N.C. mental health system meltdown must be reversed
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
By Staff
The astronomical price paid in human suffering ought to shame every past or present lawmaker who had any role in the failed attempt begun in 2001 to reform and privatize North Carolina’s mental health system.
The most recent reminder of that suffering can be seen in the incompetent care that led to Broughton State Psychiatric Hospital in Morganton, one of the state’s four hospitals for the mentally ill, losing its Medicare and Medicaid certification.
As Medicaid officials were investigating the death of another patient at Broughton, they discovered the record of Laurie Arwine and decided to decertify the hospital.
Egregious case
Arwine fell several times and was seriously injured after being given medications that cause dizziness, agitation and unsteadiness and being left to wander the halls unassisted. She had a number of bleeds into her brain and multiple skull fractures as a result of the falls.
Inspectors found, among other things, that the staff failed to supervise Arwine properly and failed to adjust her treatment plan after she fell at 10:30 a.m. and again about 12:30 p.m. She fell a third time at 2:05 p.m. (more…)
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