Ex-patient claims malpractice, sues
treatment center
Copper Hills: He says a medication caused a painful injury and
long-term damage
By Kirsten Stewart
The Salt Lake Tribune
July 22, 2006
Allegations of abuse and other
misdeeds continue to plague Copper Hills Youth Center, a West Jordan
psychiatric facility for troubled youth.
Andrew Tafoya of Los Lunas, N.M., has
filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the treatment center and
one of its former doctors, James A. Miller, alleging that an
anti-depressant Tafoya was prescribed while a patient at Copper
Hills left him permanently disabled and disfigured.
The complaint follows probes by Utah
licensors and child welfare officials into alleged physical and
sexual assaults at Copper Hills. The facility was cleared, though
investigators suggested improvements to the supervision, training
and criminal screening of employees.
Utah Human Services licensing
director Ken Stettler said there have been no recent complaints or
sanctions filed against Copper Hills. State Division of Occupational
and Professional Licensing officials, who are responsible for
investigating individual malpractice claims, won't disclose whether
Miller is under investigation. To date, no disciplinary actions have
been filed.
Tafoya was admitted to Copper Hills
in December 2002 for depression and a drug abuse problem. He was 17
years old.
According to his lawsuit, he was
prescribed several medications by supervising physician Miller,
including trazodone hydrochloride, an anti-depressant sold under the
brand name Desyrel.
"Within weeks of first taking the
trazodone, Tafoya began experiencing painful erections lasting 1 to
2 hours," the lawsuit states.
According to a warning posted by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one side effect of trazodone is
priapism, a persistent erection caused by a pathologic condition
rather than sexual desire.
The FDA recommends that patients who
experience priapism stop using trazodone immediately and contact
their doctor. Left untreated, priapism can result in permanent
damage and impotence.
Tafoya said he told Miller about his
negative side effects, but staff continued to prescribe and
administer trazodone.
Since returning home in the summer of
2003, Tafoya has continued to suffer bouts of priapism, requiring at
least three corrective surgical procedures, the lawsuit says.
Neither Miller nor Copper Hills
executive director Mike Rowley could be reached for comment. Tafoya,
now an adult, also did not respond to attempts to contact him.
In January 2006, the Division of
Child and Family Services canceled its contract with Copper Hills
for residential, or inpatient, treatment of foster children. Human
services spokeswoman Carol Sisco said a second outpatient contract
is currently up for annual review.
Up to 17 foster children and four
juvenile delinquents under state custody are currently being treated
there, said Sisco.
Prompting one of the earlier probes
was the 2005 arrest of a counselor on seven felony counts of sodomy
and forcible sexual abuse of a teenager under her care. The alleged
perpetrator, Melanie April Seager, has yet to stand trial.
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