Idaho mother sues treatment center for son’s death

BOISE – The mother of a man who died a week after leaving the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center in Nampa has filed a lawsuit against the state-run facility claiming negligence.

Grace Rodriguez filed the lawsuit Wednesday, and claimed employees at the treatment center and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ignored her 24-year-old son’s life-threatening health conditions, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Her son Moses Rodriguez had severe autism, chronic seizures and developmental disabilities. He left the facility to be placed back in the care of his mother, and he died at an Idaho hospital in November 2015.

The state committed him to the treatment center in August 2015, and the suit claimed that his mother was not notified when the department filed an application for the commitment. Grace Rodriguez had legal guardianship and conservatorship over her son since May 2009.

Moses Rodriguez was hospitalized three times for uncontrolled seizures while at the treatment center, the suit stated. Grace Rodriguez claimed facility employees changed her son’s medications without a doctor’s recommendation, and she attempted to warn them that such changes could lead to complications.

Robert Wechsler, who was Moses Rodriguez’ doctor, said in a letter cited in the suit that his patient should not have been removed from his mother’s care. He said his patient was receiving proper care from his mother.

“I can only assume that there has been some sort of misunderstanding,” Wechsler said. “It is my sincere hope that this issue is worked out and that Moses is returned to his mom’s care quickly.”

After Moses Rodriguez’s second hospitalization, Wechsler wrote a report warning of possible inadequate care.

Phone and email messages left Thursday with the state Department of Health and Welfare seeking comment were not immediately returned.