02-20-2006, 04:13 PM
Caution: This story may distress some readers - Stella
Abuse alleged at mental hospital
Abuse perpetrated and ordered by chief nurse of autistic unit
Jerusalem Post
20th February 2006
Eleven administrators and workers at the Eitanim psychiatric hospital near Beit Shemesh are likely to be charged in the near future with abusing patients at the hospital in 2004. The decision to press charges, however, will not be made until a hearing is held before state prosecutor Eran Shendar.
A draft of the indictment details many incidents of abuse perpetrated and ordered by the chief nurse of the autistic unit, Dana Ben-Meir. In one incident, she ordered one of the patients to eat a meal under a table. When the patient vomited, she ordered the nurses to feed him the vomit. The nurses also allegedly dressed up the male patient in women's clothing and beat him.
In another incident, the indictment reads, Ben-Meir prevented a patient from receiving valium, causing attacks in which the patient injured himself and was hospitalized for several weeks.
Another incident involved a patient who had difficulty walking due to a neurological disorder. He was forced to walk on his own when the nurses refused to provide him with a wheelchair. According to the indictment, he would crawl on the floor from his room to the bathroom.
These were only some of the instances of abuse described in the 20-page draft.
Health Minister Danny Naveh ordered the department shut down in 2004 after a committee exposed suspected abuse of patients by two staff members. Naveh ordered that 19 patients be transferred to other institutions and the evidence in the case be made available for a police investigation.
Authorities believe that hospital director Yaakov Margolin and assistant director Moshe Abramowitz were aware that these actions were occurring and did nothing to stop them.
Margolin's son, supervisor of the disabled department Mariel Vader Goldberg and head of the autistic department Daniel Meir were also listed among the accused. Dana Ben-Meir denied the allegations Monday and said that the publication of the accusations caused her distress.
None of those accused still work at the hospital.
ENDS
Abuse alleged at mental hospital
Abuse perpetrated and ordered by chief nurse of autistic unit
Jerusalem Post
20th February 2006
Eleven administrators and workers at the Eitanim psychiatric hospital near Beit Shemesh are likely to be charged in the near future with abusing patients at the hospital in 2004. The decision to press charges, however, will not be made until a hearing is held before state prosecutor Eran Shendar.
A draft of the indictment details many incidents of abuse perpetrated and ordered by the chief nurse of the autistic unit, Dana Ben-Meir. In one incident, she ordered one of the patients to eat a meal under a table. When the patient vomited, she ordered the nurses to feed him the vomit. The nurses also allegedly dressed up the male patient in women's clothing and beat him.
In another incident, the indictment reads, Ben-Meir prevented a patient from receiving valium, causing attacks in which the patient injured himself and was hospitalized for several weeks.
Another incident involved a patient who had difficulty walking due to a neurological disorder. He was forced to walk on his own when the nurses refused to provide him with a wheelchair. According to the indictment, he would crawl on the floor from his room to the bathroom.
These were only some of the instances of abuse described in the 20-page draft.
Health Minister Danny Naveh ordered the department shut down in 2004 after a committee exposed suspected abuse of patients by two staff members. Naveh ordered that 19 patients be transferred to other institutions and the evidence in the case be made available for a police investigation.
Authorities believe that hospital director Yaakov Margolin and assistant director Moshe Abramowitz were aware that these actions were occurring and did nothing to stop them.
Margolin's son, supervisor of the disabled department Mariel Vader Goldberg and head of the autistic department Daniel Meir were also listed among the accused. Dana Ben-Meir denied the allegations Monday and said that the publication of the accusations caused her distress.
None of those accused still work at the hospital.
ENDS