Lawyers ask federal judge to declare state violates rights of mentally ill defendants

As seen in the Daily Reporter

SEATTLE — Lawyers for mentally ill defendants who are forced to wait in jail cells for months for competency evaluations and treatment have asked a federal judge to issue a ruling that says Washington's health services agency is violating the inmates' constitutional rights.

A federal lawsuit filed by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and Disability Rights Washington is scheduled to go to trial on March 16. But late Thursday, the lawyers filed a motion for summary judgment.

The motion argued that mentally ill defendants, many arrested on misdemeanor charges, are held in jails for up to 60 days awaiting competency evaluations. If found incompetent, they're held in jails again waiting to go to the hospital to have their competency restored so they can help with their defense. The motion said this is happening because the state's two psychiatric hospitals are overcrowded.

The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman to rule that withholding services violates the defendants' due-process rights. Last week, Pechman granted the lawyers' request to certify the case as a class-action, which means it will apply to all mentally ill defendants in the state who are on the wait lists.

David Carlson, a lawyer with the disability rights group, said they sought the summary judgment to narrow the issues they'll deal with at the March trial.

"We are asking to court to look at the uncontested facts and apply the law," he said. "We believe that given that everyone agrees there are significant delays in people receiving evaluation and restoration services from the two state psychiatric hospitals, the court can rule on whether the law is being violated."

If the judge rules that the Department of Social and Health Services is violating the law by not providing the services, "the trial would focus on what remedies can be crafted to deliver timely evaluation and restoration services to the class members currently sitting in jails across the state," Carlson said.

[...]

One document filed in the lawsuit details the hundreds of defendants impacted by the waitlists. It said that Eastern State Hospital reported on Oct. 24 that 60 people were in jails waiting for competency evaluations or treatment: 44 had waited for more than a week; 19 had waited form more than 35 days; and three waited for more than 56 days. Western State Hospital reported that 144 people were in jails waiting to get into the hospital.

More info at the linked story

Robin Williams had the Anti-Depressant Mirtazapine in His Body When He Committed Suicide, According to Coroner's Toxicology Report

Recent major news reports have said that there were no drugs in the body of Mr. Williams, according to the just released toxicology report from the Coroner. A closer reading reveals that there were no illegal drugs in his system, but that there were certainly prescribed drugs.

As seen in this Report in Radar Online

Investigators found that he had been prescribed a variety of drugs, including lansoprazole, rapaflo, finasteride, amoxicillin, quetiapine, carbidopa, and mirtazapine.

Toxicology reports showed he had mirtazapine, desmethylmirtazapine, caffeine, and theobromine in his blood at the time of his death, but no alcohol.

And also in this report from the NY Daily New

Robin Williams had no illegal drugs or alcohol in his system when he hanged himself in a shocking suicide last August, the Marin County Coroner said.

The Oscar-winning actor had only prescription medications in his body and was suffering from depression, Parkinson’s disease and a "recent increase in paranoia,” the final autopsy report released Friday and obtained by the Daily News said.

[...]

Williams also “had complained in the past about not liking the way some of his medications made him feel,” the report said.

Toxicology testing found the antidepressant Mirtazapine as well as caffeine and the Parkinson’s mediation Levodopa in his blood.

The Marin County Sheriff's office issued this short press release {PDF] which was very short on details. We have never been a fan of AntiDepressants, especially as they do not seem to address the root causes of the Depression.

We are greatly saddened by the loss of Mr. Williams, and feel he could have been better served.

The film 'Mental Hospital' shows life inside a 1950s Oklahoma psychiatric facility

The film 'Mental Hospital' shows life inside a 1950s Oklahoma psychiatric facility



Discussed in great detail here in a great article by by Jaclyn Cosgrove

Actually, Fred is a character in “Mental Hospital,” a film produced in 1953 that shows what life was like for patients in Oklahoma’s mental health institutions.

From what I can gather, the film was produced by the University of Oklahoma for the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the state mental health agency.
Interestingly enough, the film was produced the same year that the agency now known as the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services was formed.

The agency was established through the Mental Health Law of 1953, although publicly supported services to Oklahomans with mental illness date back to early statehood.

“Until the mid-1960s, the primary means to treat mental illness was institutionalization in large state hospitals. On an average day in 1960, nearly 6,400 Oklahomans were in the state’s mental hospitals,” according to the agency.

The film “Mental Hospital” gives us a glimpse of how mental illness was viewed and treated 61 years ago.

I should note: Over the past several years, treatments have changed, and there’s more focus on understanding mental health issues as medical conditions.

Viewers follow Fred from the day he’s admitted to discharged, including the “insulin shock therapy” that he receives to treat his schizophrenia. This happens about 12 minutes into the film.

The preferred name for this treatment was “insulin coma treatment,” according to this long historical guide on the treatment. By 1962, most of these units had closed throughout the U.S.

Once stable, Fred is offered a job as a grounds keeper.

"What a difference it makes,” the narrator says, “At last, Fred can be outside once more, working, enjoying the sun and the seasons."

Not long after Fred gets his job at the hospital campus, wife Betty and his friend George come to visit him.

At 17:24, we see a psychiatrist talking with Betty and George.

"It's not too long 'til the psychiatrist decides that Fred can try it for a while at home,” the narrator says. “He talks with Betty and with George, helps them to understand that they too have vital roles to play in aiding Fred to adjust successfully to the world outside."
This is something that so many family members say gets left out of present-day treatment.

In interviews I’ve had, people have said they’ve been quoted federal health care privacy laws and left out of their loved one's discharge plan. Sometimes, their family members are discharged without them knowing.

By the end of the film, Fred’s doctor gives him a cigarette, and he collects the crafts he has made at the facility. We learn that Fred has been there for six months.

"If I'd come here sooner, I might have been out in three,” Fred says. “But all I could think about was fear, the way everyone was all against me, how much I hated George. How wrong I was. Or no, not wrong — sick. And now that I'm well again, I can't help feeling just a little sad, the way you always feel when you leave a place where you've lived, learned and grown, but I am well, and I know it."

 Of course, they will try to paint a positive pretty face on all of this. Even though this was a period of history renowned for their failures. (I'm looking at you Lobotomy)

The Australian Medical Association has joined calls for Perth's Graylands Hospital to be closed, saying mental health patients are being forced to live in 19th-century conditions.

As Reported by Perth Now

The Australian Medical Association has joined calls for Perth's Graylands Hospital to be closed, saying mental health patients are being forced to live in 19th-century conditions.

Western Australia's largest psychiatric facility came under the spotlight after the acting director-general of the health department, Bryant Stokes, told a parliamentary committee he wanted to "blow up" the "archaic" facility.

Professor Stokes said he hoped a decision to close Graylands would be made in the next few years.

AMA WA president Michael Gannon said the living conditions of mental health patients had not kept up with the times.

"We should not force mental health patients to live in 19th-century conditions," he said.

"We hope Professor Stokes' comments will spur the state government into action."

Dr Gannon said some patients needed treatment in specialised long-term facilities that did not have to be within a mental hospital.

Alison Xamon, of the WA Association for Mental Health, agreed the hospital was hopelessly outdated.

"It's not somewhere you would want to go ... or somewhere that you'd want to send a loved one," she told Fairfax radio.

Ms Xamon said if Graylands was sold off, the money should be reinvested in mental health

Dr. William Lewek, the Rochester NY psychiatrist accused of burying a dead man in his backyard will go to trial Feb. 23, 2015

As Reported in The Democrat And Chronicle

The Rochester psychiatrist accused of burying a dead man in his backyard will go to trial Feb. 23, a judge ordered Thursday.

Monroe County Court Judge Christopher S. Ciaccio also placed additional travel restrictions on Dr. William Lewek, ordering that Lewek can not leave Monroe County — aside from travel for medical care in Erie County and to visit family in Oneida County — unless he obtains court approval.

The travel restrictions were ordered at the request of First Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford, who told Ciaccio that Lewek's past actions gave her concern that he was a flight risk.

Lewek had been hospitalized after a bizarre incident in September in which he drove his car down an embankment and walked into the Niagara River in Erie County. He was rescued from there.

Wolford said Lewek's traveling along the Canadian border, combined with his substantial financial resources gave her concern he may try to leave the country.

Lewek's lawyer, Matthew Parrinello, said the restrictions were "totally unnecessary" and that the accident in the Niagara river was only that, an accident. Lewek is free on $250,000 bail. Prior to his trial, motions will be argued in the case on Nov. 19 and a Huntley hearing to argue the admissibility of statements Lewek allegedly made to police will be held Jan. 7.

Lewek is accused of burying the body of Matthew Straton in his backyard of his city home in October 2013. Lewek is accused of tampering with evidence — the allegation that he tried to hide Straton's body — and possession of crack cocaine in his home. Lewek allegedly told police that Straton died in his home.

Wolford told Ciaccio Thursday that an autopsy has been completed and prosecutors will not be superseding the current indictment with a new one charging Lewek with additional crimes.

Straton was reported missing in October 2013, shortly after he disappeared. His body was discovered behind Lewek's home on Rowley Street in January.

Straton's mother, Kym Straton, was joined by a dozen family members and friends in court Thursday. She said she is relieved a trial date has been set and things are moving forward.

The Top Ten Reasons Psychiatrists Get Sued

This is the text of a paper/talk presented at a conference on medical malpractice in Texas in 1993, and is focused on Texas Law.

How I Decided to Sue You: Misadventures in Psychiatry

It is an interesting read, but is 24 pages long, including cover sheet, etc.

As a quick summary, The top ten reasons psychiatrists get sued are

A. Failure to Prevent Suicides or Self Inflicted Injuries
B. Sex with the Sick
C. Informed Consent (or lack thereof)
D. Inappropriate Administration of Electro Convulsive Therapy
E. Inappropriate Use or Non Use of Physical or Chemical Restraints
F. Liability for Locking Them Up
G. Injuries Resulting from Escapes or Elopements
H. Medication Errors
I. Failure to Diagnose Intracranial Lesions
J. the Psychiatrist Duty to Warn Third Persons

Overall, an interesting read. This is a PDF Document

Maine's Riverview Psychiatric Center has failed to abide by the terms of a decades-old consent decree by not adequately reducing the risk of injury to clients and staff and by arbitrarily limiting treatment options for patients

As reported in the Portland Press Herald

Further details at the link.

Riverview Psychiatric Center has failed to abide by the terms of a decades-old consent decree by not adequately reducing the risk of injury to clients and staff and by arbitrarily limiting treatment options for patients, according to a report issued by a former court-appointed receiver and consultant.

Elizabeth Jones was asked to report on observations she made during a three-day visit to Riverview, where the state treats its most severe mental illness cases, including patients sent there through the criminal court system.

Jones listed failures in treatment strategies, failure to provide proper interventions following aggressive acts by two patients and continued risk to patients and staff, a “serious misunderstanding of recovery model” that the hospital ascribes to, and lack of treatment and of outdoor time for Lower Saco unit patients, those who have been found not responsible for criminal conduct because of mental illness.

“Treatment options have been arbitrarily limited and, therefore, the provisions of the consent decree have been violated,” she wrote.

She said the use of seclusion and restraint need to follow consent decree requirements.

“At this time, it appeared that the requisite pro-active alternatives to seclusion and restraint have not been explored or provided consistently to the extent needed,” she wrote. “The lack of individualized treatment interventions and the lack of sufficient training and personnel support place both staff and class members at the risk of harm.”

Jones had a number of observations, including concerns that the state is no longer in compliance with the consent decree that requires individualized treatment plans and adequate staffing. The consent decree settled a lawsuit brought two decades ago by mental health advocates that holds the state mental health system to agreed-upon standards of care.

Daniel Wathen, the court master who oversees the consent decree, requested the visit following a series of problems at the hospital in Augusta, including serious attacks by patients on mental health workers and nurses, the use of a stun gun and pepper spray on patients, and a loss of federal funding estimated at $20 million annually because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had withdrawn the hospital’s certification.

Jones’ report was made public on Wednesday, though Wathen said he and Jones met immediately after the hospital visit with the commissioner of the state Department of Health & Human Services, and the hospital received a copy of the report on Monday.

Dr, Zahid Imran, an owner and operator of community mental health centers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has broken all records of fraud in the American health system.

As Reported on Geo TV

A Pakistani origin American doctor, an owner and operator of community mental health centers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dr, Zahid Imran has broken all the records of fraud in the American health department.

After proof of $258.5 million fraud, the court convicted and sentenced him seven year in jail and a fine of $43.5 million.

His accomplices in this fraud were also sentenced. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian A. Jackson of the Middle District of Louisiana imposed the sentence.

The FBI , Health Department and Inspector General Louisiana had file a case in the courts of Louisiana where for doctor’s role in a $258 million Medicare fraud scheme regarding psychiatric services that were unnecessary or never actually provided and hefty payments were taken from the American health department.

As part of the scheme, Dr, Zahid Imran admitted mentally ill patients to the facilities, some of whom were inappropriate for partial hospitalization, and then re-certified the patients’ appropriateness for the program in an effort to continue to bill Medicare for services.

Imran and others falsified patient treatment records to reflect services on dates when no such services were provided.

The investigation of three community mental health centers; Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Baton Rouge (Shifa Baton Rouge), Serenity Center of Baton Rouge (Serenity Center), and Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Texas (Shifa Texas) were used in fraud which has resulted in the convictions of 17 individuals employed by the facilities, including owners and the medical director, therapists, marketers and administrators.

According to court documents, the companies billed Medicare more than $258 million over a period of seven years.

All these people have been booked for fraud and scam. According to court documents, Hunter, a resident of Houston, was paid $1,500 per week in cash to direct patients to attend the partial hospitalization program at Shifa Texas.

Hunter, in turn, paid each patient $75 per week to attend the program. In an effort to get patients admitted to Shifa Texas, Hunter instructed patients as to the types of symptoms and diagnoses to describe to physicians in order to be admitted to the program.

Hoor Naz Jafri, 54, owned and operated two communities’ mental health centers in Baton Rouge and one in Houston. She was to pay $43.5 million in restitution and serve 8-and-a-half years in federal prison for a Medicare fraud.

The case was investigated by HHS-OIG, the FBI, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Louisiana State Attorney General’s Office, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Abigail Taylor and Dustin Davis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shubhra Shivpuri of the Middle District of Louisiana.

[...]

UPDATE:

As seen in this report

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that an operator of community health centers in Louisiana and a patient recruiter from Texas have been sent to prison for a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled to $258 million in inappropriate claims. 

• Roslyn F. Dogan, the health center operator, both encouraged patients to seek treatment in partial hospitalization programs in full knowledge that they did not need psychiatric care and directed staff to alter records to indicate that patients received care when in fact they did not. James R. Hunter, the recruiter, recruited people who were ineligible for partial hospitalization in exchange for cash payments of $75 per week. 

• Dogan and Hunter are two of 17 total people to be convicted in this case, including psychiatrist Zahid Imran, MD, co-owner of the Louisiana community health centers and the Texas facility.

Dive Insight: 

• Leveraging partial hospitalization programs for Medicare fraud seems to be an emerging trend. Last month, four individuals—former president of Riverside Hospital, Earnest Gibson III, his son, Earnest Gibson IV, Regina Askew and Robert Crane—were convicted for taking $158 million in Medicare funds for psychiatric care that was not rendered at the Texas institution. And according to Assistant US Attorney Ted Radway, there has been an "explosion of fraud in community-based treatments."

The British Parliament's Health Select Commitee has issued a damning report on the alarming failings in children’s mental health services

You can read the report online here and download a PDF of the 179 page report as well.

As reported in the Mirror:

Thousands of mentally unwell children are being failed because of “serious and deeply ingrained problems” in the provision of care, MPs warn today.

In a damning 117-page report, the Health Select Committee lays bare the alarming failings in children’s mental health services.

The official House of Commons probe was prompted in part by a series of campaigning articles in the Mirror, which submitted evidence to the committee’s inquiry.

Its report warns how “in many areas early intervention services are being cut or are suffering from insecure or short term funding”.

[...]

Earlier this year the Mirror uncovered how 4,391 children aged 10 or under had received treatment for stress, anxiety or depression since 2009 at two of the biggest NHS mental health trusts.

But Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said it was a “disgrace” that data had not been collected centrally for over a decade.

She highlighted how the cost of a child’s in-patient bed in a mental health ward costs £25,000 a month. If that sort of cash had been spent on early schemes such as drop-in services it could have helped avoid the need for dozens of children to be admitted to hospital, she said.

While it is praise worthy that they want to do something for the children, they seem to be overlooking the inherent failure of psychiatry itself. No wonder the system is in such deplorable condition.

An Australian hospital offered a job in its psychiatric emergency unit to a doctor who had been deregistered over his lengthy drug addiction and ‘‘bizarre’’ treatments.

As seen in this report from the Newcastle Herald out of Australia

While addicted to psychostimulants, Dr Kim Street had painted the walls of his surgery black, was unable to pay bills, and exposed patients to experimental drug therapies without their knowledge. He prescribed the wrong drugs to pregnant women and elderly patients, as well as patients with a history of psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), erratic criminal behaviour, gambling addictions, major depression and social phobias. Dr Street, who moved to Swansea in 2000, faked patient prescriptions and pretended to pick up medications on their behalf. In September the Mater hospital offered him work in its psychiatric emergency unit under the supervision of Hunter New England Mental Health medical services director Dr Marcia Fogarty. That was despite Dr Street’s lack of acute care experience and the fact he had been heavily addicted to prescription drugs between 2002 and 2012.

Note: Deregistered = He lost his license to practice Much more about this train wreck at the link

A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.

The New York Times has an article by By Richard A. Friedman on A.D.H.D

Here's a brief Snippet

My patient “treated” his A.D.H.D simply by changing the conditions of his work environment from one that was highly routine to one that was varied and unpredictable. All of a sudden, his greatest liabilities — his impatience, short attention span and restlessness — became assets. And this, I think, gets to the heart of what is happening in A.D.H.D.

Consider that humans evolved over millions of years as nomadic hunter-gatherers. It was not until we invented agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, that we settled down and started living more sedentary — and boring — lives. As hunters, we had to adapt to an ever-changing environment where the dangers were as unpredictable as our next meal. In such a context, having a rapidly shifting but intense attention span and a taste for novelty would have proved highly advantageous in locating and securing rewards — like a mate and a nice chunk of mastodon. In short, having the profile of what we now call A.D.H.D. would have made you a Paleolithic success story.

In fact, there is modern evidence to support this hypothesis. There is a tribe in Kenya called the Ariaal, who were traditionally nomadic animal herders. More recently, a subgroup split off and settled in one location, where they practice agriculture. Dan T. A. Eisenberg, an anthropologist at the University of Washington, examined the frequency of a genetic variant of the dopamine type-four receptor called DRD4 7R in the nomadic and settler groups of the Ariaal. This genetic variant makes the dopamine receptor less responsive than normal and is specifically linked with A.D.H.D. Dr. Eisenberg discovered that the nomadic men who had the DRD4 7R variant were better nourished than the nomadic men who lacked it. Strikingly, the reverse was true for the Ariaal who had settled: Those with this genetic variant were significantly more underweight than those without it.

So if you are nomadic, having a gene that promotes A.D.H.D.-like behavior is clearly advantageous (you are better nourished), but the same trait is a disadvantage if you live in a settled context. It’s not hard to see why. Nomadic Ariaal, with short attention spans and novelty-seeking tendencies, are probably going to have an easier time making the most of a dynamic environment, including getting more to eat. But this same brief attention span would not be very useful among the settled, who have to focus on activities that call for sustained focus, like going to school, growing crops and selling goods.

In other words, it's not a disease at all, but a part of the normal spectrum of the human condition.

Staff on psychiatric wards at risk for violent abuse

As seen in this news item

In the Italian psychiatric facilities, there are more than 1,000 cases a year of violence against health care workers. And in twenty years 8 of them were killed. The victims are usually doctors and nurses that, in this country, take care of over 3.5 million patients. Very often they are drug addicts who do not have a specific mental disorder, but access these health services because they are the only ones available to the public. This is the complaint of the SIP (Italian Society of Psychiatry), launched for the First National Day of health and safety of the health workers to the care of psychiatric patients, which takes place today in Bari.

Given the admitted inability of Psychiatry to provide any cures, and with this evidence that they cannot rehabilitate people, why would anyone want to join a failed profession?

Leading Harvard Psychologist criticizes efforts to replicate experimental findings: "unsuccessful experiments have no meaningful scientific value"

As seen in this paper

On the emptiness of failed replications - by Jason Mitchell, Harvard University

Of note is the section entitled "Why the replication efforts are not science". This has raised the ire of a number of people because a fundamental of modern Science is the reproducible result.  If you can't reproduce it or replicate it, then the original results are in question.

The inability to reproduce scientific results has been a major problem for the social science in the past few years. Here we have someone whining that we should take them seriously even if someone else can't reproduce the research that the "conducted.

The paper was written by Jason P. Mitchell, principal investigator of Harvard University's Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. Mitchell received his B.A. and M.S. degrees from Yale University in 1997 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003. He is currently an assistant professor in Harvard’s Department of Psychology. He was the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard
The Less Wrong community blog notes:

This is why we can't have social science. Not because the subject is not amenable to the scientific method -- it obviously is. People are conducting controlled experiments and other people are attempting to replicate the results. So far, so good. Rather, the problem is that at least one celebrated authority in the field hates that, and would prefer much, much more deference to authority.

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

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients. California Prop 46 calls for Drug Testing for Doctors

As seen in this report

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients

Of particular intere is California's propostion 46

Proposition 46 calls for random drug and alcohol testing of California doctors who work at hospitals or have hospital admitting privileges. It would also require doctors to submit to substance abuse testing if a patient under their care suffers medical harm.

Click here to see the complete voters guide on Proposition 46 from California’s Secretary of State Office.

Of course doctors are opposed to this.

there is a video report as well


What do you think?

Psychiatrist Howard Mahler Facing Rape Charges; He Also Saw Patients and Then Had Other Doctor Write The Prescriptions, according to DA

Just in time for Halloween we have this report from the Port Washington Patch

A Long Beach psychiatrist conspired with an ex-doctor from Sands Point to sell prescriptions for Adderall and Xanax, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Howard Mahler, 62, of Long Beach, was charged with five counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance and fourth-degree conspiracy. He faces a maximum of five to 15 years in prison if convicted, the DA said.

Mahler is accused of selling prescriptions for addictive drugs to patients of former psychiatrist Marshall Hubsher, 64, of Sands Point, the DA said.

Hubsher was charged with third-degree rape in 2012 for allegedly having sex with a patient, the DA said. Despite having his license revoked, Hubsher kept meeting with patients in exchange for cash, the DA said. Hubsher would reportedly meet with patients in office hallways before they would go in to meet with Mahler, who wrote prescriptions based on information given to Hubsher, officials said.

Hubsher is charged with five counts of unauthorized practice of a profession and fourth-degree conspiracy, the DA said. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

In one instance, an undercover detective posed as a patient and confessed to Hubsher that he wanted higher doses of Adderall so he could sell them and buy Oxycodone, the DA said.

Long Island division DEA officials arrested Hubsher and Mahler in Hubsher’s office Wednesday, officials said.

Both Mahler and Hubsher are due back in court Nov. 3. Hubsher will also return to court Dec. 1 on the previous rape charge.

Related: Sands Point Psychiatrist Faces Rape Charges

Patient Files Lawsuit After Photo of Suicide Attempt Posted Online

As seen in this report

Last week, a Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center patient filed a lawsuit after a photograph of her failed suicide attempt was taken by a nurse and eventually posted to a "shock" website, Reuters reports.

In 2012, the patient tried to commit suicide by sticking pencils through her eyes. She was taken from the facility where the incident occurred and treated at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. An unidentified nurse took a photo of the patient's injuries and shared it. A person who received the picture posted it to an undisclosed website, where it has since received more than 192,000 views, according to the lawsuit.

The patient was left blind as a result of the injury. She later received psychiatric treatment and got "her life back on track," but she became depressed when the photograph was widely viewed online, according to the lawsuit.

Before the lawsuit was filed, Douglas Johnson -- the patient's lawyer -- asked the medical center and county officials, who administer the hospital, to have the picture removed from the Internet. According to Johnson, the officials could make such a request by exercising their copyright of the photo because it was taken in their facility.

Reuters reports

A nurse at a Los Angeles hospital took a photo of a woman who gouged out her own eyes with pencils, and the patient sued the hospital and its administrators after the picture went viral on the Internet, her attorney said on Wednesday.

[...]

The as-yet unidentified nurse took the photograph of the patient with the "intact pencils sticking out of her eyes," then shared the unauthorized picture with another person, who passed the image to Joshua Shivers, the lawsuit said.

Shivers, in turn, used his mother's computer to post the image to a "shock" website, the suit stated, adding that the photo has since been viewed more than 192,000 times. The specific website to which it was posted was not disclosed.

"Everybody knows that as soon as someone gets their hands on something like this, it goes viral and the harm is done," said Douglas, who specializes in privacy cases.

Much more at the Reuters' link

Here we have a nurse violating the patient's privacy for her own entertainment. Disgusting.

Former psychiatric aide at the Montana Developmental Center charged with abusing a client

As seen in this report in Montana's Independent Record

A psychiatric aide at the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder is accused of abusing a disabled person, which is a felony, for allegedly pushing a developmentally disabled man “hard into the doorway/wall” where the man struck his head on a door, resulting in a “large laceration on his scalp.”

The wound caused the client to “bleed profusely,” and it took five staples to close the wound, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Arrested was Sheldon Moffett, who began working at MDC this year. Moffett faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

According to the affidavit, Moffett attacked the man on Sept. 29. The incident that led to the charge was described in the affidavit filed Oct. 17.

According to witnesses, Moffett was trying to get some of the clients to go to bed, and the clients refused and were calling him a bully. Moffett told police that at one point he said to the clients "at least I get to go home to my wife," and the alleged victim responded, “I am going to kill your wife.”

Following that exchange, Moffett allegedly shoved the client into the door, causing the injury.

Moffett told investigators that he had “been very frustrated that day” and later said there was “no excuse for what I have done,'' documents show.

Moffett was immediately placed on administrative leave and is no longer employed at MDC, according to Jon Ebelt, public information officer with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. 

 Court Records regarding the case online here

Va. Beach psychiatrist's license to be suspended

As seen in this report (more info at this link)

The medical license of a psychiatrist who played a leading role in the treatment of a Virginia Beach man who committed suicide in 2011 will be suspended by the Virginia Board of Medicine on Saturday.

Virginia Beach psychiatrist Dr. Waldo Ellison informed the board he was retiring on that day. He appeared in an informal hearing in September on allegations that he violated his duty as a doctor by failing to properly diagnose attention deficit disorders and monitor patients' use of Adderall, a stimulant that can become addictive if misused.

The doctor's case before the board involved several patients, but the one that received the most media attention, including a 2013 New York Times story, is that of Richard Fee, a 24-year-old Virginia Beach man who committed suicide in Norfolk in 2011.

An informal committee of the board had passed Ellison's case on to the full board to be considered for suspension or revocation. Instead, Ellison agreed to a consent order that was signed on Oct. 20 to end his practice on Saturday. He has begun informing his patients he is retiring.

The board of medicine considers his license suspended indefinitely on that date. If he wants to return to practice, he would have to wait at least 18 months and appear before the board to prove his competence to practice medicine.

Another Virginia Beach psychiatrist involved in Fee's treatment, Dr. Charles Parker, also went before a three-member panel of the board in September. The board issued Parker a reprimand and ordered him to take courses on medical record-keeping and proper prescription practices.
Rick and Kathy Fee, Richard Fee's parents, live in Virginia Beach and are trying to bring more attention to misdiagnosis of attention deficit disorders and overprescription of drugs such as Adderall.

They have filed a $2 million malpractice lawsuit against Ellison and Parker; trial is scheduled for July.

US Medical Licensing Boards

A collection of links to the Various medical boards around the United States, useful for making complaints against you local psychiatrist

• Alabama Board of Medical Examiners and Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama
• Alaska State Medical Board
• Arizona Medical Board
• Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery
• Arkansas State Medical Board
• Medical Board of California
• Osteopathic Medical Board of California
• Colorado Medical Board
• State of Connecticut, Department of Public Health
• Delaware Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline
• District of Columbia Board of Medicine
• Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MDs)
• Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance (DOs)
• Georgia Composite Medical Board
• Hawaii Board of Medical Examiners
• Idaho State Board of Medicine
• Illinois Department of Professional Regulation
• Medical Licensing Board of Indiana
• Iowa Board of Medicine
• Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
• Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure
• Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners
• Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine
• Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure
• Maryland Board of Physicians
• Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine
• Michigan Board of Medicine
• Michigan Board of Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery
• Minnesota Board of Medical Practice
• Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure
• Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts
• Montana Board of Medical Examiners
• Nebraska Board of Medicine and Surgery
• Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners
• Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine
• New Hampshire Board of Medicine
• New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners
• New Mexico Medical Board
• New Mexico Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners
• New York State Board for Medicine
• North Carolina Medical Board
• North Dakota State Board of Medical Examiners
• State Medical Board of Ohio
• Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision
• Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners
• Oregon Medical Board
• Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine
• Pennsylvania State Board of Osteopathic Medicine
• Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline
• South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners
• South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners
• Tennessee Department of Health
• Tennessee Board of Ostepathic Examination
• Texas Medical Board
• Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing
• Vermont Board of Medical Practice
• Vermont Board of Osteopathic Physicians
• Virginia Board of Medicine
• Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission
• Washington Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery
• West Virginia Board of Medicine
• West Virginia Board of Osteopathy
• State of Wisconsin Medical Examining Board
• Wyoming Board of Medicine

Washington state's system for mentally ill broken

As seen in this extensive expose on the State of Washington Mental Health System

Some of Washington's mentally ill are strapped to gurneys in emergency rooms awaiting beds in psychiatric hospitals, while others sit in jail for months waiting for competency evaluations and treatment — and some are getting trapped in both broken systems.

One court has already ruled that warehousing mentally ill patients in emergency rooms is unlawful. However, while the state tries to find solutions to its overcrowded psychiatric facilities, some of these distressed patients respond badly to the hospital settings and end up getting charged with assault.

That lands them on the jail competency wait lists — the target of a federal lawsuit that goes to trial in March

Until the state changes the way it funds services for Washington's mentally ill, these patients-turned-inmates will remain in what some call inhumane conditions — trapped in stark concrete cells peering out of tiny windows.

 It's a long article that deserves to be read.

Texas attorney general protecting identity of psychiatric nurse fired for patient abuse

As seen in this report (much more info at this link)

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office recently issued a secrecy order protecting the identity of a nurse who was fired twice over patient abuse.

But when The Dallas Morning News questioned the order this week, the attorney general’s office backtracked.

“It was decided that the original ruling was imperfect and a revised ruling needed to be issued,” Abbott spokeswoman Lauren Bean said by email late Wednesday. No revision had been made public by Friday afternoon.

Parkland Memorial Hospital sought the order in a June 30 letter to Abbott, who’s the Republican candidate for governor. It argued that disclosing the nurse’s name to The News would endanger him.

Yet by that point, The News had independently verified the name — Sherwin De Guzman — and published an article using it.

The article described how Parkland caregivers strapped down a spitting psychiatric patient in March, and one of De Guzman’s fellow nurses shoved a toilet paper roll into her mouth. State rules prohibit obstruction of a psychiatric patient’s airway or ability to communicate.

The article also noted that Parkland is fighting a federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from the 2011 death of another restrained De Guzman patient. The death led to a series of government inspections and a virtual federal takeover of the hospital.

Eleven more Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees have been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation

As seen in this report from WoodTV.com in Michigan

Eleven more Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees have been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation, the state says, and police are now investigating allegations of the assault of a patient.

A total of 28 workers have now been suspended with pay for “alleged violation of patient rights,” Michigan Department of Community Health spokeswoman Jennifer Smith told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday. That number is up from 17 on Oct. 9. The state has not released specifics surrounding the alleged violation or violations.

And the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is investigating whether employees’ actions were criminal, Chief Jeff Hadley told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday. KDPS said its officers served a search warrant as part of an investigation into the possible assault of a patient.

Hadley said there were 19 alleged incidents involving 16 employees and only one patient. He said the incidents happened as long ago as June, but it’s unclear over how long a period of time they occurred. Hadley said the incidents were reported within the first two weeks of October.

MDCH says it is cooperating with the KDPS investigation.

The state’s Office of Recipient Rights is also investigating the allegations.

Smith also said the state is working to fill leadership positions at the facility that were vacated earlier this year in connection to allegations of neglect linked to the death of a patient. That case is separate from the recent suspensions.

Smith admitted to 24 Hour News 8 on Oct. 9 that there is a “culture problem” at the hospital, which employs around 500 people, that the state is working to fix. The acting director of the facility is working to educate employees, Smith said.

There is currently a hold on new admissions to the hospital. The admissions office is taking information for potential admittance and callers with questions are being referred to the acting director.

Psychiatrist convicted of child sex crimes

From the Forsyth County News out of the state of Tennessee

A Tennessee doctor accused of sex crimes against a minor in Forsyth County was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison.

According to court records, John C. Neale was convicted of three counts of child molestation that involved a 6-year-old female relative.

The well-known psychiatrist from Johnson City, Tenn., was 74 at the time of his arrest in November 2012, according to an article in The Johnson City Press.

“Once he was caught, other people came forward with allegations of abuse dating way back,” said Sandra Partridge, Forsyth’s chief assistant district attorney.

However, Neale could only be tried for one case in Georgia since the other incidents occurred in Tennessee.

Partridge said Tennessee did not bring charges against Neale, but alleged victims were able to testify in the Georgia case because of a state code that allows relevant offenses to be used as evidence.

His 50 years of psychiatry practice gave him expertise in keeping his victims quiet, Partridge said.

While the trial was expected to last until Thursday, the verdict arrived two days earlier. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley presided over the proceedings.

“We were all pleased there was justice in this case finally,” Partridge said. “He’s gotten away with it for 50 years, and it’s about time.”

Texas nursing home psychiatrist in federal custody on 52 counts of fraud, including upcoding

As seen in this report

Authorities have arrested a nursing home psychiatrist and charged him with 52 counts of healthcare fraud, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced Thursday.

Robert Hadley Gross, M.D., filed Medicare and Medicaid claims for services he did not perform and upcoded to get overpaid for services he did render, according to the charges. The indictment states that he often filed claims for nursing home patients who already had died, and that “for numerous dates of service” he filed claims for more services than he could possibly provide in a given day.

His wrongdoing began in 2009 and continued through this year, during which time he racked up nearly $1.75 million in fraudulent payments, according to U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana of the Northern District of Texas. Gross worked in nursing homes in San Angelo, TX, and in other communities in and around Tom Green County.

If convicted, Gross could face 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of fraud. He was arrested Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to Saldana's office.

Risperdal Lawsuit News: Testimony Raises Questions About Adherence to Pediatric Dosing Guidelines By Doctors Prescribing Antipsychotic Drugs

As seen in this press release by the lawfirm Bernstein Liebhard LLP

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As Risperdal lawsuits (http://www.risperdallawsuitcenter.com/) continue to mount in U.S. courts, a hearing recently held in Vermont is raising serious questions about the adherence to pediatric dosing guidelines by doctors who prescribe antipsychotic drugs like Risperdal to children, Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to Dr. David C. Rettew, Director of the Pediatric Psychiatry Clinic at University of Vermont's College of Medicine, a recent survey revealed that doctors in that state followed antipsychotic prescribing guidelines set by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) about 51% of the time. During testimony before Vermont's Mental Health Oversight Committee on September 23rd, Dr. Rettew also noted that the same survey found that the state's physicians only followed the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) recommendations on prescribing antipsychotics to children about 27% of the time.

"Dr. Rettew's remarks are concerning, as Risperdal and other antipsychotics are often associated with very serious side effects. In fact, dozens of Risperdal lawsuits that allege the drug caused gynecomastia, or male breast growth, are currently moving through U.S. courts. Many of these cases were filed on behalf of plaintiffs who were prescribed the medication as boys," says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free legal consultations to young men and boys who allegedly developed Risperdal due to their use of the antipsychotic medication.

Risperdal Lawsuits

Risperdal was brought to market in the late 1990s, but was only approved for pediatric uses in 2006. Currently, the drug is indicated for the treatment of adult and adolescent schizophrenia, bipolar disorder in adults and children ages 10-to-17, and irritability in children (5-to-16 years of age) with autistic disorder. The medication is also sometimes prescribed for off-label uses, including the treatment of ADHD in children.

According to court documents, more than 700 Risperdal lawsuits have been filed in a consolidated litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania on behalf of plaintiffs who allegedly suffered gynecomastia and other serious side effects due to their use of the medication. They further allege that Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit concealed the drug's risks, including the association between Risperdal and male breast growth. The companies are also accused of improperly marketing Risperdal for off-label uses, including certain pediatric indications. The litigation's first trial involving a gynecomastia claim is scheduled to go to trial on November 3, 2014. (In Re: Risperdal Litigation, Case Number 100300296)

According to an announcement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on November 4, 2013, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen have agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle charges that they improperly marketed Risperdal and other medications. Under the terms of the settlement, the companies pled guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge over the illegal marketing of Risperdal for use in elderly dementia patients. However, they did not admit wrongdoing in resolving civil charges over the alleged marketing of the drug for pediatric uses.

Men and boys who developed gynecomastia allegedly due to Risperdal may be entitled to pursue legal action against the manufacturers of the medication. Learn more about filing a Risperdal lawsuit by visiting Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website. To arrange for a free case review, please contact the Firm directly by calling (888) 340-4807.

Carla Rodgers, Psychiatrist, Testifies in Defense of Fellow Psychiatrist Basem Shlewiet Who Felt Boobs to Check Blood Pressure

As seen on PsychSearch.net (original source is paywalled)

A medical expert called to defend a Doylestown psychiatrist charged with fondling eight female patients said she believed the doctor had acted properly when he checked the women’s heart rate and blood pressure.

Testifying Thursday in Bucks County Court, Dr. Carla Rodgers said a psychiatrist regularly monitors vital signs, especially if the patient is medicated.

“If I were prescribing a drug that could increase your blood pressure, I’d probably want to do a baseline blood pressure on you,” Rodgers, a psychiatrist from Bala Cynwyd, told defense attorney Louis Busico, after reviewing the notes of Dr. Basem Shlewiet, who’s charged with indecent assault.

Depending on the type of medication prescribed, a psychiatrist may need to check a patient’s blood pressure and heart rate, Rodgers said.

And, she told jurors, while performing a detailed check of the heart, the doctor would need to examine four points on the chest to ensure a good reading.

One of the four points, she explained to Bucks County prosecutor Lindsay Vaughan, is just below a patient’s right breast, which means a doctor could adjust — or ask the patient to lift — the breast in order for the doctor to get a reading. A patient’s comfort level and breast size would be considered when checking the heart rate, Rodgers testified.

Shlewiet, she said, “should be able to physically examine his patients.”

The 42-year-old psychiatrist is charged with multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault. County authorities charged him after several of his patients told police he fondled them under the guise of testing their blood pressure and heart rate.

Vaughan, referencing prior testimony from some of the women, asked Rodgers if a psychiatrist should ever touch a female patient’s nipples or vagina during an examination. Rodgers answered such contact would never need to happen.

Additionally, Rodgers told the prosecutor there should be a third person in the examination room, especially if the doctor and patient are of the opposite sex.

“It’s not just for their protection,” but the doctor’s protection, Rodgers said in response to Vaughan’s question about professional protocol.

Each woman who accused Shlewiet of making inappropriate contact had been alone with him during their office visit.

Also Thursday, two women — the last of the eight former patients testifying — echoed the accusations made by the other women against Shlewiet.

The first woman, who’s 24, told the jury that Shlewiet fondled her breast while he was claiming to check her heart rate and blood pressure.

Busico, however, reminded the woman on cross-examination that after her visit she emailed the doctor a thank you for the appointment.

The second, who’s 22, said she was seeing Shlewiet to help her overcome a heroin addiction, and believed the doctor had groped her during two separate visits.

She said she told her mother about what she thought the doctor had done immediately after the sessions, but her mother was so focused on her recovery that the two put the incidents aside until they learned about Shlewiet’s arrest in January of this year.

“He touched my breast like he was examining it or something,” said the woman. “It was like I was going to the gynecologist’s office for a breast exam.”

Also, at the end of the day Thursday, several members of Shlewiet’s church addressed the jury to testify to his good character and reputation.

More testimony is expected Friday in Bucks County Court in Doylestown.

Sounds like the shrink should have at least informed the patient as to what he was going to do instead of manipulating handling their bodies like some slab of meat.

see Also this earlier report

Both women who testified provided similar stories, saying Shlewiet touched them inappropriately while he claimed to be taking their heart rate and blood pressure.

First to testify, a 19-year-old woman said she visited Shlewiet several times with her mother, and, during those visits, the doctor would send her mother out of the room before he would proceed to touch her breast while claiming to be checking her heart rate. She also said that he asked her if she was sexually active.

“His hand was completely under my bra,” she said.

On her fourth visit, the woman said, Shlewiet placed a stethoscope inside her bra and had her lie on a sofa so he could massage her stomach.

“I don’t know if the way he was touching me was right or not but I felt uncomfortable,” she told Bucks County prosecutor Lindsey Vaughn. “He looked at me in really creepy ways. The way he looked at me was like he was checking me out.”

After that visit, the woman said she told her parents about her concerns. The next time she visited Shlewiet’s office, her mother refused to leave the office, making the psychiatrist act odd, she said.

“He seemed scared, intimidated and sheepish,” she said, talking about the time when her mother stayed in the room.

The woman said that then, with her mother in the room, the doctor took her blood pressure and heart rate, but this time, he didn’t move his hand under her bra.

“It was nowhere near the way he touched me before,” she told the jury.

She also claimed that at times, when Shlewiet would talk to her about her medications and issues, she would see him touching his genitals.

Wife of psychiatrist convicted of sex assault guilty of trying to bribe juror

As reported in the Globe and Mail Be sure to check out this related story on the original trial: Sex-assault victims confront convicted psychiatrist in court

The wife of a Calgary psychiatrist convicted of sexually assaulting his court-appointed patients has been found guilty of trying to bribe a juror during her husband’s trial.

Erica Levin was charged with obstruction after a juror came forward to say she had been approached by a relative of the accused.

The juror testified this week that she was offered $1,000 if she found Dr. Aubrey Levin not guilty.

The psychiatrist was convicted in January, 2013, on three counts of sexual assault against male patients and sentenced to five years in prison.

Jurors at Erica Levin’s trial were shown surveillance video of her approaching a female juror at a light-rail transit platform near the courthouse and giving her a note.

Levin, who is 70, told court that the note did not contain money, but a suicide note.

She testified she had gone to the transit station with the intent to throw herself in front of a train, but decided not to kill herself when she realized she needed to take care of her cat.

Levin sobbed as she testified that her husband’s trial was not fair and that gross inconsistencies in the trial added to her depression.

During cross-examination, the Crown pointed out that she had other opportunities to kill herself if she wanted to and accused her of lying.

The juror was excused from the doctor’s trial after she came forward with her allegations.

Levin remains free on bail until her sentencing in November.

Aubrey Levin asked for a reduction in his sentence, but it was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in June.

The original allegations against him came to light in 2010 after one of his patients stepped forward with secret videos he had recorded during sessions with the psychiatrist.

The patient was on probation at the time the videos were taken and had been ordered by a court to see Levin twice a month.

The man said he had told authorities about previous assaults and no one believed him, so he bought a spy camera and brought it to his appointments.

Levin, who immigrated to Canada from South Africa, was frequently used by the courts to assess people and provide expert opinions at hearings.

He served briefly as director for the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon and was licensed in 1998 to practise psychiatry in Alberta.

Levin is no stranger to controversy over his work. He faced heated accusations about his time as a military psychiatrist during apartheid in South Africa, where he earned his degree in 1963.

In the 1970s, he was a psychiatrist at a military hospital where aversion therapy through electric shocks was allegedly used in an attempt to change the sexuality of gay soldiers. Levin is mentioned in a report that aimed to shed light on abuses of gays and lesbians in the military by health workers.

Lawsuit by former Kamehameha students alleges decades of sex abuse at hands of school psychiatrist

As reported by KHON in Hawaii

Former Kamehameha Schools students have stepped forward saying they were sexually abused while they attended the school. Their claims were outlined in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in State Circuit Court by their attorney, Michael Green.

Green says for now, he is representing eight men who all say they were sexually abused and molested at the hands of Dr. Robert McCormick Browne, a psychiatrist who Green says worked for Kamehameha Schools and conducted so-called therapy sessions on the students, falling within a 21-year period from 1958-1981. Green says, at the time, Browne was the Chief of Psychiatry at St. Francis Medical Center and the boys were all younger than 16 years old.

“Many of them had minor problems at Kamehameha Schools when they were young, from 7th grade and 8th grade, and they were referred to Dr. Browne,” said Green. “If they did not see Dr. Browne, the threat was (they would) get expelled.”

Green says Dr. Browne died in 1991. According to the lawsuit, the so-called therapy sessions took place at the doctor’s home in Manoa along with a vacation home in Kamuela during weekend sleepovers. Green says the doctor was a dorm adviser and was given access to students at their dorm rooms. Green says the victims also allege the sessions took place at the doctor’s office at St. Francis.

The lawsuit comes just as the statute of limitations on the filing of child sex and molestation cases is set to expire next month, a deadline that was set two years ago by the state legislature. But there is a move to grant yet another extension for those who are willing to come forward and file suit. KHON2 obtained a copy of Senate Bill 2687, a measure that would extend the statute of limitations even further. If this measure becomes law, complainants who allege child sexual abuse will get to file civil suits up until they turn the age of 55.

State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro introduced the bill and also won approval for the two-year extension that expires next month. As for the age of 55, Sen Shimabukuro said, “It’s a way to strike a compromise between the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims.”

There's a video report

E. Texas psychiatrist Riyaz Mazcuri has been arrested, accused of trafficking Indian women for forced labor, prostitution

As reported on the KLTV website KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

An East Texas psychiatrist has been arrested and charged in connection with what’s being described as a ‘forced labor conspiracy’ in New York.

Riyaz Mazcuri, was arrested Thursday by the Gregg County Sheriff's Office and booked in the jail on a federal warrant.

According to documents from the federal court in the Southern District of New York, Mazcuri, known as ‘The Doctor,’ was indicted along with three other men accused of organizing a human trafficking organization.

Mazcuri is a psychiatrist who has practiced in Texas for several years in Houston and most recently at a facility in Kilgore.

Federal court documents state the men would hire female dancers in India under the assumption they would perform cultural programs in the United States. Prosecutors allege when they would get to the U.S., the women would be forced to dance in nightclubs in front of men for twelve to fourteen hours per night, seven nights a week. Some of the performers were reportedly engaged in prostitution. The men would reportedly force the women to perform by confiscating their passports and by threatening them with physical violence.

The group reportedly operated in New York and in other locations from 2008 to 2010.

According to jail records, Mazcuri has a Houston address. He appeared before a judge via video conference Friday afternoon where a judge allowed Mazcuri to be released on $300,000 bond. Mazcuri must now appear before a judge in a New York City federal court on August 1.

Washington State Supreme Court rules psychiatric boarding unlawful

As seen in this report (more info at the link)

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that boarding psychiatric patients temporarily in hospital emergency rooms and acute care centers because there isn’t space at certified psychiatric treatment facilities is unlawful.

The court ruled unanimously that patients held temporarily in settings that don’t provide individualized psychiatric treatment violates the state’s Involuntary Treatment Act.

“It’s always been inhumane not to provide treatment, now it’s clearly illegal,” said Ross Hunter, D-Medina, Chair of the State House Appropriations Committee. Hunter said the state will have to respond sooner than the Legislature can act, which might not be until a new budget can be approved next spring.

[...]

“If a client is strapped to an emergency  bed rather than being in a psychiatric treatment environment, it can be traumatic for the patient and can certainly delay healing,” De Felice said. Effective outpatient treatment can also be less costly, he said.

[...]

The Supreme Court said in its ruling that patients may not be warehoused without treatment because of a lack of funds nor can it justify the state’s failure to provide the treatment necessary for recovery.

The ruling quotes the Involuntary Treatment Act which says, “Each person involuntarily detained or committed pursuant to (the Act) shall have the right to adequate care and individualized treatment.”

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia has announced that Dr. Paul Eric Termansen must have a chaperone present any time he is treating a female patient, unless it is part of a group session.

As seen in this report in the North Shore News of British Columbia

A North Shore psychiatrist has retired from practice after being censured by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.

The regulatory body announced last week that Dr. Paul Eric Termansen must have a chaperone present any time he is treating a female patient, unless it is part of a group session. Beyond that, Termansen must display a sign in his reception and treatment rooms stating the requirements for female patients and must notify the college if he wants to practise at another location.

The interim requirements came after allegations made by three female former patients "which included kissing and embracing, comments of a sexual nature, and a joint business venture with resultant negative financial consequences and threatened litigation," according to a statement from the college. Termansen refutes the claims.

"It would be important to understand these are unproven allegations. The allegations raise serious concerns and our role is to ensure patient safety as well as thoroughly investigating the complaints of these three women and it does take some time," said Dr. Heidi Oetter, the college's registrar.

According to Vancouver Coastal Health, Termansen will not be treating any more patients at Lions Gate Hospital. "We are aware of the college's actions. Dr. Termansen has retired. His last day seeing patients is today,' said Anna Marie D'Angelo, senior media relations officer for Vancouver Coastal Health on Monday. "Dr. Termansen has been a long-serving member of the medical staff at Lions Gate Hospital." According to Oetter, Termansen is still licensed and the investigation will continue.

Attempts to reach Termansen were unsuccessful.

Fox News Psychiatrist Claims World Cup an Obama Government Conspiracy

Keith Ablow, a Fox News psychiatrist, thinks that the World Cup might be an Obama government conspiracy

It was only a matter of time before a Fox News panelist suggested the FIFA World Cup presented a convenient distraction from the problems facing President Barack Obama.

"I'm suspect," (Fox psychiatrist) Dr. Keith Ablow said Thursday on "Outnumbered" as the US men's national team faced off against Germany. "I am suspect because, here's the thing. Why, at a time when there are so many national and international issues of such prominence -- I'm a little suspicious of yet another bread-and-circus routine. Let's roll out the marijuana, pull back the laws, and get people even more crazy about yet another entertainment event."

Ablow's four female co-hosts weren't buying it, interrupting him with protests of "what?" and "what's wrong with you?"

"This is a way to distract people," Ablow continued. "This is like Rome. I can see why Obama would love the World Cup --"

"What are you talking about?" interjected Kimberly Guilfoyle, who said her son plays soccer. "This is encouraging for kids to get out and play sports, and you can play soccer from a young age."

Ablow continued to insist he found it odd that "people are playing games more than ever" when there are other pressing issues to pay attention to. He didn't enumerate what those issues may be.

"Gosh, I'm gonna have to disagree with the doctor here," Harris Faulkner chimed in. "They set these schedules years ago. It's not like they lined it up with the current events of the world, so no way is that the case."

The Doctor is plainly crazy

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

Comedy TV: Beverly Hillbillies Season 1 Episode 34 - The Psychiatrist Gets Clampetted

Classic American TV Comedy Show

The show was ranked #1 and attracted as many as 60 million viewers per week. The Clampett Clan included Buddy Ebsen (Jed), Irene Ryan ("Granny"), Max Baer Jr. (Jethro), Donna Douglas (Elly May). Also starred Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale), and Nancy Kulp (Jane Hathaway)

In this episode, Jethro finally gets his bill of health from Dr. Twombly so he can graduate the fifth grade, but Twombly really wants to talk to Grannie again. Drysdale brings him to the Clampetts' just as Grannie showed Pearl how to use a love potion, so everyone thinks Twombly's interest in Grannie is love.

Waking up from sadness: Many find trouble getting off antidepressants

Part of a much longer story at Al Jazeera America:

Long-term use of antidepressants has become increasingly common over the past decade, according to a recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey study. Some 70 percent of the estimated 16 million long-term users in the United States — defined as having used the drugs more than 24 months — are women.

Data from IMS Health, as reported in a study published in the December Journal of Clinical Psychiatry by lead author Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, shows antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed medication class in the U.S. It links national trends in increased long-term use of antidepressants with treatment in primary-care settings, where most antidepressants are prescribed.

Scott, who did not see a mental-health specialist until 2010, believes her general practitioners repeatedly misdiagnosed her.

“Nobody’s listening,” Scott said. “They just prescribe.”

With the help of a nonprofit withdrawal program, Scott has been working to become antidepressant-free after finding out last year that she has thyroid disease as well as a hormonal imbalance. Working to address these underlying physical conditions, Scott said she feels better than she has in years.

[...]

. . . findings in the April issue of the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics that found almost two-thirds of a sample of 5,000 patients diagnosed with depression within the previous year did not meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for a major depressive episode.

Instead, the patients were given false positive diagnoses, according to Mojtabai’s study.

[...]

“Almost anything emotionally and behaviorally destructive can happen during withdrawal because serotonin is the most widespread neurotransmitter in the brain,” said (Peter) Breggin, the psychiatric withdrawal expert.

Coming off SSRIs can cause “all kinds of behavioral and neurological disturbances,” he said, listing some common side effects, such as “shocklike feelings in the head, imbalance, odd feelings in different parts of your body, depression, hopelessness, suicidal feelings and actions, disabling anxiety and persisting sexual dysfunction.”

But Breggin warned not to be discouraged by these side effects, since it is not yet known whether any damage is irreversible.

“There’s a reason to come off,” he said. “You want to try as best as you can to withdraw, because it’s only going to get worse in time.”