Letter: Georgia let problems fester as patients suffered and some died

By Alan Judd and Andy Miller in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An “unabated” failure to correct dangerous conditions at the state mental hospital in Atlanta has caused preventable deaths, injuries and illnesses for patients, federal investigators have found.

In a blistering 65-page letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue, the U.S. Justice Department detailed “critically deficient” conditions at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta. Investigators have inspected two other state hospitals, finding comparable problems, and plan to visit another next week.

Continually failing to address hospital fatalities and violence, the letter said, caused similar deaths to multiply and left patients vulnerable to sexual assaults and other attacks.

… “We have concluded,” the letter added, “that numerous conditions and practices at [Georgia Regional] violate the constitutional and statutory rights of its residents.”

The inquiry’s findings echo a 2007 series of articles in the Journal-Constitution, “A Hidden Shame,” in which the newspaper reported that at least 136 patients died under suspicious circumstances in seven state hospitals from 2002 through late 2007.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 8:21 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, abuse, hospitals, mental health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post