Forced Medications, Physical Restraints Are a Reality of Psychiatric and Juvenile Institutions
By injuheis on August 13, 2010
Disability Rights New Jersey, a patient rights organization, has filed suit in federal court alleging that New Jersey psychiatric hospitals consistently medicate patients against their will.
Believe it or not, New Jersey law only permits a psychiatric patient to appeal medication decisions to administrators at the hospital where they are confined. Most other states provide patients the right to appeal to the court system or decision- makers outside of the hospital. The lawsuit seeks to bring the state of New Jersey in the line with these other states.
New Jersey’s law allowing psychiatric hospitals to forcibly medicate patients is just one example of the dangers that lurk inside psychiatric and juvenile facilities across the United States. Another common place practice inside mental and juvenile institutions and boot camps is forced physical restraints on patients.
Forced physical restraints on individuals that are institutionalized often result in serious injury or death. Isaiah Simmons died on January 23, 2006 when the 17 year old was physically restrained by seven counselors for over three hours at a Maryland juvenile facility. Simmons was placed in a prone restraint and struggled to breathe before expiring due to cardiac arrest. Another youth, Martin Lee Anderson was killed at a Florida juvenile boot camp several years ago when he was beaten and kicked by several employees who forced him to inhale ammonia. He died of suffocation.
A psychiatric patient at Bridge Water Hospital in Massachusetts died in 2009 as a result of injuries he sustained when being placed in a four point restraint by facility employees. Joshua Messier’s death was ruled a homicide due to “blunt impact of the head and compression of the chest.”
Experts say that there are better and safer ways to control patients and students without resorting to forced physical restraints. Patients and students are needlessly injured and killed as a result. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a Maryland juvenile facility restraint injury or a Maryland psychiatric hospital restraint injury, please contact Maryland Psychiatric Hospital Restraint Injury Lawyer Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer”. Heisler has worked tirelessly on behalf of restraint injury victims and can help. Call 877-228-Hurt (4878) to learn more information on Maryland physical restraint injuries and your legal rights.
Use of Restraints Coming Under Fire in New Jersey
By injuheis on June 9, 2010
New Jersey, which allows both public and private schools to restrain unruly children with disabilities, is coming under fire. Last year, congressional investigators found hundreds of cases of abuse and at least 20 deaths related to seclusion and restraints since 1990 in United States schools. An app.com report mentions that the investigators found cases of disabled children as young as five being bound, held down on the floor or locked in rooms for hours at a time for small offenses.
New Jersey is one of 19 states that does not have laws or regulations dealing with restraints or seclusion in schools. In addition, schools don’t have to report those incidents, maintain written policies on how to handle such problems, or even notify parents if their children are restrained.
Employees of New Jersey schools are allowed to keep children confined in rooms until they settle down, and can use bear hugs and other physical moves to handle unruly children. School employees can also use techniques to control autistic children who injure themselves, including spraying water or chemicals at the children, putting hot sauce in their mouths, or snapping them with rubber bands.
Some say these techniques are necessary as a last resort. However, a bill with support from both Democrats and Republicans establishes national standards for the use of restraints and other coercion in United States schools. The bill limits the use of these methods and bans the use of locked rooms, restraining straps, and drugs not prescribed by a doctor. Schools will also be more accountable than they currently are in terms of the use of restraint.
Similar to New Jersey, incidents of restraint injury in Maryland take place far too often. If your child has been a victim of a MD restraint injury or a death, please contact Maryland restraint injury attorney Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer”. He will work hard on behalf of your child to ensure that his or her rights are protected. Call 877-228-4878 today for more information on Maryland restraint injuries and your legal options.
Recovery for Estate of 17-Year-Old Killed in Youth Facility
By injuheis on April 12, 2010
Seventeen year old Manny Leach was choked to death in June of 2007 by an employee of the Chad Youth Enhancement Services Inc., a Youth Correctional facility in Philadelphia. According to a philly.com story, the facility paid the teen’s family $10.5 million to settle the matter in a federal lawsuit.
The death was the second incident of juvenile detention center abuse at the facility resulting in a teen’s death. Had the City of Philadelphia shut down the facility after the first death, as was done by the State of Maryland after Isaiah Simmon died at Bowling Brook, this death may have never occurred. Another senseless death, in my opinion, due to the negligence of the City of Philadelphia.
Manny’s case was previously thought to have been a homicide; however, further evidence supported by a photograph from a surveillance camera demonstrated otherwise. Based on the story, after Manny had been put in a restraint hold, a Chad mental-health technician had both hands gripped around the boy’s neck and had him pinned to the floor.
Restraint is often used in some mental health facilities in Maryland and throughout the United States as a way to help prevent the patient or others from carrying out aggressive or violent behavior. However, serious injury and even death may occur if restraint is used improperly or if a facility employee abuses their position of power or is not able to maintain their own anger or frustration with a patient. Restraint injury and death in Maryland may occur within the criminal justice system, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes, and other facilities as well.
If your child has been the victim of restraint injury or death, you may be able to hold negligent or abusive parties legally responsible. Contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer,” for a free evaluation of your case. As an experienced Maryland juvenile restraint injury attorney, Steven H. Heisler will protect the best interests of your family as you learn to cope during this difficult time. Mr. Heisler and co-counsel recently obtained a $1,200,000.00 settlement for the family of a teenage boy who died from suffocation when forcibly restrained by counselors at the Youth facility he attended. We can help you with your potential juvenile mental health facility injury case. Call “The Injury Lawyer” today for more information regarding your legal rights and options.
Unlawful Restraint Methods Used in NY Juvenile Detention Centers
By injuheis on March 17, 2010
Juvenile detention centers are supposed to rehabilitate wayward youths, not harm them. However, a lawsuit recently filed against an agency that operates nine New York state juvenile detention centers is being accused of wrong doing, specifically the improper use of force and illegal methods of restraint used against detention center residents. A poughkeepsiejournal.com article discusses multiple instances where juvenile offenders were mistreated. In some of these cases, some individuals sustained physical injury as a result of negligent and unlawful care administered.
One such mistreatment involved a young man who had his arm broken, and then later had that same arm pinned behind his back as he attempted to leave a room. What’s even more problematic is that the youth’s arm was not treated by facility staff, and remained untreated until the victim’s grandmother noticed the break during a visit. In another instance of juvenile facility abuse, it was determined by the Justice Department that staff members at four different detention centers “violently and unlawfully restrained (young people) and failed to provide legally required mental health services.”
Nearly 1,600 juvenile offenders in New York are incarcerated in detention centers each year. However, just because these youths have been sentenced to detention centers does not mean that they should lose their rights in the process. Mistreatment of juvenile detention center residents is illegal, and all instances of abuse should immediately be reported to authorities. Furthermore, retaining the services of an experienced juvenile detention center injury attorney is an important step in restoring the rights of the mistreated.
If your child has been the victim of juvenile detention center abuse, particularly juvenile restraint injury, please don’t hesitate to contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer,” for a free evaluation of your case. As an experienced Maryland juvenile restraint injury attorney, Steven H. Heisler will fight to ensure that your child’s rights are upheld in a court of law, and that negligent detention center employees are held accountable for their actions. Mr. Heisler and co-counsel recently obtained a $1,200,000.00 settlement for the family of a teenage boy who died from suffocation when forcibly restrained by counselors at the Youth facility he attended. We can help you with your potential juvenile detention center injury case. Call “The Injury Lawyer” today for more information regarding your legal rights and options.