The “inhumane” conditions at Larned State Hospital, as detailed in a Kansas Department of Health and Environment report, included “multiple unsafe, unclean and unsanitary areas,” and frigid and scalding showers.
As we say in our editorial on today’s Opinion page, state lawmakers deserve credit for looking into the problems and trying to look out for these patients, who have serious and dangerous psychiatric conditions.
It’s no comfort that about three-quarters of the violations were in areas that house the sexual predator treatment program. Those patients may not inspire a lot of public sympathy, but their living conditions cannot be such that their constitutional rights are violated.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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21 Comments
Rhonda,
You are absolutely correct here.
Kansas does not treat people like this. Those weasels looking for wiggle room should be prosecuted. Thank you.
What do you expect? It’s ran by the state. When you make a facility like that, just a jobs program for people living in Larned, you will get nothing by mediocre at best.
If they stop treating it as a jobs program and run it like a true mental hospital, you will get competence and professionalism, positive results and compliance.
But the way it is, it’s just run by a bunch of unqualified people and reaks of nepotism and patronism.
Legislator’s should just show up at Larned unannounced in the middle of the night. They could then see what is really going on at the facility. Instead inspectors announce days ahead of time they are coming which gives employees time to clean up the place.
Larned is a mess. The patients hardly get to actually have any therapy, it’s sad.
I had a family member who was going through a hard time, she attempted suicide multiple times, and was committed by the courts. They sent her to Larned. It took her WEEKS to even see a psychologist. What good is a mental health hospital when all it is is a REALLY poorly run jail?
I swear, at the prison the inmates get better treatment than patients at Larned.
should have been there in the 50’s..this is nothing compared to then.If I could find some of the staff, I’d kill them in a heartbeat.
Oh my god.
You can’t say that.
Hatred speaking….I wouldnt waste my time on them now. They will get theirs in the end
“should have been there in the 50’s..this is nothing compared to then.”
Okay, Bill, I get you. I was very young when I heard the stories, and time has stolen any memory of what I was told (other than the electro-shock “therapy”, which may persist ’til this day–I don’t know). But my sense of it is that it was a very, very ugly scene. I didn’t want to remember.
Yeah, you didn’t even need to be arrested for anything. You could be 17 and rebellious from foster home abuse and then just be warehoused.Good old state people.
Electroshock therapy has been shown to be really beneficial, and not as brutal as it seems.
I would agree that ‘one flew over the cuckoos nest’ was probably accurate as far as the conditions.
Amazes me some of the ethics of that time, like performing experiments on orphans, mentally ill…
I am sorry PM, maybe you should “Google” it first and find out the real repercussions.Try 25 of them and 40 hours of “insulin coma” treatments…better yet..just try one.I have still managed to survive for 50 years and have not even a parking ticket on my record. Was it the treatments?…no IT WAS ME!
Yeah but you’re also the guy who just made a death threat on the lives of those who used to work there.
Trust me, I don’t think hospitals and elderly wards were much better. I’m glad that we’re improving, but we have a long way to go.
Gee I wonder why I would do something like that……….Have a nice day
My experience with the state mental health system dates back to the 1950’s, when I visited to Osawatomi State Hospital on numerous occasions to see my grandmother who was a patient there. It was a hellhole of the worst sort, with patients screaming constantly and running loose, dried feces on the floor, abusive staff members and constant overuse of electroshock.Hopefully, Larned is better than that, but the mentally ill have suffered at the hands of the state, due primarily to a lack of understanding by legislators and budget cuts. In the 1960’s, courts ordered patients released from such institutions and placed in smaller community hospitals. Unfortunately, most of those community based centers were never funded or completely inadequate, so patients were simply released to fend for themselves. Many ended up living on the street.We need a comprehensive, coordinated state and community mental health care system that hospitalizes and treats those who cannot live on the outside, and provides adequate psychiatric and home-based care for those who can. Keeping patients drugged or totally ignored is not the treatment they or our society deserve.
There are too many, not enough handicapped parking spaces in our city
I feel like a fog, not that it matters. I’ve pretty much been doing nothing , but eh. Today was a loss. I haven’t gotten much done for a while.
Blame the parents of a murderer parents for the crime
Pretty much nothing notable happening. My mind is like a complete blank. I’ve just been hanging out waiting for something to happen. Not much on my mind to speak of. I just don’t have anything to say. That’s how it is.
Not much on my mind right now. I haven’t been up to anything. Today was a complete loss. That’s how it is. Not much exciting going on these days.
INCREASING COST OF ENERGY and INFLATED FRAUDULENT BILLING
It is not enough that consumers are paying higher cost for energy – Gas, Electric, Tel., Etc.Due to the market volatility and the increase demand for energy worldwide and the manipulation of market conditions by various corporation.Deregulation, which was designed to save the consumer on the cost of energy. Many new companies have started selling gas and electric in the past 20 years, as a result of this deregulation. We now have numerous deregulated third party suppliers of Gas and Electric that are gouging the consumers – billing prices higher than the regulated utility companies, inflating the bill, billing for product never delivered, billing phantom tax on the product, reneging on fixed price contract – when market prices go beyond the fixed contract. In short any way they can cheat, deceive and defraud the consumer is fair game.Among the companies that practice such tactics is MULTIUT CORP or Multiut LLC of Skokie, Illinois the owner of the company Nachshon Draiman is well connected, one of the previous owners of Multiut was a federal judge and therefore has gotten away with numerous over billing and deceptive practices, there are numerous lawsuits for fraud pending against Multiut Corp and its owner Nachshon Draiman among them a Class Action Suit and Dynegy Mkg & Trade v. Multiut Corp, Nachshon Draiman et al 1:02-cv-07446 The Federal Court has imposed numerous contempt orders against Multiut and its owner and its owner Nachshon Draiman is involved in numerous other fraud in the Nursing Home business (defrauding the state Nursing License with false documents to obtain a Nursing Home License) and a hotel project where he committed a fraud of $45 million dollars and numerous other fraud and deception too numerous to mention. (Especially since Multiut and its owner Nachshon Draiman is represented by Jack Abramoff Law Firm – which has clout).Energy Billing Fraud Charges vs Multiut owned by Nachshon Draiman!Multiut Admitted to holding money belonging to customers
In a Class Action proceeding initiated in November 2001 – The case after numerous delays by Multiut, is now proceeding.Gore vs Multiut – IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS Case No. 01 CH 19688 (See: http://www.antidefamationusa.com)
Another Company is Santana Energy out of Texas. Some utility companies were forced to refund the consumers hundreds of million of dollars due to manipulation of pricing and billing ‚Äì many of those shenanigans stem from the Enron debacle some precede it and continue on to date.Many of these suppliers of Gas and Electric who are promoting saving are actually charging higher prices than the local utility company which defeats the intent of deregulation ‚Äì Multiut’s billing shows 20% to 30% higher cost and billing for gas that was never delivered. Not to mention Multiut’s billing for non existent City of Chicago Tax on Natural gas and inflated billing for lighting retrofit to various Nursing Homes which inflates the Medicaid billing to the government.Corporate CEO and other higher ups in the corporate world have been convicted of fraud and sentenced/fined (WorldCom, Enron, Adelphia, Etc.). But it seems that some companies can continue to defraud the public without being hindered by the authorities.Other frauds by Gas Electric suppliers are: Centerpoint Energy Inc.,Pending lawsuits are: AG files fraud suit against Sempra affiliate alleging Enron-like games.JDThis article is presented by Citizen for Honest and Fair Billing
PSTHREE FORMER NICOR ENERGY EXECUTIVES AND OUTSIDELAWYER INDICTED IN ALLEGED CORPORATE FRAUD SCHEME
CHICAGO — Three former executives of Nicor Energy L.L.C. and an outside lawyer for the Lisle, Ill.-based company were indicted today for allegedly engaging in a corporate fraud scheme to obtain $400,000 in bonuses and other benefits for themselves by inflating revenues – at times by as much as $6 million – and understating expenses to make the company appear more profitable than it actually was in 2001. The defendants allegedly fraudulently deprived Nicor Energy – a retail energy marketing company established in 1997 as a 50/50 joint venture by Nicor Inc. and Dynegy Inc. – of their honest services and caused a loss to investors in publicly-traded Nicor, Inc. and Dynegy. On July 18, 2002, Nicor Inc. issued a press release announcing that its financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2002 were negatively affected by several factors, including irregularities in accounting at Nicor Energy, and the following day, the stock price of Nicor Inc. fell approximately 40 percent. Nicor Energy is currently in the process of final liquidation.
The five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury charges Kevin Stoffer, formerly Nicor Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer; Andrew Johnson, former Director of Financial Services; John Fringer, former Vice President of Major Markets and Power Services; and outside counsel Michael Munson, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of IllinoisJudge Concludes Energy Company Drove Up Pricesby Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Lowell Bergman, September 24, 2002 (New York Times)QUOTE: In the ruling, Curtis L. Wagner Jr., the chief administrative law judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, essentially validates the suspicions of California officials that El Paso, the nation’s largest natural gas company, withheld natural gas from the state, thus driving up the cost of electricity…ABSTRACT: In a judge’s ruling, a company who provides gas and energy supplies was found to have aided in raising the price of gas and electricity in California during previous energy crisis’s. The El Paso Corporation allegedly withheld natural gas, and in doing so, raised both gas and electricity prices. The ruling is still up for further review and many lawsuits are pending, but the El Paso Corporation contends that operations were normal and that an appeal will follow if the current decision is upheld.— C. Heimbuch-Skaley
MADIGAN, DALEY ANNOUNCE $196 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH PEOPLES ENERGY; CUSTOMERS OF PEOPLES GAS AND NORTH SHORE GAS TO RECEIVE $100 MILLION IN CREDITSChicago ‚Äì Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Mayor Richard M. Daley today announced that Peoples Energy has agreed to more than $196 million in consumer credits and benefits as part of a settlement that will provide much-needed relief to current Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas customers, establish a more than $25 million program of conservation and weatherization assistance for low- and moderate-income households and reconnect customers who have been disconnected from their heating services due to an inability to pay the high gas prices.MADIGAN, DALEY, CUB ANNOUNCE REFUND CREDITS TO APPEAR ON NEXT GAS BILL FOR CUSTOMERS OF PEOPLES GAS AND NORTH SHORE GASChicago — Attorney General Lisa Madigan, City of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Executive Director David Kolata today announced that as a result of their settlement agreement with Peoples Energy more than one million current customers of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas will see refund credits on their next gas bills.To compensate for over billing consumers between 2000 and 2004, Peoples Energy has agreed to provide a refund credit to each of the 1,014,071 current customers of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. The credits ‚Äì totaling $100 million ‚Äì will be included on the first bill received by customers after April 24.‚”These refund credits cannot change the conduct of Peoples Energy, but they will help consumers who suffered as a result,” Madigan said. “This is an appropriate response to Peoples’ conduct.”‚”We are pleased that consumers are finally receiving the refunds that they deserve,” said City of Chicago Corporation Counsel Mara Georges. “Consumers should not have to pay for bad planning and business decisions by Peoples Gas.”WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007Justice Department Investigating NY Energy MarketsNew York’s wholesale energy market is being investigated for possible antitrust violations, according to a recent news report. A Newsday story indicates that a subject of the investigation may be possible withholding of capacity from the market, to drive prices up. This revelation has raised further questions regarding the proposed merger of National Grid and Keyspan, which controls significant amounts of generation capacity in the New York City markets.Reliance Energy fraud on consumers
REL power bills have shocked Mumbai citizens, who will now have to pay double the amount they had been paying. A citizen pins down — point-by-point — the discrepancies in this billing and warns of the “REL fraud” perpetrated on the consumer.2007.09.17Oilman on trial in New York was involved in Austin’s 1970s energy crisisMonday, September 10, 2007Former president of Coastal States Gas charged with wire fraud and conspiracyLawyers for Austin and San Antonio also learned that Lo-Vaca was selling gas to utilities serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area at the same time it was curtailing in Austin and San Antonio. In 1974 and 1975, Austin and other customers sued Lo-Vaca for $1.6 billion in rate overcharges.BP & Reliant – Guilty of Price Fixing
In yet another settlement over the California Energy Crisis, BP & Reliant admit guilt and settle with the State of California.
Source: TheTip, 2003-07-21
Candidate: Enron
Naturally, the settlement does nothing to compensate the hundreds of thousands of people whose jobs and lives were ruined by the FERC-Caused California Recession.
BP Energy agreed to contribute $3 million to fund low-income home energy assistance programs in California and Arizona to settle a case in which federal energy regulators said that they found apparent evidence of power price manipulation.
In March, staff members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a report on the 2000-01 energy crisis in the West. It said it found evidence indicating Reliant Resources and BP Energy, both based in Houston, appeared to have engaged in coordinated efforts to manipulate power prices at a trading hub in Arizona.
Both companies were ordered to demonstrate why their authority to sell power on unregulated wholesale markets shouldn’t be revoked.
BP Energy doesn’t lose that ability under the settlement. But for six months, BP Energy’s electricity sales in the West will be subject to review by the FERC with the possibility of refunds.Mid America Energy Inc.,The Securities and Exchange Commission said today that it had filed a civil complaint against Gary M. Milby and his company, Mid-America Energy Inc., asserting that they bilked several hundred investors of more than $19 million in what the commission described as “a fraudulent oil-and-gas investment scheme.”
SEC charges four more former Nortel execsAllegations the men manipulated reserves to change Nortel earningsThe Associated PressUpdated: 6:36 a.m. PT Sept 13, 2007TORONTO – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four more former Nortel Networks Corp. executives with accounting fraud, alleging they manipulated reserves to change Nortel’s earnings statements on the orders of more senior officers of the Canadian networking equipment maker.Sept. 21, 2007
Al consumo critico antiracket l“Oscar della partecipazione civica