DMH Retaliates! Plants, Guitar and Pain.

Hello Human Family,

Disturbingly, for continuing to advocate for my rights and the rights of all patients here, DMH has retaliated by taking my house plants and restricting  access to my guitar and refusing to prescribe specialist-recommended medication for a tumor in my wrist, leaving me in pain. Read the letter below for the shocking details with first hand accounts from professionals and evidence from the Disability Law Center. 

This type of treatment is unacceptable. And, your tax money is paying the state to treat patients like this every single day in this hospital and other DMH facilities. You can help!

1. Put "Patient at risk. Documented rights violations in DMH care: A Call to Action." in the subject line.
2. Copy and past this link into the body of the email: https://www.change.org/p/black-transgender-lives-lost-to-medical-neglect-demand-justice-in-ma-hospitals/u/35476878
3. Write a personal note about why this matters to you (if you want to).
4. Send it to shieldalert@simplelists.com. That's it!

Your Fellow Human Family Member,

-And Steiner
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Dear Senators, Representatives, Council Members, Media, and Members of the Community

Summary

• And Steiner (they/them), a patient in Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) wards, has endured years of documented rights violations, including a restraint the Disability Law Center (DLC) found unlawful.
• Despite this, And worked diligently, stabilized, and came within reach of discharge.
• Instead of building on that progress, DMH recently dismantled it: severing And's relationship with their psychiatrist, adding stigmatizing diagnoses without assessment, discussion, or explanation, confiscating And's houseplants and restricting access to their guitar and withholding specialist-recommended medication, leaving And in pain for three months.
• This letter links to first-hand witnesses and well-documented evidence and a letter from Thomas Brown, https://tinyurl.com/59utk4fw, who many of you may know. 
• The ask: Our specific demands of DMH, and the actions you can take are at the bottom of this letter. 
  
  

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Intro

What happens when a person confined in a state psychiatric hospital is denied a meaningful voice in decisions about their own life? What happens when complaints go unanswered. documented abuses produce no accountability, and the people responsible for protecting patients' rights are the very people accused of violating them?

For And Steiner, a queer, gender-diverse patient at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, these are not hypothetical questions. They are daily realities.

We write on behalf of the over 5,000 thousand who have supported JusticeforJean petition, https://change.org/justiceforjean alongside advocates and organizations who have spent years attempting to intervene in serious injustices within Massachusetts' psychiatric system.

 

And’s Story

And entered Department of Mental Health (DMH) care more than five years ago after surviving life-threatening suicide attempts that left permanent injuries. Instead of finding safety and support, And has repeatedly encountered coercion, discrimination, retaliation and disregard for their rights.

In 2023, after raising concerns with DMH leadership and state officials about the death of transgender patient, Jean Bash, And was transferred without notice and under restraint to an acute forensic unit, despite no associated criminal investigation. During the approximately fifteen months spent on this unit, they experienced physical assaults, documented injuries, and repeated harassment related to And's sexual orientation and gender identity.

And's accounts are supported by trustworthy third parties. For example, the Disability Law Center independently investigated And's treatment https://tinyurl.com/3wxxmyh6  documenting an unlawful and punitive restraint, and called on DMH leadership to review and update its restraint policies. DMH's tersely replied (paraphrased) that upon investigating themselves they found themselves blameless. https://tinyurl.com/2ky97z79

Around that time Ivy McCall, a licensed clinical social worker that has attended many of And’s team meetings wrote a letter, https://tinyurl.com/4t589epm, to DMH expressing significant concern for And’s safety. And’s private psychologist, Michelle Binford also wrote to DMH leadership. https://tinyurl.com/686m9y9a

After another particularly egregious restraint, And's advocates signed onto a letter, https://tinyurl.com/y5frs8zh petitioning the commissioner Beth Lucas to assign And a point advocate. Beth relented and acknowledged Sera Davidow in the role of And’s Advocate.

Despite repeated complaints, advocacy, and requests for intervention from both Sera and And, meaningful accountability has remained elusive. Many of And’s complaints have been dismissed without adequate explanation or meaningful corrective action. Others have received no response at all. (Link to complaint written by Sera HERE https://tinyurl.com/mu7vxu6p)

 

Working Towards Recovery

In spite of this And continued working toward recovery and a life beyond hospitalization.

And has paid thousands of dollar of their own money for private therapy. When that became financially unsustainable, And’s advocates stepped up to fund it. Through peer support, volunteer work, and extraordinary persistence, And made significant progress. 

After years of advocating to move to a more supportive unit at Lemuel Shattuck, LSH leadership finally relented and made a commitment to And and their advocate, Sera Davidow, to maintain And’s relationship with their psychiatrist of 2 years. The improvements were immediate: including significantly reduced suicidality, realistic plans for community passes and eventual discharge.

For the first time in years, freedom was within reach for And.

 

LSH Dismantles And’s Care

Then, on September 23, 2026, And was abruptly informed that LSH did not intend to honor that commitment. And was told they would be transferred to a new psychiatrist. And’s psychiatrist also broke his explicit commitment to involve And in discussions around any potential change in provider beforehand, if that ever became necessary. These decisions were made despite accepted standards of care, which recognize that such changes are often contraindicated for patients with histories of trauma and suicide attempts like And’s. 

Around the same time:

• New stigmatizing diagnoses were entered into And's record without any discussion, explanation, or shared assessment involving And.
• And's medical team severely restricted access to their guitar, requiring And to 'prove they can be safe with it' despite years of safe daily use.
• And's plants were taken from them. LSH leadership, Drs. Pryianka and Buivydas, told Sera Davidow this was hospital policy, a claim that has since been proven false. Even so, they continue to refuse to return the plants.
• Medication recommended by a pain specialist to treat pain associated with a tumor on a nerve in And's wrist has been withheld, and an attempt has been made to use it as leverage to reduce other, unrelated medications. Three months later, And remains without the medication and in pain.

And has described the guitar and plants as “The only things that brought me joy anymore.”

 

A Simple Solution

And has not demanded control over hospital staffing. And simply asked for something far more basic: that the hospital honor its existing commitments, pause the transfer to a different psychiatrist, and provide a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions about their own treatment.

The hospital refused.

 

The Big Picture

This is not simply a dispute between one patient and one hospital. It is a fundamental failure of accountability in a system that holds extraordinary power over people who have already lost much of their freedom. Patient rights mean little if exercising them depends on the institution's willingness to listen; complaints mean little when they disappear into a void.

Demand an independent review of And's treatment and complaints. Press DMH leadership for transparent answers and meaningful corrective action. Insist that And, and every patient, have a genuine voice in treatment decisions and an effective way to challenge violations. Rights must be enforceable in practice, not merely promised in policy.

A state hospital controls nearly everything about a patient's life. When it disregards their voice, the community outside its walls may be the strongest protection they have left. Be that community. Raise your voice. Demand answers. No one should have to surrender their rights to receive care.

To get involved contact Cindy Hadge at (martyhadge@gmail.com)

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What We Demand of DMH

We demand that DMH leadership immediately pause the transfer of And’s care to another provider and answer in writing the following questions by Friday, Oct 30th 2026:

1. Why did the DMH Office of Inpatient Management (OIM) leadership acknowledge significant problematic behaviors and attitudes with LSH leadership and staff members on And’s medical team towards And and take no corrective action?
2. Who made the decision to sever And's relationship with And’s psychiatrist and for what reasons?
3. Why did LSH Leadership, specifically Dr Pryianka and Dr Buivydas, refuse to honor the commitment to maintain And’s relationship with Dr Donnelly-Boyolen after the unit transfer, and why was And’s request to honor it ignored?
4. Why did Dr Donnelly-Boylen not involve And in in this decision making process as previously agreed?
5. What is the status of each formal complaint And has filed?

 

What You Can Do

If you are a legislator or state official:

• Reply to our point person Cindy Hadge at (martyhadge@gmail.com), to acknowledge this letter or connect with anyone named here.
• Press DMH Commissioner Emily Bailey, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah for written answers to the five questions above by Friday, Oct 30rd 2026.
• Request an independent review of And's treatment and of how And’s complaints were handled.

If you are a member of the press:

Contact Cindy Hadge at (martyhadge@gmail.com) or

If you are a community member:

• Reply to Cindy Hadge at (martyhadge@gmail.com) for updates.
• Forward this letter to one person who will do the same, and to one organization that can act such as your state senator or representative, a journalist, or a disability or human rights org.
• Sign and share the Justice for Jean petition.