Gay Conversion Therapy Trial: New Jersey Nonprofit Group In Fraud Trial For Claiming To Cure Homosexuality

Another case where Shrinks do not know what they are doing, and end up getting sued for it. From a report from the International Business Times (Warning, autoplay video on website)

A major challenge to “gay conversion” therapy is ramping up in New Jersey, in a case that critics of the controversial treatments hope will set a precedent for fighting the practice around the country. A group that offered the so-called therapy is scheduled to go on trial for fraud Wednesday in the state, one of only three to have banned licensed therapists from offering treatments that purport to change a person’s sexual orientation.

Four men and two of their mothers are suing the nonprofit group Jews Offering New Alternatives for Homosexuality, or Jonah, on the grounds that it fraudulently claimed that it could change patients’ sexual orientation and for characterizing homosexuality as a mental disorder, the Associated Press reported. The plaintiffs have accused the group of engaging in “unconscionable practices,” including making patients strip naked during therapy sessions and subjecting them to slurs regarding their homosexuality.

Lawyers for the group have countered that scientists are still debating the nature of sexual orientation, including whether it is fixed or changeable, as well as whether conversion therapies are actually harmful. They have also accused the plaintiffs of seeking to "shut down the debate by making one viewpoint on the issue literally illegal," the AP said.

[...]

In recent years, several states have moved to ban the therapy over fears that it could subject young people to psychological damage but only New Jersey, California, Oregon and Washington, D.C., have succeeded in passing and implementing bans. But the current bans apply only to licensed therapists who practice gay conversion therapy on minors, which is why prosecuting Jonah for consumer fraud could set an important precedent, according to Jack Drescher, a New York psychiatrist and one of the most vocal critics of these therapies.

“A win by the plaintiffs will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on practitioners of SOCE [sexual orientation change efforts] beyond the borders of New Jersey,” Drescher said in an interview with the Huffington Post. “A win would also expand the ban on SOCE embodied in existing legislative bans in CA, NJ, OR and DC: They only apply to licensed professionals who do SOCE with minors. Consumer fraud laws can be used against non-licensed practitioners and protect adult patients as well.”

N.J. medical bribe scheme reached grand scale

Selections from the extensive report on NewJersey.com

The first hint of the vast bribery scheme came with the arrests of a North Jersey doctor and three businessmen who, authorities said, found a way to turn a diagnostic lab with offices in Parsippany and Garfield into a virtual gold mine.

Two years later, federal prosecutors in Newark have racked up convictions of 38 people, including 25 doctors from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, in what is believed to be one of the largest — if not the largest — laboratory bribery prosecutions in the United States, both in terms of money and the number of physicians caught with their hands out.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest number of medical professionals ever prosecuted in the same case,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said last week.

“It shows how pervasive this practice can be. It has also made people in the profession sit up and take notice and made the deterrent message that much louder,” he said.

In recent weeks two doctors, one weeping and both remorseful, have been sentenced after helping prosecutors catch others in cases that add to the broadening panorama of corruption.

By the numbers

• 25 doctors and one physician’s assistant pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.
• 16 of the doctors live in New Jersey; seven in New York; and two in Connecticut. The physician’s assistant is also from New Jersey.
• 12 other defendants who worked at Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services have pleaded guilty.
• The amount of bribes pocketed by individual doctors ranged from $10,500 to $1.8 million.
• In return for bribes, the doctors referred over $100 million in blood tests to the lab.
• So far, 12 doctors have been sentenced to terms ranging from one year of probation, for a cooperator, to more than three years in federal prison and fines of up to $75,000.

The government is seeking a combined forfeiture of more than $87 million from the 38 defendants, including $50 million from former BLS owner and president David Nicoll and $25 million from his brother, Scott Nicoll.

And it’s not over. Additional arrests of doctors who profited from the scheme are anticipated, prosecutors say.

Here is the section we are interested in from this extensive report on this large and complex scheme

A psychiatrist from Fort Lee, who practiced in Paterson, and a doctor from Ramsey are among 12 physicians who have already been sentenced. The psychiatrist, Claudio Dicovsky, admitted accepting $220,000 from BLS, but put a halt to the payments long before the feds came knocking. In January, he was placed on probation for three years, including one year of house arrest with electronic monitoring, and ordered to perform 1,500 hours of community service.

Psychiatrist arrested on the probability that he inappropriately touched one of his patients.

From the Sentinel newspaper out of Nouth Brunswick, New Jerseyu

A psychiatrist at a behavioral health center in Edison was arrested on Oct. 17 on the belief that he inappropriately touched one of his patients.

The suspect, Chowdhury M. Azam, a 54-year-old Monmouth Junction resident, was charged with criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree crime. Criminal sexual contact is described in the state legal code as "intentional touching by the victim or actor, either directly or through clothing, of the victim's or actor's intimate parts for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or sexually gratifying the actor."

The arrest was made the same day the alleged victim filed a report with the Edison Police Department. Following the filing, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crime/Child Abuse Unit and the Edison Police Department embarked on a joint investigation, eventually leading to Azam's arrest.

Azam has been a licensed psychiatrist with Compass Behavioral Health, located on Pierson Avenue. According to authorities, it is alleged that the psychiatrist inappropriately touched one of his patients on one occasion. The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners, the regulatory agency that licenses medical professionals, was informed of Azam's arrest.

According to police, Azam has been released on $50,000 bail set by Municipal Court Judge Craig Coughlin.

Authorities have not released details regarding the alleged victim's age or gender.

Authorities are currently seeking more information about the matter. Anyone with information regarding this investigation, or incidents similar in nature, is encouraged to contact Investigator Raj Chopra of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit at 732-745-3600, or Detective Michael Michalski of the Edison Police Department at 732-248-7525 anytime day or night.

Psychiatrist arrested

As reported in the Edison/Metuchen Sentinel

Apsychiatrist at a behavioral health center in Edison was arrested on Oct. 17 on the belief that he inappropriately touched one of his patients.

The suspect, Chowdhury M. Azam, a 54-year-old Monmouth Junction resident, was charged with criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree crime. Criminal sexual contact is described in the state legal code as "intentional touching by the victim or actor, either directly or through clothing, of the victim's or actor's intimate parts for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or sexually gratifying the actor."

The arrest was made the same day the alleged victim filed a report with the Edison Police Department. Following the filing, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crime/Child Abuse Unit and the Edison Police Department embarked on a joint investigation, eventually leading to Azam's arrest.

Azam has been a licensed psychiatrist with Compass Behavioral Health, located on Pierson Avenue. According to authorities, it is alleged that the psychiatrist inappropriately touched one of his patients on one occasion. The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners, the regulatory agency that licenses medical professionals, was informed of Azam's arrest.

According to police, Azam has been released on $50,000 bail set by Municipal Court Judge Craig Coughlin.

Authorities have not released details regarding the alleged victim's age or gender.

Authorities are currently seeking more information about the matter. Anyone with information regarding this investigation, or incidents similar in nature is encouraged to contact Investigator Raj Chopra of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit at 732-745- 3600, or Detective Michael Michalski of the Edison Police Department at 732-248- 7525 anytime day or night.

Psychiatrist charged with touching patient inappropriately

As seen in this report from Middlesex County in New Jersey

An Edison psychiatrist has been charged with criminal sexual contact after he allegedly touched one of his patients inappropriately, authorities said Tuesday.
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Chowdhury M. Azam, 54, is accused of touching the patient on one occasion and was arrested on Friday, Oct. 17, after the alleged victim reported the incident to Edison police, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said in a news release.

The Monmouth Junction resident is a licensed psychiatrist at Compass Behavioral Health on Pierson Avenue in Edison, the prosecutor said.

Edison police received the complaint on Friday and investigated with the Sex Crime and Child Abuse Unit in Kaplan's office before arresting Azam.

Probable cause for the complaint against him was the statement of the alleged victim, Kaplan said. The news release did not specify where and when the alleged incident occurred, nor did it indicate the age of the victim.

Azam was released on $50,000 bail. Kaplan's office said it has notified the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners of the arrest.

Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Azam said he had been advised by his attorney not to speak about the case.

"The only thing I can say about this is that I'm not guilty and that this is a false allegation,'' he said. "That's all.''

He referred all other questions to his attorney, Steven D. Altman, who is based in New Brunswick.

Kaplan said anyone with information about this investigation, or similar incidents is encouraged to contact Investigator Raj Chopra of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit at 732 745-3600, or Detective Michael Michalski of the Edison Police Department at 732-248-7525.

Psychiatrist: I didn't think patient would take murder plot 'literally'

Sounds like the Shrink is either lying, or is an idiot. As seen in NewsDay

[...] Karpf said he viewed White as a friend, and he said he was hurt when White turned him in to police in January 2003 after Karpf revealed a plot to kill people and dump their dismembered bodies in shark-infested waters.

"I didn't feel he would take me literally," Karpf said. "I felt he would take it as it was -- as a fantastic, concocted story. ... It was such a fantastic story, who would believe it?"

Karpf, 55, of Great Neck, testified for a second day Thursday in a medical malpractice suit brought against him by White, 43. White is seeking unspecified monetary compensation.

White was Karpf's patient for more than six years in December 2002, when Karpf said he began sharing details of a plot to commit murder. Talking about the plot was "just an excuse to have this relationship with him," Karpf said.

"I just thought that he would be impressed by the story, by the fact of the life he led," Karpf said, under questioning by White's attorney, Ruth Bernstein, of Manhattan.

"He was the kind of a guy people would be afraid to mess around with." Karpf said he created a list titled, "Motives for Murder," based on something he saw he in a television movie, "The General's Daughter."

Among the "motives" were profit, revenge, humiliation and "homicidal mania," he testified. He said he wrote the list because "I was having a mental breakdown at the time."

He said he did not remember whether he showed the list to White. After learning of the plot, White called police and cooperated with their investigation.

Karpf acknowledged that he asked White for help to buy a gun, a silencer, ammunition, an axe, cleaning supplies and a van. He said he drove with White on Jan. 8, 2003, to a bank to withdraw money. Later that day, they met with an undercover officer posing as a gun dealer, Karpf said. Police said Karpf was arrested after paying the officer $1,600 for a gun, silencer and ammunition.

Karpf pleaded guilty in 2004 to third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to three months in jail, time he already had served. He surrendered his medical license after his guilty plea. Karpf said he didn't need White's help to purchase a weapon.

[...]

After his arrest, Karpf said, he was hurt "by the fact that he [White] got the police involved."

Psychiatrist Admits Kissing Patients Stomach

Report from The Times on NJ.com

In tearful testimony yesterday, a 24-year-old patient of a Hamilton psychiatrist said that her doctor had kissed her abdomen with an open mouth and put his hand down her pants.

Dr. Alvaro Argueta, 66, of Yardley, Pa., is charged with one count of criminal sexual contact in the Dec. 7, 2006, incident, said Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Downing.

The woman, a resident of Langhorne, Pa., said she began treatment with Argueta for depression, insomnia and severe headaches after her grandmother, who was also his patient, recommended him. She testified she thought it strange that he kissed her at the end of each visit. She testified that on the day in question, he began to kiss and touch her in inappropriate ways.

"I was frozen," she said. "He kept saying, how beautiful I was."

She testified that at one point he grabbed her face and tried to kiss her but she pulled away.

"Then he went back behind his desk like nothing happened," she said. Argueta handed her some prescriptions and she said she left in a daze.

Before that visit the woman, whose name is being withheld by The Times, bought Argueta a Christmas card and statuette of a saint as a present because he had helped her so much with her headache pain.

She testified that after the incident, she walked out to her car, threw up, then drove away but realized she had not given him the gift. So she returned and handed the gift bag to the receptionist, saying she was in shock and denial.

About a month later, after talking with her parents and grandparents, the woman reported the alleged incident to Hamilton police. The woman played a cell phone message from Argueta for Detective Frederick Moore.

"I spoke with your grandmother and, well, (I am) very sorry for all that happened today and to hear that I don't have any excuse," Argueta said on the message, which was played for the jury.

Working with Mercer County Detective Brian Cottrell, the woman called Argueta back. He was with a patient but returned her call within minutes and that conversation was recorded.

In that phone call, which was played in court, Argueta, who was raised in Guatemala and speaks with an accent, said: "I want to ask you your forgiveness. It was something. I don't have words to express how sorry I have been. Christmas and the holidays have been very, very painful."

He continued, "I'm real sorry that that happened and poor judgment on my part."

Argueta also asked her to forgive him as a Christian.

The woman's 73-year-old grandmother, a Hamilton resident, testified that her granddaughter, who was distraught after the office visit with Argueta, drove to her home for solace.

Argueta also testified yesterday and admitted he kissed the woman's stomach but said it was be cause she told him she was fat. He said he put his hand on her stomach as well, but said he stopped immediately, realizing he had gone beyond normal boundaries.

Argueta said the woman suffered from bipolar disorder, borderline personality and post traumatic stress disorder from an abusive relationship with a boyfriend.

His defense lawyer, Lawrence Popp, told the jury in his opening argument the accuser is "emotionally troubled" and his client had nothing to hide.

"He is a man of intelligence and character," Popp said. "He dedicated his life to the mentally troubled."

Argueta's testimony is expected to continue when the trial, before Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey, resumes today.

Growing Scandal - The Money Spent on Psych Drugs for Kids in New Jersey

As seen in this report from Pharmalot

New Jersey’s Medicaid program spent more than $73 million on antipsychotic medications for children less than 18 years old between 2000 and 2007, according to state records, even though the drugs weren’t approved by the FDA for treating kids. And a state official acknowledges the drugs may have been prescribed for conditions other than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the approved uses. As a result, a state legislator is calling for an investigation and is formulating legislation.

“There are horror stories about these meds and there’s a reason they’re not prescribed for kids,” says New Jersey assemblyman Pat Diegnan, who adds that he plans to draft a bill to change the practice and to hold talks with the New Jersey attorney general’s office, which recently formed a task force to examine interactions between pharma and docs. “The entire issue is frightening and the state should be taking a closer look at this. I’m concerned about the casual prescribing by doctors and the enormous amount of money being spent.”

The disclosure comes amid growing debate over antipsychotics. At issue are fears that children are misdiagnosed; drugs are inadequately studied; some docs presribe the pills too readily, and drugmakers promote the meds improperly. As reported previously, a growing number of states are suing various drugmakers over marketing that led Medicaid programs to pay unnecessarily for the meds.

Florida, for instance, is reviewing whether antipsychotics were prescribed improperly for ADHD. “There are no studies that have shown they (atypicals) are safe, or for that matter, that they are effective for children,” Ronald Brown, a Temple University pediatric psychology professor who headed an American Psychological Association committee that examined the issue, told The St. Petersburg Times last year. “The bottom line is that the use of psychiatric medications far exceeds the evidence of safety and effectiveness.”

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Money Spent on Psych Drugs for Kids in New Jersey

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Product	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Abilify	$0	$0	$0	$309,257	$1,420,414	$3,081,174	$4,984,463	$6,115,322
Geodon	$0	$41,565	$129,088	$212,560	$295,085	$390,794	$437,207	$397,331
Haldol	$6,655	$8,558	$13,311	$18,172	$17,206	$13,764	$8,113	$9,448
Risperdal	$1,954,461	$3,259,323	$4,022,473	$4,885,024	$4,986,423	$5,419,384	$5,797,825	$5,522,290
Seroquel	$150,717	$422,674	$905,333	$1,556,533	$1,882,016	$2,375,059	$2,732,248	$3,011,707
Thorazine	$36,905	$41,403	$36,226	$26,881	$14,458	$14,027	$15,009	$18,100
Zyprexa	$751,867	$1,270,683	$1,504,897	$1,719,372	$1,594,270	$1,282,623	$1,271,629	$1,107,777

N.J. Killer Who Escaped Mental Hospital Nabbed

You would think that they would have better security, just from a public safety standpoint, As reported on Fox News

An admitted killer who walked away from a southern New Jersey psychiatric hospital over the weekend was captured Tuesday in the woods behind the hospital, state police said.

State Police spokesman Steve Jones said William Enman was found clad in camouflage clothing at about 3 p.m. behind Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township, where he walked away from on Sunday.

He was taken into custody without incident, Jones said.

Convicted Child Molester Psychiatrist Captured, being returned to USA

As seen in this report

A convicted child molester who skipped out on his parole last year will arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport this morning under armed escort from India where he was arrested in May, a state Division of Parole spokeswoman said Saturday.

Alan Horowitz, 60, will be extradited from New Jersey under a New York arrest warrant issued after he ducked out of the U.S. after meeting with his parole officer on June 7, 2006.

"We're getting him back," said Carole Weaver, the division spokeswoman.

Horowitz was out on parole for his 1991 conviction for first-degree sodomy after he pleaded guilty to an incident involving a 9-year-old boy in Schenectady County.

Horowitz, a former adolescent psychiatrist, served more than 13 years of his 10- to 20-year sentence before he was released on parole in 2004. He was in contact with state officials, saying he was living in an apartment complex in Israel. He said he would never return to the U.S. He then fled to India where he was arrested. U.S. marshals are escorting him back from India.

Horowitz will appear in a New Jersey court the week of July 16 for an extradition hearing, Weaver said.

He'll then head to Schenectady County, where he will face charges for parole violation, Weaver said. His original sentence for the sodomy conviction runs through June 28, 2011.

Psychologist pleads guilty to sexual contact.

From the Ashbury Park Press

A fired psychologist at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital admitted sexually touching one of her male patients. Lisa Anne O'Neill-Ryan, 45, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact Thursday. O'Neill-Ryan, of Phillipsburg, admitted she touched the then-31-year-old patient during treatment between Nov. 1, 2004, and Jan. 31.

She was charged in 2005 with three counts of sexual assault, three counts of official misconduct and one count of criminal sexual contact. O'Neill-Ryan will face probation and community service when she's sentenced.

Drug center ex-patient accepts $3,000,000 settlement

as seen in this report

A former patient at a defunct drug treatment center in Secaucus has agreed to a $3 million settlement with the center's former owners, the former patient's attorney said.

Antonio Carrera was a patient at KIDS of North Jersey for five years undergoing treatment for drug and alcohol addictions - addictions he said he did not have. He said administrators there refused to allow him to attend school and used other patients to physically abuse him when he refused to attend treatment sessions. He agreed to the settlement during a civil suit he filed against the center's owners, Virgil Newton Miller III and his wife, Ruth Ann Newton.

Before the trial began, Carrera - now 26 and living in Clifton - agreed to a $750,000 settlement with Dr. Zisalo Wancier, a psychiatrist at the center, said Carrera's attorney, Phil Elberg.

The settlement with the Newtons was reached Wednesday, but the amount of the settlement wasn't released until Friday.

Although the settlement ended Carrera's suit, state Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli allowed Carrera to testify about his time at the center. He claimed staff members there forced him to make up stories about being addicted to drugs and alcohol, sexually assaulting his siblings and possessing weapons. He was finally allowed to leave the center when he turned 18.

Elberg said Carrera's settlement brings the total of money recouped from the Newtons by former patients to more than $15 million.

"This has to do with the Newtons taking advantage of people, of preying on parents who are concerned for their children," Elberg said.

Another Incident at Greystone Park State Psychiatric Hospital

A patient attacked and injured a female employee of Greystone Park State Psychiatric Hospital [in New Jersey] after forcing his way into her office on Monday according to state police. The incident marked the latest in a series of incidents, including employee attacks, patient-employee fights, and mysterious patient deaths and escapes. Police charged Eugene Hardy, 38, with aggravated assault and criminal sexual contact. The employee, believed to be Hardy's psychiatrist, was treated for a back injury at Morristown Memorial Hospital and released. Hardy, who lived in Essex County until his civil commitment to Greystone in 1999, did not have a history of criminal conduct.

To be fair, these incidents have been less frequent since 1997, when the state Human Services Department barred the practice of detaining patients charged with serious crimes. Fights among patients and employees had been commonplace throughout the 1990s as the patient population climbed to nearly 700.

In 2000, Gov. Christie Whitman announced the state would close the troubled hospital.

Psych says being a crook does not disqualify him for his current job

A psychologist reprimanded and suspended by New Jersey’s Board of Psychological Examiners for a litany of offenses still managed to get a job as director of Trenton’s state-funded heroin detox center. State officials expressed concern over the appointment of Dr. Luis R. Nieves,who was hired by the New Horizon Treatment Center on Perry Street in January 2001 while still under the requirements of a three-year suspension that kicked off in May 1998. According to state records obtained by The Trentonian, Nieves was fined more than $20,000 after being found guilty on 10 counts of professional misconduct and negligence. Nieves insists that the decision by the Board of Psychological Examiners, and his subsequent suspension, have no bearing on his ability to carry out his duties in his current position. "It does not in any way," Nieves insisted.

As seen in the original report for the original offenses:

"His conduct clearly was unprofessional and unethical in that his exploitation of the services of (employees) and his subsequent abandonment and retaliation against at least one demonstrates to the board that Nieves’ sole motivation was for his own personal financial benefit"

I feel so much better now. (not)