Tulsa Family Blames Lack Of Treatment In Teen's Suicide

An Oklahoma family blames a lack of treatment on their loved one's suicide. Dawn Edwards and her family are still coping with the loss of her 18-year-old nephew Brandon Simmons.

"A lot of people were on the phone trying to talk him down. The cops tried to talk him down," said Dawn Edwards, victim's aunt.

On New Year's Eve, Simmons attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge near Harvard. After police talked him down, they took him to the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health.

"He said that they made him sign a little piece of paper that had an agreement that he wasn't going to do it again. He wasn't going to commit suicide again," Edwards said.

After keeping him for an hour, she says the center let him go. Then, 17 days later, he successfully committed suicide.

Edwards believes that if he had been treated and possibly kept him longer, he would be alive today.

"Had they heard what had happened in his life, they would have been able to direct him to the proper counselors," she said.

Edwards also questions if her nephew was denied treatment because of the type of insurance he had. In a statement, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services said:

"The department would not turn away anybody due to their lack of ability to pay or because they did not have access to health insurance."

Michael Brose specializes in mental health. Although he's not familiar with the Simmons' case, he says signing a simple piece of paper was probably not the proper treatment.

"The idea that someone would be asked to sign a promissory note, what we know of and the literature, that would not be considered to be the best practice. We would not recommend that by any mental health professional," Brose said.

Doctors also say it's hard to treat patients who don't tell them exactly what's going on. This lack of openness could affect their diagnosis.