Report: St. Elizabeths patients in peril

A “chaotic” staff and “inexcusable lapses” in patient care have cost 11 lives in St. Elizabeths mental hospital and threaten the lives of other inmates in the asylum, a new report found.

“The health and safety of the patients at St. Elizabeths Hospital are in jeopardy,” a nonprofit advocacy group said in a 33-page report. “In every single death, the medical records contain little or no evidence that the nursing staff at St. Elizabeths is performing basic, critical nursing functions.”