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Ex-Arkansas medical board chair indicted over alleged drugging and abduction of patients

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) — The former chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board was indicted on charges that he drugged and abducted patients at a psychiatric facility in order to get more money from health care reimbursements, according to an indictment released on Monday.

An Arkansas grand jury indicted Dr. Brian Hyatt in early March on charges that he gave numerous patients strong, mind-altering sedatives in order to keep them at the facility without a medical justification. He is charged with two federal counts of kidnapping and distribution of the controlled substances that he allegedly used to subdue patients.

Seven mental health care workers, administrative employees and nurses who worked for Hyatt also were indicted in early March. Some were charged for allegedly failing to intervene to avoid getting fired, the indictment said. They are accused of neglecting to document patients’ actual conditions in medical records, instead using generic notes in order to obscure the patients’ conditions and conceal the lack of treatment being provided to them.

Other employees charged are accused of directly participating in the misconduct. At least one employee is accused of breaking a patient’s collarbone in order to physically restrain her to force her to accept unnecessary treatment. Others allegedly used threats, coercion and intimidation to force patients to accept unnecessary medical treatments, the indictment said, and also used physical abuse to prevent alleged victims from reporting their actions.

The crimes allegedly happened at the Northwest Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit in Springdale, where Hyatt’s medical company was contracted to provide psychiatric services between 2018 and 2022.

If convicted, those charged face a maximum sentence of life in prison with up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

There was no attorney listed for Hyatt or the seven employees on Monday night. The Arkansas State Medical Board didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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