A NATIONWIDE PATTERN OF DEATH

ROSHELLE CLAYBORNE PLEADED FOR HER LIFE.

SLAMMED FACE-DOWN ON THE FLOOR, CLAYBORNE'S ARMS WERE YANKED ACROSS HER CHEST, HER WRISTS GRIPPED FROM BEHIND BY A MENTAL HEALTH AIDE.

I CAN'T BREATHE, THE 16-YEAR OLD GASPED.

HER LAST WORDS WERE IGNORED.

A SYRINGE DELIVERED 50 MILLIGRAMS OF THORAZINE INTO HER BODY, AND WITH EIGHT STAFFERS WATCHING CLAYBORNE BECAME SUDDENLY STILL.

BLOOD TRICKLED FROM THE CORNER OF HER MOUTH AS SHE LOST CONTROL OF HER BODILY FUNCTIONS.

HER LIMP BODY WAS ROLLED INTO A BLANKET AND DUMPED INTO AN 8 X 10 FOOT ROOM USED TO SECLUDE DANGEROUS PATIENTS AT THE LAUREL RIDGE RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER IN SAN ANTONIO TEXAS.

THE DOOR CLICKED BEHIND HER.

NO ONE WATCHED HER DIE.

BUT ROSHELLE CLAYBORNE IS NOT ALONE.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, HUNDREDS OF PATIENTS HAVE DIED AFTER BEING RESTRAINED IN PSYCHIATRIC AND MENTAL RETARDATION FACILITIES, MANY OF THEM IN STRIKINGLY SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES, A COURANT INVESTIGATION HAS FOUND.

THEY DIED PINNED DOWN ON THE FLOOR BY HOSPITAL AIDES UNTIL THE BREATH OF LIFE WAS CRUSHED FROM THEIR LUNGS.

THEY DIED STRAPPED TO BEDS AND CHAIRS WITH THICK LEATHER BELTS, IGNORED UNTIL THEY STRANGLED OR THEIR HEARTS GAVE OUT.

THOSE WHO DIED WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY YOUNG.

THEY ENTERED OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AS TROUBLED CHILDREN AND THEY LEFT IN COFFINS.

ALL OF THEM DIED AT THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT, IN PLACES INTENDED YO GIVE SANCTUARY.

IF ROSHELLE CLAYBORNE'S DEATH LAST SUMMER WAS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, NEITHER WERE THE RECENT DEATH'S OF CONNECTICUT'S ANDREW McCLAIN OR ROBERT ROLLINS.

A 50 STATE SURVEY BY THE COURANT THE FIRST OF IT'S KIND EVER CONDUCTED, HAS CONFIRMED 142 DEATH'S DURING OR SHORTLY AFTER RESTRAINT OR SECLUSION IN THE PAST DECADE.

THE SURVEY FOCUSED ON MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL RETARDATION FACILITIES AND GROUP HOMES NATIONWIDE.

BUT BECAUSE MANY OF THESE CASES GO UNREPORTED, THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF DEATHS DURING OR AFTER RESTRAINT IS MANY TIMES HIGHER.

BETWEEN 50 AND 150 SUCH DEATHS OCCUR EVERY YEAR ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ACCORDING TO A STATISTICAL ESTIMATE COMMISSIONED BY THE COURANT AND CONDUCTED BY A RESEARCH SPECIALIST AT THE HARVARD CENTER FOR RISK ANALYSIS.

THAT'S ONE TO THREE DEATHS EVERY WEEK, 500 TO 1,500 IN THE PAST DECADE, THE STUDY SHOWS.

"IT'S GOING ON ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY," SAID DR. JACK ZUSMAN, A PSYCHIATRIST AND AUTHOR ON A BOOK ON RESTRAINT POLICY.

THE.