Second Patient Hurt During Takedown Official Plans To Call For Review Of Eastern’s Restraint Procedure

The fight to get Michael DeRyan out of Eastern State Hospital heated up after he was injured by staff when he tried to leave his ward without permission.

His face was scraped and bruised June 20. An outside investigator found that Eastern staff did nothing wrong.

Now another patient is coming forward, with the same facial map of bruises and scrapes as DeRyan.

Marvin Anderson, 31, said he was taken down by staff two weeks ago when he walked into the breakfast room. Anderson, who was on the same ward as DeRyan, said a staff member called him a loser while restraining him.

“Michael DeRyan is a poor, defenseless person,” said Anderson, diagnosed with schizophrenia. “Most of these people out here are.”

A county official said he plans to call for an outside review of restraint procedures at Eastern. Kasey Kramer, the county’s community services director, said he wanted the policies reviewed because of complaints from the families of DeRyan and Anderson.

Anderson’s mother, Jan D’Agostino, said the family was concerned about coming forward for fear of retaliation against Anderson.

She has pictures of his most recent bruises, and of his face from four years ago when he was injured at Eastern.

Eastern Superintendent C. Jan Gregg said she was unaware of Anderson’s recent injuries. She said staff is trained to deal with patients when they’re upset.

“The first thing you try to do, is try to calm people down verbally,” Gregg said. “Then you offer them quiet time. Some of them are willing to go to seclusion to sit by themselves for a while.

“Sometimes the person is so agitated and so out of it there’s really no way you can calm them down. They’re physically into it. The only way you could contain them is with physical containment.”

But family members question why the containment results in bruises.

“These people are supposedly trained in proper takedowns,” D’Agostino said. “Nobody should ever be hurt. I have to wonder, what training the staff is getting if people are getting hurt like this.”

Kramer said he’s already asked Eastern to protect Anderson and another patient who’s complained about DeRyan’s treatment.

John Imus, 34, said he saw the staff restrain both Anderson and DeRyan. He is an adamant man in flip-flops and sweats who said he understands why the staff needs to restrain some patients.

“They’re trained to take down people because they’re out of control,” said Imus, diagnosed with schizophrenia and antisocial behavior. “But most of the time, we’re not trying to fight them. We’re trying to get away.”

, DataTimes