Praxis patient dealing with mental health challenges after experience at facility

 

MISHAWAKA, Ind. - The road to recovery is difficult. Not everyone has a support system in place at home and Praxis was supposed to be there to fill that void.

Now one former patient is telling ABC57 he has new mental health challenges after being treated there.

“I'm having nightmares, I don't sleep much,” said Joshua Harber. “If I get two hours of sleep at night, it's a good night.”

Harber was a patient at Praxis Landmark Recovery in Mishawaka, and while seeking treatment at the facility on Bodnar Boulevard, he says he had to stop physical violence between other patients more than once.

He says Praxis workers were afraid to get involved because they were severely understaffed.

Harber is one of nine patients now suing the facility where three patients died last month, and police were called more than 100 times over claims of negligence and medical malpractice.

The attorney filing the suit, Trevor Crossen, tells ABC57 the number of plaintiffs is growing.

“More than double of the nine men that we named in the first lawsuit. More than double maybe even more than triple,” Crossen said. “As you can imagine, every one of these patients has been affected differently.”

Harber went into the facility to get help for his own addiction and didn’t know what to expect.

Despite witnessing those fights and hearing about the deadly drug overdoses there, Harber says he wouldn’t allow his negative experience at Praxis to force him to relapse.

“It was my first time in treatment and I'm proud to say, I'm still sober today,” Harber said.

The state of Indiana revoked the licenses from Praxis Landmark Recovery Centers in Mishawaka, Fort Wayne and Carmel while police and prosecutors continue to investigate.