JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF
Bradley Burns was an inmate at Bridgewater State Hospital, a "prison for the mentally ill." Burns was a paranoid schizophrenic who strangled another inmate to death after claiming he saw spiders on the other inmate.
After the incident, Bridgewater State clinicians and prison guards kept Burns in solitary confinement, and strapped into five-point restraints for 23 hours a day. His head, eyes, and hands were put into protective gear—but rather than protect, this equipment evidently killed him.
From the story: "Dr. Kevin M. Monahan, a Boston Medical Center cardiologist interviewed by the Globe, said that the clozapine prescribed to Burns as well as his long hours completely immobilized in restraints could have increased the chances that he would suffer an irregular heartbeat, which the medical examiner concluded was the most likely cause of his death.
Monahan also said that restraints, in and of themselves, can cause stress, leading to elevated heart rates and blood pressure, particularly when a patient is agitated, and that this stress may trigger other, previously undiagnosed risk factors."
Read the full investigation, and watch a short documentary at the Boston Globe.