Brain Center Stymied Abuse Investigators, Lawsuit Claims

Floridas federally-designated disability rights advocacy group sued one of the countrys largest brain-injury centers, alleging the facility is blocking its efforts to probe complaints of recent patient mistreatment.

The Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation prevented an investigator from interviewing witnesses and from visiting locations on campus where alleged abuse occurred, according to the lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights Florida in U.S. District Court in Tampa. One investigator was asked to leave the Wauchula, Florida facility, the advocacy group said in the lawsuit.

One complaint involved a patient who was allegedly improperly restrained. The second concerns an allegation of two staffers physically abusing a patient. Both incidents occurred within the past week or so, said Sylvia Smith, a spokeswoman for Disability Rights Florida.

The institute has always allowed the disability group immediate and unlimited access to investigate abuse charges, said Jay Adams, an attorney for the brain-injury facility, in an e-mailed statement. He said the center cooperates fully with the group and with state regulators and it is unfortunate that they have filed this unsubstantiated complaint rather than focusing their resources and efforts on the health and well- being of Floridas disabled.

Bloomberg's Investigation: Instead of providing care, Florida brain center with fees as high as $310,000 a year abused its patients.

Bloomberg News hasreported on dozens of cases of alleged abuse and neglect since 1998 at the for-profit, 196-bed facility, known as FINR. Patients families or state agencies have accused the centers staffers of abuse or care lapses in at least five residents deaths over that time frame, two of them in the last two years.

FloridasDepartment of Children and Familieshas received 514 allegations of abuse or neglect at FINR since 2005, including 37 that were verified by its investigations, according to records released by the agency. In August, state officials went to court to force FINR to turn over incident reports from the past year, which the facility eventually did.

Disability Rights Florida is a government-funded protection and advocacy agency for individuals with disabilities. Similar agencies exist in each state. Federal law gives the protection agencies the power to access records at facilities treating the disabled, to conduct unaccompanied visits at public and private institutions and to file lawsuits on behalf of patients who are being abused or neglected.

The rights agency is asking a judge to grant it immediate, unaccompanied access to FINRs facilities, including its 900- acre main campus in Wauchula. The complaint also seeks to require FINR to provide the agency with information on patients guardians and to allow unlimited, unobserved telephone and written communication between patients and Disability Rights Florida.

Other states protection agencies have also conducted investigations at FINR, and complained about limited cooperation from the center. A 2008 probe by the disabilities advocate for the District of Columbia found that FINR violated patients rights and D.C. policies by improperly secluding them in their rooms or using drugs as a form of restraint.

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Brain Center Stymied Abuse Investigators, Lawsuit Claims