Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A lawsuit filed Monday lists that incident as just one example of alleged negligence at the center.
The $3 million suit claims that lax supervision, poor treatment and inadequate search procedures allowed Cunningham to walk out of his building unquestioned, kill himself on the center's grounds and then remain unaccounted for for more than a month.
Center officials are also accused of conspiring a cover-up, first of Cunningham's disappearance and later of their weak efforts to find him.
Cunningham, an emotionally disturbed Vietnam War veteran, was found hanging from a tree on March 25, 1992. His body was discovered in a wooded area about 500 yards from a psychiatric ward where he was reported missing on Feb. 22.
The bodies of three other patients were discovered on the center's grounds last year, prompting government investigations that have cited some of the same shortcomings listed in the lawsuit.
Treatment of some patients still needs "substantial improvement," according to a General Accounting Office report released Monday. The GAO report documented nurse staffing shortages, incomplete medical records and the failure of some psychiatrists to see their patients regularly.
Center officials also are accused in the lawsuit of "conspiring to cover up the fact that [Cunningham] was missing and the fact that they did not properly search for him."
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke by attorney Gary Lumsden on behalf of Cunningham's family.
John Presley, director of the center, declined to comment on the lawsuit. But he said that vast improvements - including making more extensive searches for missing patients - have been implemented since he took over last year.
Vera Tabb, Cunningham's sister, said center officials were not cooperative when she and other family members inquired about her brother's disappearance.
She was especially disturbed that during the month Cunningham was listed as missing, doctors continued to prescribe him medicine and issue updates on his condition.
"To me, that's total neglect and abuse," Tabb said. "Evidently they didn't even check to see if he was on the ward. They didn't know where he was, and they didn't care either."
Cunningham, 44, had a history of psychological problems since his return from four years in the Vietnam War.
He was committed to the veterans' center involuntarily on Dec. 30, 1991. He was initially held in a locked ward reserved for patients thought to be suicide risks, but was later allowed to come and go as he wanted with few restrictions as his condition improved.
The lawsuit, however, claims that Cunningham still was a suicide risk when he walked away unsupervised on Feb. 22.
According to the suit, Cunningham's family filed a claim for an administrative settlement with the Department of Veterans Affairs. After the agency made no formal response, they filed suit in federal court.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.