The family of late actor Robert Carradine has filed a lawsuit against UCLA, alleging that serious failures in psychiatric patient safety contributed to his death earlier this year.
Carradine, best known for playing Lewis Skolnick in the “Revenge of the Nerds” films and Sam McGuire on Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire,” died February 23 at age 71.
His family’s lawsuit alleges wrongful death, elder abuse and neglect stemming from the treatment he received at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
Carradine voluntarily entered the psychiatric hospital on January 16 while struggling with suicidal thoughts. According to the complaint, he went to the facility seeking the security and treatment of an inpatient psychiatric setting.
The family contends that crucial safeguards intended to protect vulnerable psychiatric patients were not followed.
Among the most serious allegations is that Carradine was permitted to enter and remain in the psychiatric unit with a belt. The lawsuit maintains that allowing him access to the belt created a preventable danger given his condition and history.
The complaint also alleges that inappropriate furniture was left in his room and that hospital personnel failed to consistently conduct observations at the intervals required for his care.
Carradine was subsequently found unresponsive after attempting suicide. He suffered an anoxic brain injury, a condition caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen, and remained hospitalized before his death several weeks later.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined that Carradine died from complications associated with hanging and ruled his death a suicide.
His family is also challenging aspects of the hospital’s recordkeeping. The lawsuit alleges that observation records did not accurately reflect Carradine’s condition and activities, including documentation indicating that he participated in group therapy after he had already been found unresponsive.
Those accusations are allegations contained in the family’s civil complaint and have not been proven in court.
Carradine had worked steadily in Hollywood for decades, building a career that connected several generations of viewers. His role in the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds” became one of his most recognizable performances, while his later turn as the good-natured father of Hilary Duff’s title character on “Lizzie McGuire” introduced him to a younger audience.
His death in February brought renewed attention to his long struggle with mental illness. Now, months later, the legal action filed by his family is shifting attention toward the care he received during the final weeks of his life.
The lawsuit seeks damages while raising broader questions about safety procedures designed to protect psychiatric patients considered at risk of harming themselves.
Whether UCLA bears legal responsibility for Carradine’s death will ultimately depend on the evidence and the course of the civil case. For his family, however, the lawsuit represents an effort to hold the institution accountable for what they allege were preventable failures during a period when Carradine had specifically sought professional help and protection.
