Psychiatric care’s peril and profits

November 24, 2008

Psychiatric Solutions Inc. was on its way to becoming the nation’s leading provider of private psychiatric care when it snapped up Sierra Vista Hospital in Sacramento in mid-2005.

The company put its well-honed business formula into action: Staffing fell. Beds filled up. Profits soared.It was a winning strategy for investors. But for some patients, federal records show, checking into Sierra Vista proved dangerous — at times deadly. In December 2005, Ramona Knapp, 51, was left fatally brain damaged after hospital workers restrained her improperly, pinning her to the floor.

In March 2007, an unidentified 29-year-old woman was mistakenly given six times the prescribed dose of a potent antipsychotic drug. Even after 15 hours, she was too weak to swallow. When Steven Burton, 55, checked in for treatment of alcohol abuse and depression in February, he complained of chest pains. The intake nurse didn’t notify a doctor because, as she later told regulators, “he didn’t look sick.”

Read Article: Los Angeles Times

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney