Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services accused of "patient dumping" by Greyhound Bus of mentally ill man to Sacramento Narcotics Anonymous and told to call 911 when he arrived

In a very strange case of "patient dumping" Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services (http://mhds.nv.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemi...) has been publicly accused of discharging James Flavy Coy Brown to a Greyhound Bus Station with a ticket to Sacramento, giving him three days worth of medication and written instructions to follow up with Narcotics Anonymous and verbal instructions to call 911 when he arrived. Upon arriving in Sacramento after a 15 hour bus ride, Brown ended up being brought by police to a non profit providing food and support for homeless people called Loaves & Fishes (http://www.sacloaves.org/. He was asking for food, a place to stay and was completely disorientated. According to Brown, he was one of 5 patients released to a Greyhound Bus Station and sent to different California and Washington State cities with the same instructions.

James Flavy Coy Brown has no relatives in California, his medical history is unknown and he was just dumped into Narcotics Anonymous in Sacramento (http://www.sacramentona.org/ ,http://www.sacfna.org/) Mr. Brown appears to be a paranoid schizophrenic with the beginning of Alzheimers and hears voices in his head. It would appear from this story that not only has Narcotics Anonymous become the dumping ground of the US Judiciary system, it has also become a dumping ground of the US mental health system in this case. What are they thinking? You can't just dump mentally disturbed people into Narcotics Anonymous. This is really getting out of hand.....

Editorial: Skimpy mental health net leads to dumped patients

By the Editorial Board
Published: Saturday, Mar. 2, 2013 - 12:00 am | Page 10A
Last Modified: Sunday, Mar. 3, 2013 - 2:42 pm

In what appears to have been an egregious case of interstate patient dumping, a 48-year-old severely disturbed schizophrenic says he was released from a state mental institution in Las Vegas more than two weeks ago, put on a Greyhound bus to Sacramento and told to call 911 when he got here.

Confused and dazed, James Flavy Coy Brown was taken by police to Loaves & Fishes, the social services facility north of downtown that provides assistance to homeless people. When he arrived, Brown had exhausted his supply of several powerful anti-psychotic medications to control severe depression, seizures, panic disorder and schizophrenia.

Appalled by the story they heard, Loaves & Fishes got Brown's permission to share it with The Bee. It seems the group home where Brown had lived in Las Vegas for several years recently closed. Brown said he and four other mentally ill residents who lived with him were shunted to a state mental hospital, Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services. After a couple of weeks there, he said they were all put on buses bound for different cities in California.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/02/5229728/skimpy-mental-health-net-leads....

The instructions given to Brown are extremely telling.

State to investigate report of mentally ill man dumped in California

By Laura Myers
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Mar. 4, 2013 | 7:05 p.m.
Updated: Mar. 4, 2013 | 7:37 p.m.

{snip}

"There is a lot more information" state authorities are learning about Brown's situation, Green said, which will shed more light on the matter once the investigation is completed in two to four weeks. She said the probe will determine if any policy violations occurred and whether anyone should be disciplined.

According to written policy, psychiatric patients are discharged from state care if a doctor determines the patient is no longer a danger to himself or others and can function outside the hospital. A treatment plan that includes the need for medication and continued outpatient services is drawn up.

State policy also allows for transportation back to a patient's "home community in order to provide more appropriate care and to remove the burden of treatment from the state of Nevada." But hospital staff must first confirm there is housing or shelter "and a support system available to meet (the) client at destination." Staff also should provide information and an appropriate appointment for mental health services in the home community.

Green said patients participate in their discharge plan.

"That allows them a choice of where, how and what they want to do in their discharge plan," Green said. "Sometimes that is to a place, to a person or a friend. But as adults, we do sometimes like to go to other states. There are many scenarios where we would consider discharging to other states."

In Brown's case, the discharge paperwork from Southern Nevada Adult Mental Services had no detail about who or what organization might help him in Sacramento. The paperwork, signed by Brown and a discharge nurse on Feb. 11, lists his address on discharge as "Greyhound bus station to California."

"Discharge to Greyhound bus station by taxi, with 3 day supply of medication," the handwritten instructions said. "Follow up with mental health, NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting in California. Follow up with medical doctor in California for any medical concerns."

The discharge papers list three daily medications to treat schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. He was also given Ensure, snacks and a bus schedule.

Brown agreed to let Loaves & Fishes make the documents public.

Molly Simones, the social worker who interviewed Brown, said he told her he had been living in a group home, Annie's Place in Las Vegas, for the past two years but it closed. He said he and his roommates were taken several weeks ago to the state mental hospital, in his case the observation unit at Rawson-Neal.

Rawson-Neal has a 30-bed observation unit. It is an acute care facility with a total of 190 beds, designed to stabilize psychiatric patients but not provide indefinite care.

Brown told Simones he thought the hospital was working to find him a new group home, but then he was "told that he would be given a Greyhound voucher to Sacramento."

"He was told by his psychiatrist to call an ambulance once he arrived in Sacramento & that the ambulance would take him to the ER and he would be admitted to the mental hospital," Simones wrote in a report on the case.

Brown said his roommates were given bus vouchers to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, Wash.

Brown also told the social worker he was suffering the first stages of Alzheimer's and was hearing voices.

Read the entire story at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/state-to-investigate-report-of-mentally-ill-man...