A Maine law that allows hospitals to ask a judge to place mental health patients in a conditional “gradual treatment program” or PTP was not used in the case of Justin Butterfield, who is charged with the murder of his brother Gabe Damour on Thanksgiving Day in Poland. Butterfield told Total Coverage of Maine that he has severe schizophrenia. They say they tried repeatedly to get long-term care for Butterfield, but their requests were ignored by hospitals. Former State Senator John Nutting co-sponsored the law in 2010 that created the program. He says if a PTP had been given to Butterfield, the outcome might have been different. “This young man should have been placed in a blue paper or white paper situation and then put on the court-ordered PTP when he was released from the hospital,” Nutting said. “Now you have a handsome young man who has passed away. And society will pay to keep that person in a mental hospital or prison for the rest of his life and it’s such an unnecessary situation.” A PTP is a conditional release from a hospital after a stay for mental health treatment, where a district court judge sets the terms of release at a hearing following a request from a hospital. The judge requires a patient to attend an outpatient treatment program, and if a patient does not comply with the program, the court can commit the patient to an institution. Butterfield’s friends say staff at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and St. Mary’s Lewiston Regional Medical Center both ignored their pleas to provide Butterfield with long-term care. They say Butterfield had been taken to St. Mary’s by police at least five times in the past year only to be released each time. “I think those who didn’t give him what he needed or didn’t listen to the people who knew him best and kept him here in society should be held accountable,” the ex said. -Butterfield’s girlfriend, Yaicha Provincher. Butterfield is currently being held in Androscoggin County Jail without bond. He faces murder charges. MaineHealth and St. Mary’s declined to answer questions about Butterfield’s visits to their hospitals and the PTP program, citing patient confidentiality concerns.
A Maine law that allows hospitals to ask a judge to place mental health patients in a conditional “gradual treatment program” or PTP was not used in the case of Justin Butterfield, who is charged with the murder of his brother. Gabe Damour at Thanksgiving in Poland.
Friends of Butterfield told Total Coverage of Maine that he suffered from severe schizophrenia. They say they tried repeatedly to get long-term care for Butterfield, but their requests were ignored by hospitals.
Former State Senator John Nutting co-sponsored the law in 2010 that created the program. He says if a PTP had been given to Butterfield, the outcome might have been different.
“This young man should have been put in a blue paper or white paper situation and then put on the court-ordered PTP when he was released from the hospital,” Nutting said. “Now you have a handsome young man who has passed away. And society will pay to keep that person in a mental hospital or prison for the rest of his life and it’s such an unnecessary situation.”
A PTP is a conditional release from a hospital after a stay for mental health treatment, where a district court judge sets the terms of release at a hearing following a request from a hospital.
The judge requires a patient to attend an outpatient treatment program, and if a patient does not comply with the program, the court can commit the patient to an institution.
Butterfield’s friends say staff at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston both ignored their pleas to provide long-term care for Butterfield. They say Butterfield had been taken to St. Mary’s by police at least five times in the past year only to be released each time.
“I think those who didn’t give him what he needed or who didn’t listen to the people who knew him best and kept him here in society should be held accountable,” the statement said. Butterfield’s ex-girlfriend. Yaicha Provincher.
Butterfield is currently being held in the Androscoggin County Jail without bond. He faces murder charges.
MaineHealth and St. Mary’s declined to answer questions about Butterfield’s visits to their hospitals and the PTP program, citing patient confidentiality concerns.
#Mental #health #program #hospitals #murder #suspect #Poland #mental #illness