Welcome. On this page I'll start with the Administrative Withdrawal procedure guidelines. It will be followed by the managers reply to my grievance of the Administrative Withdrawal order, aka INVOLUNTARY TAPER, given to me.
1.
The
process of considering an administrative taper involves the
client, counseling staff, Manager,
physician, nurse, and may
include Director of Substance Abuse Services.
2.
This
process includes a series of individual sessions, staff consultations, treatment
plan revisions,
behavioral contracts, increases in level of care, and other interventions designed to address the
problem areas and avoid the
administrative taper.
3.
The
physician orders all administrative tapers, usually after consultation with the Manager,
counseling staff, nurse and
potentially Director Substance Abuse Services.
4.
Administrative tapers can be stopped and/or reversed on the decision of the physician in
consultation with the client, the counseling staff, the Manager, and may include Director of
Substance Abuse Services.
5.
The
client will be notified of the decision to undertake an administrative taper by a staff member
prior to the start of the administrative taper.
6.
Under
no circumstances will a client be
placed on an administrative taper without their
knowledge and all efforts will be made to involve the client in the decision making process.
7.
The
client will be given
information regarding transfer to another agency providing methadone or
other forms of treatment.
Staff will cooperate with the client and the transfer agency in making
the transition ifthe client signs appropriate releases of
information and the receiving agency is
agreeable to the transfer.
8.
When
possible, a detailed relapse prevention plan will be developed with the client prior to the
last dose of an administrative taper.
9.
The
client has a right to grieve an administrative taper decision following the client grievance
procedures found in the orientation materials and the policy and procedure manual. However, the
physician's decision is a final one. Clients will be informed as to his/her rights and the
procedures at the time of taper,
10. If the
client is placed on a second administrative taper within a 12 month period, that taper will
not be reversed without a physician and clinical team decision that circumstances warrant such a
reversal.
II. Conditions under which an administrative taper may occur as follows:
a.
Violence or threats of violence to staff or other clients
b.
Repeated failures to comply with treatment plan/contact
activities and goals despite
revision of the treatment plan/contract.
METHADONES0P
Company/Rock Island/Methadone SOP/Guidelines for Administrative Taper from Methadone
--------
c.
Client decision to refuse to enter an ASAM determined level of care
d.
Documentation of methadone diversion
e.
Documentation of illicit drug dealing on the premises
12. Women of childbearing age will be given a pregnancy test and the results will be discussed prior
to the start of an administrative taper. Pregnant women will not be placed on an administrative
taper. Continued treatment plan interventions, including consultation on accessing prenatal care,
will be documented in the file.
If a client is on a voluntary taper and experiences a relapse into use, they will be encouraged to consider a
resumption of a
maintenance dose. If a client continues use of illicit substances and/or fails to continue
treatment according to ASAM criteria and their
treatment plan, the voluntary taper may be changed to an
administrative taper. These determinations will
be made by clinical and medical staff.
Violations by the numbers. #1.... No! Nobody talked with me about my withdrawal order before I was blindsided that Thursday morning.
#2. NO! I did not have a series of individual sessions, treatment
plan revisions or given a behavioral contract designed to address
the problem areas, to avoid the administrative taper
Wait... #5, 6 and 7 did not happen either!
Lets jump to the chase, below is the managers response when I
asked her for details of my alleged violation of rules.
Can you make that out? Can you read the words "misuse of medication?" Well, if not, you're not missing much because I'm with you. Those 3 words scribbled on a sticky note is the only correspondence I've received from the manager of the program.
That's hard to believe isn't it? But believe it, this program manager has willfully ignored all the guidelines of her own program. But wait, this is only the tip of the iceberg of the humiliation, fear, harassment and other abuses from this clinic, particularly from the manager of the methadone program.
She has brought me to tears on several occasions.
Although she refuses to follow the guidelines, I continued to follow the path outline in the grievance procedure. I asked her who the individuals were in her chain of command so that I could give them my grievance as outlined in the grievance procedure. She resisted but eventually gave me this:
Yes, can you believe it, it's another sticky pad with a single name on it. In my grievance I wrote the following:
...... .. I still have not received the exact nature of my violation even though I’ve
asked for it several times.
Additionally,
I do not believe this incident is being addressed in a compassionate,
respectful nor professional manner. Leah, to add insult to injury when I first
told you of my intend to go through the grievance process and asked you why I
was being put on Administrative withdrawal, your disrespect, contempt and animus toward
me did not go unnoticed. I had to ask you several times for the documents and
it’s wording so I could address the exact nature of my alleged violation as
concisely as possible. It became apparent to me that you had somehow avoided this step of the grievance process. You were totally unprepared for a client to push back at your accusations. I was expecting a copy of the document in my records
that clearly articulated the nature of my infraction. I simply wanted to know why
I was being forced into withdrawal. With a look that could kill, you acted as
if I was troubling you. Then what followed crushed me to my core.
Without
looking at me, as if you were trying to ignore me, you grabbed a sticky-note. Not a professional, official looking document from your file that would be
worthy of a serious issue of this magnitude, you grabbed a sticky-note and
wrote the words “misuse of medication” (see attached copy # 1). I paused
because I thought you were joking. I
could not believe I was being treated with such contempt and disrespect. You then shoved the
note in my direction. Then, in an aggressive tone reminiscent of a prison
warden talking to a prisoner you said, “here, take it, this is what you asked
for” or something of that nature. I took the crumbled note, lowered my head and
walked out. I felt humiliated and very worried.
Now, to EVERYONE reading this, at this juncture I've just begun to fight. Later, my struggles with this manager takes me very close to death. After that near death experience, more torment and harassment came my way.
However, before I forget, I'd like to stick this little piece of the government's regulations right here. Although all of the regulations are important (I've read them several times), this excerpt speaks directly to my complaints. I am not an English major, nor am I lawyer so please bare with me as I try to explain the best I can. Thanks
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA)
(g) Complaints and Appeals (i) All patients have the right to a fair and efficient process for resolving differences with their health plans, health care providers, and the institutions that serve them, including a rigorous system of internal review and an independent system of external review. (ii) Patients are encouraged and assisted throughout treatment to understand and exercise their rights, including -- Reporting without fear of retribution, any instances of suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation of patients being served in the program.
•) All patients have the right to: A grievance and appeal
process, in accordance with State laws and regulations • Input into program
policies and services through patient satisfaction surveys • Telephone number
of the State regulatory agency responsible for the program and name of a
specific individual or title of the person within that agency who receives
complaints
• Please see
Standard and Example forms, p. 63, for the Consent-to-Treatment form.
(iii) Preventing, Investigating, and Resolving Patient
Complaints Programs develop and display policies and patient
All patients have the right to grievance procedures that
specify minimum elements of due process applicable to the program setting and
resources, including the following: • The right of patients to express verbally
or in writing their dissatisfaction with or complaints about treatment
received. • The right to initiate grievance procedures. • The right to be
informed of the grievance procedures in a manner that can be understood, and a
right to a copy of the procedures upon request. Such procedures should be
clearly articulated, well publicized, posted in conspicuous places within the
program, and easily available to patients. They include program rules,
consequences of noncompliance, and procedures for filing a complaint and/or
grievance. • The right to receive a decision in writing, with the reasoning
articulated.
• The use of involuntary
withdrawal is only as a sanction of last resort
Now, all the above "rights" have been denied me by this program manager.
Again, that's just the tip of the problems I've experience with this center. It must be noted that although I will address this issue as if it's a conspiracy among several employees of "The Center"/ Robert Young/UnityPoint Health Hospitals, I believe one person in particular is responsible for the vast majority of the violations and problems, Leah Morris, the program manager. She has developed a systematic way to dupe the clients and her "staff". You will clearly see how she has tried to paint a picture of her complete innocence, while blaming others for her decisions and wrongdoings. She continues her scheme with the help of 2 people, the door monitor and the nurse. The 3 of them use fear,intimidation and ignorance as their weapons of choice, although she does use "pawns" when necessary. Theses pawns can be other employees under her supervision and/or the unsuspecting doctor(s). But it should be known that during the Nuremberg trails after the fall of Nazi Germany some of the Nazi defendant tried using the argument "I was just following orders, I was afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't comply." Needless to say, that did not work. They knew what they were doing was dead wrong. The same can be said about the other "staff members" and peripheral employees who helped Leah's destructive ways, including upper management, when I brought it to their attention. Some of them choose to duck their heads and shower me with idle promises but did not address the root of the problems. I have all of their correspondence. You can read them and then you make the call. I believe you will agree.
If I was the defendant, I would throw in the towel and ask for mercy because there is no place for them to hide.
I've been fighting for my life, I didn't need a Robert Shapiro or Alan Dershowitz to figure this out.
Anonymous said...
So she's not a mob boss but she does enjoy the benefits of a crew of loyalists, henchmen, if you will. One such crew member she brings along with her, acts as her Bundini "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" Brown, Ali's infamous corner-man.
Little did she know that I worked in Quality Control at the Central Base Personnel Office (CBPO) while in The United States Air Force. One of my tasks was working with Unfavorable Information Files. Think of a police record. It's a file I maintained on everyone on the base who may have committed a violation of military code or broke the law off the base. I also kept bad credit files as well. Basically anything an airmen might have done that would shine an unfavorable light on him and thus The Air Force, I maintained a record on him or her. When there were "down" periods or slow days in the office, we read manuals after manuals, all day long we read manuals on everything associated with our job/duties. I've carried some of my military habits AND TRAINING along with me my entire life.
The very first day I went to the nurses window to get my first dose of methadone I asked the nurse what organization controls what they do there? When she looked at me like I was nuts I changed the question. I asked her if there was a regulation that she's required to follow? She said, "you will have to ask your counselor, I don't get involved in all that stuff." I thought that was kind of strange but at that time I didn't know anything different. However, now I know.
Aside from my love of reading informational material and non-fiction literature, I was a guest writer for a local newspaper. In 2012 I won a writing contest and was awarded a guest column for a portion of the year. But the average client would not have the same background, and might not have the patience, time and endurance to grind this struggle out as I am doing. I believe that's why this manager has managed to continue her systematic approach of running this program with a heavy hand and in violation of several rules and regulations. Most clients would not be able to go through this lengthy process to prove their innocence while she stacks the deck against them. Not to mention the cost associated with this journey. Investigations, travel, research, background checks and a helping "staff" does not come without cost. Most cannot afford the costs associated with this investigation. The man hours I've put into this case ,alone, are well over 600. Anyway, I have to push forward because my life is on the line. When I first started this journey it became obvious early on that something wasn't adding up. However the shear volume of egregious acts did however catch me by surprise.
Where was I? Oh, I was mentioning the makeup of Leah's staff.
From the opening bell, the directive "Clients Rights", CADS Directive Number 4040, Leah drops the ball. For example item # 8 (among several others on the list) has been trampled on by this program manager. It reads: [All clients have the right] To have access to information pertaining to your treatment in sufficient time to facilitate your decision making. I had zero time before I was required to sign a receipt for an administrative withdrawal order. I never saw it coming. I was completely blindsided. On this CADS directive alone (4040), this program manager has managed to violate at least 5 directives. That's right, you've read that correctly, 5 violations on one piece of paper.... she ignored and/or dropped the ball. We're not speaking of parking violations. We're addressing issues involving a class II Narcotic.and clients lives are at risk. .
42 CFR § 8.12 - Federal opioid treatment standards. It's safe to say none of them have read that manual/regulation. They are quick to say they don't know what goes on back there, referring to the portion of the clinic other than their offices and classrooms. Most, if not all of them did not know anything about methadone when they were selected as "counselors"and are in no hurry to find out. That plays right into Leah's plans. Someone who has the title of staff member, but does not have the empowerment, responsibility or accountability of a staff member with equal knowledge needed to make serious decision regarding methadone clients are nothing more than pawns. Their understanding and training in issues related to methadone is I believe insufficient to make serious decisions concerning my treatment and/or issues regarding discipline related to an issue in the CFR. They may not have personally read and/or discussed it with someone other than the "staff".
But first, it must be noted that many of the changes in my counselors were "suggested" by the all powerful and most senior staff member, the door monitor, Shari. How do I know that? I was told by the counselor herself, Colette and verified by the front desk clerk. When I first heard that my counselor had been changed again, I asked Colette what was going on? She said Shari did it. WHAT! SHARI!? The door monitor is calling shots... and making personnel changes? By the way, with Shari's history and her ex-con status, she's the last person I would expect to be in a staff room discussing sensitive information. To her, negative information is an asset. Negative information has value. But here she was assigning counselors who were suppose to be guiding me. instead they were digging my grave.
Now let's talk about the other major player on the "clinical team" or staff, the doctor. He will need a post of his own.
Please read the next post titled: HERE COMES THE DOCTOR
and THE NURSE WHO DOESN'T HAVE TIME TO READ ALL THAT STUFF.
.
This is what its felt like dealing with Leah and her "staff". 😅
Well, you know what I mean. It HAS BEEN scary.
CADS CLINICAL STAFF OR THE THREE MONKEYS?