I would get there and everybody was drinking, so I’d have a glass of wine. Don’t mix tranquilizers and wine. Then I’d sing horrific parts on his songs, and he would take the parts off. I was hardly on Tango of the Night, which I happen to love.

The next six years were terrible. Looking back on it, I think this therapist was basically a groupie. He loved hearing stories of rock and roll and he started upping my dose. He watched me go from a beautiful, 125-pound, newly sober woman who had the world at her feet to a 170-pound woman who had the lights go out in her eyes.

Finally, in 1993, I’d had enough. I said, “Take me to a hospital.” I went in for 47 days, and it made Betty Ford look like a cakewalk. My hair turned gray and my skin molted. I could hardly walk. You can detox off heroin in 12 days. Coke is just a mental detox. But tranquilizers—they are dangerous. I was terrified to leave, and I came away knowing that that would never happen to me again.I learned so much in that hospital. I wrote the whole time I was there, stuff that I consider to be some of my best writing ever. I learned that I could have fun and laugh and cry with amazing people and not be on drugs. I learned that I could live my life and still be beautiful and fun and still go to parties and not even have to have a glass of wine. I never went to therapy again after that—why would I?

Accident risk doubled by SSRI use: study

Pharmacy News
Chris Brooker
3 May 2011

The use of psychotropic medications, especially SSRIs, significantly increases the risk of having a traffic accident, a large study has confirmed.

Findings from a Dutch study of 3963 users of psychotropic medications showed that, when compared to controls, users of anxiolytics had a 54 per cent greater risk of an accident, while SSRI users had more than twice the risk of such an accident.

Other classes, including other antidepressants, and sedatives had a lesser, but still significant risk. Hypnotics were associated with .... Please login to read full article.

New Study Casts Doubts on Antidepressant Effectiveness

AboutLawSuits.com
May 3rd, 2011

Most people given antidepressants may still experience many symptoms of depression, according to the findings of a new study that casts doubts on the effectiveness of some popular medications.

In a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, researchers from the University of Texas found that 75 percent of people on an SSRI antidepressant still fought persistant symptoms that the powerful psychotropic drugs should have alleviated, including sadness, insomnia and a decreased ability to concentrate.
Researchers looked at patients who took Celexa for depression. They then checked to see how many of the 16 symptoms of depression. They found that 75% said they still experienced five or more symptoms of depression.

The most common symptom which went unchecked by Celexa was insomnia, followed by sadness and decreased concentration. The drug appeared most effective at reducing suicidal thoughts.

Celexa belongs to a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which also includes the blockbuster antidepressants Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Prozac.
The questions raised about the effectiveness of antidepressants further highlights recent concerns about potential side effects of antidepressants. In recent years, the widely used medications have been linked to an increased risk of suicide and certain birth defects or malformations when taken during pregnancy. The medications have also been heavily promoted and are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States.

Forrest Laboratories has faced a number of Celexa lawsuits over claims that the antidepressant raises the risk of suicide in teens. There are also similar lawsuits against a similar Forrest Laboratories drug called Lexapro.

The suicide lawsuits over Lexapro and Celexa allege that children taking the two drugs were prone to violence and suicide. The plaintiffs claim that Forest knew from studies that there was a higher risk of suicide associated with the drugs when used by children, but failed to warn patients or doctors. The lawsuits charge the company with failure to warn, negligence and fraud.
In November 2010, it was reported that Forest Laboratories was beginning to settle Celexa and Lexapro lawsuits over the failure to warn about the risk of suicide among teens. The settlements came about a month after the company agreed to pay more than $313 million as part of a settlement for illegally marketing of the drugs to children.

SSRI antidepressants have also been linked to an increased risk of birth defects when used during pregnancy. An estimated 800 Paxil birth defect lawsuits have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline over their failure to warn consumers and doctors that use of the antidepressant during pregnancy could lead to congenital heart defects in newborns. The lawsuits also claim that the company hid test results and purposefully misled doctors about the risks associated with Paxil, which is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States.

More recently, momentum has been building for Zoloft lawsuits over Pfizer’s failure to warn about the risk of birth defects when taken during pregnancy. Potential side effects of Zoloft for unborn children have been reported to occur when the drug is taken as early as the first trimester, a time when many women do not even realize they are pregnant.

Related Posts
Study Links Older Antidepressant Side Effects to Increased Heart Risks (12/2/2010) Settlements Reported in Celexa and Lexapro Lawsuits Over Suicides (11/3/2010) SSRI Antidepressants May Do More Harm Than Good Against Autism: Study (8/10/2010) Antidepressants During Pregnancy Double Pre-Term Birth Risk: Study (10/6/2009) SSRI Antidepressant Side Effects May Cause Gastrointestinal Bleeding (7/14/2008)