Child Psychiatry
Ref. # 827701
An 11-year-old boy was treated for six months for increasingly violent and disruptive behavior, mood swings, problems at school, and shoplifting. During his stay at a clinic, which lasted nine days, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asberger Syndrome. Subsequent hospitalizations, which ranged from seven days to three weeks, were similar for repeated suicide threats, obsessive compulsive disorder, ADHD and encopresis. After the last stay in April the boy was to be followed by an after-care program at a guidance center. Around this time the boy's mother lost her insurance. One of his two psychiatrists noted that treatment included 36 mg Concerta in the morning, 100 mg Luvox twice a day, .05 mg Tennox, and 500 mg Depakote in the morning. The other psychiatrist noted the treatment also included Ritalin and there was a plan to increase the Depakote, as well as rule out bipolar disorder. Two months later, without having seen either psychiatrist, the boy hanged himself. A medQuest child psychiatrist reported the clinic's final evaluation and risk assessment was inadequate. Furthermore, documentation by the treating psychiatrists ended in May and the boy committed suicide in July. The physicians failed to meet their duty to provide services or a referral.
|