[NYAPRS Enews] MNT: Statement On Death Of Mental Health Patient In Psych ER At Kings Co Hospital

[Matt Canuteson]

Statement On Death Of Mental Health Patient In Psychiatric Emergency
Room Of Kings County Hospital

Medical News Today July 2, 2008   

 

The reports of the death of a mental health patient in the Kings County
Hospital psychiatric emergency room are deeply troubling and demand
further investigation to determine the root cause of this incident.
Given the problems that were first raised in a federal lawsuit filed a
year ago, it should also spur greater scrutiny of the hospital's
administration and practices. 

Mental Health America's fear is that this incident reflects a broader
public attitude that devalues individuals with severe mental health
conditions who are served in public systems. We call on people who share
our abhorrence at these acts to continue to combat the ignorance and
discrimination that still exists toward people with mental illnesses. If
appropriately treated people, even with the most severe illnesses, can
and will recover. Hope and respect are central components of this
treatment. Devaluing people further prolongs their disability and likely
contributes to the 25 years of lost life for persons with severe mental
illnesses that are served in public systems. 

This incident is also a tragic illustration of systemic problems in
public mental health, where needed mental health care is too often
provided as a last resort instead of a first response, and where medical
problems too often go unrecognized and untreated. 

Those systemic problems go far deeper than breakdowns in psychiatric
emergency services. By their very nature, emergency services are not
adequate alternatives for the many people whose illness could be managed
before it becomes a crisis.

Rather, this tragic incident underscores a real crisis in mental health
service-delivery - the failure to invest adequately in
early-intervention and other community-based services and supports, even
as hospitals have reduced psychiatric bed capacity. The facts are that
over two-thirds of adults and over half of children with a diagnosable
mental health condition do not receive the mental health treatment and
services they need. At the same time, people with serious mental
illnesses served in the public system die, on average, 25 years early
from preventable health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. 

As we discuss and debate "health care reform," these shocking data
highlight the importance of making mental health reform a key component
of needed health reform. 

Mental Health America is the country's leading nonprofit dedicated to
helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With our more than 320
affiliates nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who
promote mental wellness for the health and well-being of the nation -
everyday and in times of crisis. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/printerfriendlynews.php?newsid=113679

 

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