COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. — New allegations have surfaced surrounding a Colonial Heights nursing home at the center of an elder abuse investigation. Less than one month after 18 employees of Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center were arrested in connection to a former resident's death, a doctor at the facility is now charged with elder abuse involving a separate incident and different victim.
Police arrested Gohar Abbasi on Jan. 16 for what prosecutors called a "lack of oversight of patient care" pertaining to an offense that occurred Jan. 11.
Watch: Company that owns Colonial Heights nursing home runs several other facilities
Court documents obtained by CBS 6 revealed Colonial Heights Police received "numerous calls" between Jan. 12 and Jan. 14 about a man wandering city streets and dumping waste out of a colostomy bag.
The man reportedly "could barely walk," was "stumbling, if not falling down," and had a "very unsteady gait."
A criminal complaint showed the man had recently suffered multiple fractures and had a medical condition that put him at high risk of infection. If his colostomy bags, which were required to be cleaned and drained hourly and daily, were not properly taken care of, he could die, according to the complaint.
Further, the documents said a VCU psychologist who had recently evaluated the man declared him not competent and unable to make medical decisions by himself. VCU Medical Center turned over all rights to the man's brother to sign off on surgeries that were performed before the man's arrival at Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
But according to the complaint, when a detective talked to Dr. Abbasi about this case, he stated the man "was of sound mind and signed himself out of the facility [against medical advice]."
The detective alleged Abbasi "never physically saw [the victim] to make this determination." Prosecutors said Abbasi was not at the facility full-time.
While Abbasi reportedly said the man should be taken to a hospital for evaluation, he "never attempted to contact the police department nor swore out a medical [emergency custody order]" for the man, the criminal complaint alleged. A medical emergency custody order is a legal process available to physicians to ensure people who refuse medical care can get the treatment they need.
The complaint alleged Abbasi did not know what a medical emergency custody order was, despite being a doctor for 30 years.
Colonial Heights prosecutor Noelle Nochisaki said Abbasi's negligence placed the victim at risk of injury or death.
According to the complaint, Colonial Heights Police secured its own emergency custody order for the victim. As of Jan. 16, the man was still undergoing medical treatment and was not yet cleared to go to a mental health facility.
Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center declined to respond to the allegations, citing the pending investigation.
Abbasi was granted a $2,500 bond, and prosecutors plan to file a bond modification motion that would prevent Abbasi from practicing medicine and ban him from the facility.
Court records filed by Abbasi's defense attorney Kevin Calhoun indicated he has run his own private medical practice for 25 years and was the medical director at Riverside Regional Jail for over ten years.
When asked for a response to the charge against Abbasi, Calhoun declined to comment.
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