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Mom Claims Death of Son in Treatment
Center was No Accident
Story posted on 2006-04-05 18:51:00
The mother of a Lehigh County teen who
died a treatment facility in Lehigh
County is urging lawmakers to ban the
use of prone restraints before she says
someone else is hurt, even killed.
WFMZ's
Carl Madonna reports from
Harrisburg. |
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With a picture
of her son by her side, Cynthia Allen spoke in the Capitol Building
Rotunda Wednesday calling her son's death nothing short of murder.
Cynthia Allen: "...we sent him there to go help, instead of getting
help they killed my son."
Madonna: Giovanni "Joey" Aletriz died on February 4th, while being
restrained at the Summit Quest Behavioral Health Facility in
Lancaster County.
Cynthia: "...this is what they're trying to say in a nutshell. We
followed policy and procedure restraining your son but by some
accident he just died. With a black eye, with bite marks on his
mouth and tongue, an internal wound from here to here."
Madonna: Dr. Rich Grala, the director of Summit Quest released this
statement: "...Summit Quest correctly followed state-approved
restraint procedures in a case involving the tragic death of a
resident on February 4.
The District Attorney said he found no conduct that would warrant
the filing of charges, and Lancaster County Coroner G. Gary Kirchner
ruled the manner of death to be accidental."
Madonna:
Cynthia says her son's death was no accident. She says the night
Joey died Summit Quest officials told her family that Joey died from
congestive heart failure. But according to Joey's mother, Joey went
to Sacred Heart Hospital the Wednesday before he died and had an EKG
performed. According to Joey's mother that EKG showed no
abnormalities.
Cynthia: "...it said no abnormal findings, normal rhythm, his EKG
strip looked like something out of a medical book. If his heart was
enlarged or if he had congestive heart failure the waves would have
been different, he had a beautiful EKG."
Madonna: Allen says while her family pursues a civil suit, they'll
also push lawmakers to abolish prone restraints.
Allen: "...please let the death of my son be a new start, a new
beginning, no more restraints, no more deaths, no more injuries."
Madonna: The results angered his mother, Cynthia Allen
of Allentown, who on Saturday held a 3-foot by 4-foot piece of white
cardboard covered with handwritten messages from her son's friends
at SummitQuest Academy.
''This can't happen to somebody else's son,''
she said. ''I don't want to see somebody else's son beaten to
death.''
Allen was upset with Totaro's ruling that she
said was based on the Department of Public Welfare's assessment that
the academy followed policy and procedure for restraint.
''If they had followed policy and procedure my
son would be alive,'' she said.
He had asthma, she said, and SummitQuest knew
he had it and never should have restrained him.
Allen, a licensed practical nurse, said she has
been working with the Mental Health Association of Southeastern
Pennsylvania and plans to be at a news conference at 11 a.m.
Wednesday on the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg with the
organization's Executive Director Sue Walther.
Allen's attorney, Peter Karoly of Allentown,
said she wants justice for her son and plans to propose both state
and federal legislation to protect children with mental illness.
Aletriz suffered from bipolar disorder, which
often can be controlled with medication.
''This is a case that started with problems
over a skateboard,'' Karoly said. ''The case manager here
recommended that he go to SummitQuest.''
Allen and Karoly requested a review of
SummitQuest by Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy, a nonprofit
organization designated by the state to protect those with
disabilities.
''SummitQuest inappropriately restrains the
youth in its care ... resulting in both abuse and neglect,'' said
its March 22 report, which Karoly released Saturday.
Among 13 recommendations, the advocacy group
said SummitQuest should prohibit prone restraints, adopt a
non-physical model for treatment, get experts' advice on how to
provide care and establish a plan to decrease the population at
SummitQuest within two years.
''Although some may legitimately question the
wisdom of using manual restraints on children, the evidence shows
that these procedures were approved by the Department of Public
Welfare and they were followed by employees of SummitQuest,'' Totaro
said in a statement.
Aletriz's death was the second at SummitQuest
in less than two months. Another resident, James White, 17, died in
December of what the Lancaster County coroner determined was natural
causes.
The state Department of Public Welfare has
placed SummitQuest on a six-month provisional license because of
''significant health and safety concerns for the kids at the
facility,'' said department spokeswoman Stacey Ward said.
SummitQuest has appealed that decision.
Officials did not return calls for comment.
Allen didn't understand why no charges have
been filed.
''How are you going to run a behavior and
anger-management place when every time you turn around, you're
angrily restraining children?'' she said.
SummitQuest is a 129-bed facility that treats
teenagers and preteens who have problems with mental health, sexual
offenses and sexually inappropriate behavior.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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