Of Jesus Rincon Murietta and the willful intent of the administrators of The Arizona State Hospital to put the greater Phoenix community at risk merely in order to protect their own selfish interests. Abject dereliction of duty personified. 

This is a rerun of the second article published in this blog, early April, 2012, less than 6 weeks after my discharge from The Arizona State Hospital.

A Modern Horror Story: Wherein the Administrators of the Arizona State Hospital Willfully Put the Safety of the Greater Phoenix, AZ, Community at Risk In Order to Avoid Scrutiny, Leading to the Brutal Murder of a Citizen.  (May 17, 2011-August 30, 2011)

Phoenix victim's family questions why man was free

Mental hospital halted search; escapee now a murder suspect

by JJ Hensley - Sept. 28, 2011

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/09/27/20110927phoenix-victims-family-questions-jesus-murrieta-free-april-mott.html#ixzz1taIkd8ma

        At the heart of my coming to understand how unlawfully The Arizona State Hospital (ASH) goes about its day to day business as the sole long term mental care hospital in the whole state of Arizona, is the story of Jesus Murietta. This is a shocking, and very sad story, and I do not want any of the individuals directly effected to misinterpret why I am willing to include this story in my personal writing. The fact is, ASH' administrative misconduct directly led to a young woman's death in the Phoenix community, and I know that had ASH done the right thing when they had the chance to (rather than putting their own selfish interests first), the young woman would not have died. Bottom line. Furthermore, I was centrally involved in bringing the truth of this horrific sequence of events to the attention of the public, and there was an extensive newspaper story published in the Arizona Republic newspaper in late September, 2011, that fully relates this fact. (see "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free," Sept. 28, 2011) Thus, I unwillingly became very involved in this story while I was receiving "treatment" for depression at the Arizona State Hospital. I had to put myself at risk in order to try and see that ASH do the right thing, because that is how I live my life. Of course, ASH refused to do the right thing, and a person died. A travesty, and nothing less.

       Jesus Mureitta and I were hospitalized together in the summer of 2010 down Tucson way, at St. Mary's Hospital Extended Care Unit (ECU), well before either one of us was referred and/or sent to ASH, and although he was typically very heavily dosed with whatever anti-psychotic medication or whatever the hell they had him on at the time, shuffling around like a mummy or something, I became casual friends with him there in Tucson, largely because he used to sit and listen to me play an electric piano that they had at ECU, and he used to joke around a little bit, ribbing me because I couldn't play any Chopin, or Monk. But I was also pretty wary of Jesus at the time, because regardless of how dosed up on drugs they had him, he pretty regularly used to attack male technicians there at ECU, and his attacks were fairly formidable, given the circumstances. But he never gave me any trouble at all, and I came to like him by the time he was shipped off to other realms once he had carried out his fourth attack on a staff member in as many weeks, I had no firm idea of where they might have sent the man at the time, but I must admit, when I arrived at ASH in early 2011, I wasn't surprised to almost immediately run into him. He was an entirely different fellow by the time I got to ASH, this would have been 5 or so months after he was transferred away from ECU in Tucson, and I could tell right away that he clearly was not nearly so heavily medicated. He was buoyant and in fine physical health, and we rekindled our casual friendship right away. But Jesus is at least 25-30 years younger than I, and as such, he carried on with his lifestyle at ASH in a manner that one would only expect out of a guy his age, hanging out with other young people on the ASH patient mall, and so on.

       In late May 2011, I learned one morning from a security guard that Jesus had successfully broken out of ASH the previous evening. I was told that Jesus had grabbed a staff member's electronic i.d.card and security pass and used it to basically walk out of ASH at about 9:30 p.m., and that to the security guard's knowledge, he had not yet been recaptured. I found the story interesting, to say the least, and I immediately looked into whether there were any news stories about the matter. I presumed, in fact, that there would have to be some sort of public story about it, because Jesus is clearly a dangerous guy when his head isn't right, but preliminary inquiries I made turned up no evidence of any public news to the effect of his being at large in the community. But I was also worried about Jesus, because he had exited ASH in gym shorts and a muscle shirt, with no wallet, etc., and ASH is located in a very bad part of Phoenix's south central district. And as time passed from that first day following his escape, I began to suspect that something fishy was going on, and I suspected that it had to with ASH trying to cover up the fact that a patient had virtually walked out of the place, despite the multi-fenced perimeters, electronically secure doors,  and quasi-qualified security staff. With all 3 of these concerns in mind, I decided to contact the local Phoenix newspaper, The AZ Republic, and I spoke with a reporter named JJ Hensley, who expressed a fairly keen interest in my report. I specifically expressed my main concerns about the affair to him on the  following basis of worry:

     1) I was concerned about the public safety issue, knowing that Jesus could at   times be very volatile and violent.

     2) I was equally concerned about Jesus' safety as a mentally ill person, knowing as I did that he had departed ASH in the late evening dressed in very little clothing, with no identification (patient i.d.'s are taken away form ASH upon admission) and presumably little or no money, etc.

     3) And I was concerned that ASH administration was in the process of trying to avoid accountability at the expense of the public's right to be advised of such concerns, as well at Jesus' expense as a mentally ill person.

        Mr. Hensley told me that he would have to see what he could come up with in terms of verifying my account. and I made clear to him that I did not want my name used, because I was already pretty frightened by the things I had seen at ASH in terms of staff misconduct, and I did not wish to put myself any more at risk of harm by staff than I already was. Yes, it's pretty messed up to think that patients are frightened by ASH staff, but its true, for many of the patients who I came to know bluntly told told me that they were at times terrified of staff. In any case, Mr. Hensley and I hung up our after a short conversation, and I sat back somewhat comfortably, believing as I did that the reporter would surely come up with something about Jesus' escape.  But after about 10 days, when I had not yet seen any news, I called Mr. Hensley and basically asked what was going on, and he told me that his inquiries to ASH administration had all come up short, because ASH had advised him that not only could they not comment on the affairs of any patients (even the escaped ones), but went even further in denying that no patients whatsoever had escaped form ASH during the time period of Jesus escape. In short, Mr. Hensley could not verify my report, and I could tell from his time voice at the time that he was questioning my credibility. I was frustrated by this turn of events, but I also knew that it was yet another case of ASH getting away with something. Even my most worrisome concerns regarding Jesus potential threat to the public at large could not have led me, at that time, to concieve of the full potential of the situation as it stood then, in early June, 2011.

        By late summer I had basically put the Jesus Murietta affair behind me, as many other serious concerns had become central to my very survival at ASH by that time (which I will describe in detail at a later time). Sitting outside by myself one afternoon in very late August, 2011, about three months after Jesus' escape, the same security guard who had advised me of Jesus escape approached me and advised me that Jesus had savagely killed a young woman and that a story had been prominently presented both in the local newspaper as well as on television. I was shocked. I called JJ Hensley, the reporter at the AZ Republic newspaper who I had initially reported Jesus' escape to, and we had a brief, but very awkward conversation, as the both of us came to terms with the fact that the same young man that ASH had been unwilling to release information about when he escaped had gone on to brutally murder a young woman named April Moot. These are Mr. Hensley's exact words: "I feel like her blood is on my hands."

       Following our conversation on that late August day, Mr. Hensley conducted a very well founded investigation into the improprieties of ASH' actions specific to this sequence of events, and he learned that not only had ASH' administration gone out of its way to alter the truth regarding the details of Jesus' escape by changing the official record in such a way that Jesus escape had been characterized as a legitimate discharge, but that they had also interfered with the flow of several criminal investigations during the course for the summer, in the months and weeks preceding Ms. Mott's brutal slaying, wherein Jesus had been arrested two or three times in relation to relatively minor criminal activity, but because the police knew nothing about Jesus connection to ASH, and so on, he was released each time. As stated at the outset of this account, this entire story was published in in The Arizona Republic newspaper in late September, 2011, in a story written by Mr. Hensley.            

     This was the nature of this sequence of events. When Jesus Murietta escaped from ASH in late May, 2011, Hospital administrators, and I am willing to guess that this would have included but not been limited to the chief medical officer at the time (Dr. Steven Dingle), the chief operating officer (Donna Noriega), Jesus attending ASH psychiatrist (Dr. Morris), and most likely the Hospital's legal counsel (Mr. Joel Rudd of the AZ Attorney General's Office) decided to not publicize the escape. Every morning at 9 a.m., these people meet for a general operations conference, and discussion of key facets of the Hospital's affairs occurs, and I believe one can safely surmise that the issue of Jesus' escape was on the table, and the decision had to have been made then, to not go public about Jesus' escape.  It should be noted, too, that during this period of time (April-August, 2011) ASH was operating without a duly hired chief executive officer, a condition that arguably lent to the relative disarray at that time, and the related selfishness and stupidity of this formal decision. In any case, I am firmly of the opinion that ASH administration made this decision in order to avoid accountability, and the fact is, I came to realize as time progressed during my 13 month stay at ASH that they do that as a matter of standard practice, with a literal "to hell with the rights and wellbeing of others" attitude that I was personally subjected to time and time again.

        In this case, that attitude led to the brutal killing of April Mott, and Mr. Hensley's story in the newspaper clearly presents a picture of the sort of misconduct I am going to expose in this blog. The people responsible for this sequence of events, and myriad other wrongdoings, need to be held fully accountable under law and public policy. The citizens of Arizona deserve as much, particularly the patients at ASH and their families. Nobody should be subjected to the egregious and sub-standard mental health care that ASH' current administration and clinical staff so willingly practice. Anybody willing and able to come to support of the patients at the Arizona State hospital can feel free to email anytime me at 

paoloreed@gmail.com.      
       

More Hard Data II. (originally published April 15, 2013)

Cory Nelson's Ongoing Lies: Which to date have been clearly revealed on prime time television, have had no impact at all on Arizona Department of Health director Will "Yea team! Humble, because at this time, Nelson is still in the position as the acting Deputy Director of AZ Behavioral Health Services.

CORRECT ME IF THIS SOUNDS INACCURATE. BUT IN TERMS OF HOW BUSINESSES (INCLUDING HOSPITALS) GENERALLY MANAGE THE PRESENCE OF PROVEN POOR PERFORMANCE SPECIFIC TO ANY GIVEN EMPLOYEE'S CONDUCT AND RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES, WOULD YOU EXPECT SUCH EMPLOYEES TO BE REWARDED AT TIMES WHEN THEIR CONDUCT IS SUSPECT AND UNDER INVESTIGATION? I SAY NO TO THIS QUESTION, AND I DO SO EMPHATICALLY, IN THE SENSE THAT CORY NELSON (WHO WAS CONTRACTED TO SERVE AS THE SUPERVISOR OF THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND NOTHING MORE), HAS BEEN GRANTED AN INORDINATELY AMOUNT OF RESPONSIBILITY IN CLEAR RELATION TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF ARIZONA'S GREATER CITIZENRY, ACROSS THE BOARD. LIKEWISE, I HAVE YET TO FIND ANYONE NOT IN FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THIS BASIC CONCEPT, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF THE ISSUES AT STAKE IN THIS MATTER. IT IS A TRAVESTY THROUGH AND THROUGH THAT IS OCCURRING AT THE DIRECT EXPENSE OF ARIZONA'S MOST SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED CITIZENS.  

IN OTHER WORDS: WHILE IT MAY BE TRUE IN THE REAL WORLD THAT INCOMPETENCE AND INEPTITUDE HAVE VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES, OVER IN  THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, THE BEST WAY TO GAIN PROMOTION WITHIN THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES WILL COME BY ENGAGING IN ARGUABLY UNLAWFUL CONDUCT THAT DIRECTLY DETRIMENTS THE WELFARE OF YOUR CLIENTS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY DIMINISHING THE QUALITY OF YOUR LOWER RANKING STAFFS' WORK EXPERIENCES. 

This has all been irrefutably confirmed by the fact that both  DR. STEVEN DINGLE (who, amongst other things, was 100% behind the grossly malfeasant cover up Jesus Rincon Murietta's May, 2011, escape from ASH, a cover up that directly led to the horrific murder of an innocent young woman named April Mott, and caused a ripple effect specific to the impacts of that cycle of violence which is still causing ongoing trauma for both Ms. Mott's loved ones, as well as Mr. Murietta's family), and CORY NELSON (who in recent months has repeatedly engaged in untruthful statements made during prime time interviews with several major Phoenix area news outlets specific to ongoing safety issues and related graphic violence at ASH, including at least 6 patient escapes, one of which led to the brutal murder of April Mott , thus illustrating in very clear terms that Nelson's management of the affairs at ASH has blatantly failed to meet the expectations of Arizona's citizens) were granted substantial promotions within the greater framework of the Arizona Department of Health Services immediately following having engaged in grossly unlawful misconduct specific to their required obligations as state employees and licensed professionals.

THAT'S RIGHT. DO A CRAPPY JOB OF TENDING TO THE CARE NEEDS OF THE SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED PATIENT-CLIENTS AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND YOU GET A PROMOTION. BUSINESS AS USUAL, IN OTHER WORDS, IN THE STATE OF ARIZONA TODAY.  IT REALLY IS THAT BAD! 

NUTSHELL: Will Humble is 100% behind all aspects of these matters, for it only with his authority that such staff be granted such advancement. And keeping in mind the ridiculous fact that Laxman P. Patel is now serving as the Chief Medical Officer at the Arizona State Hospital (Patel being a man with three decades of experience specific to the highly questionable mental-medical health care and practices at The Arizona State Hospital), take a moment to consider the following aspect of how things go there at ASH. Following a very specific hiring process and related protocol that occurred during the spring and summer of 2011, Cory Nelson was granted the privilege and responsibility of overseeing the affairs of Arizona's sole long term public mental health facility, The Arizona State Hospital. ASH is a hospital, in fact, and there are approximately 280-300 seriously mentally ill and disabled adults there who rely upon ASH's staff in general to provide them with nothing short of reasonable medical care, and the need for executive staff who can dedicate their full energy into maintaining that basic standard is critical. There is no justification for compromising whatever stability might happen to be in effect when it comes to ASH's administrative staff structure, and anything to the contrary suggests that the various positions in that structure have no legitimate basis; it is as though Will Humble is playing musical chairs, in other words, in terms of moving Arizona's highest paid health care employees from one position to another with no apparent regard for the actual positions that such individuals were hired to fill. In my opinion as a former patient at ASH, taxpayer, and human being, this entire situation reeks of professional misconduct that borders on government corruption. 

In this specific context, Cory Nelson was not hired/granted to exercise any authority beyond the specific position of supervisor at The Arizona State Hospital. In spite of this, in late summer 2012, the highest authority in Arizona's department of health services, director Will Humble, opted to address executive staff shortages in his overall dynasty as Arizona's czar of public health by removing Nelson from his position at ASH and appointing the man to the (vacant) position of "interim" Director of ADHS' largest sub-agency, AZ Behavioral Health Services. Simultaneous to this clearly unreasonable action, in the last 4-8 months, a number of very significant investigations into gross mismanagement practices at ASH that were implemented in Nelson's first full year at ASH emerged in at least two major Phoenix area news media sources (including the local ABC affiliate, CH 15), and during several related personal interviews included in those news reports, both Nelson and Humble were filmed/recorded issuing formal statements that were patently false and misleading, and clearly designed to mask the critical realties specific to these issues as they stand. The role of these news agencies in trying to provide the citizens of Arizona clear and open access/awareness of how well our state's most seriously mentally ill and disabled fellow citizens are being cared for at The Arizona State Hospital has been irrefutably pissed upon, and anyone of the tens of thousands of people who saw those interviews knows it. Therein, the public reactions to these interviews, as readily available in the comments sections provided on each stations' website (again, PHX Ch 15, and Ch 12), have been uniformly patterned as nothing short of outrage over how and why Arizona's most authoritative health care officials could be graphically involved in allowing for the issues raised by these reports, issues that have been exposed in more than one good faith investigation, including via data provided in this blog, and in all practical senses, issues that are ongoing at this time. These developments have occurred somewhat in relation to my specific work, as illustrated in the blog and so on, and I have also been receiving boatloads of communication from individuals who have very direct interest in the welfare of ASH's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients, as well as other like persons who are very upset about ASH's role in posing clear threat to public safety well outside of the walls and fence lines of ASH.

All of this stated, I am yet again horrified by the substandard health care and related practices at ASH and in ADHS, this after learning that in spite of these developments, Cory Nelson is still effectively acting as Arizona's most authoritative behavioral health care official. This is a man who spent the majority of his pre-ASH professional history working in South Dakota's corrections department (a prison warden in effect, and as matter of clarification, ASH is not a prison), and who was implicated as being involved in a very controversial fiscal process that occurred in blatant disregard for the wishes of South Dakota's citizens (specifically, Nelson got an under-the-table salary raise of at least $10,000), all of which was well documented in Rapid City, SD, news organizations, circa 2009-2010. By continuing to grant Nelson this authority, Will Humble is vividly exhibiting the graphic disconnect between his specific responsibilities and the wishes and concerns of Arizona's citizens at this time; this in terms of the general public, current and former ASH staff, current and former ASH patients and patient's families, and so on. 

IN CLOSING: It's late, and I am facing a very busy schedule as of tomorrow morning. But I will say this before I wrap up. At the beginning of this article, I made the statement that Cory Nelson is currently "under investigation". This is not something that he would agree with, and nor would people like Will Humble, or anyone else currently involved with the ongoing substandard health care and practices at The Arizona State Hospital. But we know better, and I attest that the basic ineptitude of these individuals is increasingly contributing to their own pending downfall. 

I will follow up on this basic situation later on this week. But in the meantime, I can only say that there is no better time for you, oh reader(s), to proactively express your discontent and related dissent specific to this matter as it stands at this time. Please see my "Resources Ideas" article and determine the most comfortable manner for you to become involved in defending the rights and related care needs of Arizona's most seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens. I strongly suggest drafting short and to the point letters to Will Humble at the downtown Phoenix office ADHS. Make copies of these letters and forward them to the news desks of the Arizona Republic newspaper, Ch 15, and Ch 12; or feel free to do so via electronic communication, wherein documenting your concerns is that much easier.

paoloreed@gmail.com

More Hard Data I.  (Originally published April 13, 2013)


Cory Nelson's Ongoing Lies: Herein, a good hard look at the state of Arizona's statutory provision(s) underlying voluntary versus involuntary status in the context of hospitalized mental patients, with specific respect for ASH' CEO's untruthfulness in relation to the letter of law specific to the topic.  

FOR THE ENTIRETY OF HIS TIME AS HEAD HONCHO AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, CORY NELSON HAS WILLFULLY ENGAGED IN DECEIVING HIS OWN STAFF, ASH PATIENTS, AND THE GREATER PUBLIC AS A MEANS TO PRESERVE THE SUBSTANDARD HEALTH CARE PRACTICES THERE. KEEP IN MIND, THIS IS A MAN WHO LEFT HIS PAST POSITION (PRE-ASH) DUE TO CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES SPECIFIC TO FISCAL CORRUPTION IN THE SOUTH DAKOTA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, WHICH HE HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO BEING CENTRALLY INVOLVED IN, CIRCA 2009-2010. IN OTHER WORDS: WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU ARE FORMALLY ACCUSED OF MALFEASANT CONDUCT AS A STATE EMPLOYEE IN SOUTH DAKOTA? WELL, YOU GO TO ARIZONA, OF COURSE, AND TAKE A HIGH PAYING JOB WORKNG FOR WILL HUMBLE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, WHERE YOUR DISHONESTY WILL BE VALUED FOR EXACTLY WHAT IT IS! 

The following information is a repost of an article I drafted and published last October. It has to do with one of the most tragic events directly caused by the deceitful character of The Arizona State Hospital's administrative employees, including Dr. Steven Dingle, who was the hospital's Chief Medical Officer at the time that this event initially transpired, as well as ASH's current supervisor, Cory Nelson, who followed up on the original criminality by willfully lying about factual details underlying this particular cycle of violence, which began months before he even started working at ASH. It is also about safety, specific to both the patients at ASH as well as the general public. In recent months we have seen an increasing amount of hard data relating to damage that Nelson has thus far caused as ASH's executive administrator, and there is perhaps no one factor on the minds of the public today than Nelson's willingness to reduce the security staff at ASH by as much as 45-60% during the winter of 2011-2012; relating to this, in the last year there have been at least five patient escapes, and various members of ASH's front line staff have expressed serious concern over how that specific change has endangered their very lives, this given that there are no security immediately available to respond whenever episodes of violence arise. In several prime time television news reports aired on Phoenix area stations in recent months, Nelson has personally rejected the notion that these reductions in security might pose danger to staff, as well as in the context of the dramatic increase of patient escapes since he took over the helm at ASH in August, 2011. I am reposting this article today in order to pose the following question: 

       IF THE FOLLOWING MAY, 2011, ESCAPE OCCURRED AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE 45-60% MORE SECURITY STAFF ON HAND AT ASH, WHERE IS THE LOGIC IN CLAIMING THAT THE RADICAL REDUCTIONS IN SECURITY AT ASH POSES NO POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF DECREASES IN SAFETY AT ASH, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ESCAPES, PATIENT ON STAFF VIOLENCE, STAFF ON PATIENT VIOLENCE, AND PATIENT ON PATIENT VIOLENCE? 

RE: ARS Title 36- 531:The Public Health and Safety; possible disposition; release. This statute dictates the required conduct of any Arizona hospital in specific relation to any voluntary mental health patient's request or action relative to discharge. ASH, meanwhile, is a public mental hospital/entity, funded by the citizens of Arizona, and subject to state (and federal) law specific to the public trust and safety. No hospital has the authority to deviate from the requirements of this statute; as per strictly regulated licensure, all hospitals are required to abide by the full language of this statute. Any deviation by an administrative state employee from these requirements is prosecutable under civil and criminal law. Bottom line. 

     I am getting sick and tired of hearing the supervisor of the Arizona State Hospital (ASH), Cory "meathead" Nelson, grossly misinterpret and/or mischaracterize very the clear letter of law that readily afforded in Arizona Revised Statutes- 36 Public Health and Safety- Section 531; possible disposition; release, wherein, and as per express language therein, no hospitalized mental health patient has the "right" or "privilege" to simply "walk away" from any hospital in Arizona until they have been granted that option via a very specific and strictly required process, including the fundamental application of medical clearance that may only be granted following a formal mental evaluation. It does not matter whatsoever if the given patient is there under the status of involuntary or not, for if the hospital's chief medical officer (Dr. Steven Dingle), as per the formal opinion of the patient's primary treating physician (Dr. Steven Morris), has reason to believe that the patient poses a danger to himself or to others, as a baseline matter of concern in this context, than the director is bound by law to initiate a petition for continued involuntary inpatient treatment. This applies across the board in each and every form of hospital operating in the state of Arizona, including ASH, and equally applies in varied language in every state in the country today. While it is within any voluntary mental patient's right to request discharge, a health care facility must not grant any such discharge until it has been formally determined that the patient is stable enough (safe) for said discharge, a determination that must be issued by both the treating physician's medical opinion, and an associated confirmation by the facility's chief medical officer. If, in evaluating a voluntary mental patient's state of mind, the facility determines the patient to be a danger to his/her self, or to others, than the facility can- and in fact must, under the applicable statute(s)- retain the the patient for up to 72 hours (under a status of involuntary), during which time the director is afforded the opportunity to seek a judge's authority (court order) to extend the given patients' treatment under the status of involuntary for periods up to 180 days, as applicable. 

     I have included the entire Arizona revised statue applicable to this subject at the end of this article. But at the moment, I want to draw your attention to the primary section(s) (A., B., C.) of the statute, as shown below:

            ARS 36-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release

A. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis. 

B. If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment unless the county attorney performs the functions of preparing, signing or filing the petition as provided in subsection C of this section.

C.The agency may contact the county attorney to obtain his assistance in preparing the petition for court-ordered treatment, and the agency may request the advice and judgment of the county attorney in reaching a decision as to whether court-ordered treatment is justified.

(END OF DOCUMENT EXCERPT- FOR COMPLETE DOCUMENT, GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE)

    In late May, 2011, a patient (Jesus Rincon Murietta) who was undergoing treatment at The Arizona State Hospital, in Phoenix, AZ, on a voluntary basis, managed to unlawfully steal an ASH staff members electronic pass card and identification, which he then used to unlawfully pass through several electronically secured doors; after gaining access to the exterior area of the main ASH facility (the main parking lot), Murietta evaded ASH security staff who were attempting to apprehend him, including by throwing several large stones at them, placing them in enough jeopardy for their safety that they terminated the attempt to catch Murietta. In early June, 2011, ASH administrators refused to release any information whatsoever about the escape to at least one journalist (JJ Hensely, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ), and in fact, went so far as to patently deny that their had been any escapes within the last 6 months, or longer. Consequently, approximately 90 days later, in late August 2011, Murietta beat and then cut the throat of a young woman named April Mott, killing her. Once again, the same journalist who attempted to acquire information about Murietta's late May escape, attempted to gain information specific to ASH's refusals to openly communicate with him specific to the underlying sequence of events by which April Mott's death occurred; at that time, ASH supervisor Cory Nelson stated that ASH had no obligation to report Murietta's escape due to the fact that, at the time of his escape, Murietta was being provided treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis.

   "State hospital CEO Cory Nelson, who started Aug. 1, said he could not talk specifically about the Murrieta case. But in general, Nelson said, the hospital's obligation to report patients who leave against the advice of doctors extends only to those who are involuntarily committed.

  'If they (voluntary patients) choose to leave their treatment environment, that would be their choice," Nelson said. "If someone leaves the facility and they don't really have another attachment to another person . . . we contact law enforcement and let them know that the individual has left the 
hospital.' " (excerpt, Hensley, 9/28/11)

     I contend that Nelson knowingly and willfully misrepresented the provisions underlying applicable law in this matter as a strategical pretense for excusing the Hospital's overall unlawful conduct specific to concealing the fact that Mureitta had escaped ASH (and was at large in the greater Phoenix metro area), deceitful misconduct that ultimately led to the brutal slaying of April Mott, in late August, 2011. (see: "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free" JJ Hensley, AZ Republic Sept. 29, 2011).  

     Now, let's take another look at Arizona law (shown above) specific to a mental health care's facilities obligations to the public. 

     Piece by piece: (A and B): This is an excerpt from the bright line body of law that applies to all aspects of any Arizona hospital's responsibilities with respect  to discharging mentally disabled client-patients on the basis of the patient's request to be discharged. This is how it goes. Period:

36-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release

A) A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate…..

     It is important to note herein, that only after the "opinion of the medical director of the agency" (the definition(s) of "agency" in this parlance includes hospital facilities, while "director applies most significantly to the chief medical officer, or alternatively, the facility director ) has been been determined in the context of any given voluntary patients' state of mind at that time (as per the required mental evaluation), "shall" the patient be released. (It is critical to note that at the time of Murietta's May 2011 escape, there was no dutifully hired supervisor/director in place at ASH, this following the April 2011 resignation of CEO John Cooper). This belies the incontrovertible (factual)reality that no patient, whether designated as voluntary or involuntary, may be discharged from any hospital facility unless this specific condition has been met. To do poses clear danger to both the patient and the public, and flies in the face of well established mental heath care and policy.  

B) If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment…..

     Herein, we see that any patient exhibiting the characteristics associated with posing "a danger to self or others…. (or who) is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled"  is not to be released/discharged, on the basis of fact defining that the given patient is not "safe", "stable", and/or not posing "a danger to self or others" (as per the strict language of this statute). It does not matter one iota if the patient is voluntary, and ASH director Cory Nelson has no excuse whatsoever for not understanding this fundamental fact. The fact being, that anytime an individual known to be mentally ill requests  discharge from a psychiatric ward, there is a very specific process to be followed. Bottom line. The significance of this bright line standard of law and policy is critical in terms of public safety specific to both the patient, as well the greater public, in general. As such, this is precisely the nature of what we the people reasonably expect from any state employee grated the privilege of caring for Arizona''s seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens, and people like Dr. Steven Dingle and Cory Nelson are among our state's highest paid employees. This is ridiculous, unacceptable, and an aberration in terms of contemporary medical standards. ASH: It really is that bad.  

     In a very recent Question and Answers session with a reporter from Phoenix's main local newspaper, The Arizona Republic (Mary Reinhart, published on September 23, 2012; see Q&A: Arizona State Hospital chief talks security CEO discusses new measures, trainings that were spurred by 2 escapes in 2011 by Mary K. Reinhart - Sept. 22, 2012 08:43 PM The Republic | azcentral.com) Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson again misrepresented the applicable law specific to the covered up May, 2011, escape of Jesus Rincon Murietta, by characterizing the escape as a legitimate voluntary discharge. 

"We have individuals who are in the facility, very rare but we have them, who are there on a voluntary basis and they can walk out on a voluntary basis. That is one of the privileges that you have when you're voluntarily accessing services. We can't impinge on their civil rights."

     (Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/20120921arizona-state-hospital-chief-security.html#ixzz28ACnGkzH)

                                                             (END of article excerpt)

     There it is again, in that first sentence: "We have individuals (patients)…. who are there (at ASH) on a voluntary basis and they can walk out on voluntary basis…. " Simply stated, Nelson's statement is 100% in contradiction to the language and intent of applicable law and policy; and as such, I fully believe that every time he has made statements to this effect, he has willfully and knowingly engaged in something disturbingly consistent with pathological lying, in graphic defiance of the public trust. It is likewise, as equally disturbing that he somehow interprets a seriously mentally ill persons' potential ability (no matter how inaccurate the possibility of that potential is, in fact) to leave the safety and care provided in a level one mental health facility regardless of their actual state of mind (and directly related quality of health) as a "privilege." It is as though the "chief" of Arizona's sole long term public mental health facility views any patients actual disability as a mere byproduct of their presence in ASH, rather than being the primary reason that they are there, in fact. This is as graphic a disconnect from the true purpose and role of ASH as public health care facility as one might find in this day in age. Absolute ineptitude and utter breach of the public trust. In contemporary terms and with direst reference to his status as an executive level state employee, I thus find it shoocking to the conscience to witness a man like Cory Nelson discussing "civil rights."

      Herein, the man entrusted with overseeing the entire Arizona State Hospital, where the Arizona's most seriously mentally disabled patients expect and deserve nothing short of competent performance by the one's employed to provide them with such, states in no uncertain terms that any voluntary patient, can leave ASH (at any time, in any fashion) as matter of "privilege"; including someone like Jesus Rincon Murietta, according to Nelson's ill-intended logic, who forced his way out of ASH by ripping the electronic pass card off of an ASH staff's neck and proceeding thereafter to run away and escape from pursuing security guards by throwing rocks at them, and then went on to kill April Mott.

     I will just say it again. The truth of the matter is that- at a minimum- any voluntary patient desiring to discharge from ASH for any reason must formally request the discharge via a very specific process, involving his or her entire inpatient treatment and discharge planning team (ITDP); as such, all members of the ITDP team are required to provide well founded medical input specific to their knowledge of the given patients' general heath and state of mind at that time. In a mental health facility such as ASH, this process requires a full mental evaluation to be administered by a licensed mental health professional (the primary treating physician, in this case, ASH's Dr. Steven Morris). Short of this required process of evaluation, whereby no patient, rather voluntary or not, is to be released from the given hospital facility in question until these fundamental concerns are addressed, there is (was) no excuse whatsoever to not fully divulge the fact that someone like Jesus Murietta escaped ASH. And yet in spite this fact and the underlying implications (state and federal law and policy), in early June, 2011, ASH's administrators and associated senior clinicians did willfully deny the escape of any patients, this in response to direct inquiries specific to the issue, (posed by JJ Hensley of the AZ Republic); and less then 90 full days later, Cory Nelson knowingly engaged in misrepresenting the provisions specific to a voluntary patient, such as Murietta, obviously in order to compromise the factual information due to the citizens of Arizona, including April Mott's family, and any other concerned citizens (such as myself). 

     This entire debacle is about a cycle of violence that can be directly attributed to the role of The Arizona State Hospital. It is that simple, it is that straight forward, and there is simply no other way to look at it, in my humble opinion.  ASH's administrative staff, including senior counsel (Joel Rudd), and anyone else involved in major decisions in relation to the Hospital's day to day operation(s), misconstrued the underlying truth to Jesus Murietta's escape, and they knew it. 

     And as shown in the following passage from a letter written to me by Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson in late September, 2011, the administrative staff at ASH misinterpret/mischaracterize the specific meaning and intent of this body of Arizona law as matter of "standard" practice:

 "Patrick I would encourage you to work with your treatment team to address all aspects of your treatment plan while you are still a resident at the hospital. Since your legal status at the hospital is voluntary you may certainly request discharge from your treatment team if you believe that the treatment that you are receiving is ineffective, unnecessary or otherwise not meeting your needs." (ADHS/ASH letter, Cory Nelson to ------- (PJ Reed), September 30, 2011)   

     As I have described in previous articles (see: "Why Do we Care?" September 26, 2012), Nelson made this statement to me in direct response to my reports to him about gross violations of law and policy in relation to patient abuse and associated administrative misconduct. As such, rather than offering me a forthright response to my well founded and good faith reports in this matter, the supervisor of Arizona's only long term public mental health facility encouraged me to consider leaving ASH at that time, with no concern or respect whatsoever for my actual state of mind at the time, and despite the fact that I was neither stable/safe and ready for reentry into the community. This is on point with Nelson's graphic untruthfulness in relation to the Jesus Murietta affair. And as pointed out in the material provided above, if I had requested discharge during the period of time that Nelson wrote this letter to me (late summer, early fall, 2011), I would have then been the subject of the required mental health evaluation, and presuming that during the course of that evaluation I was open, honest and forthcoming about my thoughts about suicide and other related elements of my specific diagnosis (as I always have been during the entirety of my experiences since May, 2010, and the earliest stages of my time in the Arizona behavioral health care system), my ASH ITDP team would not have even been allowed, as per the letter of the law, to grant me safe discharge, because the fact is, my state of mind in late summer, 2011, was such that I was definitely still willing to predict suicidal intent and action were I not continually involved in ongoing safe treatment in ASH or some other like facility (of course, ASH is the only long term mental health facility in the state of Arizona, so I would have had no option(s) beyond continuing my treatment there at ASH). Thus and therein, if I were not willing to continue my treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis at that time, my clinicians and the senior conical staff ASH (as stated in the statute, the medical director) would have been required by law to initiate a petition to have my involuntary status reinstated for a period of time not to exceed 180 days. This basic fact proves my contention that Cory "meathead" Nelson and Joel "the mortician" Rudd willfully manipulate the provisions underlying law specific to public safety in the context of both the mental health patients needs as well as that of the greater public, in general. 

     Likewise, in the case of Jesus Rincon Murietta, who was indeed receiving his treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis at the time of his late May, 2011, escape, the Hospital could have only lawfully granted him moderately immediate discharge following his having requested such, and then having been subject to the subsequent process of medical clearance only afforded via the requirement of a full mental health evaluation (as laid out in very clear and simple terms in this statute); but given the fact that he never in fact requested discharge from ASH, and that in the 4 weeks prior to that late May, 2011, escape, Murietta had been involved in several unprovoked physical attacks on several persons at ASH (including staff and at at least one female patient), Murietta's primary attending doctor ASH, Dr. Morris, and the rest of Murietta's ITDP team, as well as ASH's medical director at the time, Dr. Steven Dingle, would have been required to meet the specific requirements of this statute, which rule out the release/discharge of patients exhibiting characteristics associated with posing "a danger to self or others" (from subsection B of the statute, shown above). Thus and herein, Murietta's departure from ASH was anything but a legitimate voluntary discharge, and for  Cory "meathead"- Nelson or anybody else to characterize Murietta's as a legitimate discharge falls nothing short of willful and criminal alteration(s) of the truth.  ASH's cover up of the truth at the time Murietta escaped directly led to the horrifically brutal slaying of an innocent woman, who would have had nothing whatsoever to do with ASH, Jesus Murietta, and so on, had the administrative staff at ASH met their clearly established obligations in this context. Systematic, obviously purposeful intent to engage in a criminal action specific to covering up a very serous pattern of unlawful actions in this specific matter. Bottom line. 

     Ding, Mother Fuckers! Try to lie your way out of this one.

In Closing: NOTE: As per the wisdom of ADHS Director Will Humble, there has been a bit of shuffle in agency itself due to staff shortages, and Cory "meathead" Nelson is currently the acting Deputy Director of ADHS sub-agency, Behavioral Health Services. As stated, these people continue to reap the full benefits afforded them through their entrusted positions at the head of Arizona's public heath care system, while the impacts of their ineptitude simultaneously continues to harmfully impact Arizona's collective citizens; and while my anger, as expressed above (please forgive my language), still flows directly from my heartfelt concern relating to the bare boned fact that April Mott did not deserve to be effected by the substandard practices of ASH's administrative staff. Nobody deserves that, including the patients and ASH today. But given these facts, the additional fact cannot be ignored, that Nelson, The Chief Executive Officer at The Arizona State Hospital and current Deputy Director of ADHS/BGHS is a bald faced liar through and through. Documented statements that he has made specific to the issue of safe discharges from ASH, including in the case of this most recent Questions and Answers article from the Arizona Republic, clearly illustrate his unbridled willingness to violate his required obligations to the citizens of Arizona simple as a matter of trying to avoid direct accountability in terms of the substandard mental-medical health care and practices at ASH. In doing this, Nelson breaches his contract with the citizens of Arizona in every conceivable sense. This is unacceptable. And yet the highest ranking officials in the Arizona Department of Heath Services, including ADHS director, Will Humble, refuse to acknowledge the significance of these matters, which thus allows for the gross violations of patient rights at ASH to continue, including but not limited to physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse. In no uncertain terms, the willful misconduct of ASH's administrative staff in the context that I have laid out in today's article also amounts to explicit abuse of patient's rights, and I find it to be as deplorable an state of corrupt hospital management as I can imagine. Bottom line. Do not let yourselves be fooled by Cory "meathead" Nelson's clumsy avoidance of the reality(s) that underlie this specific body of concern; he truly is not very bright, but I find it hard to believe that his ineptude extends to an inability to even recognize how unlawful his conduct is, at times. 

IN CLOSING: AS NOTED ABOVE, SINCE THE DEATH OF APRIL MOTT AND THE CRIMINAL SENTENCING OF JESUS RINCON MURIETTA, DR. STEVEN DINGLE HAS BEEN PROMOTED WITHIN THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, WHILE CORY NELSON HAS ALTERNATED BETWEEN THE SUPERVISORY POSITION HE WAS ORIGINALLY HIRED TO FILL AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND A TEMPORARY POSITION AS ACTING DIRECTOR IN THE AZ BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. BOTH OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS WERE IMPLEMENTED UNDER THE DIRECT AUTHORITY OF WILL HUMBLE. IN THE PUBLIC MILLEU, MEANWHILE,  WE AS A NATION HAVE EXPERIENCED MASS SHOOTINGS AND OTHER TRAGEDIES SPECIFIC TO THE PRESENCE OF UNTREATED MENTALLY ILL PERSONS IN OUR SOCIETY, BUT THE RAT BASTARDS AT ASH AND IN ADHS ARE PLUGGING ALONG WITH NO CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER IN TERMS OF THEIR WRONGDOING.

THIS- ALL OF THIS- IS STANDARD PRACTICE IN ARIZONA'S PUBLIC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. IT REALLY IS THAT BAD.

Please do what you can to defend the rights an support the critical need for serious reform at ASH and within the offices of the Arizona Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services, including the Office of Grievances and Appeals, as well. Patient abuse is inhumane and cruel. Let's end the abuse of Arizona's most seriously mentally disabled patients today. 

    

paoloreed@gmail.com

Arizona Revised Statutes - Title 36 Public Health and Safety - Section 36-531 Evaluation; possible dispositions; release3 6-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release.                                                                                                           

A. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis.                                 B. If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment unless the county attorney performs the functions of preparing, signing or filing the petition as provided in subsection C of this section.                                                                                         C. The agency may contact the county attorney to obtain his assistance in preparing the petition for court-ordered treatment, and the agency may request the advice and judgment of the county attorney in reaching a decision as to whether court-ordered treatment is justified. D. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released within seventy-two hours, excluding weekends and holidays, from the time that he is hospitalized pursuant to a court order for evaluation, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis or unless a petition for court-ordered treatment has been filed pursuant to subsection B of this section. E. The department of health services may conduct jointly with a school district, directly or indirectly, an educational evaluation pursuant to sections 15-765 and 15-766 for nonadjudicated youth. The evaluation information may be shared by and among authorized personnel employed by the department of health services and the department of education, or authorized personnel from the local education agency, for purposes of ensuring the provision of special education and related services as required by the individuals with disabilities education act (20 United States Code sections 1400 through 1415).

Review/Rerun: Arizona State Hospital and the  Brutal Death of April Mott, a beautiful young woman who would have no connection to the grossly unlawful misconduct of ASH administrators had they only met their simplest obligations to the public.

INTRODUCTION: In the last 4 weeks, two crucial legal events occurred specific to the unlawful conduct of ASH administrators. First, in southern Arizona, a district judge found that the unwillingness of Hospital officials to release the details underlying patient deaths at ASH had occurred in gross violation of state and federal law (see: "Judge orders state to hand over death records." Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, August 02, 2014). Then, more recently, Scripps Media, Inc. (owners of Phoenix area's ABC affiliate news station ABC Ch15 filed a suit against ADHS Director Will Humble and the administrative staff of ASH, in the Maricopa County court (Phoenix) on the grounds that the failure of ASH  to report a over 20 sexual assaults on ASH patients to police had occurred in graphic violation of the public trust (see: "Records Demanded on Sexual Assaults." Capitol News Services, Monday August 11, 2014). These issues are 100% on point with my observations, experiences, and accrued knowledge base as one time ASH patient (Jan. 2011-Feb. 2012). I am thus republishing some the of the details underlying one of most heinous illustrations specific to the deeply corrupt misconduct of the Hospital's highest ranking executive staff. 

Herein, revisit to the story of Jesus Rincon Murietta and the tragic death of April Mott.  

INVOLVED STAFF: Assistant Attorney General Joel Rudd; former Chief Medical Officer Dr. Stephen Dingle (who is now the CMO of the entire AZ Behavioral Health Services network) and any other staff psychiatrists who were aware of this issue; former Chief Operating Officer and current Chief Executive Officer Donna Noriega; psychiatrist Dr. Stephen O. Morris; former Chief Executive Officer Ann Froio; former Chief Executive Officer  Cory Nelson  (now Deputy Director of the entire AZ Behavioral Health Services network).

Jesus Rincon Murietta did as a matter of fact violently escape the confines of The Arizona State Hospital in late May, 2011. I learned of this the following morning. I then awaited the publication of some nature of report in the media, for Murietta was known to be very violent, with a history of lethal suicide attempts, as well. A danger to others and a danger to self, as per the law.  No such report emerged however, which after 3 days compelled me to contact the news desk at The Arizona Republic newspaper, Phoenix's main press. Speaking on a patient telephone within ASH I shared the barebones fact that an ASH patient was on the loose with an editor, who's immediate response fell along the lines of "This a great tip!" I subsequently spoke with investigative reporter J.J. Hensley, sharing any information I knew of in the context. His next step was to confirm my report, which he sought to do by contacting the administrative office at ASH. (see: "Victim's family questions why man was free. Mental hospital halted search; escapee now a mUrder suspect". J.J. Hensley, Arizona Republic, September 28 2011).

FACT: At that point in time, when Mr. Hensley inquired as to the validity of my report to him, Hospital officials patently denied that any escapes had occurred in the given time frame. As a direct consequence of this blatant attempt of ASH administrators to cover up the fact that an ASH patient had successfully escaped the Hospital itself, Murietta was able to roam free in the greater Phoenix community for approximately 90 days. During that time he had at least three serious run-ins with Phoenix police, who were not aware of the fact that he had recently escaped a Level I psychiatric facility (ASH); he was thus released. In late August, 2011, Murietta brutally beat and then cut the throat of April Mott. 

Friday, April 6, 2012

         Following his arrest in the horrific death of April Mott, it took about 4 weeks for Jesus Murietta's defense to even realize that he had issues relating to mental illness, again, this due to the administrators of ASH's willful failure to meet their obligations in terms of the public trust. I personally contacted Murietta's assigned public defender from the Hospital itself and informed her of the fact that he was resident patient at the Arizona State Hospital who had violently escaped that facility approximately 90 days before Ms. Mott's death.  ASH is a public entity, licensed in accordance with regulatory commissions  here in Arizona, as well at the federal level. How is it that ASH' administration could get away with this sort of activity? That is a question that I have had to consider for many many months, the vast majority of it while there in ASH, where patients have a reasonable expectation of feeling safe, ASH being a "hospital" and all; and today I am working to explore this mystery through participating in critical inquiry such as the blogging networks. But I have my own notes, too (and man did I ever take good notes while I was a patient at ASH).

         When I first arrived at ASH, I was personally pretty freaked out by the possibility that I would be surrounded by a bunch of raving lunatics, even some of the hospital staffers in the Tucson hospitals made comments to the effect of ASH being a really scary place. I learned, however, in relatively short time, that the patients are not the problem at ASH, and in terms of any justified fears that I heard from other patients, it was all about abusive staff.

         But before I go much further into detailing my experiences at ASH, I need to state a disclaimer of sorts: There are good people at ASH. Sadly, they are the minority, and power dynamics being what they are, the miscreants (including doctors, nurses, security, and administration) rule the land once anybody enters the grounds of ASH. But I definitely met a handful of basically nice folks working there at ASH, and I feel that I made some good Friends amongst certain of the staff that I had dealings with. And speaking of you folks, I thank you from my heart for your goodness in the face of all the wrongdoing there in ASH. You know who you are, and I would not have gotten through my experiences there if not for the likes of your kind, pearls in a virtual wasteland of utter depravity and inhumanity.

         I did have one problem however, relating to the fact that even the good people at ASH don't take a meaningful step forward and speak out publicly about the shit going on around them day in and day out. Yes, of course it is question of job security, but that is simply not a sound justification, for the state employee contracts obligate employees to report abuse, and so on. What, then, is the problem?  Why won't any of the ASH file reports on behalf of the patients? From what I saw, it is all about anendemic fear that is instilled in the staff with job security in mind. I had the opportunity to briefly interact with more than one good hearted staff person on this question, and it was made clear to me that they were afraid for their jobs. These are employees who fully understood and agreed with my strongest concerns about abuse and so on. For example, with the Jesus Murietta affair in mind, ASH admin. refused to confirm Murietta's very existence to their knowledge when the reporter JJ Hensley asked about the escape, citing HIPPA and basic privacy standards (which of course is a crock of shit, because ASH admin. is not allowed to hide behind HIPPA in order to further unlawful conduct). So Hensley asked me to at least try and find one employee- anybody- willing to drop a dime and anonymously call him from a pay phone or whatever, merely to verify that Murietta was a former patient at ASH. But the two persons who I suggested this to literally cringed at the idea of doing anything like that because they knew that no matter what the circumstances, if they took action in contradiction to ASH obvious flow of practice, they could lose their jobs. Instilling any such fear into the minds of employees is in direct defiance of federal statutes relating to work place safety and related responsibility. Whistle blower statutes, too, apply in contexts such as this, but the state rpr4esentatives responsible for hiring ASH staffers somehow instill in them that they better not speak out about anything, or else they can kiss their jobs goodbye. Therein, I believe it is nothing any more or less glamorous or dastardly than common state government malfeasance, all at the expense of the patients.

        In closing on the day, I will offer a quick peek into what my literal admission to ASH was like, because things took a turn towards the worst that quickly. I had no longer been admitted to ASH that I learned that someone at ASH, most assuredly a member of the security staff, had stolen a bottle of my medication. The staff at ASH didn't put it that way, of course, but I went to the trouble of looking into the disappearance of the meds in question, and much to the chagrin of the rat bastards at ASH, confirmed the truth of the matter. This is how it went down: I arrived at ASH in an ambulance that had transported me from the Tucson hospital that handled my reference and application to ASH. In that ambulance was a sealed plastic bag containing my medications, including a full (unopened) bottle of sixty 10mg Ambien sleeping pills. I know there was an unopened bottle of Ambien in the bag because I had watched a nurse at that Tucson hospital inventory each medication in full as he then placed them into and then sealed the plastic bag. Such processes are standard practice when it comes to medication. Likewise, the ambulance attendants are required to submit written notice confirming the presence of such sealed bags of medications at both ends of the transport, and there are cameras on board the ambulances that come into play with this process in mind. At ASH, however, staff did not inventory my medications when they entered them into the ASH system; and I was informed  a later time that the Ambien was missing. On the street, Ambien has a reasonable street value. I have heard one 10mg pill can sell for $5.00. It's that simple, and when I continued over time to ask for a full explanation from ASH administration, including my final assigned social worker, Mr. Robert Washington, all I got was a run around. Plain and simple stonewalling, all for a measly couple of bucks, and so far as ASH admin. is concerned, it's all business as usual.

        As my first primary assigned psychiatrist, Dr. Laxman Patel, put it: "This is the state hospital. What do you expect?"         

      

Please help me fight for the rights of the pateints at the Arizona State Hospital. My email address is as follows:

paoloreed@gmail.com