A mental hospital restraint death can raise serious questions about patient safety, staff training, medical monitoring, and whether hospital employees followed proper restraint procedures.
Physical restraints may sometimes be used to protect a patient, staff members, or other people from immediate harm. However, restraints can also create serious risks when they are used improperly, for too long, or without proper monitoring.
When a patient dies during or after being physically restrained, family members may want to know what happened, whether the death could have been prevented, and whether the hospital or its employees may be legally responsible. Each situation must be investigated based on the facts, medical evidence, hospital policies, and applicable law.
Improper restraint, inadequate monitoring, poor staff training, or failure to respond to a medical emergency may raise important questions about negligence and wrongful death.
A mental hospital restraint death is a death that occurs when a patient dies during or after being placed in physical restraint or seclusion in a psychiatric hospital or other healthcare facility.
Restraints may be used when a patient poses an immediate danger to themselves or others. However, the use of restraints can be dangerous if employees fail to follow proper procedures.
A patient who is restrained may have difficulty breathing, especially if the person’s body is placed in an unsafe position. Other medical complications may also occur.
This is why proper training and monitoring are important when restraints are used.
A restraint-related death can be especially difficult for a family because the patient was often in a facility where the family expected trained professionals to provide safe care.
There are several ways improper restraint can contribute to a patient’s death through homicidal asphyxia:
One concern is restricted breathing. Placing pressure on a person’s chest, back, neck, or airway can interfere with normal breathing.
Another concern is positional asphyxia. This can occur when a person’s position prevents them from breathing normally. A person who is restrained face-down may be particularly vulnerable if pressure is placed on the back or chest.
Other potential complications can include:
The existence of one of these complications does not by itself establish negligence. A medical and legal investigation is often necessary to determine what caused the death and whether the restraint contributed to it.
The rules governing restraints can depend on the type of facility, the circumstances, and applicable federal and state requirements.
In general, restraints should not be viewed as a routine method of controlling patients. Healthcare professionals must consider patient safety and whether less restrictive alternatives are available.
Hospitals have responsibilities concerning the monitoring and assessment of patients who are restrained. Code of Federal Regulations 42 CFR § 482.13(e) states, “Restraint or seclusion may only be imposed to ensure the immediate physical safety of the patient, a staff member, or others and must be discontinued at the earliest possible time.”
These requirements are the reason documentation can be extremely important.
A hospital or healthcare facility may potentially face legal liability when negligence contributes to a patient’s death.
Depending on the circumstances, questions may include whether:
A mental hospital restraint death should therefore be investigated carefully before conclusions are reached.
The important question is whether the actions or failures of the healthcare providers contributed to the patient’s death and whether those actions fell below the required standard of care or otherwise created legal liability.
A 2019 South Carolina case involving William Avant illustrates the serious risks associated with improper restraint.
Avant was a disabled 35-year-old Georgetown native who had been a patient at G. Werber Bryan Psychiatric Hospital in Columbia for approximately 12 years. According to reporting cited by the original article, Avant became agitated and began kicking a glass window before rushing toward a medication room, trying to push the door open.
Staff members took Avant to the ground. Video reportedly showed seven staff members restraining him, with several employees applying pressure to his arms and midsection. When Avant was turned over, he was blue and had no pulse. Staff members performed CPR, but he could not be revived.
The Richland County Coroner ruled Avant’s death a homicide by suffocation and determined that the actions of staff contributed to his death, according to the reporting cited by the original article.
The investigation also raised questions about employee training and compliance with restraint procedures. The original article reported that some employees involved had not received adequate training in physically restraining patients. It also reported that the South Carolina Department of Mental Health’s training materials instructed employees to monitor a restrained patient’s breathing and avoid placing pressure on the patient’s head, neck, back, or chest.
Several employees were suspended, the hospital staff were retrained, and the Department of Mental Health revised its restraint policy, according to the original reporting.
The Avant case demonstrates why restraint deaths deserve careful investigation.
Yes, certain hospital deaths associated with restraint or seclusion must be reported to CMS.
Federal law (42 CFR § 482.13(g) states that hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, long-term care hospitals, and acute-care hospitals, are required to report patient deaths associated with restraint or seclusion, “no later than the close of the next business day following knowledge of the patient’s death.”
CMS reporting procedures require information about circumstances surrounding the death, the patient’s position, the type and length of restraint, and when the patient was last monitored or assessed.
This reporting requirement does not automatically mean that a hospital was negligent. However, it demonstrates that restraint-related patient deaths are serious safety events that may require additional review.
Determining what happened may require more than reviewing a death certificate.
Evidence in a potential mental hospital restraint death investigation may include:
CMS’s restraint-death reporting process specifically calls for information about the patient’s condition, the circumstances leading to the restraint, the patient’s position, medications administered, monitoring, and the length of time the restraint was used.
For that reason, families should consider preserving evidence as soon as possible.
When a loved one dies because of another person’s negligence or wrongful conduct, surviving family members may have questions about a wrongful death claim.
A mental hospital restraint death may involve complicated legal and medical issues. The potential defendants and available legal claims can depend on who operated the facility, who employed the staff members, what happened during the restraint, and what evidence shows about the cause of death.
Public hospitals and government agencies may also involve additional legal issues that do not apply to every private healthcare facility.
Because of these differences, families should not assume that every restraint-related death is handled the same way.
An attorney can review the circumstances and determine whether there may be a viable wrongful death, negligence, medical malpractice, or other claim.
Losing a loved one is difficult under any circumstances. When the death happens in a mental hospital or psychiatric facility, family members may have many unanswered questions.
If you believe a patient’s death may have resulted from improper care or negligence, consider taking steps to preserve important information.
Ask for copies of available medical and hospital records. Find out whether an autopsy was performed. Preserve correspondence with the facility. Write down what hospital employees told the family about what happened.
Families should also consider speaking with an attorney before making assumptions about the cause of death.
An attorney may be able to investigate records, identify potential witnesses, consult medical experts, and determine whether the evidence supports a legal claim.
A mental hospital restraint death can leave a family struggling with grief, anger, and unanswered questions. When a loved one dies while in the care of a psychiatric hospital or other healthcare facility, the family deserves to understand what happened.
The Law Offices of David L. Hood represents individuals and families in South Carolina personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death matters. Our attorneys can review the circumstances surrounding a patient’s death and help determine whether there may be a legal claim.
If someone you care about has died due to someone else’s negligence, please schedule your free consultation by contacting us today by phone at any of our 18 South Carolina locations or by chat, text or email for a free consultation.
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