A prominent Arkansas psychiatrist faces lawsuits from over two dozen patients who claim they were held against their will for days or weeks as part of an alleged $800,000 Medicaid scam. Dr. Brian Hyatt, 50, is accused of detaining patients in his unit at Northwest Medical Center while billing for treatments he rarely provided.
One patient described being held for five days: 'They sent in four nurses, techs and they each grabbed my arms and my legs and held me down on my stomach and shot me up with a sedative.' The Arkansas Attorney General's office alleges Hyatt submitted claims at the highest severity code for nearly all patients, earning him $1,367 per day.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage showing Hyatt entered patient rooms only 17 times over 45 days, for less than 10 minutes total. Despite this, from 2019 to 2022, Medicaid paid over $800,000 to his unit. A former staff member reported Hyatt had minimal contact with patients.
Hyatt resigned as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board and was terminated from the hospital, but denies wrongdoing. Northwest Medical Center also denies any malpractice. The attorney general's office claims 99.95% of Hyatt's Medicaid claims were at the highest billing codes, suggesting no patient ever improved under his care.
