Congressional hearing reveals 4 more deaths at Tomah, Wisconsin, VA Hospital

Selections from this report on the Reveal website

Four more veterans died under suspicious circumstances than previously reported at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Tomah, Wisconsin, under the leadership of its chief of staff, psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan. The deaths, revealed in a rare congressional field hearing today in the small Wisconsin town, bring to 33 the number of unexpected deaths The Center for Investigative Reporting has found occurred during Houlihan’s decade at the helm. The medical center became known as “Candy Land” for the ease with which narcotic painkillers were prescribed.

They include Kraig Ferrington, a 45-year-old Army veteran and union plasterer who died of an overdose of seven medications prescribed by Houlihan in 2007, and three veterans that a VA pharmacist told lawmakers died in the VA parking lot in 2008 and 2009.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure these tragedies don’t happen to others,” Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told a packed audience of 400 veterans and family members at the Cranberry Country Lodge. The hearing brought together many of the people who had suffered and complained for years about Houlihan’s practices to no avail. Members of Congress from both parties made the trip to the rural community, which had until recently been more famous for cranberries and cheddar cheese than notorious for narcotic painkillers.

[...]

Today’s hearing marked the sixth congressional hearing where overmedication and abuse of authority at the Tomah VA have been discussed since CIR revealed the problems in a story published Jan. 8.

[...]

Within a week of that story’s publication, Houlihan and Frasher were removed from their positions pending the completion of an internal investigation.

On March 10, they were placed on administrative leave after a preliminary review found that Tomah patients were 2.5 times more likely than the national average to receive high doses of opiates. On March 20, the VA told Congress that Houlihan’s boss, Tomah hospital Director Mario DeSanctis, had been “reassigned to a position at the Great Lakes Health Care System network office, a position outside of the medical center.”

The VA Office of Inspector General, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also have opened fresh investigations of Houlihan and the Tomah VA.

Throughout the three-hour hearing, lawmakers expressed exasperation that few alternatives to narcotics are being offered. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., an Army veteran, said he had been pressing the VA to adopt a more nuanced approach to pain management since 2008. [...]

Witnesses included Ryan Honl, a Gulf War veteran and West Point graduate; Noelle Johnson, a pharmacist who was fired in 2009 after she refused to fill prescriptions for high doses of morphine that she believed were unsafe; and family members of those who died, including Heather and Marvin Simcakoski, the widow and father of Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old former Marine who died of an overdose in the Tomah VA psychiatric ward in August.

Crime, Drugs And Dead Amish Baby: How A Criminal Underground Is Linked To Harmful Prescriptive Practices At A Wisconsin Veterans Affairs

An excellent report by Benjamin Krause of DisabledVeterans.org

Investigative reporter Aaron Glantz just released the results of his damning investigation into harmful Veterans Affairs prescriptive practices linked to the death of a little Amish baby.

Glantz’s investigation revealed the story of little Ada Mae Miller. A stoned veteran driving home following treatment at Tomah VA struck her and her Amish family. The family was driving to the store in their buggy when struck by Marine Corps veteran Brian Witkus.

Baby Ada Mae and her mom were thrown from the buggy by the impact. Ada Mae was crushed under the weight of her mother, who landed on her. Her autopsy listed the cause of death as “crush injury to the chest.”

Witkus was a known drug addict receiving treatment from Tomah VA and the now infamous psychiatrist named Dr. David Houlihan. Witkus hit the Miller family while stoned on painkillers and tranquilizers from the Tomah VA. He was convicted and served three years in prison following a conviction for homicide.

The death of Ada Mae is but one example of criminal conduct linked to harmful prescriptive practices at VA that gave rise to crimes such as drug dealing, vandalism, burglary and more. Local law enforcement knew men and women committing these crimes by the nicknames “Turtle,” “Airman,” “Black Mark” and “Detroit.” On the inside, these patients of the Tomah VA facility were known as “Houlihan’s Hooligans.”

The scope of the drug problem in the sleepy town of Tomah, Wisconsin is truly shocking. According to Glantz’s report:

“In recent years, hospital staff have discovered younger veterans stealing from elderly patients and others dealing VA-prescribed painkillers and shooting OxyContin and heroin on hospital grounds. Inside the hospital, VA police reports document the fallout: strung-out veterans tossing wheelchairs across rooms and a trash can out of a window, setting fire to magazines, wielding a meat cleaver.

“A search of Tomah police records by The Center for Investigative Reporting and the La Crosse Tribune found that employees at the Tomah VA had called 911 more than 2,000 times in the past five years, seeking local law enforcement help with cases of battery and burglary, an attempted kidnapping and 24 unexpected deaths.”

This report is a must read for any veteran advocate or veteran concerned about doping practices at Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation. Glantz covers the soup-to-nuts implications of the harmful practices at the Tomah VA facility and digs deep into the criminal underbelly of Tomah, Wisconsin.

READ IT: The death of baby Ada Mae and the tragic effects of addicted veterans

Advocacy group for mentally ill denied access to Franklin County jail

As reported by the Tri-City Herald in Wisconsin (more information at the link)

Franklin County corrections officers did not allow an attorney with an advocacy group for the mentally ill inside the county jail on a visit this week.

Disability Rights Washington received a complaint about the conditions for two inmates in the jail and sent an attorney to check the facility Oct. 28, said David Carlson, the Seattle group’s director of legal advocacy. Federal law allows the private agency to visit any place that houses people with mental illness, including jails, psychiatric hospitals, homeless shelters and nursing homes.

But attorney Anna Guy was not allowed inside the cell pods and, instead, had to speak with inmates in the visitation area, Guy said in a Friday letter to county Deputy Prosecutor Tim Dickerson.

Officers told Guy when she arrived that jail Capt. Rick Long would not be able to speak with her because he was busy and she arrived at 10 a.m. for her scheduled 9:30 a.m. visit, she said. They told her to instead wait for Dickerson.

The agency likes to see inside the jail to get a better idea what conditions the inmates are living in, Carlson said.

Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim said Guy told the jail by email late Monday afternoon that she would be visiting Tuesday, giving jail staff little time to prepare. Tuesdays usually are busy because of inmate traffic to and from court. Sheriff’s officials referred the lawyer to the prosecutor’s office because the sheriff’s office didn’t understand what she was looking for.

“Basically, they were inconsiderate and rude and very unclear with what they wanted,” Lathim said.

Lathim questions the authority the group has to visit the jail.

“I’m sure the federal law doesn’t say you can show up at the busiest time and do what you want,” he said.

Disability Rights Washington sent an informal notice that it was coming because it has worked with the jail before, and it is not required to give any notice, Carlson said. The group received an email back Tuesday morning from Long saying the visit was OK.

“We don’t write really long lawyer letters every time we go someplace, especially if they know us,” he said.

Dickerson told Guy that he was unfamiliar with Disability Rights Washington, Guy said in her letter. He then told her that low staffing levels at the jail and pending litigation could affect the visit.

“I explained that pending litigation does not preclude DRW from accessing your facilities and inmates,” Guy said. “I also explained that DRW’s authority grants it unaccompanied access to facilities.”

An unrelated lawsuit, brought by Columbia Legal Services of Seattle, claims mentally ill inmates are subjected to inhumane and barbaric practices at the jail.

Dickerson continued to deny Guy access to the inmate holding and medical areas, Guy said. But he allowed her to see inmates in the visitation area.

You can find the Disability Rights Washington website here

Wisconsin Psychiatrist Dr. Ron Rubin has medical license suspended indefinitely, accused of smoking pot with patients, prescribing dangerous amounts of prescription drugs, and even treating underage girls without their parents’ consent.

You can read the court order here The court order, issued by the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, says Dr. Rubin overprescribed stimulants to at least 9 patients last year, many of them people he met at Wisconsin strip clubs. In some cases he prescribed six times the recommended maximum dose of amphetamines. As seen in this report

Rubin’s own lawyer admits the allegations against him are striking.

“The medical board I think hearing what sounded like some pretty awful allegations I think acted appropriately and summarily suspended his license,” said Hal Harlowe, one of Dr. Rubin’s attorneys.

It’s the first time he’s had any formal action taken against him, even though he’s been the subject of 11 complaints dating back to 1997.

“I think it’s awful particularly because I did attempt to take his, get his license from him,” says a former patient.

[...]

It’s impossible to say what he’s been accused of, because the state shreds complaints against doctors every 5 to 7 years.

From what little information is still available, it appears most cases involved allegations of professional misconduct.

The majority of complaints, though, weren’t even investigated. It’s impossible to say what he’s been accused of, because the state shreds complaints against doctors every 5 to 7 years.

From what little information is still available, it appears most cases involved allegations of professional misconduct.

The majority of complaints, though, weren’t even investigated.

There is also two video reports





There is a lot more at the linked news story

Woman files suit against psychiatrist boyfriend after crime spree.

As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A former Cedarburg woman who along with her psychiatrist boyfriend led police on a cross-country chase has filed a lawsuit against him alleging medical malpractice because the two began a sexual relationship while she was his patient.

Darcy J. Bogenrief, 43, alleges in the lawsuit filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court that she sought treatment in late 2001 or early 2002 from former Thiensville psychiatrist Lyndon K. Steinhaus, 48, the two began a sexual relationship later in 2002 and he continued to be her doctor and prescribe medication for her until at least December 2006.

Steinhaus’ “conduct was negligent and in violation of the standards of care” prescribed in state law, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Bogenrief “sustained severe physical, mental and emotional injury” and “loss of earning capacity and has incurred medical and related expenses in the past” and will continue to do so.

Steinhaus’ medical insurer and a state risk-sharing fund for health-care providers also are named in the lawsuit.

Bogenrief, a Marquette University Law School graduate who formerly practiced law in Illinois, and Steinhaus are each charged in Ozaukee County with misappropriating Steinhaus’ ex-wife’s identity.

They used it to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and buy jewelry as revenge for her seeking child support, according to a criminal complaint.

They were arrested in November 2006 in Gillette, Wyo., where Steinhaus was employed as a child psychiatrist after years of practicing in Ozaukee and Washington counties, and charged with one felony count of identity theft. Steinhaus also was charged in Wyoming with 27 misdemeanor counts of illegally prescribing drugs to Bogenrief.

After posting bail in Wyoming, the pair led police on a two-week cross-country spree that included trashing a South Dakota motel room; crossing into Canada, where Bogenrief was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving; posting bond in Montana by leaving behind a BMW car; and finally being arrested in Brownsville, Tenn., when they stopped at a check cashing store to get an advance on a federal income tax refund, according to authorities and court records.

Steinhaus served nine months in jail in Gillette and then was extradited to Ozaukee County. He was freed after posting $10,000 bail and now lives in Kewaskum while awaiting trial, according to online court records. He is next due in court on July 23.

According to Wyoming court records, Bogenrief was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

She is free on a signature bond. She lives in Gillette and is under treatment there, according to court records. She is due in court Oct. 7.

Psychiatrist accused of sexually assaulting patient

As reported by the Post Crescent, out of Appleton, Wisconsin.

An Affinity Behavioral Health psychiatrist has been suspended from his position after he was charged this week with sexual exploitation by a therapist.
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Charles D. Morgan, 62, of Neenah, charged Monday in Winnebago County Circuit Court, faces a maximum penalty of 12½ years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted.

Morgan is due back in court July 10 for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial.

He sexually assaulted a 27-year-old woman, whom he had been treating for bipolar disorder the past two years, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman told police she was admitted to Mercy Medical Center on June 17 to receive electronic convulsive therapy. Morgan came into her room June 18 and gave her hug.

She said he came into her room again on June 19, kissed her and told her he did it "because I like you." Morgan kissed the woman again on June 20 and told her she needed to keep it confidential, the complaint said.

The woman told Morgan she wanted a different psychiatrist on June 21. Morgan arranged to meet the woman at his Oshkosh office once she was discharged from the hospital.

At the office, the woman and Morgan were sitting on a couch when he began kissing her and having inappropriate sexual contact with her, the complaint said.

Speaking out Against Psychiatric Drugs

We came across this letter to the editor from the training of a local health services clinic in Sheboygan. While the letter concerns local matters, the following snippets speak to our broader issues. this also has implications regarding the impact of psychiatric drugs on the rise in School shootings:

If Mental Health America wishes to reduce suicide; they should place their resources at psychological "treatment," not psychiatric control. [...]

It is widely known in the psychiatric research community if you take 1,000 depressed people, split them in two equal groups, equal out the level of sadness and depression in each group, then give one group any of the most widely used SSRI anti-depressants and the other group sugar pills (e.g. placebo), you will find the drug group will have two to seven times more suicides than the sugar pill group.

And, the reduction in sadness or depression by each of the two groups will be clinically unrecognizable.

In a world when one out of every 10 boys going to an doctor for any reason walks out with a psychiatric drug, and nine out of 10 people in general walk out with a psychiatric drug if they go for any mental health concern, do the drug companies really need more help from our own MHA to get people on or to assist people in continuing to take psychiatric drugs?

Based upon peer-reviewed data, taking a drug to fix a psychological problem unquestionably causes more people to suppress their humanity (e.g. control via drugs) and act inhumanely (e.g. committing more suicides and acts of aggression). Taking psychotropic drugs often leads to an exacerbation of the very problem on a neurological level (e.g. down/up regulation leading to supersensitivity), an increase in disability and an increase in hospitalization, all while decreasing one's own self of control and self reliance.

This is good for the counseling and psychiatrist business, but bad for our neighbors.

Speaking against my own field comes with much criticism from my colleges. However, our staff and I have continually extended offers to present this data and educate the non-professional staff that makes up MHA and the suicide walk group.

I welcome any in-service or forum, by professional or lay person, to discuss the numerous problems that plaque our field.

Psychiatrist faces sex assault trial

Yet another child sex case involving a psychiatrist, this time from Wisconsin. As seen in the Journal Sentinel.

A psychiatrist already serving four years of probation for possession of child pornography was ordered to stand trial Friday on a sexual assault charge after a 14-year-old boy tearfully testified that the doctor molested him during a counseling session in 2006.

At a preliminary hearing to determine whether the case against Eric B. Schwietering of Milwaukee should proceed to trial, the boy testified that Schwietering questioned him during a counseling session about his sexual habits and asked him to disrobe July 10, 2006.

When he declined, the boy said, Schwietering forced him down on a couch, partially disrobed him and touched him indecently.

Schwietering, 41, was charged in October with sexual assault of a child younger than 16, a felony.

According to testimony Friday and a criminal complaint, the assault occurred when Schwietering was associated with Cornerstone Counseling, 16535 W. Blue Mound Road, Brookfield. Schwietering no longer practices at the center.

After the assault, the boy testified, Schwietering told him not to tell anyone about what had occurred and said he would hurt him if he did.

The complaint says the matter came to light in the fall when the boy, now living at a residential school in Keokuk, Iowa, told his mother in e-mail that he had been assaulted by Schwietering, who specialized in treating children and adolescents.

Schwietering's attorney, Paul Bucher, sought to have the case dismissed, telling Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Martin Binn that the boy's testimony and statements to authorities were not credible.

But Binn rejected the argument and ordered Schwietering to return to court Feb. 6.

In May, Schwietering was placed on four years of probation in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on two felony counts of possession of child pornography.

Psychiatrist Accused Of Assaulting Boy

More on this troubling case from TMJ TV Channel 4 in Milwaukee

He went in for counseling, but a boy claims a psychiatrist sexually assaulted him instead. The boy says it happened a few years ago in Brookfield.

The suspect is Eric B. Schwietering. He worked at the Cornerstone Counseling Center.

Schwietering remains in custody at the Waukesha County jail on a $50,000 cash bail. This isn't the first time he's been charged with a crime involving children.

Back in May, he pleaded guilty and went to jail for possessing child pornography. This time, the charges are even more shocking: he's accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy.

Even more disturbing, the boy, who is now 14 and living in Iowa, says the assault happened at Cornerstone Counseling Center where Schwietering was his psychiatrist.

Schwietering specialized in child and adolescent therapy.

The boy told police he was at a therapy session when Schwietering abused him.

According to a criminal complaint, the victim told police that he did not tell anyone about the abuse that allegedly happened for almost a year and a half because he says the suspect told him if he did tell anyone, he would hurt him really bad.

"The victim had indicated and you can tell by the complaint that he was absolutely petrified of what might happen because of threats that had been made to him," Barbara Michaels from the district attorney’s office said.

Cornerstone Counseling Services says they fired Schwietering last year after he was charged with possessing child porn.

They didn't talk on camera, but did say: "This is news to us. Our focus is going to be on taking care of our patients."

No one was home when we went to Schwietering's downtown Milwaukee condo to get a comment, but Brookfield residents had plenty to say.

"When someone goes in, and gives them their trust on being treated for a certain disease, and then they get violated, I think he should be reprimanded," Steven Gray said.

Schwietering faces up to 40 years in prison if he's convicted.

Psychiatrist charged again - accused of sex assault involving adolescent patient

From the Journal Sentinel Online

A psychiatrist serving four years of probation for having a large collection of child pornography in his downtown Milwaukee apartment was charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting an adolescent patient in a Brookfield counseling center where he formerly practiced.

Eric B. Schwietering was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court with sexual assault of a child under 16, a felony, in a criminal complaint that says the assault occurred between September 2005 and November 2006 when he was still associated with Cornerstone Counseling, 16535 W. Blue Mound Road.

The complaint says that the matter came to light recently when the boy, now 14 and living in Iowa, told his mother and a school official that he was assaulted by Schwietering, who specialized in treating children and adolescents. The complaint does not indicate why the boy was seeing Schwietering but does say that he saw the psychiatrist regularly for several months.

During one of the appointments, according to the boy, Schwietering questioned him about his sexual habits and asked him to disrobe, the complaint says. When the boy declined, according to the complaint, Schwietering climbed on top of him, partially disrobed him, then sexually assaulted him.

After the assault, Schwietering, now 41, told the boy not to reveal what occurred, warning that if he did so he would "hurt him really bad," the boy told police, according to the complaint.

In May, Schwietering was placed on four years of probation in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on two felony counts of possession of child pornography.

As part of his sentence, Schwietering, who pleaded guilty to the charges in February, was ordered to serve 45 days in jail.

That case stems from a raid in September 2006, when police seized more than a hundred pornographic video cassettes and DVDs, Schwietering's computer, and pipes and metal screens commonly used to smoke crack from a home in the 400 block of N. 3rd St. in Milwaukee.

Thiensville psychiatrist in court, captured after manhunt

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A former Thiensville psychiatrist who, along with his lawyer girlfriend, led police on a High Plains manhunt that ended in Tennessee this year was back in Ozaukee County Circuit Court Friday on charges he stole the identity of his ex-wife and used it to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and buy jewelry as revenge for her seeking child support from him.

Judge Joseph D. McCormack scheduled a preliminary hearing for Tuesday in the case of Lyndon K. Steinhaus, 47, who is in custody in the Ozaukee County Jail after spending the last nine months in a Gillette, Wyo., jail.

Steinhaus and Darcy Bogenrief, 42, sent taunting e-mails to his ex-wife, a criminal complaint says.

They used the woman's identity to take an online questionnaire, "Are you a slacker mom?" and sent the results to her; purchased a subscription to the Brotherhood of Father's Rights newsletter; and filed a change of address so that her mail would be forwarded to Oregon, the complaint says.

Steinhaus and Bogenrief were arrested in Gillette on Nov. 8, 2006. Steinhaus was employed there by a hospital as a child psychiatrist after he worked for years as a psychiatrist in Ozaukee and Washington counties.

Steinhaus and Bogenrief are each charged with one felony count of identity theft for financial gain. If convicted, they could be imprisoned for six years and be fined $10,000.

Bogenrief is a Cedarburg native and a Marquette Law School graduate.

"Both of them have special needs that were the catalysts for his actions," Frank Schiro, Steinhaus' lawyer, said Friday.

After being arrested and posting bail in Wyoming, the pair took off on a two-week, cross-country spree that included crossing into Canada, where Bogenrief was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving; and posting bond in Montana by leaving behind a BMW.

They were finally arrested in Brownsville, Tenn., when they stopped at a check cashing store in an attempt to get an advance on a federal income tax refund.

When the tax preparer called the Internal Revenue Service, the preparer was alerted through the National Crime Information Center that the couple was "suspicious."

Steinhaus also was charged in Wyoming with 27 misdemeanor counts of illegally prescribing more than 3,000 tablets of Methylin and methylphenidate hydrochloride, which are closely related to the drug Ritalin, to Bogenrief from May 18 to Oct. 26.

Steinhaus served nine months in jail in Gillette on those charges and then was extradited to Ozaukee County, Schiro said.

Steinhaus is being held on a probation violation in the Ozaukee County Jail stemming from a third drunken-driving charge in Milwaukee County.

According to Wyoming court records, Bogenrief was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for charges filed in Wyoming and was committed to a mental health facility.

Bogenrief appeared in Ozaukee County Circuit Court in September and was freed on a signature bond. McCormack allowed her to return to Wyoming to continue receiving treatment. She is due in court Nov. 12.

Mental hospital under fire for neglect

Another mental hospital under investigation

Wisconsin's state-run Winnebago Mental Health Institute is under fire for poor patient supervision after several incidents in which patients were in jeopardy.

Poor supervision and bad judgment on the part of hospital staff are being blamed for three deaths and one rape at Winnebago, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

Almost three dozen acts of violence have been reported at Winnebago, which houses some of the state’s most severely mentally ill patients.

Among the cases recently cited is that of a 15-year-old girl with swallowing problems who, after being taken off her special diet of soft foods, choked to death on a sandwich, the newspaper said.

A 24-year-old patient collapsed and died after staff disregarded her complaints of dizziness. Another woman, who was supposed to be under constant supervision, committed suicide after she was left alone in a bathroom.

Rape is also reportedly an issue at Winnebago, which was cited for an incident in which a 13-year-old boy raped a 14-year-old girl while the two were unsupervised in a shower area.

Winnebago's director, Robert Kneepkens, told the newspaper there has been significant progress toward fixing problems of understaffing and patient neglect.

Woman in police standoff was on Anti-Depressants

We have this report from Washington County in Wisconsin

A Jackson woman who threatened to shoot herself last week and eventually surrendered to a Sheriff's Department SWAT team after an eight-hour siege has been charged with second degree reckless endangerment and failing to comply with an officer, both felonies.

According to a criminal complaint, the Washington County Sheriff's Department unit was called to the home of Edna F. Markowski, 57, at about 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 19 after she threatened to kill herself with a pistol.

Markowski told police she had taken some anti-depressant medication and that she had an abundance of ammunition for the gun, according to the complaint.

Officers, protected by shields, entered the house and saw Markowski lying on a bed. She pointed the pistol at members of the team and then closed the bedroom door, at which point the officers retreated, the complaint says.

Markowski eventually came out of the house on her own at about 6 a.m., according to the complaint.

If convicted, Markowski could be imprisoned 18 years and 6 months.

Psychiatrist loses license - linked to 11 drug deaths

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A psychiatrist linked to 11 drug overdose deaths in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties has agreed to give up his medical license and repay the federal government $509,000 in overbilled charges to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Although there was a criminal investigation into Richard I.H. Wang's prescriptions for dangerous levels of addictive painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Valium, he will not be criminally charged, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Jacobs.

"His principal problem was a failure to perform as a competent, current physician. It was a sin of omission rather than a sin of commission," Jacobs said. "He should have done more."

The civil resolution, finalized Friday after a three-year investigation, accomplishes the government's main goals: removing Wang from the practice of medicine and recovering the money he overbilled, Jacobs said.

Reached Friday, Wang, 82, said he wanted to retire anyway, and did so Wednesday. He had been banned by the state from prescribing drugs since 2004.

Wang, who practiced medicine in Wisconsin for 40 years and who once held key posts at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a local veterans hospital, has a history of complaints dating to 1993, records show. Burleigh Serv-U Pharmacy, which filled many of Wang's prescriptions, ordered more than 1,000% more of certain drugs from its supplier than others its size, court records show.

The pharmacist there said he had contacted state licensing officials 10 times since 1998 about whether he should continue to fill Wang's prescriptions and was told it was fine, according to the records.

Affidavits in support of search warrants for Wang's home and office, served in 2004, describe 11 drug overdose deaths, including six of Wang's patients. Authorities believe some of those patients and others were selling or sharing their medications with relatives and friends, five of whom also died. The deaths occurred between June 2000 and March 2004.

Wang said Friday that his patients were required to sign agreements not to sell or abuse their medications.

"Out of several hundred patients, there were a couple who didn't follow the rules and regulations. They should be the ones (prosecuted)," Wang said. "Instead, they say, 'Who did you get the medication from?' That's not right."

Jacobs, though, said having the patients sign forms wasn't enough. Wang should have been more diligent about recognizing drug-seeking behavior, perhaps doing urine screenings of his patients, Jacobs said.

"There was a failure for him to recognize some of the red flags," Jacobs said.

However, Wang did not sell prescriptions to non-patients and did not charge exorbitant fees to patients who were prescribed painkillers, Jacobs said. Also, some of his patients died from combining prescription drugs with illegal ones such as heroin. All those factors would have made a criminal prosecution difficult, Jacobs said.

Sandy Folaron, whose son J.R. committed suicide in 2004 after being treated by Wang for pain associated with a knee injury, said she would have liked to see Wang go to prison but was satisfied that he didn't get off scot-free.

"I still felt that what he had done and lives he had destroyed, he had to have his license revoked," she said.

At one point, Wang was prescribing between 300 and 400 pills to J.R. each month, Folaron said. By the time Wang lost his ability to prescribe drugs, J.R. was addicted, and the doctor did nothing to help him, she said. With the painkillers cut off, J.R. started using heroin. Within a month, he had killed himself.

"He was a young wonderful man, our son, who had such a future, who fell, and fell hard," she said. "He's just one of many."

As for the overbilling, authorities say Wang submitted $509,000 worth of improper bills to Medicare and Medicaid. Wang generally spent very small amounts of time with each patient, yet submitted bills indicating complex visits that lasted 40 minutes or more, according to court documents.

Wang said he had hired someone to calculate his invoices for the federal programs and he merely signed them. As part of the settlement agreement, he agreed to repay the money anyway.

Wang served as chief of clinical pharmacology at the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1964 to 1992. He simultaneously was on the faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa full time from 1963 to 1987 and part time after that until 1996, when he retired from the college.

Department of Mental Health employee charged with assault

From WIS TV in Wisconsin

An employee with G. Werber Bryan Psychiatric Hospital has been arrested by SLED agents and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

The employee, 50-year-old Furman Reginald Glover of Columbia, was arrested Friday morning about 7am.

An arrest warrant states four SC Dept. of Mental Health officers saw Glover stab a victim in the hip while administering PRN injections.

Glover was booked at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

Teen Girl Under Psych Care Confined to Bedroom for Months.

A teenage girl under psychiatric care was confined to her upstairs bedroom for months because her stepmother believed she was “bad” and required her “to be good” for two straight days before lifting the punishment. As seen here.

A teenage girl was confined to her upstairs bedroom for months because her stepmother believed she was “bad” and required her “to be good” for two straight days before lifting the punishment, a sibling told police.

The child’s Jan. 12 account of how Clint and Lynn Engstrom treated the 13-year-old girl helped convince a judge to issue a search warrant for the Engstrom’s home later that day, according to court records. The couple was charged Jan. 16 with one count each of causing mental harm to a child, a felony punishable by up to 12½ years in prison.

Lynn Engstrom, the girl’s stepmother, acknowledged to investigators that the girl had been “grounded” in her room for months. The girl’s plight came to light after her parents took her to an Appleton hospital because she was hearing voices and pulling out her hair.

Search warrant records say an anonymous caller contacted Winnebago County child protective services about the girl’s situation and a social services worker contacted police Jan. 12, leading to the interview with the sibling and the search warrant request.

The caller reported the girl “had anger episodes that her parents could not deal with any longer so they started to keep in her room all day and night,” court records said.

The caller told police the parents felt they weren’t doing anything wrong and claimed they were following a doctor’s orders.

Lynn Engstrom’s attorney, Joseph Hildebrand, said Friday the parents took the girl to the Appleton hospital Jan. 5 on the advice of a psychiatrist she had been seeing for a year and a half. The psychiatrist recommended the family get a second opinion about her care, he said. Once at the hospital, the girl was admitted.

“It is false that she was locked into a room,” Hildebrand said. “She is a troubled child who needs help.”

Hildebrand said the girl saw a special education teacher through the public schools in Oshkosh two or three times a week “through most of December.” He called the charges against the parents unfair, saying the case is “making a mountain out of a molehill.”

John Sprangers, personnel director for the Oshkosh Area School District, has said the girl re-enrolled in the school system on Dec. 11. Police have said the girl attended a church school in Oshkosh until last June.

A hearing before Winnebago County Court Commissioner Daniel Bissett is scheduled Tuesday for prosecutors to justify the charges. Dist. Atty. Christian Gossett said the girl would testify.

The parents remain in jail, unable to post $25,000 cash bails.

According to court records, the girl’s younger stepbrother — one of three other children in the Engstrom home — told police the teenager had been kept in her room about 19 hours a day for months for lying and other behavior, such as spitting in his mother’s food.

He said his mom said the teen “is bad and has to go two days straight of being good before she can come out of her room or have other privileges like TV,” court records said.

The sibling said he only got to see the girl when she went to the bathroom, occasionally joined them at the dinner table or was taken to the doctor, court records said.

He told a police detective that he wasn’t allowed to go in the girl’s spartan, “boring” room to play with her.

The boy told police the girl would be spanked with a wooden spoon kept in the kitchen if she left the room for anything other than going to the bathroom, court records said.

The boy also said his stepsister had gone to Grace Lutheran School until the sixth grade but didn’t return this fall because she “made his mom sad by telling teachers and other people at school that she wasn’t her real mom and that she was a bad mom,” court records said.

In another development Friday, Hildebrand said the Engstroms received an eviction notice. Their landlord is seeking about $4,700 in back rent, court records said.

“They cannot afford to pay it, and they are not earning any money,” Hildebrand said.

Of Course (as noted above), the child was under the care of a psychiatrist for over a year and a half. The psychiatrist has issued a statement saying in part:

"Our staff has never recommended or condoned the confining of a child in a locked room and the depriving of necessary nourishment, clothing, heat, bathroom facilities, education or social interaction for a child. Such treatment of a child is absolutely reprehensible."

Our question is,

How did it happen that it took this long to find out what was going on?

Former psychiatrist caught after holiday crime spree

More on the now infamous Lyndon Steinhaus, and Darcy Bogenrief, as seen here

A former psychiatrist from Thiensville and his girlfriend face a laundry list of charges, mostly in Wyoming.

Lyndon Steinhaus, 47, and Darcy Bogenrief, 41, are in jail in Brownsville, Tenn., but only after a two-week holiday manhunt that reportedly included drunk driving in Canada, the trashing of a hotel room in South Dakota, and leaving behind a BMW in Montana as bond. They’ll be extradited to Gillette, Wyo., for a court hearing late next month.

For starters, Steinhaus is charged in Ozaukee County with stealing his ex-wife’s identity to open bank accounts, get credit cards, and buy jewelry. It was apparently in retaliation, after she tried to make him pay child support.

In Wyoming, he and Bogenrief face similar identity theft charges after he became a child psychologist there. Authorities said Steinhaus prescribed extra Ritalin that apparently made its way to methamphetamine users.

They were finally caught when they tried to get an advance on their tax returns, and the Internal Revenue Service flagged them as being wanted.

Bogenrief is an attorney, and her mother said she has a serious mental condition.

Steinhaus was a psychiatrist for years in southeast Wisconsin, specializing in treatment for alcohol and other drugs. But officials said he struggled with abuse himself. He still faces a third drunk driving charge from last June in Milwaukee County.

International Coalition For Drug Awareness

International Coalition For Drug Awareness is a private, non-profit group of physicians, researchers, journalists and concerned citizens.

Our primary focus is to address the world's most pervasive and subtle drug problem—prescription drugs. We are dedicated to educating the people of the world regarding the potential harmful and life threatening short and long term effects of these drugs along with the serious problems associated with the unethical marketing techniques of pharmaceutical companies and the off-label prescribing of these drugs by many physicians. As the cause of an estimated 200,000 deaths per year in America, drug reactions are now the third leading cause of death!

The most dangerous period of time for a drug is upon market introduction. At that point physicians and their patients have information on adverse reactions present in the controlled environment of a clinical trial, but are unaware of the potential adverse reactions of these new drugs when dispensed to the general public. We feel there is a need to track and report patient reactions more carefully and more rapidly than what is presently being done, which should result in lower medical costs for the patients and doctors as well. And also might begin to bridge the gap that is beginning to form between well-meaning doctors and maltreated patients.

By keeping prescribing physicians and their patients abreast of recent adverse reaction reports and approved uses of drugs as opposed to their off-label uses, we hope to cut the number of unnecessary deaths due to drug reactions and interactions and lessen the number of malpractice suits filed against physicians as a result of those reactions. Beyond this public education process our intention is to serve as a watchdog group over the FDA and similar organizations around the world, encouraging them to remove drugs which demonstrate high numbers of dangerous adverse reactions and threaten the public safety.

Their board is composed of medical professionals. They also have a good collection of online resources

Psychiatrist, girlfriend suspected in identity theft case

This report from Gillette, Wyoming

Deputies arrested a former Campbell County Memorial Hospital psychiatrist and his girlfriend on suspicion of stealing someone’s identity, Sheriff Bill Pownall said.

Dr. Lyndon Keith Steinhaus, 46, and 41-year-old Darcy Jo Bogenrief came under suspicion after Ozaukee, Wis., investigators notified Campbell County deputies last week about an identity theft.

Deputies searched Steinhaus’ and Bogenrief’s Robin Drive home Thursday and discovered evidence that led to their arrest, Pownall said. The case has been forwarded to the County Attorney’s Office for review, and the two have not yet been formally charged.

Pownall said he did not have any more details about the case because the investigation report is not yet complete. He said he thinks the victim lives in Wisconsin.

“I’ll be right honest, I look for further charges,” Pownall said.

The court paperwork was not ready at press time because Steinhaus and Bogenrief were arrested based on the evidence at their home and investigators did not ask for warrants before the arrest.

The hospital terminated Steinhaus’ employment Tuesday, said Karen Clarke, a hospital spokeswoman. Clarke would not say why he was let go because it is a personnel issue.

Steinhaus and Bogenrief were scheduled to appear in Circuit Court for their initial appearance Friday afternoon.

Psychiatrist charged in sex case

As seen in this report

A Wauwatosa psychiatrist has been charged with having repeated sexual contact with one of his patients.

Charles Michael Grade, 43, faces three counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist, a felony punishable by up to 12½ years in prison. County jail records indicated Friday evening that Grade was in jail and that no bail had been set.

Grade has been a licensed psychiatrist since 1991, according to state records. He did his residency at the Sinai Samaritan Medical Center and is listed as a consulting psychiatrist at the Marquette University Counseling Center.

He was arrested Wednesday, just hours after what a criminal complaint charges was his third sexual contact with the same patient. Grade's practice is listed at 1220 N. Dewey Ave. He lives in Milwaukee.

According to the complaint filed Friday, Grade had sex with a female patient shortly after she began seeing him in June 2005. She saw him as a patient once a month from then forward, the complaint says, and she told detectives that they had sexual contact "during a number of their therapy sessions," including occurrences in early October and again Wednesday.

The complaint also indicates Grade spoke with a detective Wednesday evening and admitted "a sexual conversation . . . that he knew was inappropriate," and touching his patient, that day.

This raises interesting questions, such as:

- What contact has Grade had with Marquette students?
- Has Grade ever been allowed to be alone with Marquette students?
- What is the hiring process and depth of psychological evaluation of Marquette counselors, not to mention staff in general?

Has there been an ongoing problem at the Marquette University Counseling Center?