Woman Says She was Abused, Threatened at Indianapolis Behavioral Health Facility

Source: Cohen and Malad, LLP Attorneys

INDIANAPOLIS--A lawsuit filed with the Indiana Department of Insurance says there’s been systemic malpractice by one of the largest operators of psychiatric hospitals in the United States.

It’s against Acadia Healthcare, which has ten facilities in Indiana. Paige Dufour says she was unlawfully held at an Acadia facility in Indianapolis back in March 2024. She is being represented by the law firm Cohen & Malad, LLP.

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Dufour says this all happened at Options Behavioral Health Hospital in Indianapolis, which is part of Acadia between March 18 and March 24, 2024. She went there because she wanted to be treated for depression and anxiety.

When she arrived on the 18th, Dufour says she was taken to a small intake room and given paperwork to sign to allow her insurance to be billed. After that, she says things got progressively worse.

“They took really invasive photos of my body that they later say they could not find,” said Dufour.

Dufour claims she was kept in the intake room for seven hours while cold and hungry until the early morning on March 19.   Meanwhile, Options contacted her insurance. Though she had self-admitted for a maximum of three nights, Options requested five.

As soon as pre-approval was granted, Dufour’s “needed” treatment plan was set: five full nights, discharge on March 23. Both she and her attorneys say this was done without an evaluation by a psychiatrist, and without her consent. In fact, no one informed her any changes had been made to the treatment plan.

“I did not receive any kind of therapy. There was no therapy while I was there. They advertise that those things are available on their website. I did not have access to sufficient food for most of my stay. Other patients were in the same situation,” said Dufour.

Dufour says when she and other patients tried to leave the facility, they were threatened with retaliation.

“I arrived on Monday night. On Wednesday, I was informed that I would be released the following day. That afternoon, I met with another staff member and they told me, ‘I don’t know why they told you that. You’re not going home until Saturday.’ Then when I asked her why that was happening, she said, ‘I don’t know. They don’t tell me anything,” said Dufour.

Dufour says she witnessed other patients who lived in low-income housing tell staff there that they needed to leave or else they would lose their jobs, but Dufour says the staff wouldn’t let them leave.

“Emotional patients were warned by staff that they would get ‘the shot’, which was understood to be a sedative if they were not complacent,” said Dufour.

She believes this was all a plan by Options to exhaust her pre-approved insurance coverage in an attempt to get more money.

Dufour was finally let out on March 23 because of that predetermination on the part of Options.

“The people who needed to sign off on my paperwork all did it on the day before (March 22). They were sufficiently convinced that I could go a full day before that,” said Dufour.

She says she will never forget the immense relief she, her husband, and her children felt when she was allowed to see them again.

“But people need to also understand, that they are abusing children here too, not just adults,” said Dufour.

Cohen & Malad, LLP says they are several Acadia victims across multiple states.