Violence increasing at California state mental hospitals

April 16, 2012

Assaults by patients at California’s state mental hospitals have escalated and confinements times have increased while  a costly federal effort to reduce heavy drugging and improper restraining failed to improve care and help patients control violent impulses. [LATimes]

In 2006, a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state alleging that it was violating patients’ rights by heavily drugging and improperly restraining them and failing to provide appropriate treatment. The suit resulted in an agreement for an extensive court-supervised improvement plan at four hospitals with more than 4,000 patients.

However, according to a Times investigation,  the plan failed to achieve the Justice Department’s main objective: to raise the level of care so patients could control their violent tendencies and would not be institutionalized any longer than necessary, the Times said.

Under the Justice Department’s plan, the use of restraints and certain medications declined. But by the end of last year, the rate of patient assaults on other patients and staff members had doubled at  Atascadero State Hospital and Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, according to a Times analysis of state data.


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It’s those G*&#$*n Unions again! They should just privatize ASH so that they can get minimum wage workers in there under the same dangerous conditions! If they can’t cut it, or whine about no safety standards that the Unions provided before, then can their @sses and get other ignorant minions to take their place!


Privatization is all about profit to the hierarchy and stock holders, if any, of any corporation. The mantra should be, “make money off of the mentally challenged and the insane”, instead of paying exorbitant wages for someone to put up with these dangerous situations that the state hospitals represent, praise Jesus!


What do you expect from the criminally insane? Start treating them like the dangerous, insane criminals they are, yes this means cells instead of shared common rooms, handcuffs and shackles and maybe even drugs to sedate those that need it.


Anyone see the deal last week where Charles Manson was up for parole? After he was denied his lawyer moved to see if they could move Manson to ASH. Luckly the parole board said no.