Mental Hygiene Legal Services v. NYC HHC (Challenge to Squalid Conditions, Abuse at Brooklyn's Kings County Hospital Center)

Case Status

Open

Case Description

E.D.N.Y, Index No. 07 cv 1819 (direct)

This case involves the squalid conditions of confinement and abusive and negligent treatment of patients at Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital Center (KCHC).

An extensive investigation recently conducted by Mental Hygiene Legal Services (MHLS), in conjunction with the NYCLU and Kirkland & Ellis, showed that Kings County's psychiatric facilities are overcrowded and often dangerously unsanitary and that patients -- including children and the physically disabled -- are routinely ignored and abused. Investigators found that patients at Kings County's psychiatric facilities are confined in hospital wards whose floors are often covered with urine, feces and blood. Patients frequently sleep in plastic chairs and on the floor -- sometimes for days on end. Patients are given soiled linens, if any, and frequently go without showers and clean clothes. If a patient complains about these conditions or asks for basic necessities, she runs the risk of being punished with a forcible injection of psychotropic drugs. Patients who use wheelchairs must choose between using the facility's only accessible bathroom, which has no lock on the door; using a commode, which is rarely emptied; or dragging themselves across a filth-covered floor in an attempt to use a non-accessible toilet in privacy. Defendants in the lawsuit, the Board of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, were made aware of the horrific conditions at KCHC and failed to remedy them.

On May 2, 2007, the NYCLU, in conjunction with MHLS Second Judicial Department and Kirkland & Ellis LLP, filed a complaint on behalf of Sidney Hirschfeld, the director of MHLS, in its representational capacity on behalf of all of its constituents – all patients who have been treated at KCHC. Among other things, the complaint alleges that the patients were subjected to unhealthy conditions, illegal staff use of restraints and injections, neglect and lack of proper services. The plaintiffs claim that the defendants’ actions violated the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and several provisions of New York State Mental Hygiene Law, Public Health Law and the New York State Constitution. The complaint requests the District Court to issue a permanent injunction compelling defendants to remedy the gross deficiencies and to comply with the law. The defendants’ answer is due on July 13, 2007. The initial case conference with Magistrate Judge Matsumoto is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2007.

Attorneys involved in this case include Beth Haroules.

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