A federal grand jury has indicted the former chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board and seven others on charges they conspired to hold psychiatric patients against their will at a Springdale hospital so they could bill for unnecessary services.
Brian Hyatt, 53, a former psychiatrist who chaired the state medical board, was charged March 11 along with two advanced practice registered nurses, a former unit director, a former admissions coordinator and three former mental health technicians at the Northwest Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit.
The 28-page indictment alleges the conspiracy ran from 2018 through May 2022. Patients were held using chemical restraints — including Haldol, Ativan and Thorazine — as well as force, threats, intimidation and the denial of phone privileges, according to prosecutors.
The defendants then billed for services that were not rendered and were not medically necessary, the indictment alleges. It also charges that the conspirators failed to report patient abuse they participated in and witnessed, as required by law.
Those charged alongside Hyatt are:
- Devon Talbert, 50, advanced practice registered nurse
- Lindsey Hess Goucher, 40, advanced practice registered nurse
- Miranda Newburn, 43, registered nurse and former director of the behavioral health unit
- Robert Green, 35, former admissions and assessment referral coordinator
- Georgette “Gigi” Rice, 58, former mental health technician
- Owen Benjamin, 29, former mental health technician
- Collyn Harlan, 31, former mental health technician
All eight defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on the kidnapping conspiracy charge.
A second count charges Hyatt and Talbert with conspiring to distribute Ativan, a Schedule IV controlled substance, without medical necessity. That charge carries up to five years in prison, a year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Kimberly D. Harris for the Western District of Arkansas announced the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ben Wulff and Carly Marshall and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Patterson of the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office are prosecuting the case.
The investigation was conducted by the Arkansas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.