Sunday, April 5, 2009

One of the worst cases of patient abuses in Ancora-breaking

this kind of thing makes me sad I live in NJ and that such things can happen to people in mental hospitals.

From the article


Sean Denning is a shell of his former self, his mother says.

"He's almost totally different," said Judy Denning, of Lindenwold. "His emotions are different. Everything about him is different. It just hurts a lot to see him that way."

His mother said Sean came close to death more than once. She blames improper medication and the poor care he received at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital for putting her son in hospitals for almost three months.

Sean Denning's medical odyssey began Dec. 11 when Judy Denning said she received a phone call from an Ancora doctor. He said Sean was being rushed to a local hospital suffering from Depakote toxicity, she said.

Depakote mainly is used to treat the manic phase of bipolar disorder. It is sometimes used to combat schizophrenia as well, according to the drug manufacturer'sinformation.

Denning's medical records indicate he had been prescribed 1,000 milligrams of Depakote at Ancora. His records also show he had been prescribed a cocktail of powerful drugs used to treat mental illness, including Ativan, Seroquel, Haldol, Lithium, Cogentin and Paxil.

The medical records note a toxic reaction to Lithium was suspected as a reason for his condition, along with the reaction to Depakote.

Still, the first time Denning was sent to the local hospital, he did not remain long. His mother said her son returned to the main building in Ancora on Dec. 13.

At Ancora the next day, he was pale, incoherent and covered with a rash, Judy Denning said.


article continues here.

8 comments:

D Bunker said...

Whitaker's numbers are irrefutable. Contact with Psychiatry occasions a 1000% Increase in suffering and death.

Follow The Money.

Sherry said...

I know the party line is that things are just ever so much better for all of us nowadays. Ha!

susan said...

@d bunker-i will put on Pink Floyd and play "money" in your honor.

@sherry, agreed. ha!

Ana said...

It's not only in NJ. It's everywhere.
((((Susan))))
Love,
Ana

soulful sepulcher said...

It's an atrocity America does not admit to having happen every single day to thousands of people, after all, we are a throw away society, and until people even begin to understand psych hospitals are not hospitals then they will never get it.

People think, in general that if one is in a hospital they are cared for and being taken care of, safety is never questioned, and as we all know that is all far from reality.

I truly feel, that this ruins people, and those who are fighting to gain lives back are true heroes in this world, for they have truly suffered, when they shouldn't have.

Watch the movie the Changling.

Wendy said...

Susan
Last week there was a presentation at the Quantico Marine base by a suicide suivior who had jumped from the SF bridge. In his presentation he said that mental health issues are the new civial rights movement... It sure feels like it!
Glad to see you back.
My daughter's bone marrow biopsy was positive...

susan said...

@Ana, you are right. I wish you weren't though.

@Stephany, is it atrocious, and I am glad this reporter and this paper had the moxie to report it and publish it. I know so many more stories like this, unfortunately.


@Wendy, I owe you the longest letter. I am so sorryto hear about y9our daughter. Is she holding up ok?

upside down rain said...

so sad and so not surprising. i've seen neuro malignant syndrome as a health care provider and it's frightening and considered life threatening. sadly i think the doc/nurses in charge of the mentally ill just want them to be quiet and not act.

how sad to watch a son melt away while under medical care.

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