‘Treated like an animal’: More troubling stories at Indy mental health facility

INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — Dustin Fogt didn’t want to hand over his phone passcode to staff at Options Behavioral Health Hospital in Lawrence.

But he said that didn’t stop them from restraining him, bending back his fingers so he’d let go of his phone and striking him in the ribs. After his wife called the police, a Lawrence officer noted in an incident report the marks on the 46-year-old man’s wrists, still visible three days later.

The details, contained in a Sept. 30 lawsuit, also described the aftermath: Options staff warned Fogt not to press charges — otherwise, they’d keep him at the facility even longer.

“I went along with it because I didn’t want to be there,” Fogt told Mirror Indy. “I wanted to get out as soon as possible.”

He is among more than a dozen former patients who have spoken to Mirror Indy or the law firm Cohen & Malad since learning in a Mirror Indy article last month about the experiences of Paige Dufour. The Noblesville woman said she was held against her will in March until the company maximized the amount of billing it could charge her insurance company.

Like Dufour, Fogt believes the facility locked him up not for a medical reason, but to make more money. Both patients are pursuing legal action against Acadia Healthcare, which operates 50 psychiatric hospitals across the country, including Options and two other locations in the Indianapolis area.

The company is facing similar allegations across the country. Last month, Acadia agreed to pay nearly $20 million after the Department of Justice looked into its practices from 2014-17, including allegations that the company detained patients longer than medically necessary to bill their insurance, as well as defrauding Medicare and Medicaid programs. The company also did not provide required mental health treatments or therapy, investigators alleged, saying that understaffing at the facilities led to assaults and suicides. Acadia settled the claims and did not admit to any wrongdoing.

A recent New York Times investigation, though, found that these practices seem to be continuing in facilities across the country. There are dozens of complaints of patients being raped, assaulted, denied medications or held against their will under Acadia’s care.

The behavioral health giant is now facing new investigations into its admissions and billing practices, with requests for documents from a New York federal prosecutor and a subpoena from a federal grand jury in Missouri. It’s unclear if any investigations are happening here: Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana, which includes the Indianapolis area, or the Indiana Attorney General’s Office would say.

The company, meanwhile, has disputed media reports of patients being kept longer because of their insurance coverage or ability to pay. Acadia spokesperson Tim Blair said decisions about patient care are made by licensed physicians based on medical necessity and legal requirements, and said Options has a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior: “Our commitment to the highest standards of care and integrity remains steadfast.”

When informed by Mirror Indy about the patients’ experiences that would be shared in this article, Blair said the stories were “distressing” but Acadia was unable to “substantiate allegations provided by Mirror Indy.”

But former patients maintain they were held against their will and endured mistreatment from staff.

One woman said Options misdiagnosed her to keep her longer and charge insurance for a new medication. Another said staff tried to coerce her into leaving her son at the facility, threatening that insurance wouldn’t cover the visit if she signed him out.

And Fogt, who lives in McCordsville, described long days at the facility without therapy or psychiatric care, staring at a TV replaying ‘90s music videos.

Fogt was sent to Options on March 4 after his wife took him to the emergency room at IU Health Saxony Hospital in Fishers for an overdose. He said he woke up in the facility not knowing where he was or why he was placed under a 72-hour emergency detainment — something a doctor can order when a person is a danger to themselves or others.

During intake, Fogt was willing to give up his phone and belongings, he said, but refused to unlock his phone. Fogt said he wanted to protect his privacy and only shared his password when staff members restrained and hit him.

After the incident, Fogt said he was stuck at Options for three days past the involuntary hold. When he tried to sign himself out, per the lawsuit, staff threatened to seek a two-week court order to keep him longer. They ended up holding him until his insurance was exhausted, Fogt said.

His wife contacted the police after learning about the alleged assault.

“I want that place shut down,” said Lauren Fogt, who works as a nurse. “They shouldn’t be taking people’s money. My husband was treated like an animal.”

‘This place isn’t right’

Paige Dufour’s story sparked an outpouring.

In the article last month, the 39-year-old Dufour described how she was held against her will at Options — labeling the facility as a “kennel for vulnerable people.”

Since then, the Cohen & Malad law firm has accepted seven cases from former patients, attorney Chad Bradford said, and the phone keeps ringing. Some patients inside the facility heard about Mirror Indy’s article from their families and called the law firm as soon as they were released in late September.

There are common threads in each story: someone experiencing a mental health crisis goes to an emergency room, where they receive a referral or recommendation to the Lawrence facility. In most cases, they check in voluntarily, only to find themselves stuck for days and discouraged from leaving — or even threatened when they try. Many patients reported verbal or physical abuse from staff. All of them said they did not receive the therapy that Options advertises.

“Most people feel powerless and comply as a result,” Bradford said. “From looking at billing records, the big ticket item is not staff visiting with patients or consulting with them — it’s the room and board for each night.”

In addition to Dufour and Fogt, Mirror Indy spoke to four patients who provided medical records, photos and text messages documenting their time at Options. Most said they didn’t pursue legal action because they couldn’t afford to hire an attorney or they wanted to move on from the trauma.

But Mackenzie Bryant, 27, couldn’t stay quiet any longer when she read about Dufour’s experience, which included allegations that staff took pictures of her naked.

“It made me wonder where my naked photos are,” said Bryant, who lives in Rushville.

The mother of four has borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to health records. She went to Franciscan Health Indianapolis in August, distressed about her husband’s recent illness. Staff there recommended going to Options, she said. Franciscan Health declined to comment.

Both women said inappropriate photos were taken of them during intake at the facility.

It’s not uncommon for facilities to review a patient’s body for marks. But Dufour’s lawyers said they are concerned about the existence of nude photographs, especially because they have not been located or returned to her.

Bryant said she doesn’t know where her photographs are either — but they show up in her nightmares about the facility.

“It was humiliating,” she said. “This place isn’t right.”

Lily Sanders, too, carries painful memories from a February 2023 stay at Options. She’s reminded every time she looks in the mirror.

The 41-year-old from North Vernon in southeast Indiana said she was taken to Ascension St. Vincent Jennings Hospital by police after a family member expressed concerns about her alcohol use disorder and depression. She said the hospital sent her more than 70 miles away to the Acadia facility in Lawrence.

Sanders was placed under a three-day involuntary hold. But, she said, the required 72-hours soon became five days.

“I told (Options) I was not suicidal,” Sanders said. “I pointed out that keeping me trapped here was just making the anxiety and despair worse.”

Sanders said she was threatened by another patient because she is a transgender woman. Staff brushed off her concerns, she said, so she stayed in her room and went hungry, missing multiple group meals to avoid being assaulted. Like other patients, she described having to keep her door cracked at all times without access to an emergency call button.

Fear kept Sanders up at night. Staff gave her a sedative to help her sleep, she said. One night, on a higher dose, she got up to go to the bathroom and passed out, breaking three teeth. Bleeding and crying, she said she asked staff for emergency care or to find a dentist.

“They just gave me some painkillers and told me to go back to bed,” Sanders said. “I never did get to see any doctor about what happened.”

When she smiles, you can see her cracked teeth. More than a year later, it still hurts to eat.

Hospitals send patients to Options

Hospitals typically send patients to behavioral health centers like Options when they don’t have any space.

That’s what happened to Hannah Hurst in March 2021. After giving birth to her son, the then-21-year-old checked into the emergency room at IU Health Methodist Hospital for postpartum psychosis. But the hospital was out of room, she said, so staff recommended she spend a weekend at Options. That quickly became six days at the facility, where Hurst said she was misdiagnosed and put on medication she didn’t need.

Even though the single mother is not pursuing legal action, she wanted to warn others about what she experienced at Options.

“The psychiatrist walked in and didn’t look at me or ask why I was there,” Hurst said. “Without looking at any medical history or taking any tests, she diagnosed me with bipolar.”

The Indy resident said she asked to leave the facility multiple times, but was told by staff that she needed to stay because of the new diagnosis and medication. They prescribed Latuda, she said, an antipsychotic that helps regulate mood. Immediately after leaving the facility, though, Hurst’s regular psychiatrist took her off of the medication.

Hurst believes Options gave her a new diagnosis and treatment as an excuse to hold her longer and charge more money to her insurance company.

“These were symptoms I’d never had in my life,” she said. “I always thought it was for an extra bill.”

Four of the six patients interviewed by Mirror Indy said they were referred to Options by IU Health. The health system declined to comment, citing patient privacy, but said it sends people to behavioral health facilities when no beds are available in emergency departments.

“After transfer, no additional information is shared with IU Health pertaining to the patient’s care,” spokesperson Krystin Wiggs said in an email. “In light of these allegations, we are seeking additional information to determine our future course of action.”

IU Health would not answer follow-up questions posed by Mirror Indy, including whether the hospital chain is still currently referring patients to Options or other Acadia facilities.

Neither would Franciscan Health, which declined to comment, or Ascension St. Vincent.

“We follow established clinical protocols to ensure that each decision is made with the patient’s best interests in mind and the rights of our patients are respected,” said Dan McFeely, a spokesperson for Ascension St. Vincent.

Bradford, the medical malpractice attorney, said calls to the law firm about Options aren’t slowing down.

“There’s a serious need for quality mental health care and those facilities that do it well are full,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an accident that Options has beds available.”

‘I want my child now’

Tara Folks, 52, said she worries about patients who don’t have family members or can’t advocate for themselves.

Her teenage son was sent to Options by Riley Children’s Hospital in Oct. 2021 after self-harming.

“Options set his treatment back by a year,” Folks said. “The adults didn’t care, they were just putting him through the system.”

She remembered when her son called her from the facility. He said he wasn’t receiving any therapy: “Mom can you come get me?”

She drove to Options and learned they planned to keep her son for a week. She said a staff member warned her against signing him out because insurance might not pay for it and threatened to call Child Protective Services.

“It’s like they were trying to coerce me,” Folks said. “Can you imagine how many parents end up keeping their kids there?”

But this story had a different ending.

“I want my child now,” Folks told the staff. “I will find a way to pay for it.”

The two walked out together and went home.

Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at 317-721-7648 or email maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.