Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Family sues, hopes to find
some answers
to son’s death
NPI: Lawsuit claims hospital involved
in cover-up scheme
By Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Since the apparent suicide of their son Sujon on Nov. 29, 1993,
the Guha family has been searching for answers.
Now, more than five years later, their suit against the UCLA
Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital (NPIH), its medical staff
and the UC Regents is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 23.
Implicating NPIH in a wrongful death suit and a possible
cover-up, Arun Guha, father of the deceased, filed suit claiming
the hospital was negligent in caring for his son and that this led
to his death in 1993.
While the elder Guha asserts Sujon had no history of psychotic
behavior, his son’s problems began while on a business trip to
Southeast Asia.
While overseas, the younger Guha received five medications from
a doctor at a Hilton in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among these was
Maxolon, a drug that has been shown to cause psychotic side effects
in some people.
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 1993, Guha said he
had suicidal tendencies. He was involuntarily admitted to the
NPIH’s maximum security ward for the next three days; on the fourth
day, he was moved to voluntary stay.
Only five days after being admitted, Guha was found hanging from
a belt in his hospital room closet. The coroner ruled the death as
a suicide.
"Not only did the incident take our son’s life and destroyed the
family, but it is a danger to all future patients," said the elder
Guha in a previous article.
This incident later prompted an investigation which prevented
the hospital from receiving full accreditation.
During the 1995 accreditation survey, family members of several
hospital patients came forward to speak before the Joint Commission
on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Many alleged
their family members also suffered mistreatment at the hands of the
hospital.
As a result, the UCLA hospital received conditional
accreditation, a status given to only 1 percent of hospitals
nationwide. In 1998, their accreditation was restored.
Now under full accreditation, the hospital is still facing the
Guha suit which among allegations accuses the hospital of wrongful
death and negligence. Though the trial is scheduled for Feb. 23, a
recent development – the judge removed himself from the case – may
push the trial date back further.
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