Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Deborah on June 26, 2007, 04:55:08 PM
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Death in group-home van stuns mom
A grieving mother wants to know why her disabled 12-year-old son died in a group-home van.
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
http://www.miamiherald.com:80/460/story/151346.html (http://www.miamiherald.com:80/460/story/151346.html)
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::mecry::
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How can a staff person restrain a kid in the van as described? It sounds like they just sat on top of them , alone in the van, until they suffocated, is that about right? Another restraint turned murder, a broken van window costs a hundred dollars to replace but replacing dead kids isn't so easy.
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People should read this.
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Re-post of the article in the OP:
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The Miami Herald
Death in group-home van stuns mom (http://http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11A041B6E749C128&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM)
A grieving mother wants to know why her disabled 12-year-old son died in a group-home van.
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
Jun 25, 2007
At 4:45 p.m. on May 23, Denis Manuel Maltez called his mother, Martha Quesada, from the group home where he lived.
''I love you, Mommy,'' was the last thing he said.
Then the autistic 12-year-old and seven other Rainbow Ranch residents boarded a van headed to a flea-market barbershop.
Four hours later, Martha Quesada tore into Hialeah Hospital's emergency room, hysterical. Something had happened in the Rainbow Ranch van. After an employee restrained him, Denis had stopped breathing.
Neither the staffer who tried CPR in the Flea Market USA parking lot nor paramedics could save him. Now the dark-haired, dark-eyed boy she called mi negrito lay under a white sheet.
''Mommy's here! Mommy's here!'' Quesada screamed, convinced by the breathing tube helping preserve his organs that he was still alive.
Then she fainted.
On June 1, Rainbow Ranch's three group homes lost their licenses. Operators David and Therese Glatt had to shut them down. Denis' death wasn't the only reason.
State regulators presented a juvenile court judge with an emergency order portraying the home where he lived, 310 Northwest Dr., as a den of neglect where disabled children were over-medicated, sexually abused each other and sometimes went hungry.
DOING WELL
Quesada was surprised to hear it. Denis -- so violent by the age of 8 that he could no longer live with his family -- had done well there.
Except for infected bug bites and bruises he told her he got fighting other children, Denis seemed happy and healthy.
He'd been on medication since a doctor prescribed Ritalin when he was 3½, after it had become obvious for a year that something was wrong.
''He was not talking,'' said Quesada, 29, who emigrated from Venezuela at 12. She has two younger children with her longtime companion, Adalberto Ros. "He just said a few words: 'Mama.' 'Leche.' ''
At this point in a recent conversation, she broke down sobbing. It was less than a month since Denis' death and she still had no answers: What really happened in the van? Who was with him? Why did he stop breathing?
She said a caregiver "told me he was kicking the [van] window and that was the reason they had to sit him down and put his arms behind his back to restrain him so he'll calm down in the van.''
The emergency order, which doesn't name staffers, says at the flea market, three staff and four kids went inside, "leaving one staff person alone with the remaining children in the van. The driver states that when he came back, [Denis] began yelling, screaming and kicking, so he asked the other staff person if she needed help. Reportedly, she declined it.''
The report says the driver heard Denis talking and thought he was all right, "then suddenly noticed that D.M. was silent and nonresponsive. They took him out of the van and attempted to revive him and called 911.''
The staffer left in the van ''reported that she laid D.M. down on the seat and restrained his legs,'' the report says, then "turned him over on his back and noticed he was not breathing. . . . She denied using excessive force.''
Autopsy results, pending toxicology tests, are months away. County police homicide detectives are investigating.
FIRST GROUP HOME
Quesada can't forget the day in 2003 when she took Denis to his first group home, in Cutler Ridge. She thought she wasn't a good mother because she couldn't control his outbursts.
He had a habit of pretending to vomit when he got upset. He hit and bit, pinched his mother's arms and face hard enough to leave bruises, threw and broke things, and pulled sister Dayana's hair.
When he tried to choke Dayana, now 10, Quesada agreed to place him. She forfeited no parental rights.
''It was hard'' to leave him at the group home, she said. "Every time I go see him and have to leave him, I cry.''
After another boy punched him in the face in April 2005, she moved him out. An administrator from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities strongly recommended the newly opened Rainbow Ranch.
She was delighted.
''It's a big house with a pool, and I think it's going to be better. It looked like your own home. It was clean. . . . '' At the time, only one child lived there.
Quesada visited her son often. She'd sometimes see the kids lunching on rice and beans, chicken or vegetables, but Denis liked going out to Burger King.
''He never mentioned he was hungry,'' she said.
He also loved visiting Dayana and their younger brother at the Hialeah house that Quesada and Ros are remodeling.
One of Quesada's concerns was about how sleepy her son often seemed.
After his death, she learned from the emergency order that his drugs had been putting him to sleep at school, Ruth Owens Kruse Educational Center, and that school personnel had told Rainbow Ranch about it.
Kendall psychiatrist Dr. Steven L. Kaplan prescribed Denis' drugs. He saw him twice: May 27, 2006, and two days before Denis died.
Denis had been diagnosed with autism, schizophrenia, mild mental retardation, psychosis and depression, and was already taking the ''major tranquilizers'' Seroquel and Zyprexa and the anti-seizure drug Depakote when he met him, Kaplan said.
If Denis hadn't taken his medications at the right times, ''it's possible'' he'd be sleepy at school, ''but I never saw him dopey or sleepy,'' Kaplan said. "He was all over the place, a tough little guy to handle but very likable.''
The call came at 7:12 p.m. from Jessica Coronel, Denis' favorite Rainbow Ranch employee. She told Quesada that Denis "was taken to the hospital . . . because he was not breathing well.''
When Quesada and Ros reached the hospital, they found Therese Glatt and her mother-in-law, Gloria Auston, in tears.
''David [Glatt] was not there,'' Quesada said. "They said he was so devastated.''
She next saw Glatt was at the funeral. He'd sent flowers, then gave her a check for funeral expenses: about $10,000.
The next -- and last -- time she saw Glatt was after reading about Rainbow Ranch's license revocation in the June 2 Miami Herald.
'IT WAS A LIE'
"I went to the group home. . . . I said, 'David, I need to you explain me this article.' He said all of it was a lie.''
When hospital officials initially asked Martha Quesada about organ donation, she refused. But as the night wore on, she reconsidered, then agreed.
''Maybe another mother can be happy,'' she thought.
A few weeks later, after Denis had been tucked into a niche at Dade Memorial Park, someone called from the University of Miami. Would Quesada consider donating some of her son's autopsied brain tissue for autism research?
This time, Quesada didn't hesitate: "I say yes.''
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The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office found that Denis had died of a rare condition, serotonin syndrome:
The rare condition, which can be life-threatening, occurs when a combination of drugs - particularly mental-health drugs - causes the brain to produce an excess of serotonin, a chemical produced by nerve cells that regulates mood. The condition can cause rigidity and tremors, as well as confusion and high blood pressure, said Dr. Carlos Singer, a professor of neurology at the University of Miami's medical school.
I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
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The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office found that Denis had died of a rare condition, serotonin syndrome:
The rare condition, which can be life-threatening, occurs when a combination of drugs - particularly mental-health drugs - causes the brain to produce an excess of serotonin, a chemical produced by nerve cells that regulates mood. The condition can cause rigidity and tremors, as well as confusion and high blood pressure, said Dr. Carlos Singer, a professor of neurology at the University of Miami's medical school.
I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
It's really not so "rare," especially given the doses they give kids these days. And there are often (but not always) plenty of warning signs before it gets to the extreme of serotonin poisoning, warning signs that Maltez's school teachers had observed and informed Rainbow Ranch of well prior to this final event, warning signs that everyone including medical personnel ignored.
Physical restraint was involved in this kid's death, as well as chemical restraint.
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His death is not listed on the victim lists of Fornits wiki and Spft Wiki.
I mailed Henrik (the person investigation deaths) and he has the case but it didn't even reach the page for deaths under investigation. He has about 50 of such cases presently.
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Yay! I didn't have this one, and 2007, too! Another dead kid to add to the Pile!
Gotta catch 'em all!
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Physical restraint was involved in this kid's death, as well as chemical restraint.
Lots of things were involved and many events lead up to this childs death. My point was that this was not a Death by Restraint.
It would be nice to look at the data and know that it was accurate, thats all.
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I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
Here's a short piece from the Lakeland Ledger which appeared shortly after Denis Maltez's death, but prior to the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075#p362517). It refers to an emergency license suspension of the three group homes which comprised Rainbow Ranch, and notes that court documents say that Maltez "died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member."
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The Lakeland Ledger
M I A M I
Group Homes' Licenses Suspended (http://http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKYsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cf4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=rainbow-ranch&pg=4319%2C1455522)
Jun 3, 2007
The licenses of three group homes for developmentally disabled children were suspended over allegations that the residents were neglected, overmedicated and underfed.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities' emergency suspension of the three Rainbow Ranch facilities Friday came after a 12-year-old autistic boy died in one of the homes' vans May 23.
The boy's death is still unexplained, but court documents say he died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member during a field trip to get a haircut.
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I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
Here's a short piece from the Lakeland Ledger which appeared shortly after Denis Maltez's death, but prior to the above article. It refers to an emergency license suspension of the three group homes which comprised Rainbow Ranch, and notes that court documents say that Maltez "died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member."
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The Lakeland Ledger
M I A M I
Group Homes' Licenses Suspended (http://http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKYsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cf4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=rainbow-ranch&pg=4319%2C1455522)
Jun 3, 2007
The licenses of three group homes for developmentally disabled children were suspended over allegations that the residents were neglected, overmedicated and underfed.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities' emergency suspension of the three Rainbow Ranch facilities Friday came after a 12-year-old autistic boy died in one of the homes' vans May 23.
The boy's death is still unexplained, but court documents say he died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member during a field trip to get a haircut.
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I am not sure what your point is. He was being restrained at the time of his death, yes. But the question is did the restraint cause his death and the answer was “no”. What about the kids who are trying to hurt themselves or someone else and are restrained. Should the restraints be considered to be life saving? Should fornits credit and report that these residential treatment centers are saving thousands of lives every week since restraints were involved and the kids lived and didn’t kill themselves?
I think to be consistent one should always refer to the medical examiners report. That way you have something to refer to versus drawing your own conclusion.
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C'mon, Whooter, you're not spouting nearly enough bullshit. If you just manage to spew enough mindless crap and get some imaginary people to believe you, maybe, just maybe, he'll get right on back up out of his grave, and Rainbow Ranch will open up again!
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I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
Here's a short piece from the Lakeland Ledger which appeared shortly after Denis Maltez's death, but prior to the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075#p362517). It refers to an emergency license suspension of the three group homes which comprised Rainbow Ranch, and notes that court documents say that Maltez "died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member."
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The Lakeland Ledger
M I A M I
Group Homes' Licenses Suspended (http://http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKYsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cf4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=rainbow-ranch&pg=4319%2C1455522)
Jun 3, 2007
The licenses of three group homes for developmentally disabled children were suspended over allegations that the residents were neglected, overmedicated and underfed.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities' emergency suspension of the three Rainbow Ranch facilities Friday came after a 12-year-old autistic boy died in one of the homes' vans May 23.
The boy's death is still unexplained, but court documents say he died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member during a field trip to get a haircut.
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I am not sure what your point is. He was being restrained at the time of his death, yes. But the question is did the restraint cause his death and the answer was “no”. What about the kids who are trying to hurt themselves or someone else and are restrained. Should the restraints be considered to be life saving? Should fornits credit and report that these residential treatment centers are saving thousands of lives every week since restraints were involved and the kids lived and didn’t kill themselves?
I think to be consistent one should always refer to the medical examiners report. That way you have something to refer to versus drawing your own conclusion.
My point is simply that both are involved. I am not arguing with your God-given right to split atoms over this. I guess I'm not sure what your point is in doing that. :D
My personal take on the matter is that the greater contribution to Denis Maltez's death was the toxic stew his brain was being bathed in day-in day-out. And that was also the official conclusion of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office in 2007.
However, Maltez didn't just drop dead whilst brushing his teeth. If not for that restraint, chances are pretty high that that bath of toxic stew would have continued to at least another day and more.
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I am curious if Oscar and the other websites (that track these deaths) will update their databases to reflect that this was not a Restraint death.
Here's a short piece from the Lakeland Ledger which appeared shortly after Denis Maltez's death, but prior to the above article. It refers to an emergency license suspension of the three group homes which comprised Rainbow Ranch, and notes that court documents say that Maltez "died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member."
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The Lakeland Ledger
M I A M I
Group Homes' Licenses Suspended (http://http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKYsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cf4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=rainbow-ranch&pg=4319%2C1455522)
Jun 3, 2007
The licenses of three group homes for developmentally disabled children were suspended over allegations that the residents were neglected, overmedicated and underfed.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities' emergency suspension of the three Rainbow Ranch facilities Friday came after a 12-year-old autistic boy died in one of the homes' vans May 23.
The boy's death is still unexplained, but court documents say he died while being restrained by a Rainbow Ranch staff member during a field trip to get a haircut.
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I am not sure what your point is. He was being restrained at the time of his death, yes. But the question is did the restraint cause his death and the answer was “no”. What about the kids who are trying to hurt themselves or someone else and are restrained. Should the restraints be considered to be life saving? Should fornits credit and report that these residential treatment centers are saving thousands of lives every week since restraints were involved and the kids lived and didn’t kill themselves?
I think to be consistent one should always refer to the medical examiners report. That way you have something to refer to versus drawing your own conclusion.
My point is simply that both are involved. I am not arguing with your God-given right to split atoms over this. I guess I'm not sure what your point is in doing that. :D
My personal take on the matter is that the greater contribution to Denis Maltez's death was the toxic stew his brain was being bathed in day-in day-out. And that was also the official conclusion of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office in 2007.
However, Maltez didn't just drop dead whilst brushing his teeth. If not for that restraint, chances are pretty high that that bath of toxic stew would have continued to at least another day and more.
:shamrock: :shamrock:
Ya know guys (Whooter and Ursus) lets just call this a day. Everything that program did killed this boy from day one, there isn't any need to "split atoms" on this one, your right Ursus.
Sick fucking program. No apparent oversight on the medication being given him, by anyone with a degree, I would bet my last dollar. This happened all the time in Elan, Marathon House and the Third Nail, staff handed out medication. Some of the staff barely graduated H.S., I am not trying to be condescending just stating a fact.
Danny
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Sick fucking program. No apparent oversight on the medication being given him, by anyone with a degree, I would bet my last dollar.
You'd be surprised... Let me surprise you:
- Denis Maltez apparently arrived at Rainbow Ranch sometime in May of 2006. At the time, he was allegedly under the care of doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
- David Glatt, owner of Rainbow Ranch, changed Maltez's medical care to that of psychiatrist Dr. Steven L. Kaplan shortly thereafter "without the consent of [Denis's] mother," who, incidentally, had never relinquished her parental rights. The choice of Kaplan was probably due to his being the psychiatrist for several other of Rainbow Ranch's clients. I'm guessing there was a group discount.
- Dr. Kaplan saw Denis Maltez all of two times over the next year: May 26, 2006, and May 21, 2007, two days before he died.
- Kaplan prescribed and refilled: Seroquel (anti-psychotic), Zyprexa (anti-psychotic), Depakote (anti-seizure, sometimes also used as mood stabilizer), and Clonazepam (tranquilizer).
- Maltez was hospitalized twice during this time period due to concerns of his teachers at Ruth Owens Kruse Educational Center. First on July 17, 2006, and again on August 4, 2006. Doctors at the latter hospital recommended that his dosage of one of his (four) medications be reduced.
- Although Maltez's dosage of Depakote was, in fact, reduced, it was increased again about six months later. I guess no doctor's visit was deemed necessary for that decision.
- Sometime the winter of 2006-2007, someone placed a call with the Florida Department of Children & Families child abuse hot line regarding Denis Maltez being overmedicated and his not receiving any medical attention for that condition when he was.
Denis Maltez's death could easily have been prevented.
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I have shown in another thread that the employees of the state of Florida do not have the greatest track record when it comes to at-risk kids.
Article (http://http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-florida-child-welfare-workers-lied-071209,0,3634483.story)
Also investigating Denis’s case they found:
State regulators presented a juvenile court judge with an emergency order portraying the home where he lived, 310 Northwest Dr., as a den of neglect where disabled children were over-medicated, sexually abused each other and sometimes went hungry.
All the doctors were licensed and the facility was licensed and the child still died. Why didn’t the state of Florida catch this? Why did the social workers turn a blind eye to this boys placement knowing the conditions there?
Could the death have been prevented? Of course!! In hindsight almost any death could be prevented. His medication could have been more closely monitored and like Ursus mentioned if the child had been brushing his teeth at the time would we be blaming the tooth paste manufacturer? Do we take into account all the lives that restraints have saved? Do we blame the person who was restraining him at the time or listen to the results of the autopsy?
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I have shown in another thread that the employees of the state of Florida do not have the greatest track record when it comes to at-risk kids.
Would that be due to those particular employees? Or Florida's abysmal track record when it comes to actually funding their programs for at-risk kids, providing some oversight and ensuring accountability, and not always passing the buck? :D
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In the case of Rainbow Ranch, there were some warning signals which some savvy oversight could have picked up, or maybe not...
This piece came out the same day as the article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075#p362517) in the OP:
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The Miami Herald
Group home operator in trouble before (http://http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11A041B6E06749C0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM)
Once charged with impersonating a doctor, David Glatt now is in trouble with disability administrators who say his group homes over-medicated kids.
By CAROL MARBIN MILLER
June 25, 2007
David J. Glatt was not a doctor, though he passed himself off as one at South Florida nightclubs.
Posing as a brain surgeon, Glatt carried business cards purportedly from Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, offered free diagnoses and dispensed medications, including mood-altering drugs.
After he was arrested in late 2000, the Weston man agreed he would not take a job "in the medical field where prescription drugs are available" during an 18-month probation in 2001 and 2002.
Two years later, after the probation, Glatt was the owner of a small chain of group homes where disabled children received round-the-clock care -- and drugs, regulators say.
The group homes, called Rainbow Ranch, were shuttered this month after the Agency for Persons with Disabilities accused the operators of letting kids go hungry, supervising them so poorly they routinely attacked each other and medicating several of them so "irresponsibly" they trembled, slept and drooled.
An APD order said child-abuse investigators looked into a claim that one of the children, 12-year-old Denis Maltez, was so over-medicated he had to be hospitalized in January. The complaint was closed with no action against Rainbow Ranches, though it concluded there were "some indicators" the boy had been neglected, records show.
"Conditions in the homes, especially inadequate supervision, resistance to providing information, and irresponsible medication practices by the . . . management present a danger to the health, safety and welfare of the residents," regulators wrote in the June 1 order shuttering Rainbow Ranches.
The decision to shut down the homes was prompted in large part by the death of Denis on May 23. Denis, diagnosed with autism, stopped breathing shortly after a staffer restrained him in a group-home van. Dennis had accompanied other children who were getting haircuts at a Northwest Miami flea market.
DEATH UNEXPLAINED
Police say Denis' death remains unexplained.
Glatt, 37, did not reply to several messages left both on an answering machine and with a person at his home. Two lawyers involved in his case declined to discuss the group homes. "We just received the case, and it is not possible for us to comment now," said one of the lawyers, Katherine Ezell.
Glatt came to the attention of Delray Beach police in November 2000 when the father of a woman he was dating complained he was impersonating a medical doctor.
Glatt met Therese Felth -- now his wife -- at Club Iguana in Fort Lauderdale in May 2000. Felth was at the bar with her sister, Angelina, when Glatt introduced himself to the two of them as Dr. David Glatt, a neurosurgeon, according to a sworn statement by Delray Beach police drug agent Lorraine Richer.
Shortly after Therese Felth began dating Glatt, he told her sister she looked depressed, Richer wrote. In May 2000, he gave her a pill bottle with about 25 Prozac capsules.
The next month, according to Richer's report, he gave her another 100 to 200 Prozac pills.
Glatt also dispensed drugs to Therese Felth's father, Lars Felth, the statement says. Felth complained he was having trouble battling a drinking problem, and Glatt gave him several Antabuse pills, designed to discourage drinking. The pills made him "violently ill," Richer wrote.
The arrest records do not specify where Glatt got the drugs.
That fall, Lars Felth "began to have doubts" that Glatt was really a doctor, Richer wrote. A private investigator confirmed Glatt had no medical degree from the University of Miami, as he claimed. Glatt continued to insist otherwise.
Felth called police. Glatt was arrested by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Dec. 15, 2000. In July 2001, he pleaded guilty to charges of practicing medicine and dispensing drugs without a license. A judge withheld adjudication and sentenced him to probation.
He had a prior conviction for disturbing the peace and a prior arrest, though no conviction, for felony fraud and theft charges.
Glatt also filed for bankruptcy in 2001, records show. He discharged his debts in March 2002.
'NOT AWARE'
But state regulators knew none of that when they granted Rainbow Ranch group-home licenses in Miami-Dade. "We were not aware of his arrest when his wife and mother applied for a license," said Melanie Etters, an APD spokeswoman. "Since he is not the licensee, we would not have done a background check on him."
And such a screening would not have prevented Glatt from operating a group home, Etters added. Glatt had no felony convictions. And the felony charges to which he pleaded guilty -- impersonating a doctor and dispensing drugs without a license -- would not have disqualified him from licensure.
The first application, submitted in October 2004, is signed by David Glatt's mother, Gloria Auston. It lists Therese Glatt -- formerly Therese Felth -- as a housewife and student living in the home of Auston and her husband, Dr. Robert J. Auston. Though Therese Glatt is listed as Auston's daughter-in-law, David Glatt's name does not appear.
A second application, filed in March 2006, and a third application, from October 2006, likewise fail to mention David Glatt.
Nor would state corporate records have given any indication that Glatt was running the homes. Rainbow Ranch's incorporation papers, filed with the state Division of Corporations in June 2004, listed David Glatt as a vice president and treasurer, records show. In July 2004 -- three months before the first APD application -- Glatt resigned and was replaced in the two posts by his mother.
Neither Therese Glatt nor the Austons would have raised any red flags. None of the three have criminal records, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Robert Auston is a physician; records with the Florida Department of Health show he holds privileges at University Hospital and Medical Center in Tamarac. He has not been disciplined by the state Board of Medicine, records show.
MOTHER'S JOB
Gloria Auston reported on the application she was a longtime employee with HospiceCare of Southeast Florida.
Glatt's role at the homes was no secret, however.
On June 6, 2006, David and Therese Glatt sued a former employee for defamation. Glatt identified himself in lawsuit documents as part-owner and manager. APD's order suspending the group homes' licenses refers to "owner David Glatt," who is portrayed throughout as the person in charge.
Martha Quesada, Denis Maltez's mother, said David Glatt greeted her when she first visited her son's home, introducing himself as the owner.
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Sick fucking program. No apparent oversight on the medication being given him, by anyone with a degree, I would bet my last dollar.
You'd be surprised... Let me surprise you:
- Denis Maltez apparently arrived at Rainbow Ranch sometime in May of 2006. At the time, he was allegedly under the care of doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
- David Glatt, owner of Rainbow Ranch, changed Maltez's medical care to that of psychiatrist Dr. Steven L. Kaplan shortly thereafter "without the consent of [Denis's] mother," who, incidentally, had never relinquished her parental rights. The choice of Kaplan was probably due to his being the psychiatrist for several other of Rainbow Ranch's clients. I'm guessing there was a group discount.
- Dr. Kaplan saw Denis Maltez all of two times over the next year: May 26, 2006, and May 21, 2007, two days before he died.
- Kaplan prescribed and refilled: Seroquel (anti-psychotic), Zyprexa (anti-psychotic), Depakote (anti-seizure, sometimes also used as mood stabilizer), and Clonazepam (tranquilizer).
- Maltez was hospitalized twice during this time period due to concerns of his teachers at Ruth Owens Kruse Educational Center. First on July 17, 2006, and again on August 4, 2006. Doctors at the latter hospital recommended that his dosage of one of his (four) medications be reduced.
- Although Maltez's dosage of Depakote was, in fact, reduced, it was increased again about six months later. I guess no doctor's visit was deemed necessary for that decision.
- Sometime the winter of 2006-2007, someone placed a call with the Florida Department of Children & Families child abuse hot line regarding Denis Maltez being overmedicated and his not receiving any medical attention for that condition when he was.
Denis Maltez's death could easily have been prevented.
:shamrock: :shamrock:
Ursus, I am I board with you on this one, no arguing from me. I was just saying that yes, doctors are prescribing the medication and they may be around initially to do diagnostic testing but I will bet my last dollar again that they are not checking every day to see the effects, because if they were, would they in good conscious continue the course of treatment to kill.
Danny
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I wouldn’t be too hard on the doctors or staff. Like Ursus pointed out, many of these places are underfunded and the people are just stretched to their limit. Especially in this economy. If they paid these people a little more or funded better for follow-up then deaths like these may be avoided.
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I wouldn’t be too hard on the doctors or staff. Like Ursus pointed out, many of these places are underfunded and the people are just stretched to their limit. Especially in this economy. If they paid these people a little more or funded better for follow-up then deaths like these may be avoided.
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:shamrock: :shamrock:
Oh, I am not. I am just saying whooter that back in 1975 they were acting like they were underfunded at Elan and in 2007 they are still doing the same thing, they are underfunded because they stuff more kids in these programs then they can handle financially and professionally.
Danny
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Oh, I am not. I am just saying whooter that back in 1975 they were acting like they were underfunded at Elan and in 2007 they are still doing the same thing, they are underfunded because they stuff more kids in these programs then they can handle financially and professionally.
Perhaps they are underfunded 'cuz the funds simply aren't there.
Rainbow Ranch, for whatever reason, apparently didn't receive some badly needed oversight, despite some shady particulars (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075&p=362594#p362576)...
Or maybe they did receive that oversight, but one agency after another ... kept passing the buck!
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I wouldn’t be too hard on the doctors or staff. Like Ursus pointed out, many of these places are underfunded and the people are just stretched to their limit. Especially in this economy. If they paid these people a little more or funded better for follow-up then deaths like these may be avoided.
...
Never have we seen pure, ignorant evil so singularly personified as it is in Whooter. We will hold doctors and staff accountable. Is it "underfunding" or public awareness of shoddy shitholes like Rainbow Ranch? Money isn't an issue for people like Whooter and I, so why is the well drying up? If Rainbow Ranch couldn't provide basic medical care for the kids in their charge they should have taken the clue and boarded the hellhole up. "First of all, do no harm". They were negligent, and like other programs in financial trouble they cut corners on the kids and invite tragedy.
Whooter, Aspen's financial disclosures noted that programs like Rainbow Ranch making such horrible headlines will be detrimental to AEG's business. Sorry for your pain, chief. Can I piss in your wounds?
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Never have we seen pure, ignorant evil so singularly personified as it is in Whooter. We will hold doctors and staff accountable. Is it "underfunding" or public awareness of shoddy shitholes like Rainbow Ranch? Money isn't an issue for people like Whooter and I, so why is the well drying up?
I would have to think it is underfunding. Even if there were public awareness the place would still be open.
If Rainbow Ranch couldn't provide basic medical care for the kids in their charge they should have taken the clue and boarded the hellhole up. "First of all, do no harm".
I think if you spoke to the people at Rainbow Ranch they would tell you they were doing a good job. Why should they shut themselves down if they feel they are adding value?
They were negligent, and like other programs in financial trouble they cut corners on the kids and invite tragedy.
Every business does what it needs to do to survive. If any of us were running the place we would do the same thing, which is trying to do the best for the kids and keep applying for more funding or try to weather the bad economy until it turns around.
Whooter, Aspen's financial disclosures noted that programs like Rainbow Ranch making such horrible headlines will be detrimental to AEG's business. Sorry for your pain, chief. Can I piss in your wounds?
Dont be so blue, actually with this news people tend to find the funding thru relatives or second mortgages to get their kids out of the state run/funded programs and into the more successful and safer private places like Aspen. So from a purely business perspective bad news for the public facilities is good news for the private run places. Aspen will probably have a better quarter because of it.
...
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Never have we seen pure, ignorant evil so singularly personified as it is in Whooter. We will hold doctors and staff accountable. Is it "underfunding" or public awareness of shoddy shitholes like Rainbow Ranch? Money isn't an issue for people like Whooter and I, so why is the well drying up?
I would have to think it is underfunding. Even if there were public awareness the place would still be open.
Lol. Did you read the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075&start=15#p362576) from June 2007, Whooter?
The group homes, called Rainbow Ranch, were shuttered this month after the Agency for Persons with Disabilities accused the operators of letting kids go hungry, supervising them so poorly they routinely attacked each other and medicating several of them so "irresponsibly" they trembled, slept and drooled. ...
...The decision to shut down the homes was prompted in large part by the death of Denis on May 23. Denis, diagnosed with autism, stopped breathing shortly after a staffer restrained him in a group-home van. Dennis had accompanied other children who were getting haircuts at a Northwest Miami flea market.[/list]
If Rainbow Ranch couldn't provide basic medical care for the kids in their charge they should have taken the clue and boarded the hellhole up. "First of all, do no harm".
I think if you spoke to the people at Rainbow Ranch they would tell you they were doing a good job. Why should they shut themselves down if they feel they are adding value?
They were adding value alright ... to their own wallets !!
They were negligent, and like other programs in financial trouble they cut corners on the kids and invite tragedy.
Every business does what it needs to do to survive. If any of us were running the place we would do the same thing, which is trying to do the best for the kids and keep applying for more funding or try to weather the bad economy until it turns around.
David Glatt was hardly the kind of person who should be involved in the behavioral health industry. Again from the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22075&start=15#p362576):
Posing as a brain surgeon, Glatt carried business cards purportedly from Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, offered free diagnoses and dispensed medications, including mood-altering drugs.
After he was arrested in late 2000, the Weston man agreed he would not take a job "in the medical field where prescription drugs are available" during an 18-month probation in 2001 and 2002.
Two years later, after the probation, Glatt was the owner of a small chain of group homes where disabled children received round-the-clock care -- and drugs, regulators say.[/list]
Whooter, Aspen's financial disclosures noted that programs like Rainbow Ranch making such horrible headlines will be detrimental to AEG's business. Sorry for your pain, chief. Can I piss in your wounds?
Dont be so blue, actually with this news people tend to find the funding thru relatives or second mortgages to get their kids out of the state run/funded programs and into the more successful and safer private places like Aspen. So from a purely business perspective bad news for the public facilities is good news for the private run places. Aspen will probably have a better quarter because of it.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid Whooter is probably completely correct with regard to this last part...
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If these children were not in the program then they would have been at the mercy of state employees. Here is what they would have faced:
… an investigation into the 2007 death of a neglected Jacksonville newborn revealed that his caseworker had falsified records in four other cases.
During the past two years, more than 70 Florida child-welfare workers have been caught falsifying records -- lying about their on-the-job efforts to protect children, according to state and county records reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel. (These just the workers who were caught! Imagine how much more abuse is going on>)
As a consequence, the Florida Department of Children and Families temporarily lost track of at least six children, sometimes for months. Fourteen children were left in unsafe homes, the Sentinel found in a review of agency records.
Despite passage of a state law intended to punish cheaters, dishonest caseworkers remain a persistent problem in Florida's system to protect at-risk children:
•The day after a caseworker reported that she had inspected a foster home in Wildwood, police found its four foster children living in tents in the yard. The house had no running water, no food and no clean clothes.
•After a Hardee County social worker lied about making home visits, one child wound up living with an uncle awaiting trial on child-rape charges.
•Two children in Hernando County lived, for a time, with a grandfather who had been arrested two years earlier and accused of physically abusing his own child.
These places need to take a page from the some of the better and more successful privately run programs. The new IBM program will probably go a long way in relieving the load from some of these case works and making better choice and placements for these kids.
...
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:shamrock: :shamrock:
As you folks have been saying whether it is state or private they are killing our children, or at the very least crippling are kids physically, mentally and emotionally. The states are understaffed and underfunded due to politics and the private programs are the same but due to greed.
I would find it very hard to accept that Whooter or anyone else here is compliant to the atrocities happening there, I find it very distressing to know the avenues to genuine treatment for these kids is limited as advertised here.
Where are the resources to help these children, I have looked???????????????????
Danny
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Remember, Florida was the place that let the original Straight, Inc. happen. It's not like Idaho and Utah where they just get out of the way and let the abusive psychopaths do their thing. The authorities in Florida actively participate. How do you think Martin Anderson died?
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Here are a coupla articles pertinent to David Glatt's past, which potentially give some indication as to what kind of priorities may have been in place ... as far as running Rainbow Ranch is concerned:
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Boca Raton News
Man charged after posing as doctor, prescribing drugs (http://http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wNQPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Mo4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=david-glatt&pg=5565%2C1235513)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dec 20, 2000
FORT LAUDERDALE — A man who told his girlfriend he was a doctor has been charged with prescribing drugs without a license to her sister and father, who become seriously ill because of the medication, police said.
David Glatt, 31, is charged with two counts of practicing medicine and giving prescription drugs without a license and one count of culpable negligence for allegedly injuring Therese Felth's father, Lars. He was released on bond following his Friday arrest. Angelina Felth told investigators that Glatt approached her and her sister, Therese, at Club Iguana in Fort Lauderdale in May and claimed to be a neurosurgeon. Therese Filth began dating Glatt and later moved in with him.
Lars Felth told police Glatt gave him a business card saying he was a neurosurgeon at the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. Authorities say his name wasn't on the staff list, but that the hospital was getting e-mails addressed to "Dr. David Glatt."
Police said Glatt gave Angelina Felth more than 200 Prozac pills, saying they were sleeping pills. They noted that the pills were amitriptyline, a prescription drug used to treat patients with depression.
Lars Felth became suspicious of Glatt after he gave him antibuse pills and became violently ill. Antibuse is a prescription drug for alcoholics that triggers vomiting, hyperventilation and vertigo if patients taking it drink alcohol.
# # #
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St. Petersburg Times
Fake doctor dispensed prescriptions, police say (http://http://www.sptimes.com/News/122000/State/Around_the_state_.shtml)
Published December 20, 2000
DELRAY BEACH -- A man who told his girlfriend he was a doctor has been charged with prescribing drugs without a license to her sister and father, who was made seriously ill by the medication, police said.
David Glatt, 31, is charged with two counts of practicing medicine and giving out prescription drugs without a license and one count of culpable negligence for allegedly injuring Therese Felth's father, Lars.
Angelina Felth told investigators Glatt claimed to be a neurosurgeon when he began dating her sister, Therese. Lars Felth told police Glatt gave him a business card saying he was a neurosurgeon at the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. Police said Glatt gave Angelina Felth more than 200 Prozac pills, saying they were sleeping pills. Prozac is a prescription drug used to treat patients with depression.
Lars Felth said Glatt gave him pills that made him violently ill. The pills were a prescription drug that triggers vomiting, hyperventilation and vertigo if someone taking it drinks alcohol.
Lars Felth, a recovering alcoholic, hired a private investigator, who discovered that Glatt was unlicensed and didn't have a medical degree from the University of Miami as he claimed. Lars Felth then called state authorities.
© 2006 St. Petersburg Times
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St. Petersburg Times
Fake doctor dispensed prescriptions, police say (http://http://www.sptimes.com/News/122000/State/Around_the_state_.shtml)
Published December 20, 2000
DELRAY BEACH -- A man who told his girlfriend he was a doctor has been charged with prescribing drugs without a license to her sister and father, who was made seriously ill by the medication, police said.
David Glatt, 31, is charged with two counts of practicing medicine and giving out prescription drugs without a license and one count of culpable negligence for allegedly injuring Therese Felth's father, Lars.
Angelina Felth told investigators Glatt claimed to be a neurosurgeon when he began dating her sister, Therese. Lars Felth told police Glatt gave him a business card saying he was a neurosurgeon at the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. Police said Glatt gave Angelina Felth more than 200 Prozac pills, saying they were sleeping pills. Prozac is a prescription drug used to treat patients with depression.
Lars Felth said Glatt gave him pills that made him violently ill. The pills were a prescription drug that triggers vomiting, hyperventilation and vertigo if someone taking it drinks alcohol.
Lars Felth, a recovering alcoholic, hired a private investigator, who discovered that Glatt was unlicensed and didn't have a medical degree from the University of Miami as he claimed. Lars Felth then called state authorities.
© 2006 St. Petersburg Times
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State regulation does not seem to be very effective in catching people like this (at least in the state of Florida). Seems a bit risky to have “many” small group homes versus “one” or “Two” larger place. A larger more centralized program would be easier to regulate and would reduce the man-power.
...
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State regulation does not seem to be very effective in catching people like this (at least in the state of Florida). Seems a bit risky to have "many" small group homes versus "one" or "Two" larger place. A larger more centralized program would be easier to regulate and would reduce the man-power.
Ah, but having smaller places was part of the deinstitutionalization movement. Some kids appear to do better in a more family-like environment, particularly the younger ones.
In Florida, Marianna was the breaking point (~900 kids?). That's when they brought in Oliver Keller in the late 1960s, who tried to dismantle the large brutal institutions, putting multiple smaller programs in their place.
As usual per Florida, funding was a problem. My guess is that the state became very friendly towards private initiative in this sector, possibly even Art Barker's The Seed. Keller even partnered with a couple of juvie court judges and Louis de la Parte to create his own such program, then called Associated Marine Institutes (AMI), now known as AMIkids (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=30285&p=361731#p361731) and now also substantially larger than in its early days.
Keller was also considered to be a real expert in the new-fangled methods of behavior modification. That is, doing away with the physical brutality and coercion and substituting a "kinder, gentler" approach. Things like William Glasser's Reality Therapy and Lloyd McCorkle's Guided Group Interaction, the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, for example.
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State regulation does not seem to be very effective in catching people like this (at least in the state of Florida). Seems a bit risky to have "many" small group homes versus "one" or "Two" larger place. A larger more centralized program would be easier to regulate and would reduce the man-power.
Ah, but having smaller places was part of the deinstitutionalization movement. Some kids appear to do better in a more family-like environment, particularly the younger ones.
In Florida, Marianna was the breaking point (~900 kids?). That's when they brought in Oliver Keller in the late 1960s, who tried to dismantle the large brutal institutions, putting multiple smaller programs in their place.
As usual per Florida, funding was a problem. My guess is that the state became very friendly towards private initiative in this sector, possibly even Art Barker's The Seed. Keller even partnered with a couple of juvie court judges and Louis de la Parte to create his own such program, then called Associated Marine Institutes (AMI), now known as AMIkids (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=30285&p=361731#p361731) and now also substantially larger than in its early days.
Keller was also considered to be a real expert in the new-fangled methods of behavior modification. That is, doing away with the physical brutality and coercion and substituting a "kinder, gentler" approach. Things like William Glasser's Reality Therapy and Lloyd McCorkle's Guided Group Interaction, the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, for example.
I expect it to continue this way for decades to come… centralize and then grow too big again….. tear it down and make it more local, personalize it and make it softer…. Then start the cycle again with each time learning from past mistakes (hopefully).
Especially when we get the cycle of Democrats and Republicans who tackle problems differently.
...
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Keller was also considered to be a real expert in the new-fangled methods of behavior modification. That is, doing away with the physical brutality and coercion and substituting a "kinder, gentler" approach. Things like William Glasser's Reality Therapy and Lloyd McCorkle's Guided Group Interaction, the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, for example.
I expect it to continue this way for decades to come… centralize and then grow too big again….. tear it down and make it more local, personalize it and make it softer…. Then start the cycle again with each time learning from past mistakes (hopefully).
Especially when we get the cycle of Democrats and Republicans who tackle problems differently.
I had put "kinder, gentler" regarding the approach in quotes for a reason: it isn't necessarily kinder nor gentler ... nor "softer," as you put it. Coercion always has its cost. Some psychological wounds run so deep that not even a lifetime's worth of struggle can unravel the tangled mess.
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Keller was also considered to be a real expert in the new-fangled methods of behavior modification. That is, doing away with the physical brutality and coercion and substituting a "kinder, gentler" approach. Things like William Glasser's Reality Therapy and Lloyd McCorkle's Guided Group Interaction, the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, for example.
I expect it to continue this way for decades to come… centralize and then grow too big again….. tear it down and make it more local, personalize it and make it softer…. Then start the cycle again with each time learning from past mistakes (hopefully).
Especially when we get the cycle of Democrats and Republicans who tackle problems differently.
I had put "kinder, gentler" regarding the approach in quotes for a reason: it isn't necessarily kinder nor gentler ... nor "softer," as you put it. Coercion always has its cost. Some psychological wounds run so deep that not even a lifetime's worth of struggle can unravel the tangled mess.
:shamrock: :shamrock:
Coercion hmmmmm........Does any of this have to do with parents....kinder,gentler or softer. Your right some psychological wounds do run deep, very deep that not even a entire lifetime can heal.
Lets be fair and start at the beginning, how this whole ball of wax started, if we can compartmentalize that well then we should be able to put the programs in their proper perspective.
All this bullshit (our problems individually and collectively in our families) was going on long before most of us even stepped one foot in a program, our lives were just a bit skewed. If you think not your lying to us and to yourself. This is how these programs are able to operate and succeed because parents, school faculty, Doctors, Clinicians..ect are educated to think they work. They are skewed in their thoughts, why? Who they fuck knows.It is anyone's guess in my opinion and there are many.
This program did this and that and what the fuck ever, all this debating and bickering back and forth, calling one another names and what not. For what????? So you can be right.
Sit back and look at it objectively really you will see that Whooter is right and you are Ursus, both very equally. I am not kidding either.
I have always felt it started with the parents and I still do, if we fix the parents no need for programs.
Fat chance on that, just like fat chance we stop all programs.
Yet we still have to try and I will as I'm sure you folks will.
Danny
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Coercion hmmmmm........Does any of this have to do with parents....kinder,gentler or softer. Your right some psychological wounds do run deep, very deep that not even a entire lifetime can heal.
Lets be fair and start at the beginning, how this whole ball of wax started, if we can compartmentalize that well then we should be able to put the programs in their proper perspective.
All this bullshit (our problems individually and collectively in our families) was going on long before most of us even stepped one foot in a program, our lives were just a bit skewed. If you think not your lying to us and to yourself. This is how these programs are able to operate and succeed because parents, school faculty, Doctors, Clinicians..ect are educated to think they work. They are skewed in their thoughts, why? Who they fuck knows.It is anyone's guess in my opinion and there are many.
This program did this and that and what the fuck ever, all this debating and bickering back and forth, calling one another names and what not. For what????? So you can be right.
Sit back and look at it objectively really you will see that Whooter is right and you are Ursus, both very equally. I am not kidding either.
I have always felt it started with the parents and I still do, if we fix the parents no need for programs.
Fat chance on that, just like fat chance we stop all programs.
Yet we still have to try and I will as I'm sure you folks will.
Danny
Yeah, they "work" because the programs convince the parents that the kids actually need the programs. From my experience, which is at the same time personal, incidental and clinical (research)...the VAST MAJORITY of kids are pretty normal teenagers. Most will grow out of their 'defiant' behavior (and I think that's part of the key too...defiance....parents hate it and programs say they'll quell it) and become whoever they're supposed to become. It might not be what the parent had envisioned for their child, but...then again....it's the kid's life, not the parents. Now....I'm not saying that there are never any kids who need help. We all know them or have them in our family...the question is, can forced "therapy" ever be effective? Can it ever deliver what it promises at all, let alone without doing serious, lasting damage? I think not, as true therapy is based on trust and that's not some thing anyone would find inside programs. Ever.
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Coercion hmmmmm........Does any of this have to do with parents....kinder,gentler or softer. Your right some psychological wounds do run deep, very deep that not even a entire lifetime can heal.
Lets be fair and start at the beginning, how this whole ball of wax started, if we can compartmentalize that well then we should be able to put the programs in their proper perspective.
All this bullshit (our problems individually and collectively in our families) was going on long before most of us even stepped one foot in a program, our lives were just a bit skewed. If you think not your lying to us and to yourself. This is how these programs are able to operate and succeed because parents, school faculty, Doctors, Clinicians..ect are educated to think they work. They are skewed in their thoughts, why? Who they fuck knows.It is anyone's guess in my opinion and there are many.
This program did this and that and what the fuck ever, all this debating and bickering back and forth, calling one another names and what not. For what????? So you can be right.
Sit back and look at it objectively really you will see that Whooter is right and you are Ursus, both very equally. I am not kidding either.
I have always felt it started with the parents and I still do, if we fix the parents no need for programs.
Fat chance on that, just like fat chance we stop all programs.
Yet we still have to try and I will as I'm sure you folks will.
Danny
Yeah, they "work" because the programs convince the parents that the kids actually need the programs. From my experience, which is at the same time personal, incidental and clinical (research)...the VAST MAJORITY of kids are pretty normal teenagers. Most will grow out of their 'defiant' behavior (and I think that's part of the key too...defiance....parents hate it and programs say they'll quell it) and become whoever they're supposed to become. It might not be what the parent had envisioned for their child, but...then again....it's the kid's life, not the parents. Now....I'm not saying that there are never any kids who need help. We all know them or have them in our family...the question is, can forced "therapy" ever be effective? Can it ever deliver what it promises at all, let alone without doing serious, lasting damage? I think not, as true therapy is based on trust and that's not some thing anyone would find inside programs. Ever.
:shamrock: :shamrock:
Great points and I will not argue them because there is no debate within your experiences. You and I both know that Straight and Elan was never going to work and never will. My problem was and still is especially now with all the available data about these programs, why are the parents still sending their children to them, even out of the country. Please don't tell me there being conned, duped, whatever I don't believe it. I know better trust me, parents (not all but many) are lazy and if they have the money, well lets just shove the responsibility to someone or something else. Most of these parents with money are some of your more intelligent people, no there is more going on inside those homes that are making it so mommy and daddy can give there kids up.
Take care Anne, nice to talk with you again.
Danny
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Here's one more piece re. Rainbow Ranch owner David Glatt playing doctor back in 2000. The whole of the article is in a pay-per-view archive, but the opening scene in the teaser is too priceless to pass up:
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MAN CHARGED WITH PRESCRIBING PILLS WITHOUT A LICENSE (http://http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PBPB&p_theme=pbpb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF413923D09692&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM)
Author: Sanjay Bhatt
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Date: December 19, 2000 Publication: The Palm Beach Post Page Number: 1B Word Count: 459
Therese Felth thought her new boyfriend was a neurosurgeon, and she recalled how he came home at night wearing surgery scrubs and a stethoscope, told operating-room stories and sometimes rushed off after being paged, investigators say.
But David Glatt wasn't a neurosurgeon, not even a doctor. That came out only after Glatt had doled out prescription pills to her sister and father, who became violently ill.
Glatt, 31, of Weston, surrendered Friday at the Palm Beach ...
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Therese Felth thought her new boyfriend was a neurosurgeon, and she recalled how he came home at night wearing surgery scrubs and a stethoscope, told operating-room stories and sometimes rushed off after being paged, investigators say.
Good find, Ha,Ha,Ha that’s funny. What a great angle… if the girlfriend was suffocating him too much he could just say he had an emergency and take off for the night. I am sure the demand for scrubs and stethoscopes will go up after many read this!
...
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Here's one more piece re. Rainbow Ranch owner David Glatt playing doctor back in 2000. The whole of the article is in a pay-per-view archive, but the opening scene in the teaser is too priceless to pass up:
-------------- • -------------- • --------------
MAN CHARGED WITH PRESCRIBING PILLS WITHOUT A LICENSE (http://http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PBPB&p_theme=pbpb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF413923D09692&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM)
Author: Sanjay Bhatt
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Date: December 19, 2000 Publication: The Palm Beach Post Page Number: 1B Word Count: 459
Therese Felth thought her new boyfriend was a neurosurgeon, and she recalled how he came home at night wearing surgery scrubs and a stethoscope, told operating-room stories and sometimes rushed off after being paged, investigators say.
But David Glatt wasn't a neurosurgeon, not even a doctor. That came out only after Glatt had doled out prescription pills to her sister and father, who became violently ill.
Glatt, 31, of Weston, surrendered Friday at the Palm Beach ...
:shamrock: :shamrock:
I had read this I think last week, they do not and will regulate effectively these programs. Never have and never will, why after so many deaths, preventable accidents, ect...... I believe the politicians have this thought process about the troubled kids, "Ah screw 'em better off there then on the street, there nothing but fuck ups anyways." Actually I have heard judges, prosecutors and politicians say these things not verbatim but close.
The parents are running close behind, I'm sorry to say. I would bet that people have read this article and are still willing to send their kids there. How do you defend that.
Danny
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I had read this I think last week, they do not and will regulate effectively these programs. Never have and never will, why after so many deaths, preventable accidents, ect...... I believe the politicians have this thought process about the troubled kids, "Ah screw 'em better off there then on the street, there nothing but fuck ups anyways." Actually I have heard judges, prosecutors and politicians say these things not verbatim but close.
The parents are running close behind, I'm sorry to say. I would bet that people have read this article and are still willing to send their kids there. How do you defend that.
Danny
Most compassionate, thinking people can't. And then there's Whooter.
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I would bet that people have read this article and are still willing to send their kids there. How do you defend that.
No need to ... in this case. Rainbow Ranch got shut down permanently:
-------------- • -------------- • --------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 19, 2007
CONTACT:
Melanie Mowry Etters
Communications Director
850-488-4257
Rainbow Ranch Owners Permanently Surrender License (http://http://apd.myflorida.com/news/2007/rainbow-ranch-owners-permanently-surrender-license.htm)
MIAMI, FL - The Agency for Persons with Disabilities entered into an agreement yesterday with the owners of the Rainbow Ranch group homes barring them from ever running another group home for people with developmental disabilities.
The operators, including former officer David Glatt, agreed to permanently surrender their group home licenses and never seek another one. The company ran three group homes for people with developmental disabilities in the Miami area.
In June of this year, APD imposed an emergency suspension of the Rainbow Ranch licenses following the death of a boy under the care of one of the Rainbow Ranch homes, in addition to other problems with the operation of the group homes.
APD Director Jane Johnson said, "The agency is very pleased to know that these individuals have agreed not to run or be involved in any way with a group home for people with developmental disabilities again. We have an obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us. By entering into this agreement, we have protected the people we serve and have drawn to a close a potentially lengthy legal process. "
APD currently serves about 35,000 Floridians with developmental disabilities of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on the agency, call 1-866-APD-CARES or visit http://www.apd.myflorida.com (http://www.apd.myflorida.com).
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I would bet that people have read this article and are still willing to send their kids there. How do you defend that.
No need to ... in this case. Rainbow Ranch got shut down permanently:
-------------- • -------------- • --------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 19, 2007
CONTACT:
Melanie Mowry Etters
Communications Director
850-488-4257
Rainbow Ranch Owners Permanently Surrender License (http://http://apd.myflorida.com/news/2007/rainbow-ranch-owners-permanently-surrender-license.htm)
MIAMI, FL - The Agency for Persons with Disabilities entered into an agreement yesterday with the owners of the Rainbow Ranch group homes barring them from ever running another group home for people with developmental disabilities.
The operators, including former officer David Glatt, agreed to permanently surrender their group home licenses and never seek another one. The company ran three group homes for people with developmental disabilities in the Miami area.
In June of this year, APD imposed an emergency suspension of the Rainbow Ranch licenses following the death of a boy under the care of one of the Rainbow Ranch homes, in addition to other problems with the operation of the group homes.
APD Director Jane Johnson said, "The agency is very pleased to know that these individuals have agreed not to run or be involved in any way with a group home for people with developmental disabilities again. We have an obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us. By entering into this agreement, we have protected the people we serve and have drawn to a close a potentially lengthy legal process. "
APD currently serves about 35,000 Floridians with developmental disabilities of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on the agency, call 1-866-APD-CARES or visit http://www.apd.myflorida.com (http://www.apd.myflorida.com).
:shamrock: :shamrock:
Well then, I was wondering how that was going to play out. Thanks Ursus for the info.
Quote:
"APD Director Jane Johnson said, "The agency is very pleased to know that these individuals have agreed not to run or be involved in any way with a group home for people with developmental disabilities again."
You are very pleased....hmmmm. Well I'm glad somebody is because it is not that boys parents. He should be in jail (Glatt).
Danny
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APD Director Jane Johnson said, "The agency is very pleased to know that these individuals have agreed not to run or be involved in any way with a group home for people with developmental disabilities again."
You are very pleased....hmmmm. Well I'm glad somebody is because it is not that boys parents. He should be in jail (Glatt).
Danny
Well, as you might have guessed, this saga isn't over yet. David Glatt and Rainbow Ranch may be out of the way, but they weren't the only ones responsible for this poor boy's death. While Glatt may have played it fast and loose years ago with his illegally obtained Prozac scripts, even he couldn't have come up with the arsenal of psyche twisters and neurological override that Denis Maltez was subjected to.
Martha Quesada, Denis's mom, filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against both David Glatt and Dr. Steven L. Kaplan, who had been psychiatrist for most of kids at the former Rainbow Ranch group home. Here's the press release put out by the law firm representing her:
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Mother of Florida Autistic Boy Claims Psychiatric Drug Overdose Led to Death (http://http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1692791/mother_of_florida_autistic_boy_claims_psychiatric_drug_overdose_led/)
Posted on: Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 15:27 CDT
Lawsuit Blames Doctor's Prescription of Psychotropic Cocktail, Lack of Oversight
MIAMI, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The mother of a 12-year-old autistic boy who died while in the care of a psychiatrist at a group home has filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit claiming overmedication and improper care led to the boy's death.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade circuit court Tuesday by the boy's mother, Martha Quesada. In it, she alleges Denis Maltez died in 2007 after receiving an overdose of anti-psychotic drugs.
"This is a clear case of a 12-year-child who perished because he was given a lethal combination of off-label, dangerous, anti-psychotic drugs to control his behavior without appropriate consent, administration and supervision," said Howard Talenfeld, Quesada's attorney and partner with Fort Lauderdale law firm, Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale. Partner Maria Abate is co-counsel on the case.
"Tragically, this case is one of many cases where foster children and developmentally disabled children are given powerful drug to control their behavior instead of utilizing appropriate behavioral interventions," Talenfeld said. "This is an important first step in seeking remedy for Ms. Quesada's loss, and raising awareness of the cavalier prescription, administration of medications to control behavior with little regard for possible counter-indications or devastating results."
At the time of his death on May 23, 2007, Denis was under the care of psychiatrist, Dr. Steven L. Kaplan, at the former Rainbow Ranch group home, owned and operated by David Glatt. Both are named in the lawsuit.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner found that Denis died of Central Serotonergic Syndrome. This resulted from "the co-administration of multiple psychotropic medications with no monitoring or supervision," the lawsuit claims. The drugs stimulated overproduction of serotonin - a naturally occurring chemical that help regulate a person's mood. This proved lethal, the suit claims. Denis, who had severe autism, died in a van after being restrained by group home staff.
The lawsuit claims Glatt replaced Denis's regular visits to Jackson Memorial Hospital with on-site care by Dr. Kaplan without Quesada's consent. During Denis's time at the facility, Kaplan only visited him twice. Kaplan prescribed a regimen of medications described "as chemical restraints to control Denis's behavior." Those included Depakote, an anti-seizure drug used for mood-stabilization; the tranquilizer Clonazepam; and anti-psychotics, Seroquel and Zyprexa. Several of the drugs lack Food and Drug Administration approval for use on children. They also warn of possible side-effects.
Quesada's lawsuit comes a month after the death of Gabriel Myers. The 7-year-old foster child had been prescribed a variety of mental health drugs, and later hanged himself. The use of psychiatric medications on Florida foster children now is being studied by the state Department of Children and Families.
Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A. is a full-service law firm specializing in government relations, commercial litigation and administrative law, with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tallahassee. The Firm's litigation practice group also handles civil rights, employment discrimination and child advocacy matters on both the trial and appellate levels. For more information, visit http://www.cftlaw.com (http://www.cftlaw.com) or call (954) 492-4010 or (850) 577-0398 in Tallahassee.
CONTACT: Michelle Friedman of Boardroom Communications http://www.boardroompr.com (http://www.boardroompr.com), 954-370-8999, or email mfriedman@boardroompr.com, for Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A.
SOURCE Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate
Source: PR Newswire
© 2002-2010 redOrbit.com.
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... And here's an article from The Miami Herald that was published the same day:
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The Miami Herald
Lawsuit says too many psychiatric drugs killed boy (http://http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1056520.html)
A disabled boy was lethally overmedicated, a lawsuit contends, as outrage continues over a child's suicide while on several drugs last month.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER · cmarbin@miamiherald.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Amid a wide-ranging debate over the proper use of mental health drugs on troubled children, the mother of a disabled boy who died in 2007 is claiming in a lawsuit the boy was overdosed by a cocktail of psychiatric drugs, including two powerful anti-psychotics.
Martha Quesada, the mother of 12-year-old Denis Maltez, filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit Monday in Miami-Dade circuit court, claiming Denis' psychiatrist, Dr. Steven L. Kaplan, and the now-shuttered Rainbow Ranch group home overmedicated Denis and failed to properly monitor his condition.
Denis, who was diagnosed with autism, died of serotonin syndrome, according to a 2007 autopsy by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's office.
The rare condition, which can be life-threatening, occurs when a combination of drugs -- particularly mental-health drugs -- causes the brain to produce an excess of serotonin, a chemical produced by nerve cells that regulates mood. The condition can cause rigidity and tremors, as well as confusion and high blood pressure, said Dr. Carlos Singer, a professor of neurology at the University of Miami's medical school.
''I miss him so much,'' Quesada, 31, of Hialeah, said of her son, who died a week after Mother's Day. "This month, for me, is hard because of Mother's Day. This Saturday will be two years since he died. The last time I saw him it was Mother's Day.''
''I know I am happy, because I have two other children,'' Quesada said. "But I am also sad, because my other son died. It's hard.''
Denis died May 23, 2007. He had gone by van with others from the group home to get a haircut at a local flea market. In the parking lot, he became aggressive, kicking and biting group home staff. An autopsy report said he became unresponsive shortly after staff restrained him while he lay on his stomach on a bench seat in the van.
Quesada's lawsuit was filed amid a high-profile investigation by the Department of Children & Families into the death last month of Gabriel Myers, a 7-year-old foster child who had been taking a cocktail of mental health drugs. DCF Secretary George Sheldon appointed a task force to study Gabriel's case, and the use of psychiatric drugs on foster kids.
'TOUGH' TO HANDLE
Kaplan did not return calls for comment. In a June 2007 article in The Miami Herald, Kaplan said ''it's possible'' Denis would have been sleepy at school if he had not been given his medications at the right times. But, Kaplan added, "I never saw him dopey or sleepy.''
''He was all over the place, a tough little guy to handle but very likeable,'' the psychiatrist said at the time.
Rainbow Ranch's owner, David Glatt, whose group homes were shut down by the state in June 2007, could not be reached for comment.
Denis, whose autism was severe, was sent by his mother to a state-funded group home in 2003 after he tried to choke his younger sister. Quesada never relinquished her right to raise the boy, but was afraid his violent outbursts were a danger to her two other children.
According to the 28-page lawsuit, Glatt stopped taking Denis to doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital after he arrived at the group home in May 2006, and substituted Kaplan ''without the consent of [Denis's] mother.'' Kaplan was treating several group home clients, the suit claims.
Kaplan prescribed and refilled four mental health drugs: Seroquel and Zyprexa, both anti-psychotic medications; Depakote, an anti-seizure drug sometimes used to stabilize moods; and Clonazepam, a tranquilizer. The lawsuit says the drugs were used "as chemical restraints to control Denis's behavior.''
Though some of the medications are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use on children and carry strong warnings about possible side-effects, Kaplan ''took no steps to ensure that Denis was not suffering any adverse effects from these medications,'' the suit claims.
In fact, the suit claims, Kaplan examined the boy only once between between May 26, 2006 and May 23, 2007, the day Denis died.
There were warning signs that the drugs may have been harming the boy, according to the suit, filed by by Fort Lauderdale attorneys Maria Elena Abate and Howard Talenfeld. In June 2006, teachers at Denis's school, Ruth Owens Kruse Educational Center, reported the boy was sleeping through class.
UP AND DOWN
Acting on concerns from his teachers, Denis was hospitalized twice, first on July 17, 2006, at Miami Children's Hospital for emergency treatment, and, later on Aug. 4, 2006, at Baptist Hospital's emergency room. Doctors at Baptist recommended that the dosage of one of the drugs, Depakote, be reduced, the suit claims.
The lawsuit says the dosage was, indeed, reduced, but then increased again about six months later. That winter, the suit claims, the Department of Children & Families child abuse hot line received a call that Denis was being overmedicated, and that Rainbow Ranch staff "were not seeking medical attention for Denis when he was overmedicated.''
DCF would not discuss the investigation with a reporter Tuesday.
# # #
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Apparently, investigations into the medication history of Denis Maltez eventually turned towards the psychiatrist that the former Rainbow Ranch had used for most of their clients, Dr. Steven L. Kaplan:
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The Miami Herald
Red flags overlooked in 12-year-old's prescription drug death (http://http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/18/v-fullstory/1586109/red-flags-overlooked-in-prescription.html)
The prescription-drug death of 12-year-old Denis Maltez raises troubling questions about the state's safety net for disabled kids.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER · cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
Posted on Monday, 04.19.10
(http://http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/04/18/21/denis.embedded.prod_affiliate.56.jpg)
Denis Maltez, 12, is pictured the day before he died. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office attributed the death to a life-threatening side effect of over-medication. In his deposition, Maltez's psychiatrist Dr. Steven Kaplan said he is not responsible for Denis' death. "I don't believe he died of anything that I did,'' he said.
Born with autism, 12-year-old Denis Maltez was "hyper, needy, pesty,'' his psychiatrist wrote following a May 2007 visit.
Dr. Steven L. Kaplan solved the 70-pound boy's problems with a prescription pad, writing orders for two different anti-psychotic drugs along with a tranquilizer and a mood stabilizer -- two of them in the highest doses recommended for adults, records show.
When state medical regulators sent Kaplan letters suggesting the dosages were worrisome, he ignored them.
Two weeks after Kaplan last saw the boy, on May 23, 2007, Denis simply stopped breathing. The Miami-Dade medical examiner's office attributed the death to a life-threatening side effect of over-medication, records show.
"I . . . never had any suspicion he was being overmedicated,'' Kaplan testified in a November 2009 sworn statement.
A review of records from three state agencies, however, makes clear that plenty of other people did.
Though a number of Florida agency heads have wrung their hands about Kaplan's methods for more than three years, he has never been disciplined. The state Medicaid program, which insures the needy, asked the state Board of Medicine to investigate Kaplan in 2008, but the complaint was dismissed, records show.
Disability administrators encouraged underlings to send him new patients just as the agency's chief described his practices as "very disturbing.''
QUESTIONS
Florida's regulatory history with Kaplan -- which includes four state agencies and thousands of pages of records -- raises important questions. Among them: Does the state have an adequate regulatory scheme for doctors who work with the most vulnerable? Can the state effectively oversee doctors who reject advice from their peers?
"Three agencies all raised concerns and red flags, and each agency was saying this is somebody else's job to take it a step further,'' said Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon. "I'm not sure what the solution is.''
Sheldon blamed much of the problem on historically poor billing rates for doctors who are paid by Medicaid, the state and federal insurance program for the poor and disabled.
"I think it's difficult to recruit in the Medicaid arena any child psychiatrist,'' Sheldon said. "The rates really do have an impact on who is willing to do it.''
Kaplan, who mainly practices in Miami-Dade, declined to speak with a Miami Herald reporter.
With as many as 800 patients in South Florida -- all but one percent of them disabled or impoverished children insured by either Medicaid or Medicare -- Kaplan is listed by the Agency for Healthcare Administration as number five on their list of doctors whose mental health prescriptions were red-flagged by an oversight group.
Denis was 8 when his volatility and violent outbursts prompted his mother, Martha Quesada, to move him into a sparkling new Miami group home called Rainbow Ranch. Administrators for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities had recommended the home, run by a man who had once pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license.
In May 2006, the owner of Rainbow Ranch discontinued Denis' treatment by a team at Jackson Memorial Hospital and instead hired Kaplan, who already was treating the group home's other residents, Kaplan said in a deposition taken Nov. 2 by Quesada's attorney, Howard Talenfeld.
In testimony that is part of an ongoing lawsuit by Denis' mother, Kaplan acknowledged that he never once spoke to Quesada before prescribing powerful mind-altering drugs, and never sought nor obtained her consent for treatment.
"I was told that the boy's mother had abandoned him,'' Kaplan testified. In fact, Quesada had never been stripped of her parental rights by the state, and had remained actively involved in Denis' care.
Denis was prescribed 20 milligrams of Zyprexa, 800 milligrams of Seroquel -- the highest adult dose for both anti-psychotics, a reviewer said -- one-half milligram of Klonopin, a tranquilizer and 2000 milligrams of Depakote, a mood stabilizer -- also a high dose for Denis' 70-pound frame. Neither of the anti-psychotic drugs has been approved for use with children.
In his deposition, Kaplan testified he was aware that the two anti-psychotic drugs both carried an "increased risk of sudden cardiac death.''
By early July, 2006, group home workers had told Kaplan the boy was "lethargic and unresponsive in the morning,'' Kaplan said in his deposition. On July 17 that year, teachers at Denis' school noted that he was sleeping through class, and he was taken to Miami Children's Hospital for emergency medical treatment.
That same month, on July 24, Kaplan received a letter from the Medicaid Drug Therapy Management Program for Behavioral Health, a program of the Agency for Health Care Administration run by the University of South Florida, questioning his medication of Denis. On four "key'' indicators, the letter said, Kaplan's prescribing of drugs to Denis fell outside generally accepted practices.
And AHCA was not the only state agency with concerns.
DCF received its first report involving Denis on Oct. 26, 2006. The report made some findings of medical neglect based on a teacher's complaints that Denis was "sleeping in class, shaking and trembling.''
And on Jan. 9, 2007, DCF received another report that, among other things, Denis had "a history of being overmedicated -- based on an August 2006 visit to Baptist Hospital with symptoms of overmedication. "Denis was sleepy because he was over-medicated,'' a DCF investigator was told.
In all, DCF conducted six investigations of Denis' well-being, some of them including allegations that Denis was being over-drugged, an Agency for Persons with Disabilities report says. Sheldon said his agency had received a total of eight calls to the state hot line about Kaplan.
WARNINGS
The disabilities agency also had been warned that Kaplan's patients appeared to be drugged.
An April 2007 memo from an APD administrator said a number of caregivers in Miami had expressed concerns that Kaplan's patients at Rainbow Ranch appeared to be overmedicated. A former group home manager said she found "clients always asleep and barely walking.'' The mother of one boy said he went home for Thanksgiving all doped up.
Denis last saw his psychiatrist on May 10, 2007. In progress notes from the visit, Kaplan wrote the boy was sleepy during the day, and school officials felt he was drugged. He added: "Hyper, needy, pesty.''
Denis died two weeks later, on May 23, 2007. He was 12.
In his deposition, Kaplan said he is not responsible for Denis' death. "I don't believe he died of anything that I did,'' he said.
After Denis' death, APD hired a psychiatrist, Jorge J. Villalba, to study the group home's practices. He reported "overmedication with sedation of clients,'' noting that 99 percent of the group home residents were on an anti-psychotic drug.
Villalba wrote that Denis had been on three different mental health drugs, two of them in the maximum dose, and that "in combination, all three of these agents have additive effects as a central nervous system depressant.'' The drugs, he added, "may have been contributing factors in the client's death.''
The following December, the Miami-Dade medical examiner's office concluded Denis did die of overmedication, from a disorder called Serotonin Syndrome.
A week after the medical examiner's report was released, on Dec. 28, 2007, the then-head of the disabilities agency, Jane E. Johnson, called the case "very disturbing -- especially if that psychiatrist is still providing services through [the] Medicaid state plan.''
During the next two years, administrators at both the healthcare and disabilities agencies continued to monitor Kaplan's activities, writing dozens of e-mails and reports:
- A nurse on staff at APD noted on Feb. 5, 2008, that one boy under Kaplan's care "was taking 10 medications in total,'' including two anti-psychotic drugs and two tranquilizers. "All of the medication listed cause somnolence,'' the nurse wrote.
- Thirteen days later, on Feb. 28, 2008, Kaplan received an "academic detailing'' visit by a pharmacy expert from the University of South Florida, as part of the university's effort to oversee problematic prescribers for the state healthcare agency. Though Kaplan was reportedly "very courteous and professional,'' the reviewer noted, "he didn't appear familiar with the material or interested in the guidelines.''
- In mid-March 2008, several disabilities administrators exchanged e-mails voicing worries about Kaplan. "He's still practicing and we're concerned,'' Chuck Faircloth, APD's inspector general, wrote on March 12.
The next day, Evelyn Alvarez, a top Miami administrator, wrote: "Our medical case manager as well as I continue to have concerns regarding the abundance of meds that he is prescribing to some of our consumers.''
- Two months later, another USF monitor visited Kaplan in his office. Kaplan, he wrote, said that his patients are "schizophrenic and become violent, aggressive, dangerous'' -- making such medication necessary. "Provider states that he does not use antipsychotic medication for sedation,'' a report says.
- In June, 2008, while both agencies were expressing concern about Kaplan's use of mental health drugs, at least two APD administrators suggested he be considered for new patients when scores of disabled people were to be moved from a large institution in Fort Myers into group homes.
"He has lots of clients, so he may well qualify from the point of view of a large and varied practice,'' wrote Alvarez, who only three months earlier had expressed concerns.
- A USF monitor once again visited Kaplan on May 15, 2009.
"He said he did not find the time to deal with non-important things such as paperwork,'' a report says of the visit. "He said he had been practicing long enough to know how to treat his patients and was tired of being told what to do.''
STATE CONCERNS
In his deposition, Kaplan acknowledged he received "hundreds'' of letters from the state suggesting he revise his prescribing practices. "I didn't think it required any kind of response,'' he said. He later added: "I never thought of myself as a red-flagged physician.''
Talenfeld, Quesada's lawyer, urged healthcare and disability administrators in a letter to better protect disabled children, "who are powerless to protect themselves from being unnecessarily drugged for the convenience of staff. . . . Without proper oversight and action by your respective state agencies, these individuals will continue to be in harm's way.''
Administrators at AHCA declined to discuss the agency's history with Kaplan at length. In an e-mail to The Herald, the agency's spokeswoman, Tiffany Vause, said it was "extremely difficult to measure the quality of prescribing practices'' based upon Medicaid claims.
The USF program, she said, enables doctors to explain their practices -- which may be entirely appropriate -- or to change their habits once they are better informed.
"Dr. Kaplan is being monitored through this system and has received feedback from the USF clinical staff, Vause said. "The agency is closely monitoring this physician's claims and the unique patient caseload he treats and will take appropriate action. This can include termination from the Medicaid program.''
Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.