Trapped in a psych ward: Michigan doc pre-signed blank forms that can rob you of your freedom

[Music] it was uh something that changed me I'll I'll never forget it I'll never get over it if you would have told me that something like that happened I would find it so hard to believe in the United States of America patients alleging they were locked up and held against their will in a psychiatric hospital or coerced into staying for treatment for illnesses they say they do not have it's the epitome of evil it's the eny of greed we are talking about people having their civil rights taken away basically being held against their will without due process I'm seven investigator Heather catalo since the middle of the pandemic I've been digging into these allegations talking with patients and former employees I've poured over hundreds of pages of documents and what I've discovered is creating more questions than answers about our mental health system I don't want her to go back there very few people have been willing to talk publicly about what's going on behind the closed doors of a locked psychiatric ward but now patients parents and employees are coming forward to talk to us about what they say are their experiences with the psychiatric treatment at some local hospitals and with psychiatrist Dr naggie Kier so what do you say to these people that say what you're doing is totally unethical I don't I'm not aware of that what they saying after we started asking questions in the courts about Dr Kier last spring he suddenly resigned from one of the hospitals where he was in charge but he's still working at at least two others where patients say he has all the power over them and he said no you're going to be staying here with us you're BW they describe a system that uses the courts or the threat of the courts to keep patients locked up longer than necessary and the Seven investigators have discovered a crucial court form that can rob you of your freedom that's being signed long long before a psychiatrist ever examines you but before we explore all of that it's important to understand how you end up in a psychiatric hospital in the first place according to therapists patients in crisis usually first go to the closest emergency room either by choice or because a police officer family member or doctor thinks they're a danger to themselves or others once you're at the hospital emergency room you're placed in a psych holding area when a bed a psychiatric hospital opens up you're transferred then according to state law you're supposed to see a psychiatrist within 24 hours I've never been treated so poorly like I wasn't a human being Bri Jackson says after she lost her job and her health insurance in 2022 she ran out of her anti-depressant medication when she qualified for Medicaid she went to a family doctor to try to get her medication refilled were you suicidal no no no not not at all and I cannot stress this enough I went there to get medication when Bri filled out her doctor's assessment form she answered yes to the questions about feeling hopeless and depressed the 38-year-old from Oak Park says she just wanted her anti-depressants so she could stop feeling sad he suggested that I go to uh Ascension Providence ER to see a psychiatrist he did say you may be able to do a one day impatient thinking a psychiatrist could refill her anti-depressants and provide therapy Bri drove herself to the emergency room but that's when she says everything fell apart I was crying cuz I was I was locked in a Ward and I didn't know what was going to happen Brie says she never saw a psychiatrist and that's not all can I make a phone call can I go call my mom can I go call my brother can I leave this area and the answer was no Bri later found out a social worker at Ascension filled out this petition for the court stating Brie reported suicidal ideation she denies being suicidal and that's not all Brie says she learned a doctor signed this clinical certificate both the petition and the certificate are court documents used to hospitalize someone against their will and doctors and psychiatrists fill them out under penalty of perjury Bri the clinical certificate also labels Brie with a diagnosis of psychosis even though psychosis is not mentioned anywhere else in her medical records Brie says the doctor who signed that form never examined her and his name does not appear anywhere in her medical records that we reviewed from that Ascension Hospital stay and I'm like I didn't see this doctor I don't have psychosis what is this and I'm starting to get a little bit frazzled I'm reading them the law that uh I have to see a psychiatrist um I'm here voluntarily and they're like that petition says no you aren't you see Bri has a law degree and knows her rights they they didn't believe me despite multiple requests for interviews officials here at Ascension refused to talk to us about why Bri was held and about why a doctor who allegedly never saw her signed the paperwork to commit her after 3 days in the Providence ER Brie says she was then transferred involuntarily to Pontiac General Hospital At first she says she hoped they would realize a mistake had been made and let her go home I get the paperwork that I am to sign in voluntarily if I don't do it they can then uh take these petitions and court orders that they have yet to file up until this point everyone's using it to keep me there but hasn't been filed in any Court they could take those file them and then I would have to stay there um until the hearing which could be up to 30 days so Brie signed herself in believing she could leave in just a day instead she says she was held for another 9 days and she says she quickly learned that inside the psych ward you need to lie I found out you know talking with the other girls do what I can to get out of here um meant I wasn't going to see this psychiatrist to be wholly treated I was going to tell him what he wanted to hear um so that's what I did I felt in no way I was getting therapy or treatment why do I need to be here while Bri was at Pontiac General her records indicate she was under the care of the hospital's Chief psychiatrist at the time Dr Negi Kier Dr Kier not only ran the entire Psychiatry program at Pontiac for seven years since 2019 until last April Kier had also been in charge of teaching Pontiac General's Psychiatry residents they all reported to him there is no having a conversation with Dr kir um somebody told me you say yes no or okay to him uh otherwise you could be put there longer you say nothing to him if you want to go home Bri says most days she saw a different psychiatrist who according to her records consistently diagnosed her with depression but on the day she was approved for discharge medical records show she was suddenly diagnosed with bipolar disorder and then Dr Kier signed off in her chart he never mentioned it it was news to me when I get out and I read my my discharge papers I mean when you look at these things Al together that's why I think it's it's about money because to get me there you can't just say I'm depressed you can't just say I'm sad Bri is not the only patient who alleges they had problems with the system she's now traumatized from what has happened to her at pank General Hospital leesia says she became her daughter's legal guardian after the 23-year-old was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in January of 2022 lakesia says she had to take her daughter to Detroit Receiving Hospital during a depressive episode she then got transferred to Pontiac General Hospital my daughter was there for nearly a week without Pac General making contact with me without even so much as a phone call lishia says when her daughter was able to call she got terrible news she was crying crying I'm like what's wrong she said they just jumped on me I said who jumped on you and she says an employee leesia says she raised to the hospital and called 911 on the the way wel County 911 what is the address in your emergency I'm at General Hospital tell me exactly what happened my daughter um it's here at the hospital her face is swen but when they arrived she says Hospital staff would not let her see her daughter and she says they would not let the sheriff's deputies see her either they said oh well she's sleeping because we we had to give her an injection why would you give her an injection if she's been jumped on lakesia says her daughter had the most trouble with with Dr Kier Dr Kier put in a request for the court saying that she was refusing her medications she was hostile and so they put in a request for her to stay longer this is the clinical certificate that Kier signed for the probate court to order the 23-year-old to stay at Pontiac general for up to 60 days Dr Kier prior to his so-called evaluation never contacted me to get history how can you put a diagnosis on someone one you have not spent time with this patient says the same thing happened to them he's the worst person ever like he's so bad he doesn't even know the extent that my children suffered not having me home this patient from Oakland County did not want us to show you their face or use their name but they described the same things we heard from other patients they allege they were held against their will for 2 and 1/2 weeks at Pontiac General and given a diagnosis by Dr Kier they say they'd never received before I said something like I don't belong here doctor and he said no you have bipolar in like first degree or something like that and I said what do you mean I have that and then he goes no that's what you have and you're staying here with us basically and walked out of the room and that was his evaluation less than 5 minutes the patient says they landed in the psych ward after getting picked up by police for acting out of control after using a marijuana product prior to that incident have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness never in my life never I've never even seen like just ever this patient says they refused the medication cure wanted to give them they held me down and they gave me a shot in my arm Dr Kier was not just dictating the fate of psychiatric patients at Pontiac general for 7 years he also works at Stone Crest Center in Detroit and Harbor Oaks in New balore so let's take a closer look at these crucial court forms called clinical certificates that are used to keep patients locked up in the psych ward sources inside both Pontiac General and Stone Crest Center tell the seven investigators that Dr Kier pre-sign these documents used in the civil commitment process these photographs show the pre-signed blank forms ready for use inside Pontiac General Hospital the seven investigators obtained copy I of the blank clinical certificates from both hospitals that already have Dr kier's signature on them the blank Stone Crest forms also have a pre-filled examination time of 15 minutes typed in as well wow we showed the pre-signed forms to clinical social worker Maryann Huff Huff is the president of the Mental Health Association in Michigan what do you think of a pre-signed form being used to keep people in the hospital I think that's really problematic it's very unethical very very unethical Huff says with a pre-signed form there's no way to know who really assessed the patient and whether the assessment was accurate and fair if he's got his name on there and he signed it that means he as a psychiatrist conducted an assessment and is putting forth a certain recommendation otherwise the question becomes if he's not doing it who is I wouldn't do that with my license Bethany Atwell is a certified trauma therapist who often has to hospitalize patients she too was surprised that a psychiatrist would pre-sign a blank form that's used for the courts it kind of feels like a violation of the patient's rights so who is diagnosing these patients sources inside the hospital tell us the psychiatric medical residents still in training were the ones filling out the pre-signed forms even though sources say that's not allowed because they're not board certified psychiatrists yet former and current employees also say Kier spent so little time at the hospital there's no way he could be doing all of the evaluations he supposedly signs off on on several different days starting in early 2022 we kept track of when Dr Kier left Pontiac General sources inside the hospital say the former Chief psychiatrist only stayed at work a couple of hours on the 26 days we tracked him he left anywhere from 10:48 a.m. to 1:33 p.m. some days he drove to Stone Crest Center some days we found his car at home by 300 p.m. is that enough time to see all the patients there absolutely not there's no way how do you justify that many patients and you certainly can't spend more than I can personally say I've never seen him spend more than 5 minutes is pushing it this former Pontiac General Hospital employee asked that we not identify her because she still works in the industry but she says she witnessed several patients whose rights were violated I think that's a TR St on February 1st 20122 Dr Kier walked out of Pontiac General's doors and got in his vehicle at 10:48 a.m. yet this clinical certificate for a Stone Crest patient in Detroit shows Kier examined that patient just 12 minutes later at 11: a.m. the drive from Pontiac General Hospital to Stone Crest Center takes at least 30 7 minutes without traffic so how could he be examining a patient at the same time that he was driving the way he treats patients to use Scare Tactics to get them to take psychotic medications or he will report you and make you stay even longer because as I've witnessed him say before the court is always going to side with me the judge sided with him because he's a professional doctor and they took his word for it which is why I tried to say something but I was not allowed to say anything for the patient from Oakland County a county social worker even recommended that they be released from the hospital but according to court records the judge sided with the hospital and the patient had to stay longer do you feel the doctor used the courts against you yes he used them to make me stay there to build my insurance or money and if it was up to him he like he told me to stay there the 31 days 31 days patients don't need to be in there that long if they if there can be another plan of care found for them outside of a psychiatric hospital if a patient came in and that they they were resistant to treatment we would take them to court and in some cases the patient did need to stay but in other cases we would get people like um that needed to go to rehab Katrina Davis is the former Court liaison for p General Hospital she used to file those clinical certificates with the court Davis says there was a lot of pressure to keep patients in the hospital like if we had 10 discharges they want 10 admits coming in so let's take a look at how much Pontiac General Hospital is getting for all of those inpatient stays Dr Kier was the chief psychiatrist there from 2016 until April of 2023 Medicaid pays for patients through the Oakland and Wayne County Community health networks in Wayne County the hospital's contract calls for at least $880 a day for inpatient care in Oakland County according to the contract the hospital can bill for at least $950 a day that means Breeze stay racked up at least $7,600 in Medicaid fees for the hospital since 2017 the Oakland Community Health Network has paid Pontiac General more than $ 24.2 million in Medicaid mental health payments more than 6.7 million of that was for bipolar diagnosis and more than 14 million was for diagnoses of psychosis two common labels court records show patients are given on those clinical certificates that are used to hold them I was just amazed by how many patients were diagnosed with bipolar like so the hospital is full of bipolar people nobody else has any other condition this isn't the first time that questions have been raised about this psychiatrist the seven investigators uncovered 10 State complaints filed against Dr Kier with Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or Lara that date back to 2013 in this complaint the patient alleged that while she was at Stone Crest Center Kier forced her to take psychiatric medications by threatening to say she was psychotic for a 2016 complaint the patient alleged the doctor met with me for less than 5 minutes and to meet the quota of a full house on his Hospital unit he petitioned me to be admitted according to a 2019 complaint the patient told Lara that Dr Kier without asking any questions decided I would stay for S days the patient told State investigators he does not treat patients but abuses the system to his own Financial benefit calling here not just an abuser but a danger to our society the complaints all Echo a similar theme patients held against their will patients diagnosed with illnesses they say they don't have and lack of communication with patients relatives so essentially from day 1 to day 14 it was a complete and total loss of Freedom attorney Andrew boser filed a complaint with Lara for his client who says Dr Kier held her against her will for two weeks inside the Stone Crest Center psychiatric ward back in 2015 boser says his client was upset about the death of her dog and accidentally took one anti-anxiety pill and then had a glass of wine after she passed out doctors thought she was trying to kill herself which she denied from the get-go qualifying this as a you know risk of harm to self type of incident was a stretch why do you think they kept her so long I think there was an issue of her they were able to Bill insurance for it boser says his client suffered so much TR trauma while locked up in the psych ward 9 years later she's still in counseling it can cause longstanding longlasting severe mental harm in all but one of the state complaints the threers panel of psychiatrist voted not to pursue penalties or do a deeper investigation into Dr Kier we have complaints alleging identical issues and the process hasn't even started I I there may need to be some after a certain number of complaints there should be some kind of process especially if they're consistent in nature in 20121 a state administrative law judge ruled that Dr Kier did violate the public health code after he failed to communicate with a Pontiac General patient's family that family complained to the state alleging Dr Kier failed to spend appropriate time as required by law with his patient for initial evaluation we are under the impression the doctor spent let less than 10 minutes Dr Kier says he did call that family but the Michigan Board of Medicine disciplinary subcommittee later put kier's medical license on probation for 6 months because of that incident I asked the State Licensing Division to explain to us why so many similar complaints have not been pursued by state investigators but they refused several times to talk to us on camera Dr Kier did talk to us on camera eventually Dr Kier hi Heather from Channel 7 we've been trying to reach you we'd like to talk to you about why you're pre-signing these clinical certificates what you're pre-signing clinical certificates yes before patients are examined yes doesn't that violate their rights not uh We examined them but I sign it to be ready for the time Factor but during an hourlong exchange Dr Kier told us he did not think pre-signing a blank court form that's used as part of the civil commitment process is unethical multiple experts are telling me this is not appropriate not ethical I don't know I will ask about it but I think we are doing it we are doing it in different hospitals without any problem but if it is not it is a problem I can I can not sign it but the issue is to be ready for time Factor saving time not faking anything or not seeing the patient no the seven investigators check the sources at several area hospitals who all told us no one else think know pre-sign these important forms that are supposed to be filled out at the time the patient is evaluated but how do you explain the time you weren't actually there when it says the time on the CT and you examine the patient you're you're saying it under oath that you examine the patient at that time you weren't physically at Stone crust how could how could you have done it then yes I can see the patient 9:00 but I can write my note at 8:00 at my home so we have multiple patients that say they've been diagnosed with things that you say they have that they say they don't have are you changing or increasing diagnoses to make them worse in order to justify the long stays in the hospital of course not no I am the most in my opinion conservative physician are you holding patients against their will no I cannot do that a lot of patients there say they were basically coerced into signing involuntarily because they were threatened that you would take them to court and make you them stay longer if they didn't sign in voluntarily and so they stay longer maybe there's misunderstanding by them you have to to explain the procedure I'm not eager to keep patience I'm not this kind at all I'm not denying it I'm not trying to pretend I'm the nicest one here Dr Kier gave us a tour of his newest Venture an Outpatient Psychiatric clinic he says he considers himself a very conservative doctor when it comes to hospitalizing patients you believe that I get more money for days now this patient who left at 12 days same day I will have another new patient so the days and the gaps are the same patient after patient these hospitals are full every day are you examining every patient yourself every single patient I'm not fabricating or doing any kind of wrong records and accusing the patient of something is not existing and let him go to the court no but some patients say they never should have been held in the first place there's people that really need help but I'm not one of them it's time I'll never get back it's time stolen away from me I had no du process had civil rights that were violated and it's just changed me for for the worst despite several attempts to talk to Pontiac General no one from that hospital has returned our calls or emails that's the same situation with Stone Crest Center even though I called several times to ask about their pre-signed clinical certificates no one has called us back if you've encountered a situation like this at a local hospital please let us know at wxyz.com I'm Heather catalo 7 Action News

Channel: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7

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Id: jL2P4JYmhac

Length: 25min 10sec (1510 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 29 2024