I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The family of a Michigan veteran who committed suicide after returning from Iraq is suing the federal government for negligence in handling his psychiatric care for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Randen Harvey, a Marine Corps veteran who did two tours of duty in Iraq, killed himself on June 15, 2006 after being treated at a VA clinic and told to go home and wait for a call about entering rehab for substance abuse.
According to the complaint, Harvey was honorably discharged in November, 2005, and in March, 2006, he went to the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center for diagnosis and treatment for PTSD. He was given Wellbutrin and Xanax. Over the next three months, Harvey was frequently depressed and suicidal and was in and out of VA clinics.
On April 17, 2006, he attempted suicide and was taken to the hospital. He was placed in an outpatient treatment program and released the next day. Two weeks later, he was officially diagnosed with “PTSD, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and alcohol abuse.” Two weeks after that, he was enrolled in a Hospital-Based Intensive Outpatient Program (HIOT) and moved into an apartment with other patients.
After complaining that he had been assaulted by another patient in the program, the complaint says, Harvey returned to using drugs and tested positive for cocaine and marijuana. He became suicidal again and on June 10, was found on the roof of the medical center. He was then told he was being discharged from the HIOT program because of the positive drug test. He was released and told to go home and wait for a phone call about a substance abuse program he could enter. Three days later, he committed suicide by drug overdose.
Harvey’s family is suing for negligence and medical malpractice, claiming that the VA doctors violated the standards of care for a patient in his condition. They are asking for $660,000 in compensatory damages for medical and funeral costs and for emotional distress.
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