SPRINGDALE, Ark. — It's now been more than two months since federal officials confirmed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating Dr. Brian Hyatt.
One former patient of the Behavioral Health Unit at Northwest Health under the care of Dr. Brian Hyatt says he was sued by the hospital for not paying his bill— a bill for services he says he never received.
“Just being served legal paperwork, especially at my private home, has caused a lot of duress, and just caused everything to be brought up again,” said William Vanwhy.
Vanwhy is one of many former patients of Dr. Brian Hyatt who has sued the psychiatrist and hospital with claims of being held against his will at the Behavioral Health Unit. There is bodycam video from when a court order had to be brought to the unit by a deputy for Vanwhy to be released.
“[The lawsuit] just seems like further abuse after being, you know, having such poor medical care for five days locked in their facility, you know, being sued for nothing that I did wrong, really, really affected me,” said Vanwhy.
That lawsuit has since been dropped.
Dr. Brian Hyatt was the head of the Behavioral Health Unit until May of 2022. Vanwhy’s attorney, Aaron Cash says as of now there are 31 lawsuits filed against Hyatt and the hospital claiming false imprisonment and other charges, and he says there are many more in the works.
“We're continuing to file cases, responses are being filed. We'll go through what's called discovery, which is an exchange of evidence, that would be the next step that comes up. And then, depositions would fall after that before any sort of trial date would be scheduled,” said Aaron Cash.
Cash asks any former employees who worked at the unit during Hyatt’s time there to please come forward.
“We know that there may be more out there that were affiliated with the hospital and are no longer there, so, we would ask that they come forward with any helpful information that they have,” said Cash.
Northwest Health says efforts by the hospital to collect payments from behavioral health patients who received care from Dr. Hyatt have been suspended. They say if someone who was treated by Hyatt has received a bill from the hospital, they are welcome to call 479-226-5440.
Dr. Hyatt resigned from the state medical board in May, saying he was not resigning because of any wrongdoing on his part, but so the board may continue its important work without delay or distraction.
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