Staff members at a Florida institute for patients with brain injuries beat and mistreated patients, according to reports by state investigators. The reports were released to Bloomberg News by court order.<\/p>\n
The Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation (FINR), home to brain-injured patients, is currently battling an order by state authorities to transfer some 50 patients to the care of other facilities. That directive was issued in the wake of a Bloomberg story documenting a history of allegations of abuse at the center in Wauchula, southeast of Tampa. Abuse or neglect is alleged in at least five patient deaths there since 1998.<\/p>\n
The recently released reports document 15 investigations by the Florida Department of Children and Families in the past four years. Bloomberg petitioned a Leon County court to order the state to release the reports. In each case, investigators classified the allegations of abuse as \u201cverified,\u201d meaning a preponderance of evidence supported them.<\/p>\n