“The dignity and well-being of our patients is at the center of all we do.” —Acadia Healthcare
It’s just another day in the atrocity-as-usual psychiatric industry.
Today’s offender is Options Behavioral Health in Lawrence, Indiana, cited by the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for multiple violations of federal regulations following an inspection in November 2024.
“This is a 13-year-old girl who was suicidal and went to a hospital for help and got tortured and held hostage,” said plaintiff Craig Inman, the girl’s father. His suit is just one of 10 filed in the last seven months, accusing Options of a multitude of sins.
One licensed counselor admitted to “going too far” with a 29-year-old.
For example, to control Inman’s daughter, staff skipped over “verbal de-escalating, relaxation activity, voluntary time out, redirection and/or distraction” and instead brought out the heavy artillery: a mix of diphenhydramine, haloperidol and lorazepam, a chemical cocktail nicknamed “B52”—possibly because its effect on a child is similar to what a B52 bomber can wreak on a small town.
For example, zero paperwork. No record of why staff didn’t try to at least talk with the girl before chemically sedating her. No written evaluation of how she responded to the toxic restraint, nor even a report on what brought on the necessity to use such drastic methods on a child in the first place.
For example, another child was held against her will and, in “therapy,” asked sexually explicit questions like whether she watched pornography. Options refused to release her until the parents paid, as the facility claimed insurance wouldn’t cover the girl’s stay.
For example…
But there are just too many examples. Worse, Options Behavioral is just one of 258 for-profit behavioral facilities owned and operated by Acadia Healthcare, each one dedicated to dollars over decency.
In 2019, Acadia shut down its Desert Hills facility in New Mexico over sexual abuse. Five lawsuits ensued, one on behalf of a child, in which a jury found the monolith liable for $405 million in punitive and compensatory damages.
Five years later, Acadia shut down its Utah facility, Highland Ridge Hospital, after continued safety violations—even after that state’s Department of Health and Human Services ordered the hiring of an independent monitor for 10, then 40 hours a week.
In 2025, Acadia shut down its Timberline Knolls facility in Illinois, following seven years of legal storms centered on the sexual assault of patients. One licensed counselor admitted to “going too far” with a 29-year-old in three therapy sessions. Another lawsuit involved a patient who was being treated for suicidal thoughts. She was repeatedly raped by a facility employee.
There’s more, much more, but suffice it to say that an ambitious attorney with a yen for the good life need look no further than the verdant garden of abuse and torture that is Acadia Healthcare.
“They still won’t even apologize. We’ve received no apology.”
The law firm representing Craig Inman, along with others suing Options Behavioral Health, states: “Acadia has been accused of using various tactics to extend patients’ stays, such as exaggerating symptoms or adjusting medication dosages to justify prolonged hospitalization. These extended stays, billed at rates as high as $2,200 per day, often continued until patients’ insurance coverage was exhausted.”
And the worst part? They’re getting away with it.
Options was not fined by IDOH or CMS. All they had to do was promise to make it all better.
A February 5 letter to the Inmans from IDOH stated that Options had submitted a plan to correct the abuses. “The complaint is now closed,” concluded the letter.
It’s been months now since the IDOH’s November 2024 inspection report, which has yet to be made available to the public. Why? IDOH won’t say.
And CMS, pleased with Options Behavioral’s promise to be good, says Options is now compliant with all federal requirements for participation in the Medicare program.
Nothing to see here.
“I’d like to see the state come in and take a more active role so companies can’t … do this to their own citizens,” said Inman. “It’s crazy.”
“There’s zero accountability,” he continues. “They still won’t even apologize. We’ve received no apology.”
IDOH may say the case is closed. CMS may say the case is closed. Options Behavioral Health and the Death Star under whose protection it survives—Acadia Healthcare—may all say the case is closed.
But the case will never close until the psychiatric industry itself is closed, facility by facility, lawsuit by lawsuit, probe by probe—until it is recognized for the criminal activity it is and permanently shut down.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office is investigating.
