Arkansas Psychiatrist Accused By DEA of Holding Patients Against Their Will

An Arkansas psychiatrist was already being investigated by the state for Medicaid fraud and is now being accused by federal agents of holding patients against their will at an inpatient facility.

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a search warrant for Dr. Brian Hyatt of Rogers, Arkansas, the  US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas confirmed to Insider. What’s not official is the exact reason for the search or its location.

“In general, the execution of a search warrant is an important step in any lengthy, ongoing investigation,” a spokeswoman told Insider. “In light of the fact that this investigation is still ongoing, we can’t make any additional comments.” 

Arkansas Psychiatrist Accused of Holding Patients Against Their Will

Hyatt is at the center of no less than 15 lawsuits from former patients who have accused him of false imprisonment, as well as medical malpractice during his time overseeing Northwest Medical Center’s behavioral-health services unit in Springdale. There are other allegations, too.

Some of those patients spoke to Insider and said Hyatt illegally and wrongfully detained them inside the facility without cause, for days or weeks at a time. Several patients were released only after sheriff’s deputies arrived at the facility with court papers to walk them out, Insider reported.

Attorneys for the patients claim that Hyatt held their clients in the facility unnecessarily as part of a “scheme” to over-bill insurance carriers.

A public search warrant affidavit revealed Hyatt is already investigated by the Arkansas State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Insider noted.

Hyatt is reportedly no longer employed by the hospital where the patients were held.

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