An Open Letter to Dr. Phil

Hopefully this should be the last nail in the coffin of the Dr. Phil and Britney Spears fiasco. But knowing Hollywood, the crazy train hasn't even left the station yet. That said, this open letter by shrink Patricia a Farrell nicely sums ups some of the issues.

The news about Britney Spears and her many problems hasn’t been good and now there’s another problem and it is related to ethics, a person’s right to privacy and their legal right to decide who they want visiting them in a hospital.

Then there’s the HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) matter where hospitals and their personnel aren’t supposed to reveal anything about any patients or even that someone is a patient there.

If they don’t follow HIPPA regs, they leave themselves open to a lawsuit. Of course that only applies to licensed professionals and you're not licensed. Numerous violations seem to have been committed, perhaps, by ignorance. So, let’s set some of the record straight.

Phil, if you look back to the time when you were a licensed psychologist in Texas (which you’re not now because the California licensing board has decided you’re an “entertainer” not a psychologist), you probably remember that confidentiality was the backbone of the field. No psychologist would reveal anything about their patients, but since you’re not a psychologist anymore, I guess talking to the media about someone’s psychiatric problems is permissible. I mean, for an entertainer it is, isn’t it?

You might also remember that after about the age of 16 (depending on the state), everyone has a right to make certain decisions free from the wishes of their parents. That might have been something you ran across when scheduling guests for your entertainment TV show.

So, Britney really should have been the one to invite you to her hospital room, or you should have asked her permission to come to see her. Didn’t you think you were blindsiding her by showing up that way and did any of your prior clinical experience not kick in?

To use a phrase of which you are quite fond: What were you thinking?

Now that the chance to really help Britney has gotten a bit more difficult and has been pushed so publicly away, give your actions some thought and forget about the entertainment value of all this. Britney doesn’t deserve to be dogged the way she is being presently and she doesn’t need to be fed up and served to an audience in all her vulnerability.

Final word: Don’t kick someone when they’re down. It’s really a cheap thing to do and shows no class.

Also of interest is this blog item reflecting on the Britney Spears case:

Actress Frances Farmer came to my mind as I was driving home. She was a famous actress in the '30s and '40s and she was haunted by how cruel the tabloid press could be. She was an easy target. Like Britney, Francis Farmer was drawn to alcohol and drugs and therefore prone to mental illness and self destruction. Farmer had a mother who used her and betrayed her according to her sister's biography. Farmer was in and out of mental institutions her whole life. The tabloid-Hollywood-press loved her tirades and pictures of her often alcohol induced inappropriate behavior garnered top dollar.

What kind of people use the personal carnage of another for entertainment without a thimble full of sympathy? We have devolved into a strange fruit indeed. During one famous episode when Frances Farmer was taken away in hand cuffs, she yelled at the police, "Haven't you ever had a broken heart?" Clearly some part of Britney's heart is broken.

Julia Roberts was recently quoted as saying she knows what it's like to be hounded by paparazzi. Regarding Britney she said, "I just want to hug her." Apparently Britney threw Dr. Phil out of the hospital room 10 minutes after his arrival. So Julia and anyone else with a heart that Britney might listen to, now is the time for the hugs.