More come forward to accuse psychiatrist

From this report in USA Today

A dozen women have come forward claiming a Lawrenceville psychiatrist fondled them during patient consultations, a Lawrenceville police detective said Friday.

"I'm dealing with an influx of women," Detective Brad Daugherty testified in a probable-cause hearing Friday for Dr. Mohammad Uzair Qureshi.

Qureshi, 45, faces charges of sexual battery and sexual assault by a practitioner of psychotherapy against a patient, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

A Gwinnett County magistrate judge Friday granted Qureshi a $75,000 bond provided he surrenders his passport, agrees to have no unsupervised contact with patients and consents to being monitored by a GPS device.

Qureshi was first arrested earlier this month after a female patient at the Gwinnett-Rockdale-Newton Community Services Board in Lawrenceville complained he touched her inappropriately during an appointment. He spent one night in jail before being released on $33,200 bail.

Since then, police have interviewed 11 more women with similar accusations, Daugherty said.

Qureshi was jailed again last week based on some of their statements.

Even though a judge granted him bond, Qureshi will not be able to practice psychiatry while the case is pending, according to his lawyer Andrew B. Margolis. His employer, Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital has suspended Qureshi until the case is settled, Margolis said.

Qureshi wore a green prison jumpsuit in court, his demeanor unassuming, and he appeared almost bookish in wire-framed glasses.

The detective testified that Qureshi used his position of authority as a doctor to manipulate some female patients into removing their shirts and bras.

He asked them if they were feeling anxious, Daugherty said, which was a segue into touching their arm for a pulse or having them lift their shirt and bra so he could check their heart rate with a stethoscope.

"They went along with it even though they were questioning why he needed to touch their breasts. Especially when their heart is not in either one of them," Daugherty said.

Daugherty said the director of the community services board warned Qureshi in April about touching two other patients inappropriately.

After his initial arrest, Qureshi was fired from the community services board, according to its lawyer.

The lead defense attorney said Qureshi is innocent and the case will not stand up in court.

"To call this investigation flimsy would be a kindness at best," Margolis said.

Frankenstein's Children: Modern Torture's Scientific Bible

Of course our interest is in the criminality and lack of morality displayed by these experts on the mind when working for a government (not just the US government)

A frightening and detailed review of a book that is best described by this quote:

What if there was a book that dispassionately looked at the history and methodology of torture? What if this book looked at human physiology and psychology and tried to scientifically establish how to best break another human being and bend him or her to your will? What if this book were written by top behavioral scientists and published in the United States? And, finally, what if the studies published in this book were financed by the U.S. government?

Look no farther, there is, or rather was, such a book. Published in 1961 by John Wiley & Sons, The Manipulation of Human Behavior was edited by psychologists Albert D. Biderman and Herbert Zimmer. This book, unfortunately, cannot be found online, nor was a second edition or printing ever made (not surprisingly). But I will provide a review here, and an introduction into the nightmare world of science, torture, and politics that helped shape our modern world and today's news.

In recent months, it went on-line and and can be viewed at Internet Archive:

The Manipulation of Human Behavior - The text is copyright 1961, but not renewed (and therefore expired in the US). HTML formatting from unknown source.

We include this summary of the text:

The titles of the book's essays are bone-chilling in their scientific bland exactitude. Here they are, with authors, for the record:

1. The Physiological State of the Interrogation Subject as it Affects Brain Function, by Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr., Assoc. Professor of Clinical Medicine in Psychiatry, New York Hospital

[I have come to see over the past months of research that this essay by Hinkle is often referenced, and is key in understanding later methods of psychological and modern torture.]

2. The Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation on Human Behavior: A Review, by Phillip E. Kubazansky, Chief Psychologist, Boston City Hospital

3. The Use of Drugs in Interrogation, by Louis A. Gottschalk, Assoc. Professor of Psychiatry and Research Coordinator, Cincinnati General Hospital

And because you probably can't wait, and to juice up this account, I'll admit, yes, this is the chapter that goes into LSD, mescaline use and all that. Gottschalk found enough data in the research literature to find that LSD-25 might have "possible applications... to interrogation techniques".

The conclusions reached on mescaline hold equally for the possible applications of this drug to interrogation. As a tool in the advancement of knowledge of psychopharmacology, LSD-25 is a drug on which clinical and experimental research is likely to continue. (pp. 123-124)

Likely to continue..." An ironic understatement?

4. Physiological Responses as a Means of Evaluating Information, by R. C. Davis, Professor of Psychology, Indiana University

5. The Potential Uses of Hypnosis in Interrogation, by Martin T. Orne, Teaching Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard University Medical School

An aside: Some of you may recognize Martin Orne as the psychiatrist of the famous poet Anne Sexton, who in the early 1990s released the tapes of her psychotherapy sessions with him to a biographer, precipitating a storm of controversy.

6. The Experimental Investigation of Interpersonal Influence, by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton, Professor of Psychology, University of Texas, and Social Science Research Associate, University of Texas, respectively

7. Countermanipulation Through Malingering, by Malcolm L. Meltzer, Staff Psychologist, District of Columbia General Hospital

Six of the essay contributors were psychologists; two were psychiatrists.

School psychologist gets one year in jail for molesting 8-year-old boy

From the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz

Haifa District Court on Saturday sentenced a school psychologist convicted of molesting an 8-year-old boy whom he was treating to one year in prison.

The court added an 18-month suspended sentence, which will be in effect for three years.

The psychologist, Farid Shehadah, was employed in a school near Hadera. The verdict says that in August 2003, Shehadah summoned the boy, who was eight years old at the time, to his office for an examination. The boy arrived along with his sister and mother, and when the two left the room, Shehadah locked the door and molested the boy.

The verdict states that Shehadah continued to molest the boy throughout 2004.

Judges Ilan Schiff, Yitzhak Amit, and Hani Horowitz wrote that such crimes leave emotional scars, especially given the relationship of trust and dependency between a psychologist and a minor

San Luis Obispo Police Reveal Psychiatrist Murder-Suicide Mystery

As reported on MSNBC, with reactions from the neighbors here.

Many more details are available online via the San Luis Obispo Tribune

On October 3rd, Psychiatrist Dr. John Michael Rivard called 9-1-1 from his home on Frambuesa Drive in San Luis Obispo.

He fatally shot himself while on the phone with dispatchers.

When officers arrived, they found Rivard, his wife Barbara and their 7-year-old daughter Olivia all shot to death.

The couple's two younger children were found unharmed.

Today [Thursday, Oct 18], police confirmed what actually happened inside the home.

"Rivard stated that there had been a homicide-suicide in the home and that he had killed his wife Barbara after there had been an altercation between Barbara and their daughter Olivia," said San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deborah Linden.

Barbara was found dead on the floor in Olivia's bedroom. Police say they found no physical indication of a fight between Barbara and Olivia.

"John Michael Rivard severely beat his wife Barbara with a metal flashlight on her head while Barbara was in Olivia's bedroom. Sometime after that he shot Barbara and used a pillow to muffle the sound. After killing Barbara, John Rivard shot Olivia while she was lying in Rivard's bed," said Chief Linden.

John Michael Rivard was found still clutching the .357 revolver used in the killings and his cell phone.

Investigators used his statements to dispatchers and forensic evidence to determine the sequence of the deaths.

"The typical things that were examined were the blood evidence, blood spatter, where was it, the gun itself," said Chief Linden.

While police believe they have put together the puzzle of who pulled the trigger, there are a few things that remain a mystery.

"There are certainly facts that we don't know that we can't determine and I think in this investigation that we'll never know why he did this or what his motivation was," said Chief Linden.

The two Rivard children found alive inside the home are being cared for by family members.

Police say they have an incredible support system and are handling the tragedy as well as can be expected.

British Social Workers Use Discredited Psychiatric Disease as an Excuse to Confiscate a Woman's Future First Born Child.

Munchausen's syndrome by proxy was identified in the 1970s by the now discredited paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow. It was alleged to take the form of fabricated illness where a parent claims a child is ill by making up symptoms.

The theory became increasingly influential and in 1993 the professor's evidence helped convict British nurse Beverley Allitt of the murders of four children.

But the Angela Cannings and Sally Clark miscarriages of justice wrecked Professor Meadow's reputation because he had been an expert witness. Some now question whether Munchausen's exists.

Now we have a case where British social workers are threatening to take a woman's first born child because of the mere imagined possibility on their part that she would harm her child, based on her troubled teenage years.

From the Daily Mail:

A mother-to-be faces losing her baby within minutes of its birth because social workers fear she will harm the child.

Fran Lyon, 22, has been told she cannot be trusted with a newborn because she is likely to suffer from Munchausen's syndrome by proxy.

The condition is said to lead mothers to seek attention by harming their child or claiming it is ill.

Miss Lyon insisted yesterday that the mental health problems she had as a teenager were behind her. She also appealed for a place in a mother and baby unit so that she could look after her child under supervision.

"I would be happy to stay for as long as it takes," she said. "At the end of the day I have nothing to hide so why would I have a problem going? I know there is nothing wrong.

"I'm not depressed, although I have every right to be. I'm not struggling to cope."

Miss Lyon's child - a girl to be called Molly - is due in January.

"I know I wouldn't hurt her," she said. "I would quite happily have 24-hour supervision with a perfect stranger sat with me watching my every move.

"All I want is a chance to be Molly's mum."

Social workers told Miss Lyon last week that her child will be taken from her within 30 minutes of birth.

Munchausen's has been at the heart of a series of miscarriages of justice.

Sir Roy Meadow, a discredited paediatrician who helped develop theories about the condition, was responsible for evidence that led to the wrongful convictions of Angela Cannings and Sally Clark for murdering their children. Miss Clark died earlier this year, after, friends said, turning to alcohol following her release from prison.

Miss Lyon, from Hexham in Northumberland, started self-harming at the age of 15 and has been treated at psychiatric hospitals for borderline personality disorder.

She said a domestic incident in July led to the involvement of social services who became concerned by her pregnancy.

"I told them that I had mental health problems when I was a lot younger and that I had since moved on and now had a normal life," said Miss Lyon.

"I assumed that would be the end of it but the next thing I know they were going to a child protection conference.

"I am living with this constant notion that someone might walk into the delivery suite and take my baby away."

Her case has been taken up by Lib-Democrat MP John Hemming who has been campaigning against adoption of babies.

"The whole family court system, because of the secrecy which surrounds it, is vulnerable to bad practice," he said.

"Social workers are under pressure not to lose cases."

Family courts set up adoption orders and make decisions about children thought to be at risk. The evidence and the reasoning behind rulings are rarely made public.

A spokesman for Northumberland County Council said: "Legally we are unable to comment on the detail of individual cases.

"We can say that such cases can be very complex and involve a lot of information and various concerns relating to the safety of a child."

Dr Stella Newrith, a psychiatrist who has treated Miss Lyon, said she had made a significant recovery.

In a letter to Northumberland Council, she stated: "There has never been any clinical evidence to suggest Fran would put herself or others at risk and there is certainly no evidence to suggest she would put a child at risk of emotional, physical or sexual harm."

The Continuing Investigation of Khristine Eroshevich

Several items on this story, consolidated into one post. See our archive of previous stories on psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich here

First: some of the items seized in raids of Khristine Eroshevich and others in the case of the death of Anna Nicole Smith have been turned over to LA court. From the San Jose Mercury News:

California authorities have turned over to a court some of the items seized from Anna Nicole Smith's former doctors in raids last week.

Wednesday's handover is standard procedure following searches involving doctors and others with privileged information, said Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman.

After a medical professional's office is searched, a special master appointed by the court reviews the items and helps ensure authorities didn't seize materials, privileged or otherwise, not covered by the warrant. The doctors' attorneys will have the opportunity to challenge the seizure of these items.

California Department of Justice agents brought boxes containing some of the items to the Los Angeles court of Judge Larry Paul Fidler, a court official said. A hearing in the matter was tentatively scheduled Dec. 5.

On Friday state agents raided the office of Smith's psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, as well as the home and office of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, who prescribed the painkiller methadone to Smith shortly before her February death from an overdose. She was 39.

Messages left with attorneys for Eroshevich and Kapoor and with a Justice Department spokesman were not immediately returned.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown has said his office began investigating Kapoor and Eroshevich after he discovered the two combined to prescribe more than a dozen drugs in the days before Smith's died in a Florida hotel.

He has declined to speculate on what charges the doctors might face if it is determined they improperly prescribed drugs.

Second: more search warrants are in store for psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich.

Third: Lawyers for Eroshevich are challenging the search warrants as "overly broad"

As reported by TMZ:

Lawyers for Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, Anna Nicole Smith's former psychiatrist, were in a Los Angeles County courtroom challenging the validity of a search warrant used in last Friday's raid on her Studio City home.

The home of Dr. Erosovich was one of several locations raided by state officials as part of an investigation into doctors who prescribed medications to the former Playmate who died in Florida on February 8th.

Erosovich's lawyers challenged the search warrant as "overly broad" and requested the return of some of the good doctor's personal items, including CDs and DVDs that had been seized in the raid.

Erosovich's attorneys also made arrangements to view all of the seized materials. We've learned the judge may appoint a Special Master to the case. This person ensures there was no "inappropriate seizure," and analyzes the material seized to determine what is protected by doctor/patient privilege and what is not.

In addition, the judge signed several additional search warrants -- what those are for, we don't know. They'll be back in court December 5.

Several agencies conducted searches last week in connection with the Medical Board of California's investigation into whether Anna Nicole was overprescribed medication.

Former head of McLean Psychiatric Hospital permanently surrenders Massachusetts medical license

Via the Worcester Telegram and Gazette

The former president of McLean Hospital, who acknowledged to regulators in his home state of New York that he had inappropriate sexual contact with a patient, has permanently surrendered his right to practice medicine in Massachusetts, the state Board of Registration in Medicine said Wednesday.

Dr. Jack Gorman, 55, a well-known psychiatrist, abruptly resigned his post at the prestigious psychiatric hospital in suburban Belmont in May 2006 after only four months on the job. At the time, he said he was resigning for personal and medical reasons.

Last month, Gorman signed a consent decree with regulators in his home state of New York, admitting he was negligent when he had inappropriate sexual contact with a female patient on more than one occasion. Officials in New York did not release details, citing confidentiality laws. The Boston Globe has reported the relationship was with a patient at his practice in New York.

Gorman's New York attorney, Anthony Scher, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday night. Gorman has said in a statement to the Globe he has taken responsibility for his conduct and hopes to continue to make contributions to the field of psychiatry.

Under the New York order, Gorman can request that his license there be reinstated after six months. If his license is restored, he would face five years of probation under the supervision of another doctor.

Gorman's Massachusetts license expired in September 2006. His decision to resign his right to renew it permanently removes him from practice in the state, the board said.

Before taking the job at McLean, Gorman became known at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City as a leading researcher on anxiety disorders, depression and schizophrenia. He received his medical license in New York in 1978.

Psychiatrist quits drug panel over $350,000 in speaking and consulting fees from pharmaceutical companies

From the AP News report

A Minnesota psychiatrist who received more than $350,000 in speaking and consulting fees from pharmaceutical companies will quit a panel that advises the state on drugs for low-income Medicaid patients.

Dr. John E. Simon said on Wednesday that he will resign because the organization that originally asked him to serve, the Minnesota Psychiatric Society, was "a little uncomfortable with the appearance of conflict of interest" posed by his panel membership.

Financial relationships between the drug industry and two panel members, including Simon, came to light when The Associated Press reviewed disclosure records filed by drug companies under a pioneering state law. Eli Lilly & Co. and other drug makers paid Simon more than $350,000 in honoraria and fees while he was serving on the Minnesota Medicaid Drug Formulary Committee. Another adviser who resigned last year got $78,000.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is asking the panel members to sign off on a new policy requiring them to reveal "real or perceived" conflicts of interest, including honoraria, compensation, free travel or other perks from drug companies within the past five years.

They must abstain from voting on "any related matters that may come before the committee."

Department spokeswoman Karen Smigielski said committee members are expected to approve the new policy before their next meeting on Tuesday.

The panel advises the human services agency on roughly $240 million worth of drugs for more than 200,000 patients, most of them mentally ill or disabled.

Simon said his work as a paid speaker didn't influence his decisions on the committee. He joined the panel in mid-2004, and said he will resign when the Psychiatric Society picks another psychiatrist to replace him.

"I thought I did a good job of representing the patients of the Society and for the interest of psychiatric patients," he said. "I have not heard otherwise."

Linda Vukelich, the Minnesota Psychiatric Society's executive director, praised Simon's service but said there were concerns that he would have to sit out key votes under the new policy. She said the organization is grappling more broadly with the influence of business, including the drug industry, on medicine.

"It's bigger than just one appointee or one situation," she said.

Ethics experts have said the links between Minnesota's drug advisers and the industry raise the possibility of similar arrangements in other states. But tracing the influence is difficult: Outside of Minnesota, only Vermont and Maine require drug companies to report payments to doctors for speeches, consulting and other services.

Lawsuit over shocking advice to parents

From the Daily Record

Two couples left with the wrong children after their babies were swapped at birth have been told by a psychologist to pretend the kids they raised are dead.

The shrink even urged the couples to put gravestones for the tots in their back gardens. Both sets of parents blasted the advice.

Czech couples Jan and Jaroslava Cermak and Libor and Jaroslava Broza are still struggling to come to terms with the mix-up that saw them take each other's daughter home from hospital last December.

And Jan, 26, said the advice from psychologist Olga Hlinkova had made the nightmare even worse.

He added: "We have agreed to get rid of the shrink.

What a terrible, cold, inhumane suggestion - pretending the baby we had raised had died. Where do they think these things up?" Libor and his wife are also refusing to have anything more to do with Hlinkova.

And both couples have agreed to abandon a rigid timetable for swapping the children back.

Libor said his partner and Jan's wife were planning to go away together with the babies, Nikola and Veronika, to a secluded cabin so the children can gradually get used to their real mums.

He added: "They will prepare themselves for the exchange and decide finally if they can really go through with it."

Libor's partner said: "Nikola and I have shared so many moments and now everyone seems to think I am just going to let her go. I do not think I can do it."

The couples plan to sue Trebic Hospital near Brno for £250,000 compensation. Police are investigating whether the babies were swapped deliberately.

Military Bars Soldiers with 'Personality Disorders' - Families Say the Disorders are the Result of the War.

From National Public Radio with radio show feed on the site

Thousands of military personnel have been dismissed for "personality disorders" since the war in Iraq began.

The military says the soldiers had pre-existing mental conditions that it is not responsible for treating. But soldiers, their families and veterans' groups counter that the mental condition is post-traumatic stress disorder caused by their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daniel Zwerdling says if a soldier's medical unit diagnoses him with PTSD, the treatment could last months and make the military liable for the soldier's disability benefits. But if the soldier is diagnosed with a personality disorder — a condition that predates his military service — then the treatment would only last a couple weeks and the military would not be liable for the disability benefits.

Zwerdling says he found no evidence of a military psychiatrist diagnosing a soldier with a personality disorder in order to avoid the extended treatment and costs. However, he did hear that the personality disorder diagnosis has been used to discharge problem soldiers quickly.

William Wooldridge, who was an Army specialist in Iraq, says he was dismissed from the service for having a personality disorder.

During his second enlistment, Wooldridge says he underwent a stressful deployment to Iraq and had a breakdown. When he returned to the U.S., he was evaluated by an Army psychiatrist and received a discharge for having a personality disorder.

Wooldridge fought the diagnosis and eventually got it changed to PTSD.

Zwerdling says the military also needs to figure out how it will deal with the tens of thousands of soldiers and Maries who are returning home with serious mental health problems that interfere with their daily lives.

Currently, he says, the military has a terrible system for dealing with mental health problems and it is not doing much to make the system better.

Zwerdling and Wooldridge talk to Alex Chadwick about the issue.

Raids Highlight Prescription Drug Debate

From this report

California authorities who raided the homes and offices of two of Anna Nicole Smith's doctors last week made the highest-profile use yet of a controversial state database that can detect suspicious patterns of prescriptions.

But the raids also reignited debate about the technology. Law enforcement officials say it's a useful tool for fighting prescription drug abuse. Many doctors and privacy advocates say patients are suffering because the government crackdown invades people's privacy and interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.

"What we have going on right now is a society wide witch hunt," said Dr. Frank Fisher, who was recently exonerated following a seven-year court battle that included murder charges, malpractice suits and a medical board investigation into the deaths of several patients for whom he prescribed painkillers.

Some patient advocates believe that allowing investigators to track physicians' prescribing habits risks hurting patients who genuinely need the drugs.

"These databases chill prescribing," said Siobhan Reynolds, who founded the New Mexico-based nonprofit Pain Relief Network after her terminally ill husband was denied large doses of pain killers in the days before his death. "If we had the resources, we would try to shut down every one."

California Attorney General Jerry Brown and other law enforcement officials dismiss such claims and contend the system is needed to curb prescription drug abuse.

"There is no evidence that legitimate treatment is being suppressed or being discouraged," Brown said in an interview. "I think there are more cases out there than are being prosecuted."

The number of Americans who abuse prescription drugs nearly doubled, from 7.8 million in 1992 to 15.1 million in 2003, according to the U.N.-affiliated International Narcotics Control Board in its 2006 annual report, issued in February.

Investigators use the database to look for patients who have received prescription narcotics from several doctors. They are also searching for physicians who authorize higher-than-expected amounts of drugs.

California authorities conducted the raids Friday at the office of Smith's psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and the home and office of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, who prescribed the painkiller methadone to Smith shortly before her February death from an overdose. She was 39.

Brown said his office began investigating Kapoor and Eroshevich after he discovered the two combined to prescribe more than a dozen drugs in the days before Smith's death at a Florida hotel. He has declined to speculate on what charges the doctors might face if it is determined they improperly prescribed drugs.

The Medical Board of California is also investigating Eroshevich, who, according to documents, authorized all 11 prescription medications found in Smith's hotel room the day she died.

Agents have so far reviewed more than 100,000 computer images and files, analyzed patient profiles and pharmacy logs, and interviewed witnesses in the U.S. and abroad, Brown said.

Authorities are also mining the massive database kept by the California Department of Justice called the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, or CURES.

The database has long been a useful tool for doctors wanting to check patient backgrounds before writing a new prescription. It details the 20 million narcotic prescriptions written each year in the state.

Nearly three dozen states have similar databases, but California's, created in 1996, is the oldest and largest.

Crime victims like Bob Pack insist the state's prescription database needs a technological update to catch more people who seek drugs from multiple doctors. A drugged-up motorist ran over Pack's two young children in 2003 as they walked to get ice cream on a Sunday evening.

The foundation Pack launched with his wife in honor of their children is now the driving force behind an effort to make the database instantaneously accessible.

Currently, only Justice Department officials can directly access the CURES database. Doctors and pharmacists must fax patient background requests to the agency, a process Pack argues is too time-consuming to catch drug abuses who obtain multiple prescriptions from different doctors.

Jimena Barreto, the professional nanny who killed Pack's children, had six prescriptions for the pain killer Vicodin from six different doctors at the same HMO in the weeks before the crash.

"When my children were killed, I naively thought doctors and pharmacies had this information at their fingertips," Pack said. "They don't."

Psychiatrist arrested - Leaked client statements and psychiatric data to a freelance journalist who later published them

As seen in the Asia Media News Daily

A psychiatrist is under arrest on suspicion of leaking information to a freelance journalist about a teenager institutionalized after setting his home in Nara Prefecture on fire last year. The teen's stepmother and two siblings were killed.

Arrested Sunday, Morimitsu Sakihama, 49, is suspecting of giving statements made by the teen during the investigation as well as a copy of his psychiatric evaluation to journalist Atsuko Kusanagi last October.

Prosecutors allege that Sakihama handed over the confidential information at his home in Kyoto and at a hotel.

Sakihama was asked by the Nara Family Court to assess the teen's psychiatric condition and was granted access to the teen's previous statements.

In May, Kusanagi published a book about the arson-murder in which she claimed to have obtained around 3,000 pages of investigation materials, including statements made by the teen, which she quoted.

Before his arrest by the Nara District Public Prosecutor's Office, Sakihama was quoted as saying, "I never thought it would be published in such form." Following his arrest, he admitted to the allegations, according to investigative sources.

Kusanagi, who has also been questioned by investigators over the case, said in a statement issued by publisher Kodansha Ltd., "I cannot say if the source of information was the psychiatric examiner who has been arrested, but I offer my apologies for causing tremendous inconvenience as a result of investigations concerning my work."

On her source, Kusanagi said earlier she was given access to investigation documents with the permission of a person she did not name, and she photographed some of them.

The boy, who was 16, was arrested two days after his home burned down June 20, 2006, killing his stepmother and his younger brother and sister through carbon monoxide poisoning. The father was not home at the time of the fire.

The Nara Family Court decided last October to send the teen to a juvenile reformatory after he was diagnosed as having a disorder in developing communication and social skills.

The publication of Kusanagi's book in May drew a strong reaction from law enforcement. The next month, then Justice Minister Jinen Nagase called it "a challenge to the order of justice and the Juvenile Law." The Justice Ministry's Tokyo Regional Legal Affairs Bureau cautioned the Tokyo-based publisher and the journalist, saying the book "evidently went beyond what is permissible in the name of freedom of publications."

The teen and his father filed a complaint over the information leak.

Kodansha said it can't ignore the actions taken by Nara prosecutors in the name of investigating the information leak and lodged a stern protest over Sakihama's arrest.

The arrest also triggered various reactions from experts on media issues.

"Holding (the psychiatrist) in custody will probably have a tremendous impact in the sense it will stifle the flow of information by stepping up control and restrictions on the source of reports and information," said Yasuhiko Tajima, a professor of media law at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Journalist Akihiro Otani said he cannot condone the arrest for its potential impact on journalism but criticized Kusanagi and Kodansha.

"Because the image of the investigation document was used on the book cover, it was obvious the book would cause inconvenience to the reporter's source," Otani said, adding that a journalist must deal carefully with materials provided by a source who wants anonymity.

Journalists and authors have been challenged in court over their reports and publications, but these cases have primarily been civil lawsuits. The only notable incident that developed into a criminal case and the arrest of a reporter was a leak of confidential information from the Foreign Ministry in 1972, one expert said.

The Penal Code provides for six months in prison or a fine of ¥100,000 if a doctor, pharmacist, lawyer or other professional leaks secret information they obtained professionally and a complaint by victims of such a leak is filed.

Psychiatric facility told to relocate patients, threatened with closing

From the Longview News Journal

Acadia Pathways Hospital, a psychiatric facility in North Longview, has been forced to move all its patients to other establishments after a state investigation into complaints about patient care and hospital management.

The Texas Department of State Health Services issued an emergency 10-day suspension of Acadia's license on Thursday. The state agency also delivered a notice of violation to Acadia, detailing the department's proposal to revoke Acadia's license.

Acadia administrators are scheduled to meet today with state officials to discuss the violations and determine what needs to be done.

"If we are satisfied that the conditions are successfully addressed, we can ... re-instate the license," said Doug McBride, press officer for the State Health Services Department. "If we're not satisfied, the most severe action would be the revocation of the license permanently, or at least not temporarily."

If Acadia's license is revoked, it would have to reapply for one to operate again.

The state began investigating the facility in October, after a complaint was filed.

There are specific violations listed in the state's notice to Acadia, including an incident in September of a facility psychiatrist physically assaulting a 16-year-old patient.

Other violations are more general, such as Acadia's failure to have a written staffing plan from July to October that was based on the number of patients, the patients' needs, the expertise of the staff and other factors.

Acadia Pathways, owned by Acadia Heathcare, is a 76-bed hospital that treats people of all ages suffering from psychiatric illnesses and chemical dependency, according to its Web site.

The notice from the state department was addressed to Pamela Broughton, listed as Acadia's administrator/CEO on the facility's Web site.

A call placed Monday to Acadia revealed that Broughton no longer works there. Hospital officials would not answer a request for comment on Monday, but said a statement will be made today.

Child Psychologist Charged With Raping Boy in Her Care

From the North County Gazette and Capital News 9 for the photo, with a video at the link

A county psychologist court-appointed to counsel a 14-year-old male teen has been charged by the New York State Police with second degree rape, a felony.

Jennifer Hastings, 32, an employee of the Rensselaer County Unified Family Services, has been charged with having sexual contact with her patient on several occasions including in her car, area motels and her Sand Lake residence.

State Police said that the school resource officer at Tamarac High School in Brunswick became suspicious when Hastings picked up the teenager from the school and claimed to be his sister. An BCI investigation revealed that she was the boy’s court-appointed counselor and that she had allegedly moved the counseling sessions from the school to her car in the school parking lot. Police said that the teen has admitted having sexual intercourse with Hastings.

Hastings has been remanded to the Rensselaer County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. She has been suspended with pay by Rensselaer County where she had been employed since 2003.

State Police said the investigation is still open and that Hastings may have had sexual contact with other children. Anyone having information about the case may contact the State Police at 518-732-4644.

Suspected gunman in SuccessTech Academy school shooting was on psychiatric drugs

The SuccessTech Academy shooting is a school shooting that took place on October 10, 2007 at SuccessTech high school in Cleveland, Ohio. The perpetrator, Asa H. Coon, wounded at least four people, including two teachers and two students; another student was injured fleeing from the school. Coon had been suspended on Monday, October 8, after fighting with another student during a disagreement, and returned on Wednesday, October 10, with two guns and began shooting. Coon reportedly then committed suicide. (via Wikipedia)

Peter Breggin, M.D., documents cases of irreversible psychosis from short stints on certain drugs.

Ann Tracy, Ph.D., Executive Director of www.drugawareness.org has received reports of antidepressant-induced psychosis lasting for five years before complete recovery was achieved.

As reported by WKYC, via the SSRI Stories website.

Many are asking what caused the suspected gunman in the SuccessTech Academy shooting to snap.

We are learning new details about Asa Coon's troubled background.

The anger that touched off the tragedy began in the heart and mind of Asa Coon at a very young age.

"Are there a lot of Asa's out there? There probably are," Cuyahoga County Children's Services Director Jim McCafferty
said.

McCafferty says between 1998 and 2002 the county agency twice investigated the Coon family for neglect and once for physical abuse.

Asa had mysterious burns on his arm, McCafferty says his older brother, Stephen, may have been to blame.

"As these boys got older and more out of control one has to wonder how much control was in their lives," McCafferty said.

Stephen Coon has a history of committing violent crimes including assault, weapons and drug charges.

One day after the shooting, Cleveland Police arrested Stephen outside his home on an outstanding warrant.

"His environment was living with an older brother who has a long violent history of criminal activity not only in juvenile court and adult court," Chief Juvenile Prosecutor Carmen Naso said.

In January 2006 Asa Coon was convicted of domestic violence.

At the age of 12 he attempted suicide. Asa was prescribed antidepressants and pills for attention deficit disorder.

After a psychiatric evaluation specialists suspected he suffered from a bipolar disorder and recommended psychotropic drugs.

"He was a troubled youth. In January of 2006 that resulted in violence against his own mother and that should have told us something," Naso said.

Whatever it told healthcare professionals, the juvenile and child welfare systems, it was not enough to prevent this from happening.

Police say they've gone to the Coon household five times since 2006.

They were responding to complaints of domestic violence, assault and some property crimes.

Psycho-Analyst Priest claims he was 'only pretending to be gay'

Given all of the trouble the Catholic Church has had in recent years, you know this will just invite more problems. Our interest is in the psychoanalyst angle, not the religious angle. As reported on CNN

A Vatican official suspended after being caught on hidden camera making advances to a young man said in an interview published Sunday that he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work.

In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico said he frequented online gay chat rooms and met with gay men as part of his work as a psychoanalyst.

He said that he pretended to be gay in order to gather information about "those who damage the image of the Church with homosexual activity."

Vatican teaching holds that homosexual activity is a sin.

"It's all false; it was a trap. I was a victim of my own attempts to contribute to cleaning up the Church with my psychoanalyst work," La Repubblica quoted Stenico as saying.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Saturday that the monsignor had been suspended pending a Vatican investigation.

Stenico is a top official in the Vatican's Congregation of the Clergy. The Vatican acted after officials recognized Stenico's office in the background of a television program on gay priests that was broadcast on Oct. 1 on La7, a private Italian TV network.

Stenico was secretly filmed making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful. In the Repubblica interview, Stenico said he had met with the young man and pretended to talk about homosexuality "to better understand this mysterious and faraway world which, by the fault of a few people -- among them some priests -- is doing so much harm to the Church."

He said he had never been gay and was heterosexual, but remained faithful to his vow of celibacy.

Italy's Sky TG24 said Stenico had written a letter to his superiors with a similar defense. Calls to Stenico's home and Vatican office went unanswered Sunday.

Psychologist convicted in murder case, sentenced to life for killing ex-fiancee

From the Dallas Morning News

A licensed psychologist who met a woman on Match.com and became engaged to her was convicted Friday of her murder.

Lester Winningham, 59, was convicted in the death of Deborah Houchin, a licensed family therapist.

The two had met through the online dating service and later became colleagues at the Counseling Center in Arlington, officials said.

In July 2005, the 56-year-old woman's body was found burned beyond recognition in Cooke County.

“Sometimes, things fit,” said Tiffany Burks, an assistant Tarrant County district attorney. ”When Deborah Houchin was at her home, the defendant came over and shot her in the back three times.” Ms. Houchin’s blood, she told jurors, was found in the trunk of Mr. Winningham’s car.

Mr. Winningham moved to Arlington from Temple to live with Ms. Houchin and join her and other clinicians at the Mitchell Boulevard office. Ms. Houchin, prosecutors said, assisted Mr. Winningham in finding clients and building his practice. By Christmas 2004, they were engaged.

Deborah Houchin’s sister, Marlene Wallem testified she suggested to her sister that she needed to get a prenuptial agreement.

“He got so mad,” Ms. Wallem said. “After that, he wouldn’t touch her or kiss her.”

Less than a week after the engagement, the couple had broken up but continued to date off and on, she said.

One month before she was found dead, Ms. Houchin said her sister issued a dire warning. “She told me, ‘if anything happens to me, make sure the police talk to Les,” Ms. Wallem testified.

Mr. Winningham’s attorney, Bill Ray, said investigators neglected to look at other suspects. Ms. Houchin, he said, changed her online dating profile and drew some 400 hits from other men -- all of whom could be suspects.

“She received a good deal of response,” Mr. Ray said. “We don’t know who all those people are.”

Mr. Ray had attacked the state’s case as largely circumstantial. He told jurors there was no physical evidence tying his client to the slaying.

“The only piece of evidence in this case is the blood in the back of the car,” he told jurors Friday during close arguments.

“We don’t know how it got there. We don’t know how long it’s been there,” Mr. Ray said.

Mr. Wnningham, he said, did not have time to dump a body in Cooke County, drive 90 minutes to Arlington, clean up evidence and report to work.

“The car didn’t smell like gasoline,” Mr. Ray said. “He didn’t smell like gasoline.”

Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Winningham has dejected suitor who seethed over his break-up with Ms. Houchin.

“There is no mystery killer,” said Greg Miller, an assistant Tarrant County district attorney. “He’s sitting right in this courtroom.”

California Attorney General Jerry Brown Statement Regarding Search Warrants Executed on Psych Khristine Eroshevich in the Death of Anna Nicole Smith

From the Website of the California Attorney General, Which also includes video in several formats.

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Statement From California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. Regarding Search Warrants Executed Today In Connection With The Death Of Anna Nicole Smith:

“The California Department of Justice today served search warrants at various doctors’ offices, billing locations, and residences in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties, related to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. The locations searched today are related to doctors who provided medical treatment or prescribed drugs for Anna Nicole Smith or her associates.

On March 30, 2007, the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement commenced an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith, including the prescribing and dispensing practices of several California licensed doctors and pharmacies. To date, agents have reviewed over 100,000 computer images and files, analyzed patient profiles and pharmacy logs and interviewed witnesses throughout the country and abroad.

The California Department of Justice is spearheading this investigation with regulatory agencies, medical professionals and law enforcement agencies, including: The California Department of Insurance, the California Medical Board, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Seminole Tribal Police and the Royal Bahamian Police Force.

In view of the fact that the investigation is ongoing, we will not provide further details or report any findings at this time. The California Department of Justice will conduct a fair and thorough investigation and wishes to protect the identity of cooperating witnesses. When our investigation is complete, you will be provided as much information as possible about any suspects, arrests or criminal charges.

Beyond this statement, no one involved in this investigation will have further comment at this time. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Anna Nicole Smith's Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich hit with search warrant

TMZ reports (with video):

California Attorney General Jerry Brown says that he requested the search warrants executed earlier today in connection with the death of Anna Nicole Smith because, he believes, "a serious crime has been committed."

In a press conference just concluded, Brown didn't divulge specific details of what he was looking for, and what crimes might have been committed, but told reporters that "playing with dangerous drugs" can result in death and "prescribing drugs illegally is a crime," and he suggested people should "put it together."

See also our earlier coverage in our own special section dedicated to Khristine Eroshevich

As reported in the SF Chronicle gossip column

Anna Nicole Smith's psychiatrist received a rude awakening on Friday morning when her home was raided by police investigating the death of the tragic model/actress.

California authorities served Dr. Khristine Eroshevich with one of several search warrants as they upped their investigations into the death of Smith, who died of a fatal overdose in a Florida hotel back in February.

Ironically, Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern was with the doctor when the members of the justice department arrived at her home, according to TMZ.com.

Stern was in Los Angeles after appearing on the "Larry King Live" show on CNN on Wednesday.

Eroshevich is also under investigation by the Medical Board of California after admitting to prescribing a haul of drugs for her celebrity patient in the days following her son Daniel's death last year.

See also the Fox News gossip column report

Psychiatrist faces more sexual assualt charges as 8 women come forward

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution

A Lawrenceville psychiatrist was back in jail Wednesday with no bond allowed after more women came forward to say he inappropriately touched them, police said Wednesday.

Six more women have given statements to police similar to the first alleged victim, said Capt. Greg Vaughn, a spokesman for the Lawrenceville Police Department. The first woman who complained to police told them that Dr. Mohammad Qureshi asked her to disrobe during a psychiatric session and touched her breasts, he said.

"That's the thing," Vaughn said. None of the women "knows exactly what happened (with the first woman) so when they come forward and tell us (similar details), it's like, 'Wow, same thing.'"

Police charged Qureshi Tuesday afternoon with six counts of felony sexual assault and six counts of misdemeanor sexual battery. Those charges are in addition to one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual battery Qureshi faces as a result of the first woman who contacted police.

In addition to the seven women who have come forward, Vaughn said, there are perhaps two more who have called police but have not given statements.

Qureshi, 45, worked at the Gwinnett-Rockdale-Newton Community Services Board, which assists people suffering from mental illness, retardation or drug addiction. He was dismissed by the board after the first woman complained about him to police.

Qureshi said a few days ago that the allegations were "totally false."

Vaughn declined to give details of how Qureshi convinced the women to disrobe, in order to keep allegations valid if more women come forward.

But, "I could see how he could it," he said. "The red flag should have come up, but you trust your doctor and (if) he talks well enough to do it, I could somewhat see [how it could have happened]."