Allegations of fraud, neglect and abuse at psychiatric facilities continue, despite costly lawsuits against companies operating the facilities.  Citizens Commission on Human Rights advocates reforms to ensure human rights-based mental health treatment.

Three former employees of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW) have been indicted on charges of criminal negligence stemming from a patient death at the facility in 2020, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Two of those charged were employed by PIW as psychiatric counselors and the third as a registered nurse.  

The indictment alleges that when the three discovered that a 58-year-old male patient had stopped breathing and was unresponsive, they “failed to timely and properly assess [him], failed to perform CPR, and failed to provide any potentially lifesaving measures.” 

The patient did not receive any lifesaving measures for at least 21 minutes, after which he could not be resuscitated, the government alleges.   

During a press conference to announce the indictment, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that the incident was recorded on video.

“It’s as though the patient on the floor who was suffering from labored breathing is not even there,” she said.  “He was left to die.  They stood over him without offering help.”

All three have pleaded not guilty, according to Pirro.

PIW, where both voluntary and the majority of Washington’s involuntarily committed patients are treated, has long been the subject of reports alleging abuse, neglect, and other unsafe conditions at the facility.  

Disability Rights DC (DRDC), designated as the protection and advocacy agency for Washington under federal legislation, has issued three alarming reports on PIW: “A Disturbing Death in 2021, detailing the incident that led to the present indictments; Do No Harm: Multiple Incidents of Abuse and Neglect in 2022; and Unsafe and Unprotected in 2024.

The Washingtonian published exposés of PIW in September 2025 and February 2026, based on former employees’ allegations of violence, staff misconduct, and substandard care at the facility.  A former health aide is quoted as saying, “I mean, this place is actually trauma-inducing.”

The parent company of PIW is Universal Health Services (UHS).  In 2020, UHS paid $117 million to settle U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations that a number of its psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health facilities across the U.S. knowingly submitted false claims for payment from federal health insurance programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.  UHS is one of the largest operators of behavioral health facilities in the U.S.

DOJ alleged that between January 2006 and December 2018, UHS facilities admitted individuals whose conditions did not require inpatient care; failed to properly discharge patients who no longer required inpatient care; billed for services not rendered and for improper and excessive lengths of stay; failed to provide adequate staffing, training, and/or supervision of staff; and improperly used physical and chemical restraints and seclusion. 

The government acknowledged the essential assistance provided by whistleblowers, who received a portion of the UHS financial settlement under the federal False Claims Act.   The DOJ notes the settlement resolved allegations but did not determine liability.

“The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) for decades has received complaints from individuals who have been wrongfully admitted, forcibly drugged, and indefinitely detained in psychiatric facilities,” said Anne Goedeke, president of the CCHR National Affairs Office.  “This is nothing less than human rights abuse.  Facilities that engage in these practices must be shut down.  Laws must be enacted to stop this abuse so that human rights and dignity can be restored to the field of mental health.”