An Arkansas doctor has been arrested along with seven other people for their alleged roles in a long-running fraud and kidnapping scheme targeting patients being treated inside a hospital’s medical unit.
The Department of Justice disagrees with the psychiatrist Brian Hyatt he was the mastermind behind this program at the Northwest Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit in Springdale, which he led between 2018 and 2022.
Some of those arrested in the federal investigation were senior registered nurses Devon Talbert again Lindsey Hess Goucherregistered nurse and former director of the Northwest Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit Miranda Newburnwho was the referral coordinator for admissions and evaluations in the behavioral health unit Robert Green and previous health unit technology Georgette “Gigi” Rice, Owen Benjaminagain Collin Harlan.
They face charges of kidnapping, Medicare fraud and drug-related charges.
The federal lawsuit alleges that the eight defendants held hospital patients against their will, sometimes using chemical restraints — or the use of powerful drugs.
They also used verbal threats, intimidation, coercion, and force to keep patients captive in the medical facility.
Federal prosecutors say the scheme’s motive was financial, with patients kept longer than necessary to collect Medicare, Medicaid and private bills.
Employees, the lawsuit claims, often gave patients who wanted to leave “another shot,” which made them stay.
Hyatt has been named in more than 200 civil lawsuits, all of which accuse him of manipulating patients to increase profits.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin he said in a statement that his office had led a federal investigation into Hyatt’s plan.
“My office led the investigation and prosecution of Dr. Hyatt at the federal level, and I am pleased to see federal authorities bring their own charges,” Griffin said. “We are working closely with our federal partners in their case to ensure that Hyatt and his associates are arrested for their crimes.”
A former Detroit, Michigan, nurse accused of sexually abusing more than two dozen women is facing new felony charges related to sexually abusing five other patients, according to prosecutors. Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios, 47, of Wayne, was charged with sexually assaulting a total of eight women, including the seven women who sexually assaulted them. […]
Attorneys for the Hyatt victims told 5 News Online that the federal charges are encouraging. Matt Lindsaya partner at the Odom Law Firm who represents one of the alleged victims, said the indictment confirms many of these charges.
“We think this is the first step toward justice for the thousands of victims in this fraudulent, frankly, kidnapping scheme at Northwest Medical Center,” Lindsay said. “People seeking help for mental health problems deserve to be treated with integrity and kindness, and for their stories to be heard.”
Attorneys hope the charges will bring in more victims of the Hyatt shooter, they told the station.
