A Detroit hospital has been hit with a federal lawsuit filed by a state agency investigating the death of a mental health patient and injuries to two others. The lawsuit seeks access to records the hospital--Detroit Receiving Hospital--has refused to release to date.
Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services seeks information on the death of "Patient A," who died last April after being put in restraints at the facility's psychiatric crisis center. It also wants similar information on two patients who suffered multiple injuries while being treated at Receiving.
The agency wants peer review records of the incidents, correspondence with state licensing and health agencies, and video and audio records. Officials say they want to know whether the hospital did an adequate job with its internal investigation of the matter.
The hospital, however, has declined to release the records. Attorneys there are arguing, among other things, that the facility doesn't have to comply with the request, as there's no state law compelling it to do so. Michigan Protection, meanwhile, argues that because it's federally funded, the hospital must follow federal law, which would require the records release.
To learn more about the case:
- read this Detroit Free Press piece