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Lawsuit Against Bridgewater State Hospital Settled

A Brookline mother who sued the state prisons department over what she called the illegal restraint of her son at a psychiatric facility has agreed to settle her lawsuit after the hospital said it would change how it treats her son.

Joanne Minich sued the state Correction Department, saying her son Peter's mental health was declining because administrators and clinicians at Bridgewater State Hospital had isolated him in a small cell, at times fastened to a bed, for an unreasonable amount of time. Her 31-year-old son has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Under the agreement approved by a Norfolk Superior Court judge Thursday, hospital officials promised to house Peter Minich in the infirmary and use seclusion and restraints only as "a last resort."

Joanne Minich tells The Boston Globe she is "relieved."

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