In a photo obtained by The Star-Ledger, the office door of Dr. Philip May of the Hunterdon Developmental Center is seen tapped shut by order of the Human Services Police Dept.If true, the allegations are horrendous: A doctor and nurse are accused of conducting unauthorized experiments on disabled residents of the Hunterdon Developmental Center, administering high doses of Vitamin D and calcium to test a theory about preventing fractures and osteoporosis.
The doctor denies wrongdoing, and a statement from his lawyer insisted that the medication was part of a treatment plan, not an experiment.
State officials are investigating, and the doctor and nurse have been suspended with pay.
One thing is clear: This probe should not prejudice next week’s report by a legislative task force charged with evaluating the seven developmental centers in the state.
The task force is expected to make recommendations for closing some centers.
Whatever the results of the state’s investigation involving the Hunterdon physician and nurse, the fact remains that New Jersey ranks nearly last in moving adults with developmental disabilities out of institutional care and into community or home-based care. A 2010 report by the Boggs Center at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School found 22 percent of our developmentally disabled adults live in out-of-home placements, compared with 16 percent nationwide.
We lag despite a 30-year trend away from big state institutions in favor of less costly and more effective community-based care settings, such as supervised group homes or apartments. Only Arkansas and Mississippi fare worse in state rankings.
But rushing to judgment in the Hunterdon investigation to advance a policy would be wrong.
Bottom line: Residents of these facilities deserve care based on sound policies, not witch hunts and rumors.