Washington– Three former employees of a privately run psychiatric hospital in the nation’s capital have been charged with criminal negligence in the death of a patient, the city’s top federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that the three former employees of the Washington Psychiatric Institute failed to provide adequate medical care to the patient before his death nearly six years ago.
The indictment identifies the 58-year-old patient only by his initials, but the wrongful death lawsuit identifies him as Gary Wilson, a man with a heart condition who was admitted to the facility on April 13, 2020. He died 13 days later, on the afternoon of April 26.
Nelson Koma, 37, Richard Huno, 45, and Norma Munoz Bent, 68, all of Maryland, were charged with criminal negligence. The indictment accuses them of failing to properly evaluate or treat the patient with any life-saving procedures for at least 21 minutes.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in… press conference That the defendants “violated the most basic standards of medical care.”
“This trio did nothing to help this patient,” Pirro told reporters. “That guy didn’t have a chance out there. He was left for dead.”
Wilson’s death was cited in the advocacy group’s 2021 report on conditions at the facility where he died. The Disability Rights Organization said it found “extremely disturbing specific and systemic failures” at the institute. The Washington Post reported.
The Washington Psychiatric Institute, established 50 years ago, is a 130-bed facility that offers behavioral health programs for children, adolescents and adults, according to institute data. Website. The hospital is operated by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services Inc., based in Pennsylvania.
Efforts to reach officials from the institute and its parent company were not immediately successful.
Kuma and Hono served as psychiatric consultants at the facility. Munoz was the daughter of a registered nurse.
Lawyers for Huno and Munoz-Bent did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The court filings did not include the name of Koma’s attorney.
Pirro said the three defendants were released after pleading not guilty on Tuesday to a charge punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison. They are scheduled to return to court on May 29.
Wilson was left unattended — a violation of a doctor’s orders for constant monitoring — before he began to convulse and appeared to stop breathing, according to the lawsuit filed by Wilson’s niece. The lawsuit says staff entered Wilson’s room two minutes later but failed to provide any life-saving treatment.
The lawsuit also accuses the hospital of falsifying Wilson’s medical records. She says Wilson’s life-threatening emergency was not mentioned in hospital medical records and was only revealed after interviews by the city health department.
Last month, a Supreme Court judge agreed to put the civil case on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case brought by the Department of Justice. Universal Health Services asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.