Investigators found repeated violations of constitutional rights.

State does not admit wrongdoing. Funding still uncertain.

By Alan Judd and Andy Miller, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia promised the federal government Thursday it will make dramatic improvements in its state psychiatric hospitals — and that it will spend what’s necessary to protect patients from harm.

The pledge, signed late in the day by Gov. Sonny Perdue, commits the state to a five-year plan of correcting deficiencies that caused hundreds of patient injuries and illnesses and dozens of deaths.

In reaching a settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, the state did not admit wrongdoing.

But officials did not dispute the conclusions of federal investigators that the seven state hospitals have repeatedly violated patients’ constitutional rights by failing to keep them safe, providing incompetent medical care, and conducting shoddy investigations into suicides and other deaths.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am and is filed under civil rights, hospitals, law, NOT2BEMISSED. 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.