Lawsuit Against Behavioral Hospital

I’m trying to file a lawsuit against a adolescent behavioral hospital

My sister who is only *, made a suicide attempt about * weeks ago. She was placed in a co ed adolescent behavioral hospital in St. John’s Michigan. All the information given to both my mom and I was all a bunch of lies. The facility did not follow protocol, procedures, or the programs we were told she would be involved in, and the schedule for what was supposed be happening was put up on the wall every day, but was never followed. My sister said they would sometimes go to group therapy but not every day which we were told they took very seriously and my sister would be participating in on a daily basis, as well as the other programs and activities. My sister told my mom and I that they basically spent most of their time in the activity room. Upon arrival, we were told she would be given an assessment by a social worker which did not happen until 3 days later. My mom was supposed to be contacted after she was assessed to discuss a treatment plan, etc. She was never contacted by anyone. Not once did a doctor or psychiatrist call at all during the time my sister was there. The only information my mom and I were receiving was from my sister when she was able to call. My mom contacted the facility on multiple occasions to speak with a doctor or psychiatrist. After being told several times a doctor or therapist would be calling her, no one ever did. She spoke with the social worker that was assigned to my sister one time and the only reason she spoke to him was because she called and demanded to speak with the social worker. He knew nothing. He too, also said he would have the doctor or psychiatrist contact my mom with more information on my sisters case, diagnosis, treatment, medications, amongst other things. Again, no one called. My sister was the one who told my mom and I that they had put her on prescription medication, what she was given, and the dosage she was on. As a minor, my sister was never to be put on any medication without my moms consent. Again, no one ever contacted her. My sister was never even given a diagnosis. A nurse contacted my mom one time to ask for her consent to give my sister Ibuprofen because she was having cramps. Every day when my sister would call, which she was supposed to have two * minute calls a day, the staff sometimes wouldn’t let her talk for more than * minutes. But every single time she called, the facility was in complete chaos, she was hysterical. Other children who were there, were violent, aggressive, making threats to kill staff members and the other kids in the facility. My sister was afraid for her safety every day she was in there. She would ask the staff for help and all they would tell her is that there was nothing they could do about it and that she’d be fine. They were irresponsible, understaffed, and did not seem to care to get these violent kids and outburst under control. She would ask to go to her room due to the fact that she was scared and her anxiety was through the roof. Every time, they told her no. When she asked the staff to speak with her doctor or social worker which she was supposed to speak with the doctor on a daily basis, that also did not happen. Even when she did speak with her doctor, never in person, only on zoom, it was for a very short time where he would ask her how she was doing, where she would then tell him that she was afraid for her safety and had asked for help many times and the staff wouldn’t do anything to help her. His response to her was that he would look into it but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He asked her if the medication he put her on was helping and if she was having any side effects. That was pretty mich the extent of the conversation. When put on the medication, she was not at all explained to in detail what the medicine was for or what the side effects could be. One of the medications, he kept upping the dosage on, she said made her feel like a zombie but was never given another option nor would he lower the dosage. He did not discuss any type of diagnosis or what his thoughts were on even a possible diagnosis, what he thought her treatment plan should be, what steps would be taken to move forward, nothing of importance. He continued to up the dosage on both medications she was prescribed, once again without contacting my mom on this or anything else. My mom was told numerous times that the doctor or social worker was going to call her, never did she receive those calls. My mom could barely get a nurse on the phone or get one to call her back. They would lie to my sister and tell her that so and so spoke to my mom when they absolutely did not. One of the times my mom called to speak with a nurse after we had spoke to my sister, she asked the nurse to let my sister know that she had called and the nurse said absolutely she would let her know but never did tell her anything. My sister was also told that Sundays weren’t considered days and they didn’t do discharges on Sundays but would then be told by someone else that they do discharges all the time on Sundays. Every time she would ask someone a question about anything, she would get a different answer from whoever she asked. They also violated her rights and went through her things without consent. On her last night, a child was brought in while my sister was sleeping. She woke up to this person as her new roommate which of course she was not aware of this. Once awake, the child looked like a boy, said he was a boy and his name was Michael. Never are boys and girls supposed to share a room under any circumstance. My sister was scared and confused to find a boy in her room, rightfully so considering she knows nothing about this person or was she informed about a new roommate, so once again she was scared for her safety. This child could’ve potentially been dangerous and neither her or my mom or me were told she was getting a new roommate. My mom called after my sister said she woke up to a boy in her room. When she confronted the nurse, she was extremely rude, disrespectful, was talking over my mom, barely letting her talk at all. She was transferred to the director who told my mom that she had to be mistaken, boys and girls do not share rooms, and more than likely my sister thought the child was a boy because that’s probably what the child identifies as. Told my mom and I that she would look into it and get back to us. When my mom asked her why she was never contacted by the doctor, psychiatrist or social worker, the director didn’t really have an answer for her nor did she know why my sister hadn’t been diagnosed with anything and how she was not only put on medication without her consent but why was she put on those medications when they hadn’t diagnosed her so how could they be treating her for something when they didn’t do their job and talk to my sister for any length of time to get all information needed to be able to come up with a diagnosis. The director didn’t really have much of an answer to that either. Again said she would look into it. When my mom and I went to get my sister, we had a scheduled meeting for * o’clock and were under the impression that either her doctor, psychiatrist, or social worker was to be part of this meeting to discuss everything regarding my sister. None of them were there. There was a social worker who was not my sisters social worker and then there was a nurse. When we arrived for this meeting, the lady at the desk asked who we were there for and to sign in. After almost an hour of waiting, I asked the lady what was going on considering we had a scheduled meeting at * o’clock. She then proceeded to ask again who we were and who we were there for and if this person was an adolescent. She had no clue who or what I was talking about. When finally in the meeting room, they had little to no information at all nor had any answers to our questions. The meeting lasted about *-* minutes, basically to have my mom sign some paperwork and sent us on our way.

No one ever emailed, and was only given discharge papers on pick up day and my mom refused to sign the medication forms because she was never contacted to give consent for my sister to be put on any medications. If phone records will help, my mom can get those.

michigan

Cedar Creek Behavioral Hospital which is located in St. John’s Michigan

They need parental consent to administer medication to a minor. We were basically lied to about everything, the facility and it’s entirety.

They administered Seroquel and Lamictal without parental consent

The dosage on the Seroquel was being increased almost daily. My sister said she felt like a zombie and she felt high. The Lamictal, she said, didn’t help her in any way.

I’ve just been trying to get gather information, talk to a lawyer, see if we have a case and go from there

Due to their lack of responsibility, putting her on medication without ever attempting to gather the information needed to make a diagnosis to determine whether or not she should even be taking those specific medications especially without consent. This place did absolutely nothing in helping her to get better, find treatment, or even be involved with her as they were supposed to. She still wants to kill herself, she’s still just as mentally unstable if not worse from being there and scared out of her mind every day with no one who would help her. She won’t sleep in her room or in the dark now. She’s slept on the couch with the light and TV on. After being there, she feels like she will never get the help she needs because she’s afraid if she talks to anyone then she will be put back in there or in another facility with people she can’t trust and kids that will try to harm her.

No I haven’t. Like I said, I’ve been trying to gather all the information I need to be able to file a lawsuit but I knew nothing about having to report this to anyone

I will be sure to report this. As far as her mental health status, I’m not sure I understand what you mean, she’s mentally unstable, suicidal, and self harms

She just recently got home and she has a psychiatric evaluation scheduled for Friday and Therapy tomorrow

I’m not quite sure at the moment since my mom is who scheduled this. The psychiatrist is out of Tecumseh MI and the therapist is out of Adrian MI

The psychiatrist is Shumaila Younas, MD and the therapist is Therese Langan, LMSW, CAADC

The Seroquel and the 200mg dosage they have her on does not aid in her mood stabilization and actually makes her like a zombie. As far as the Lamictal, it has to be titrated and is currently not at a therapeutic dose. So, her mental instabilities are the same, if not worse from being in the facility.

I am waiting on an appointment from a neurologist but she basically just got home.

Dr Gregory L Barkley, MD

Dr Barkley works at Detroit Henry Ford Main Hospital in Detroit MI and his number is *-*-*

As I said, she’s just came home so I or my mom have not observed any physical side effects at this time

She has more mood swings than normal and is still suicidal

She will be on Friday

Shumaila Younas, MD, Tecumseh MI

What exactly was the point in giving all this information just to be given a phone number to talk to someone else?

Ok, thank you for your help, I appreciate it.

Am I able to call this number at any time or are there specific hours?