Mental Health Care Medicaid Provider Seeks Monetary and Punitive Damages From State Health Care Officials
Federal Judge Strips 11th Amendment Immunity From Four Defendants
TULSA, Okla., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire
Judge Lee R. West of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma
has cleared the way for a nonprofit mental health care provider in southeast Oklahoma to seek monetary and punitive damages against four officials of the Oklahoma Health Care
Authority.
On Feb. 6, Southeast Oklahoma Family Services and A.M. Evans, a consultant and owner of the organization's predecessor, filed a class action
lawsuit to restore clinical services to 740 mentally and behaviorally ill Medicaid recipients served by SOFS and to force the authority to reinstate Medicaid payments that it was withholding.
Named in the suit were the authority and four state officials charged with its operation: Mike Fogarty, Terri Fritz, Dr. Lynn Mitchell and Dana Brown.
Evans and SOFS, through their attorneys at Holden & McKenna, alleged that
the authority and the four officials acted unlawfully when they withheld Medicaid
payments and attempted to terminate SOFS' Medicaid provider contract. They contend the action, which they called "a death sentence for a
health care provider," was taken in an attempt to silence Evans' vocal criticism of Oklahoma's Medicaid funding system.
On Feb. 12, Judge West said evidence in the case showed an "uncanny correlation" between Evans' exercise of free speech rights and administrative actions taken by the health care authority. He granted an injunction prohibiting the defendants from imposing the "death sentence" upon the organization and restoring its pre-death sentence operations.
In response, the defendants requested that the court dismiss the claims against them or grant them immunity as state officials. On Aug. 14, West denied this relief, opening the door for the plaintiffs to seek monetary damages, including punitive damages.
"As much as I hate to say it, it appears that we are witnessing a vendetta against Milton Evans by the Health Care Authority with a lot of innocent people caught in the middle," said Steve Holden of Holden & McKenna.
"The judge's latest ruling allows us to move forward in our attempt to get help for hundreds of mentally ill individuals who have been denied reasonable access to Medicaid services."
Michael S. Ashworth, an attorney with Holden & McKenna and long-time advocate of the rights of the mentally ill, noted that, "this is one of the very rare times when state officials have been denied immunity under the Eleventh Amendment."
Ashworth said the discovery phase of the proceedings has begun with the plaintiffs requesting full access to records that the authority
previously refused to provide.
Stephen J. Capron, of Holden & McKenna, predicted these documents will deliver the "final blow" to the defendants.
Capron compared the case to the Brent Van Meter scandal noting similarities in the offices of the defendants and the personal relationship between Fogarty and Van Meter.
Capron also pointed out that the FBI served a subpoena on Fogarty's office during the Van Meter investigation.
"We have a unique opportunity to serve the public at large and to eliminate the waste which accompanies corruption in government," Capron said. "This action is good for everyone."
SOURCE Holden & McKenna
