In an ongoing saga of patient dumping by the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital, ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit against the hospital, prominent hospital staff members including Dr. Anurag Gupta, and other state government agencies

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada in cooperation with Sacramento civil rights attorney, Mark Merin, filed a class action lawsuit challenging the practice of dumping psychiatric patients in out of state locations. Over the last four years, Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Law Vegas, bussed 1500 patients to out of state to cities where the patient had no family, no friends or contacts, leaving the patient without arrangements for housing, hospitalization or follow-up care. Agencies investigating the violation of required discharge practices have deplored the patient dumping.

It is accused the defendants named in the lawsuit (including Dr. Gupta) drugged Mr. Brown, a psychiatric patient, with a tranquilizer and sent him out of state without his consent on a Greyhound Bus to a facility that was not prepared to take him. Mr. Brown was treated at the facility for three days and was discharged with a one way bus ticket to Sacramento, CA where he knew no one.

The court records claim the defendants denied or violated patients’ constitutional rights.  Patients, such as Mr. Brown, were involuntarily placed on Greyhound buses and sent out of state without prior arrangements having been made for follow-up care. These patients were not informed where they should go to receive continuing care upon arrival at their destinations. Discharge orders did not specify the amount of nutritional supplements to be provided to the patients for their extended bus trips; and appropriate and necessary prescription medications were not provided. Furthermore, necessary information was not provided on discharge documentation.  An investigation shows, defendants sent 1500 patients in the same way for years.

Prior investigation by the authorities found that on many occasions patients were not given adequate follow-up treatment plans and were bused to their homes in other states did not meet the certain standards in the discharge of adult patients on multiple antipsychotic medications. 

Currently, all the patient dumping cases are being investigated by the local Nevada and California authorities.  Rawson Neal hospital has since fired two Indian Physicians –Senior Psychiatrists Dr. Anurag Gupta and Dr. Rao Puvvada.

Dr. Anurag Gupta is a graduate of Maulana Azad College, New Delhi and completed his residency in Psychiatry from SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse.