NMPASI settles lawsuit vs DPH official, staff

Posted on Jun 09 2011

The Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems Inc.’s lawsuit against Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin P. Villagomez and the Commonwealth Health Center’s medical records technician, Melissa Sablan, has been settled.

Jeanne H. Rayphand, attorney for NMPASI, notified the U.S. District Court for the NMI yesterday that the lawsuit has been settled and that NMPASI is dismissing the lawsuit.

Settlement terms were not disclosed.

NMPASI sued Villagomez and Sablan in January 2011 for their alleged refusal to give NMPASI access to the records of a patient with mental illness.

According to the complaint, NMPASI had determined—as a result of monitoring and other activities—that there is probable cause to believe that the patient has been subject to abuse and neglect.

Rayphand stated in the complaint that the refusal to give NMPASI access to the records violates a Dec. 14, 2001, federal court order.

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