Woman claims hospital restrained autistic son, left him to suffe

FIRST ON FOX: Claims of neglect and mistreatment by one mother Friday night who says a local hospital restrained her son and left him to suffer, all because he is special needs.

The hospital is Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

The patient is a 14-year-old autistic boy whose mother claims his needs are not being heard.

"They're treating the behaviors with meds, but they don't know what causes the behaviors, they refuse to give him the medical care he needs," says Dorothy Spourdalakis, the boys mother.

Spourdalakis is exhausted and frustrated with how her special needs son Alex has been treated at Loyola University Medical Center.

"He has severe autism and he's non-verbal. They also have him labeled as cognitively impaired," Spourdalakis said.

He's being restrained as his mother says - he acts aggressively during what she says are bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.

"He's been in restraints for so many days that when they take him out of restraints, he actually wants to be put back. Because he's been conditioned to think that it's ok," Spourdalakis said.

In a statement, Loyola says due to HIPAA Privacy Rules, they cannot comment on Alex without written consent from his parent or guardian but said their "highest priorities are providing for the clinical needs of our patients and ensuring the safety of our patients and staff."

His mother says all she wants is for her son to have tests done to find out why he's having gastrointestinal problems. Instead she says he's being provided with medications to only keep him calm.

"I was told and I quote, 'we have to heal the mind first and then the mind is going to heal the body,'" Spourdalakis said. "Nobody will do the necessary tests to find out what's really wrong."