Patient's death will not result in criminal action

Staffer sat on man's torsi; incident helped lead to funding cuts

Friday, Oct. 12, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

No criminal action will be taken in the February death of a Broughton Hospital patient who died of asphyxia after a staff member sat on his torso.

The death of 27-year-old Anthony Lowery, a patient at the mental health hospital in Morganton, was one of the incidents that led the federal government to stop Medicaid and Medicare payments in August.

On Monday, the district attorney's office that serves Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties said in a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation that it will not charge the staff member who restrained Lowery in the death.

According to the letter, witnesses told SBI investigators that Lowery tried biting the staff member during the altercation.

"The evidence that Mr. Lowery was violent and that physical restraint was justified is uncontradicted," Chief Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas wrote in the letter.

One witness said she saw a staff member put his hands around Lowery's neck, but several others said they did not see anyone's hands around his neck, according to the letter.

Lowery's death prompted the federal government to look at the hospital. While officials were finishing their investigation, another patient was injured on Aug. 19.

The state is working to improve supervision, communication and training at Broughton to prevent the kinds of problems that led to the funding cuts.

All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.