The Lake Alice Hospital

The Lake Alice Hospital website is the only/first website dedicated to the notorious psychiatric hospital. A snippet from their history page.

Located at Rangitikei New Zealand, it was opened In August 1950

Lake Alice is named after the Lake which shares the same name, which is the second lake to the south of the estate. Built as a psychiatric hospital, the complex consists of 56 Acres with 10 two story 11 bed villas, a fire station, 2 swimming pools, Maximum secure villa, large staff housing building, 2 libraries, a large community hall, chapel, morgue and 4 two storied 50 bed villas along with plenty of garaging, administration building, glass houses gardens, separate dining rooms & several rugby/cricket patch’s.

[...] The most unbelievable tale to be told was the behavior that went on between the patients & the staff.

During the early 1970's- 1980’s mistreatment went on towards patients who were given ECT, also known as electro-convulsive therapy (shock treatment), with most of the time this would cause the person to pass out. Painful injections of paraldehyde were also a common practice. There has been many rumors of sexual abuse.

While there could never be away to replace what happened to these people there has been government pay outs to sums of over $10 million to the claimants.

The hospital doors where officially shut in late 1999. Now days the hospital stands abandoned most of the buildings are very run down & trashed from either outsiders or cattle which roam the land.

People do live onsite to keep the property secure from further vandals

In July 2006 the 56 acres & buildings was sold to a developer, who has plans to develop the estate, He hopes to subdivide the property although there has been no progress since it was brought.''See newspaper articles for more information''

This is a decent website, although the text needs some polishing, spell and grammar checking, etc. to look more professional, and some of the local color of New Zealand English should be kept. There are a number of photos of the various facilities at the hospital, not available elsewhere.

Also, the site is somewhat sympathetic to the mental health industry, which is a minus, because of the massive profiteering that goes on with people's lives. The website author does have a specific page dedicated to the scandal, but there is so much more that could be said about it. We at Psychwatch have a number of earlier stories about the Lake Alice Scandal and some of the criminals involved

The web author misses the social veneer of an industry that with a pleasant smile cheerfully fried the brains of dozens of people, which is unfortunate. This is a common mistake, although sheer incompetence is also a fault in the industry.

Psychiatrist censured over patient's death

Another frustrating report where privacy rights are used to protect someone who was criminally negligent, from NZPA New Zealand

A psychiatrist should apologise to the family of a patient who was killed after deliberately stepping into traffic, the health and disability commissioner has found.

After a two-year investigation, a report released today by commissioner Ron Paterson has found breaches to its code of consumers' rights by the psychiatrist, known as Dr F.

The 24-year-old victim, referred to as Mr A, had been admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward for observation with symptoms of anxiety which had developed while his grandparents, with whom he lived, were away on holiday.

The report said Dr F formed the view Mr A was not suffering from a psychiatric illness, but that his judgment was impaired as a result of a head injury he received at the age of nine.

Mr A was then placed under the care of community mental health services and transferred to a rest home for respite care as a voluntary patient until his grandparents returned.

Two days later, Mr A left the home, followed by the home manager – Ms D – who tried to persuade him to return.

However, he deliberately stepped into oncoming traffic and was killed after being hit by a vehicle.

In September 2006, Mr A's mother laid a complaint to the commissioner about the appropriateness and adequacy of her son's care and treatment provided by the District Health Board, Dr F, a registered psychiatric nurse, the rest home and Ms D.

In the report, Mr Paterson said the lack of an appropriately thorough assessment by Dr F may have contributed to Mr A's lack of reassessment after he was transferred to the home.

Mr Paterson recommended Dr F review his practice "with a particular focus on improving his clinical judgement skills".

"Dr F should also ensure that he fully documents the rationale for his clinical decisions, and a clear management plan is recorded," the report said.

Mr Paterson also recommended Dr F apologise to Mr A's family for his breach of the code.

Others involved in the care of Mr A and investigated as part of the report were found not to have breached codes.

Paxil implicated in another death

As seen in this report from New Zealand. In this cas a regular physician did not know about the risks, so it seems.

The family of a Nelson businessman who committed suicide has welcomed a coroner's recommendation that health professionals fully advise patients and their families of the risks of certain antidepressant drugs.

Nelson coroner Ian Smith has released his findings into the death of real estate agent Peter Michael Noonan, 53.

Mr Noonan was prescribed the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) anti-depressant drug Aropax days before his death on July 27 last year.

His wife Gaile Noonan told the Nelson Mail on Tuesday that she hoped Mr Smith's findings would be taken on board by the medical profession.

"We would like to think someone else could be protected from having these things happen."

She said she believed her husband could have concealed information about his condition and medication, to protect her.

"Perhaps caregivers should be there when they go to the doctor."

Mrs Noonan said the family had received an "enormous" amount of ongoing support, but her husband's death had left a big gap in the family's life.

Mr Smith last year began investigating a possible link between SSRIs and the effects on people suffering mental illness, particularly an increase in suicidal thinking and behaviour.

Mr Smith said Mr Noonan was a "respected businessman" but his life began to "go awry" after he decided to change jobs from property valuation to real estate.

He began withdrawing from normal social activities, and concerned family and friends urged him to seek help.

Mr Noonan visited general practitioner Hamish Neill on May 5, 2006 about his anxiety and depression, and was referred to psychotherapist Burke Hunter, whom he saw on May 9.

Mr Noonan saw Mr Hunter seven times, before Mr Hunter left on a six-week overseas trip.

Mr Smith said that while Mr Hunter had suggested the name of another counsellor who could be consulted in his absence, it appeared that no active steps were taken to set up an alternative therapist.

In July, Mr Smith recommended that Medsafe introduce a "black box"-type warning for SSRIs, with information about potential risks. Mr Smith said no information about Mr Noonan's thoughts of suicide or a referral to a psychiatrist was discussed with Mrs Noonan.

"It would appear that neither Mr Noonan nor his family was aware of the possible side effects of this medication."

Mr Smith said he was pleased to see that warning information was now available from Medsafe, but it was important that prescribers disclosed it to patients and caregivers where applicable.

Mr Smith said all people concerned with the care of someone, including family, should understand the process.

"Unfortunately, many doctors still think `Privacy Act - can't disclose', which is not correct," he said.

AntiDepressant Side Effects During Pregnancy

A case where some mid-wives were not as aware of the side-effects of anti-depressants during pregnancy as they should have been. As seen in this report

The Health and Disability Commissioner has criticised the West Coast District Health Board after lack of care by three midwives left a newborn boy with permanent neurological problems.

Commissioner Ron Paterson also criticised the DHB over the subsequent delays and handling of the complaint into the case.

When the boy, known as Baby A, was born in 2004, he developed hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, after he stopped feeding normally in the two days after his birth.

Mr Paterson said the baby, at the lower end of the normal weight range, was vulnerable to hypoglycaemia as his mother, Ms A, was a heavy smoker and taking antidepressants during her pregnancy.

An independent adviser to Mr Paterson, midwife Nimisha Waller, said that as Baby A's weight was still inside the normal range he was not considered to be at risk of hypoglycaemia and did not get regular blood glucose monitoring.

She said all the midwives failed in developing a plan of care on a daily basis and did not recognise a change in Baby A's feeding pattern which resulted in the condition.

Mr Paterson said the combination of risk factors meant the midwives should have immediately monitored blood sugar levels and monitored feeding.

The three midwives have since reviewed their practice and written apologies to Ms A for the lack of care. The DHB has also written an apology to Ms A and is to audit its neonatal policies in regard to low-weight or at-risk babies.

Babies Given Antidepressants In New Zealand

Tip of the hat to the Pharmalot weblog, which brings to our attention this report in the New Zealand Herald

Medical authorities are mystified and concerned at figures suggesting antidepressant drugs are being prescribed for children, some less than a year old.

Records of the national drug buying agency Pharmac suggest thousands of prescriptions a year are being written for children under 10.

Antidepressants are powerful psychiatric drugs with potentially severe side-effects.

They are not usually prescribed to children younger than 8, and more commonly are not used on those younger than 13.

Depression is not found in babies and doctors the Herald spoke to could see no reason for prescribing antidepressants for them.

The Government's drugs regulator, Medsafe, warned in 2004 that antidepressants could increase the risk of suicide.

For children and adolescents, it said, the risk of suicidal ideas and behaviour from newer antidepressants called selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) generally outweighed their benefits.

Older "tricyclic" antidepressants were not generally recommended for those under 18 because of the risk of heart problems.

The number of state-funded antidepressant prescriptions has nearly doubled since 2000 to more than a million a year, costing the Government about $30 million.

Figures given by Pharmac to the United Future Party show 4728 antidepressant prescriptions were written for children under 10 in 2004-05, declining to 2425 in the last June year.

Causing most alarm are the figures for babies, even though they dropped sharply during the three years.

For 1-year-olds, 768 prescriptions were written in 2004-05, down to 24 by last year. For those under 1, there were 453 prescriptions in 2004-05 but only nine last year.

The numbers also declined for every other age group under 10, but each group remained in the hundreds last year.

Antidepressants are used for conditions including severe depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bulimia nervosa.

The tricyclic type were previously used to control bed-wetting, but this could not explain the prescriptions for babies.

Commonly reported side-effects of the SSRIs fluoxetine and paroxetine include diarrhoea, insomnia, sleepiness and tremors.

Pharmac yesterday said that the figures were correct. But it was mystified by them.

"I can't understand them," said medical director Dr Peter Moodie, who had not studied the figures until the Herald contacted him.

He said wrong coding of dates of birth could explain the single-digit figures, "but when it's hundreds, one assumes the figures are right".

Pharmac would re-check them and look to see which doctors had prescribed them to children.

Dr Moodie said he would also ask Medsafe to look at the issue.

Medsafe did not return Herald calls last night.

United Future health spokeswoman Judy Turner said the figures were frightening.

"Babies are born with only 15 per cent of their brain fully developed; 85 per cent of development happens from 0 to 3 years," she said.

"Surely the antidepressants will interfere with the hard-wiring of the children's brains and influence their long-term wellbeing."

The clinical director of paediatrics at Kidz First children's hospital in Otahuhu, Dr Wendy Walker, had never used antidepressants with babies, nor heard of anyone else doing so.

"I would never prescribe them in my practice as a hospital-based acute paediatrician."

Emeritus Professor John Werry, a child psychiatrist, said that "as far as we know" giving SSRIs to babies would not harm them.

"But one doesn't like to give growing and developing kids medications that affect basic bio-cyclic processes because it just doesn't seem like a good idea unless the kid is really in severe difficulty."

It would be rare in NZ to prescribe antidepressants before the teenage years, Professor Werry said.

The youngest child he had prescribed one to was a boy with autism aged 8 or 9, but that was "very exceptional".

Auckland City Hospital neonatal paediatrician Dr Simon Rowley said he would "never dream" of prescribing antidepressants to anyone under about 10. He was sceptical of the Pharmac figures.

Which countries permit Rx drug ads on television?

As seen here

Q: How many countries in the world allow prescription drug commercials on television?

A: 2.

Q: Which ones?

A; The U.S. and New Zealand. reference Forbes and CBC News.

And this is, of course, great for drug companies, advertising agencies and television networks in the U.S. The latter have come to depend more and more on the revenues of those ads.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, direct-to-consumer advertising increased by 330 percent in the ten year period after 1996.

Now the FDA plans to study how 2,000 people react to television drug ads, to determine whether they have an overwhelmingly positive impression of products despite audio warnings about potential side effects.

Kind of interesting that it took the FDA ten years to make that decision. And that virtually none of the other industrialized countries have followed the U.S.

You think so?

Drug switch plunges boy into hell

Many of us know about the unwelcome side effects of drugs like Ritalin. So you would think that a replacement would "be safer', among other things. As seen in this report, no such luck:

When Wade Somani was put on a new drug to calm his hyperactivity and aggression, he suffered hallucinations and completely lost control.

After two years on Ritalin, he was put on Rubifen in April under Government subsidy changes to save $1 million a year.

"He had terrible hallucinations. He had shaking spasms in his legs. He was throwing himself around the room, screaming and howling that he was in agony," his mother, Jude Betham of Pukekohe, recalled yesterday. "We were very frightened because we've never seen him like that before."

Wade, aged nearly 12, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's syndrome. [...]

When he switched to the Pharmac-funded Rubifen SR (sustained release) after the state subsidy of Ritalin SR ended, he reverted to being instantly aggressive and unpleasant leg spasms and pain, nightmares and early waking surfaced.

But last month Mrs Betham read a Herald article about 8-year-old ADHD and Asperger's patient Grant Celliers being stood down from school after his behaviour spiralled out of control on Rubifen - before calming down when he went back on Ritalin.

She decided to follow suit, although Ritalin now costs $48 a month.

"I nearly died of fright, for the story with Grant is so similar to Wade's. Wade ... literally begged me to let him stop taking Rubifen.

"As a mother I am extremely angry and so sick to my stomach to think I have put my beautiful child through this agony, all because I was told Rubifen was exactly the same as Ritalin, and I took that as gospel."

Grant's mother, Di Celliers, is campaigning for Pharmac to reinstate the Ritalin subsidy and said she had heard after the article from other families with similar experiences. She is urging families and doctors to report Rubifen problems to bolster the case.

Pharmac and the Health Ministry, however, are standing by Rubifen, saying it has the same active ingredient - methylphenidate.

The Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring, at Otago University, has had about 45 reports of adverse reactions to Rubifen SR since February.

Dr Stewart Jessamine of the ministry's Medsafe unit said a similar pattern emerged after Pharmac switched funding from immediate-release Ritalin to Rubifen several years ago.

Eventually this settled "as we got dose adjustments occurring".

Asked if he expected a similar path with sustained-release Rubifen, he said, "We will keep an open mind".

Pharmac said it would look at a funding change if Medsafe raised concerns about Rubifen.

See also this report

Shock therapy 'barbaric'

From The Press of New Zealand

A Christchurch man says "barbaric" electric shock therapy failed to lift his depression but robbed him of treasured memories.

David O'Neill's health deteriorated in 2004 after a motorcycle accident damaged his liver, bladder and thyroid and sliced his spleen in two.

He had repeated admissions to hospital for complications of his injuries and a series of unsuccessful investigations to find the cause of his chronic abdominal pain.

The frequent hospital stays and constant pain took its toll on his mental health.

"I ended up suicidal," said O'Neill.

He was admitted to Hillmorton Hospital in 2005 for depression. On his second stay, a doctor recommended a 12-session course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which O'Neill consented to.

"I cannot even remember being admitted to the hospital, never mind giving consent for the ECT," he said.

The treatment failed to lift his depression and it destroyed his memory. He has no recollection of his wedding day, the birth of his three children or even his childhood.

O'Neill, now 49, said that before his accident he had cared for his wife – paralysed in a 1985 car accident – and raised their three children.

"Now I can't do anything. I feel as if I'm above myself all the time. I don't feel pain; I'm emotion-free," he said.

ECT was "barbaric" and should be banned, he said.

His family is dismayed it was not consulted and says O'Neill was not well enough to give properly informed consent.

Daughter Julieanne O'Neill said her father no longer felt any love for his family, including his two-year-old grandson.

"My dad has no feelings for him, no feelings for his family. He doesn't feel anything for himself. He is living in an empty shell," she said. "It has taken every single bit of my dad that was ever there away from him."

She said some doctors appeared to see ECT as "the quickest and easiest" solution. "But it's not them that has to go home and have this zombie person to cope with."

Mary O'Neill said the shock treatment had stolen the husband she had known.

Psychiatric Consumers Trust advocate Liz Henderson said ECT could lift depression and transform the lives of patients. "There is a place for it."

But it had clearly failed O'Neill.

"It has compounded what was already a difficult situation," Henderson said.

Henderson was concerned that consent was gained without his family's involvement. "He wasn't well enough to make that decision."

Vince Barry, general manager of Canterbury District Health Board mental health services, would not discuss individual patients.

However, he said it was the responsibility of clinicians to determine whether a patient was able to understand the pros and cons of ECT. "It would be unusual for someone to be given ECT without a discussion between the clinical team and close family members," he said.

The Health and Disability Commissioner has decided against a formal investigation of O'Neill's case and referred him to an advocate.

The Accident Compensation Corporation has refused his treatment injury claim, ruling that the ECT did not cause a physical injury.

ECT statistics (July 2004-June 2005):

307 patients given ECT (79 in Canterbury).

22 per cent did not give consent.

0.4% of mental health patients given ECT nationally.

1.1% of Canterbury mental health patients given ECT.

Described by the Health Ministry as "a valuable and sometimes life-saving" treatment.

We remain skeptical

Authority rejects psychiatrist's bid to get job back

From New Zealand

A psychiatrist at Tauranga Hospital who was fired for serious misconduct over his management of a suicidal female patient has had his claim for unjustified dismissal rejected by the Employment Relations Authority.

The doctor, who has name suppression (Dr Y), cared for the woman between 1999 and 2001.

During this time, the woman sent the doctor 27 handwritten letters. When he last saw the woman, in September 2001, she declared she had "some feelings for" him.

In November 2001, her GP wrote asking Dr Y to see her again with a view to adjusting her medication.

By this time Dr Y now looked after patients who lived in a different geographical area from the woman and made arrangements for her to see a colleague in February 2002.

In early January 2002, the woman's new GP wrote to the hospital's mental health services asking that she been seen. The letter referred to her having stopped seeing Dr Y because "she had developed feelings of love for him".

The GP said he was also concerned that the woman felt suicidal. She killed herself on January 24, 2002.

The woman's sister complained to the hospital, alleging that Dr Y had continued to see the woman knowing she was developing strong feelings for him.

Dr Y's clinical director, Mark Fisher, looked into the matter and found that Dr Y either failed to recognise "ample signs" that the woman was forming an excessive emotional attachment towards him early in 2001, or that he failed to take appropriate action.

Dr Tom Flewett, a consultant psychiatrist with Capital Coast District Health Board, reviewed the matter and found that Dr Y's management of the woman's correspondence was "poor" and that he should have acted much sooner in transferring her to another psychiatrist.

Following Dr Flewett's draft report in June 2003, Dr Y was suspended.

In June 2004, board CEO Ron Dunham ruled that Dr Y's conduct did constitute serious misconduct and he was dismissed.

Authority member Robin Arthur found that Mr Dunham was entitled to fire Dr Y in the circumstances. He rejected Dr Y's claims for reinstatement, lost income, and compensation.

A Doctor on probation reoffends

Also, as seen in this report:

A former Christchurch doctor who faces being struck off the medical register after being found guilty of paying a patient for sex and trying to dissuade her from making a complaint will learn his fate in March.

During a three-day hearing before the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Christchurch last August the doctor, whose name is temporarily suppressed, faced six charges alleging disgraceful or professional misconduct.

He was found guilty of disgraceful conduct and a tribunal hearing to assess a penalty is expected to be held early in March after submissions from counsel for the Medical Council and the doctor's lawyer.

At the initial hearing, he strenuously denied allegations that he had sex with the patient, paid her for sexual favours, gave her drugs without prescription or medical reason, advised her how to make a lethal dose of medication to use as a suicide tool and paid her to try to dissuade her from making official complaints against him.

In October, the tribunal said it had found the doctor guilty of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect but did not specify whether he had been found guilty of all six charges.

In its full decision released yesterday, the tribunal said it had rejected charges that he supplied the young woman with drugs and gave her advice on how to prepare a suicide tool.

It found the doctor's conduct as alleged in the four other charges "either separately or cumulatively" amounted to disgraceful conduct.

While the names of the patient and the complainant are permanently suppressed, the tribunal has indicated it plans to lift a temporary suppression order preventing publication of the doctor's name.

The doctor faces removal from the medical register and a heavy fine.

At the tribunal hearing in August, the doctor's former patient gave evidence that she had been in a relationship with the doctor for almost two years after meeting him again by chance in a Christchurch supermarket.

She met the doctor in 1991 when she was aged 16 and he was caring for her family.

Giving evidence on his own behalf, the doctor denied ever dating her, having a sexual relationship with her, buying her lingerie or giving her money, either for sex or to persuade her not to talk to the Health and Disability Commissioner after a complaint was made about his behaviour.

He denied supplying her with the sedative benzodiazepam, but agreed he did prescribe her antibiotics for a urinary infection.

The doctor denied "absolutely" telling the woman he would commit suicide if the complaint against him went ahead.

Therapist labelled sexual predator

Another case where therapist = the rapist. As seen in this report

A therapist who developed sexual relationships with female clients - in one case, conducting an affair while also treating the woman's husband - has been labelled a "sexual predator", but health authorities are powerless to stop him practising.

Geoffrey Mogridge was yesterday named by the Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner, who said she was concerned about risk to the public if he continued to practice.

"I view Mr Mogridge's behaviour as that of a sexual predator, not a 'sick puppy' as he has euphemistically stated," said Deputy Commissioner Tania Thomas.

Mr Mogridge last night told the Herald he was still working as a natural therapies practitioner on the North Shore, but no longer offered counselling services or massage.

He denied being a risk to the public and said the relationships investigated by the commissioner carried on for 10 months and were consensual.

Mr Mogridge said he would never again have sex with clients. "These are learning curves. You don't see there's anything wrong at the time."

Ms Thomas said Mr Mogridge was an unregistered health care provider and the commissioner's powers were limited. She chose to publicly name him, "in light of my concerns about protection of the public".

Mr Mogridge would be referred to the Director of Proceedings to consider whether he should go before the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

The tribunal can award compensation, issue restraining orders and various other directions, such as requiring a health care provider to undergo remedial training.

The commissioner investigated three complaints against Mr Mogridge, including two from a husband and wife who went to him in 2003.

Mr Mogridge started a sexual relationship with the woman, a victim of rape, and later told her husband, whom he also treated, of the affair.

"We were both just enjoying each other's company and doing some work at the same time," Mr Mogridge last night said of the affair. "I made it very clear about separation and the boundaries between the two."

Mr Mogridge became involved with another client, a woman who had suffered sexual abuse, around the same time. He claimed the woman became upset because she found out about the other relationship.

The commissioner said Mr Mogridge used his position for his own gratification and exploited the women.

North Shore police yesterday said a complaint of indecent assault laid against Mr Mogridge was withdrawn about a month ago because the complainant did not want to give evidence.

UK trial date set for Disgraced NZ psychiatrist - to face trial for manslaughter in England early next year.

As seen here. Slightly edited for clarity.

Disgraced former Southland doctor Peter Fisher, 45, was arrested by British police in October last year and charged with manslaughter over the suicide of Peter Weighman, 39, who overdosed on painkillers in September 2002 when Fisher was working in the mental health unit of West Cumberland Hospital.

A Cumbrian newspaper, The Whitehaven News, said six weeks have been set aside for the trial at Carlisle Crown Court due to start on January 15.

Fisher was a doctor in three New Zealand cases which involved deaths, including that of Southland patient Mark Burton, a paranoid schizophrenic, who was discharged a day before stabbing to death his mother, Paddy Burton, in 2001.

Burton was found not guilty of murder because of insanity after a High Court trial.

Fisher then illegally took up a post at West Cumberland Hospital in August 2002 while still under investigation in New Zealand for professional misconduct in the case.

In November 2003 New Zealand's Medical Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal found Fisher guilty of 17 counts of professional misconduct while caring for Burton

Fisher is accused of unlawfully killing Mr Weighman on September 22, 2002. The prosecution alleges manslaughter through negligence. Fisher has previously entered a not guilty plea.

Detectives had spent several months in New Zealand gathering information, The Whitehaven News reported.

As a condition of his bail, Fisher lives with his parents in Devon.

He is not allowed to leave Britain and must report to his local police station twice weekly.

Fraud fears over Ritalin

We have this report from New Zealand. Remember, this is the same stuff that is supposed to be helping your kids.

Police fear doctors are being duped by drug peddlers into dishing out Ritalin prescriptions, which have skyrocketed in the past five years.

Police say abuse of Ritalin, often dubbed "poor man's speed", is rife in Christchurch and some doctors have got a name among "druggies" as easy targets for supplying the drug.

Pharmac figures released to The Press show 11,524 prescriptions for methylphenidate – the chemical name for drugs such as Ritalin – were issued in Canterbury in the year to June. This is 4000 prescriptions more than in 2001.

Canterbury issues more Ritalin prescriptions than any other region in New Zealand, with Waitemata the next closest at 6931.

Detective Sergeant Greg Murton, of the Christchurch drug squad, said Ritalin was "one of the most abused prescription medicines available".

Some Christchurch doctors were known by offenders and police as easy targets for Ritalin prescriptions.

He declined to identify those doctors and said police had not yet targeted them in a bid to stem the trade, although this could be considered.

"Some doctors give it out willy-nilly," Murton said.

In some cases, parents would get a Ritalin prescription for their children and sell it on.

A 10mg Ritalin tablet could sell for $15, a 20mg tablet for $30 or a card of 10 tablets for $80.

Murton said that this week police dealt with a man who got a Ritalin prescription and one hour later had sold it to drug users.

"The guy we dealt with is a total shambles; a wreck of a human being."

Murton said he had no doubt that doctors targeted by Ritalin abusers thought they were helping their patients.

Pegasus Health clinical leader Dr Graham McGeoch said there were strict rules for prescribing Ritalin.

These included requiring patients to be assessed by a specialist to determine their need for the drug.

The child can then be approved as a Ritalin user and referred to a GP, who must closely monitor the Ritalin use.

The specialist is also required to keep regular tabs on the original drug approval.

"It's hard to see how it (wrongly prescribing Ritalin) could go on for 12 months with more than one doctor involved," McGeoch said.

Doctors would be happy to meet police and discuss their concerns.

In the past, doctors and police had worked out a good system to stem morphine abuse and a similar system could be used for Ritalin.

"Doctors can be vulnerable to people they often feel they are helping, but they get sucked in," McGeoch said.

Drug Arm Christchurch branch manager Geoff Howard said Ritalin could make a big difference in the lives of people who used it properly.

As with any drug, a small group of abusers could create problems, he said.

Pharmac figures show a total of 71,185 prescriptions for methylphenidate were issued nationwide in the year to June.

The population of New Zealand is estimated to be slightly over 4 million, about the same size as Kentucky or South Carolina, and slightly larger than Puerto Rico.

Woman spends ten years 'trapped in hospital'

As seen in this BBC report, bureaucratic wrangles forced a woman with learning difficulties to spend 10 unnecessary years in a mental hospital. Her ordeal started in 1990, when she was sent to the hospital for treatment. She could have been transferred shortly afterwards to a private home, but there were arguments over who should pay - and she did not leave until 2001. During her time in the hospital, she was the victim of a serious sexual assault by a staff member.

The Local Government Ombudsman has ordered Wakefield Council to pay £20,000 in compensation. The ombudsman ruled that "Miss King" had become a victim of arguments between the council and the NHS over who should pay the thousands of pounds needed to care for her in the community.

£20,000 does not seem nearly enough.

Psych alledged to have caused a "miscarriage of justice in a sex-abuse case"

[In New Zealand] Christchurch psychiatrist Karen Zelas has been found by the Court of Appeal to have "gratuitously" exceeded the scope of permissible expert opinion, causing a miscarriage of justice in a sex-abuse case. Multiple convictions arising from the case have been quashed and a retrial has been ordered. Naming the alleged offender is prohibited as are any aspects of the case that would identify him. Other recent testimony in other cases by Dr. Zelas has also come under recent scrutiny.

Rise in violent crime not linked to mental illness

As seen in this story in the New Zealand Herald

The study, Myth and reality: the relationship between mental illness and homicide in New Zealand [Report Link Here], examined the files of 1501 murderers between 1970 and 2000. It found 133, or 8.9 per cent, were judged not fit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity, in line with rates for low homicide countries internationally.

But an interesting trend emerged. Although the number of murders has tripled, from fewer than 20 a year in the early seventies to between 50 and 70 in recent years, the number of killings by the mentally ill has remained steady - and is usually less than six a year.

The study is one of only four in the world to look at time trends in homicides, and is touted to be the most comprehensive. Researchers satisfied ethical and privacy concerns to cross-match data from the police, coroners' office, Ministry of Health, Justice Department, Parole Board and New Zealand Herald archives.

So what explains the rise in violent crime?

Two adult women win right to sue for false claims of child abuse against their father.

As seen in this report, two New Zealand women have won Privy Council backing to sue a social worker and a psychologist who they claim removed them from their father in 1988 after false allegations of sexual abuse. In its decision, the Privy Council overturned High Court and Court of Appeal rulings that stopped the women from suing for $550,000 damages each for upset to their lives and the trauma of being removed from their father after one of them falsely made allegations of abuse when aged five.

The New Zealand courts refused to hear their suit, saying protection workers investigating abuse allegations might overlook the best interests of a child if they knew their actions might be subject to minute evaluation in a damages action.

The father was interviewed by police, but never charged with an offence. He was separated from his children for months and put under supervision for three years after they were returned to him. According to their claim, the five-year-old said within two weeks that her allegations were untrue and had been made to "the ladies who had come to see her and her sister at the school because she was allowed to tell lies at school". The older girl denied their father abused them. Their claim says the psychologist and the social worker were negligent by not investigating important factual errors in the false claim and for ignoring statements denying abuse.

Patients Sue Over Psychiatric Abuse

In New Zealand, around 90 former psychiatric patients are suing the Crown [i.e., the Government], alleging they were abused during their time in hospital. They are claiming damages, saying they were sexually abused, assaulted, locked in solitary confinement and had electro-therapy used on them.

This looks like this will be a big case in New Zealand.

Lake Alice Psychiatrist in Australian Abuse Inquiry

Dr Selwyn Leeks at Lake Alice Hospital, near Wanganui, faces an inquiry into his conduct in Australia. Leeks is already the subject of a number of criminal complaints in New Zealand by former patients, who allege punishment with electric shock treatment or drug injectionsm and is now the subject of allegations of abuse. Lake Alice is notorious as the site of other psychiatrict patient abuses in recent years

Ah, the picture is much clearer with this story in the Australian Paper, the Age:

A Melbourne psychiatrist who oversaw the punishment of children with electric-shock therapy at a New Zealand hospital 30 years ago could be struck off after the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria yesterday decided to investigate his conduct. Cheltenham psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks, 74, is alleged to have allowed children to be punished with electric-shock treatment from 1972 to 1977 when he headed the now-closed child and adolescent unit at the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital on NZ's North Island. In 2001 the New Zealand Government formally apologised and paid millions of dollars in compensation to 95 former patients of the hospital. Most of the patients were children in the 1970s who were admitted to the hospital because of behavioural difficulties. An inquiry in 1997 found they were subjected to various forms of punishment including electroconvulsive therapy, locked away with adult patients, or given painful injections of the sedative paraldehyde. The Age has confirmed that Victorian police are also investigating claims made by several patients treated by Dr Leeks after he moved to Australia.

The long arm of the law at last