A psychiatric institute in Washington, D.C. (PIW) inflicted “serious and disturbing abuse” on its patients, according to a newly released report by the federally mandated regulatory group, Disability Rights DC.
The report mentioned the hospital intentionally manhandled multiple patients and injected them with critical medications without their will.
Washington D.C. Hospital Intentionally Abused Patients
Disability Rights DC is a nonprofit group, but mandated by the federal government to investigate the allegations of abuse in the district’s hospitals.
The group released a similar report last year in June, which revealed one patient died in the hospital, due to nursing neglect.
A staff attorney at Disability Rights DC, Andrea Procaccino, suggested the organization expected a decline in human rights abuse cases after publishing its first report last year, but the cases increased.
Procaccino stated the district failed to implement the recommendations given in the first report, which led to further disaster this time.
Disability Rights DC has issued a report detailing multiple incidents of abuse and neglect at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington. https://t.co/J1dCz28Eja pic.twitter.com/P18AKragFX
— DCist (@DCist) July 27, 2022
One of the most disturbing events in the latest report depicts that one patient stabbed the cheeks of the other patient, while the staff members did not intervene.
The video footage of the episode suggested that the lack of adequate staff members helped the attacker in committing the crime. Even the police reached the scene one hour later.
In addition to that, a patient named Sarah Simpson was forcibly restrained, in the hospital, using “unapproved techniques.” Six staff members converged on her and hit her head on the floor.
The PIW failed to report the event to the Department of Behavioral Health for three months.
In a separate incident, some staff members of the hospital did not provide “timely medical care” to Simpson even though she complained about her arm pain. Five days later, Simpson’s X-ray confirmed swelling in her arm.
Likewise, a male staffer of the PIW dragged a patient named “Maria Peters” across the floor twice and called her “disgusting.”
Afterward, Peters was pushed into an isolated room, where she felt afraid, thinking the male staffer would “sexually assault her,” the report said.
Not enough support is provided to hundreds of D.C. youth with serious mental illnesses, according to a report published by Disability Rights DC, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities. https://t.co/q9BR3N2UAR pic.twitter.com/I3KN87QUcy
— DCist (@DCist) June 8, 2022
PIW Still Optimistic About Credibility of Its Staff
Despite the prevailing abuse in the hospital, the PIW released a statement noting it treats its patients with “compassion, dignity, and respect.”
According to the statement, both the internal team of PIW and regulatory authorities investigate the problematic events, which are creating chaos in the hospital.
Apart from unlawful detention, the PIW also injected psychiatric medication into patients without their consent.
The report noted that a patient named “Sarah Miller” claimed she was told she “had to accept” the injections, even though she did not agree to it.
This is a violation of the D.C. law, which mostly requires medics to get the consent of the patient before injecting any medical health medicine.
While the Disability Rights DC recommended the PIW hire an independent trauma-informed specialist to control the situation, the hospital still seems unmoved by the recommendations.
A spokesperson of the hospital told Washington Examiner the institution would “implement operational changes” at “appropriate” places in order to get out of the current mess.
This article appeared in TheDailyBeat and has been published here with permission.
