Indictment of hospital group is legal overreach by district attorney, lawyers say

Attorneys for a North Texas hospital corporation indicted this week on accusations that it involuntarily and illegally held patients filed a motion Friday requesting that the indictment be quashed.

SAS Healthcare Inc., commonly known as Sundance Behavioral Heathcare System, was indicted Wednesday on nine criminal counts alleging violations of the Texas Mental Health Code.

The corporation, which provides inpatient and outpatient treatment for children and adults and specializes in the treatment of mental health, chemical dependency, and detoxification, is accused of holding four patients involuntarily and illegally at its Arlington hospital.

In a statement released Friday morning, the law firm of Varghese Summersett — which is representing Sundance Behavioral Healthcare System — accused the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office of getting involved in an issue where it doesn’t belong:

“At a basic level, we have people without medical degrees ordering licensed mental health professionals to violate their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm and then criminally prosecuting them for delay in a patient’s release, even when the delay was a result of medical professionals acting in the best interest of the patient and the community,” the statement said.

“Texas Health and Human Services regulates hospitals and has the power to sanction or even shut down mental health facilities for violations. They have investigated Sundance and are the only proper entity to regulate deficiencies,” the statement continued.

“The allegations, while shocking to those unfamiliar with behavioral health, are not unique to Sundance or mental health facilities and do not fall below the standard of care for mental health facilities. This move by our Criminal District Attorney should concern us all. Think about this criminal prosecution the next time you see an untreated mental health patient at a homeless shelter, on the street corner, or in your neighborhood — an occurrence which will now certainly increase with alarming regularity,” the statement said.

On Thursday, prosecutors had filed an 11-page notice of extraneous offenses and bad acts that they intend to introduce that accused the corporation and its agents, including not welfare checks, then lying about it, in regards to a patient who committed suicide in its Arlington hospital last month to not timely reporting — or reporting at all — sexual assaults and assaults to the proper authorities.

This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Indictment of hospital group is legal overreach by district attorney, lawyers say."