I say it's quackery...

Medical standards of care originally were based on clinical research and clinical experience; ethical medical standards originally were diagnostic procedures and treatments for symptoms and medical illnesses with known risks and potential benefits discussed for informed consent for prescribed treatment. Standards of care protected patients from unsafe medical practices and unethical professionals. The standards being promulgated for use in standard psychiatric clinical practice and recommended for use in pediatric and general medical clinics currently are written to conform to what is, and has been standard practice in real world mental health clinical practice for decades.

In real world clinical practice, it not unusual for irresponsible off label prescribing of dangerous psychotropic drugs with little, if any empirical support; i.e. drugs are prescribed for no valid, ethical medical purpose. Incredibly, drugs are prescribed without empirical evidence of either the drug's safety or effectiveness for the patient, and/or the condition and/or syptom the drug is prescribed to treat, drugs are sometimes the only "treatment" available. Psychiatry's current standards of care protect psychiatrists and the other medical practitioners who are trained to practice "psychopharmacology," not evidence based medicine, social and political control of individuals based on consensus of professional opinions.  Psychiatric "standard treatment" endangers patients. Obviously, psychotropic drugs which have teratogenic effects and have inherent risks which include cognitive, neurological and physical disabilities and early/sudden death. Once drug impaired, psychiatric patients are limited in their capacity to complain of mistreatment and effectively advocate for themselves. Many will develop drug-induced cognitive, neurological, metabolic, and cardio-vascular impairments which are medically neglected by the doctors who inflict them.

Apparently, it's an article of faith for psychopharmacologically inclined psychiatrists to believe the subjective observations and opinions of psychiatrists can miraculously transubsantially transform agreed upon opinions and beliefs into "scientific evidence" through a quasi-democratic process of consensus. Imagine that! A consensus of the opinions of psychiatrists validates psychiatric diagnostic criteria. Psychiatrists agree teratogenic drugs are therapeutic and "necessary" by legal force if required. Seemingly, by ignoring the direct adverse effects of teratogens on their patients,  psychiatrists become willfully blinded to disabilities and infirmaties, the iatrogenic medical injuries that consensus based psychiatry inflicts upon humanity with seeming impunity.

In every other field of scientific inquiry, subjective observation and opinion is suitable only to support findings and conclusions derived from empirical data collected in research and real world practice. Educated subjective opinions and observations are no substitute for medical knowledge gained from ethical scientific research, and thoughtful consideration of all available data. Using medical terms,  relying on consensus without offering valid empirical evidence to support psychiatric standards of care is an egregious abuse of power, authority and medical  privilege---There is no substitute for empirical evidence, and no excuse for abdicating the use of sound medical judgement and ethical medical principles.

Psychiatry's consensus-based diagnostic manual, the DSM, and consensus-based treatment algorithms such as TMAP and , are not ethically, medically or scientifically valid. TMAP and T-MAY, are consensus-based treatment protocols developed to market drugs and/or unethically "validate" off label prescription of dangerous FDA approved drugs; i.e. off label prescribing becomes psychiatry's "standard of care"absent empirical support or contrary to available evidence of either  drug safety or effectiveness for patient or symptom or condition...

How did off label use of dangerous drugs become so common, more importantly, how can it be considered ethical or even a "standard medical practice?" Psychotropic drugs are teratogens; yet they are prescribed without evidence of effectiveness, even though they have inherent, disabling, even fatal risks.

Abuse of prescription privileges. 

Psychiatry: a consensus-based standard of care. 

Psychiatry's so-called standards of care are commonly used to "validate" the prolific off label prescribing of neuroleptic, or so-called "antipsychotic" and other psychotropic drugs to children, the elderly and traumatized veterans. Treatment algorithms are based on consensus and "validated" by a quasi-democratic process. In reality, what are obviously political decisions are the justification, not exactly the needed evidence base, for so called standards of care. These "standards" which primarily serve to protect practritioners who use them by providing a pre-emptive affirmative defense against medical malpractice for iatrogenic injuries. Standards of care shield psychiatrists against malpractice claims for drug-induced iatrogenic injuries, permanent disabilities weven  fatalities inflicted with impunity. Most victims are mostly poor and/or reliant on Federal Medical programs. Marginalized by poverty, stigmatized with a diagnostic label, patients can be systematically dis-empowered a direct effect of legislating bigotry. Grass roots advocates who proclaim themselves to be "The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness" do not acknowledge psychiatric survivors/victims, much less advocate justice for victims of iatrogenic harm, educate the public about drug-induced disease, disability and death. The Nation's Voice does not speak for those who are killed as a direct result of psychiatric treatment.

via 1 Boring Old Man:

a mess, [still] deserving close attention…

a couple of excerpts:

"Childhood Psychosis is an uncommon finding, but can be associated with significant impairment, and the article mentioned by Dr. Purssey purports to be discussing childhood psychosis. But we all know that the extensive use of Atypical Antipsychotics in children [Medicaid children] isn’t about childhood psychosis at all. It’s off-label uses. The drugs are being prescribed for behavior control. That’s where the costs come from. That’s where the dangers are. That’s where the risk/benefit equation has been massively perverted. That’s the reason for the alarm. These are the kids that were inappropriately labeled Bipolar, justifying the use of these medications.

"There can be little question that the incidence of behavioral problems among the children on Medicaid is quite high. In fact, it would be surprising if that weren’t the case. Many of them are foster children or otherwise born into families in difficult circumstances. And for all its glitches, our foster-care system beats the orphanages of a former time hands down. These medications can be somewhat effective in situations when these children inevitably present with behavior problems, but at a very high price. Foremost, this is not a situation best approached by symptom control. Childhood is not something to be gotten through. It’s the period of complex development that shapes directions for a lifetime. This is a self-evident truth. It’s impossible to imagine that the important work of childhood can proceed through the fog of Antipsychotics – so the side effects such as the metabolic syndromes are an additional burden to children already swimming up-stream. Rampant medication in these situations is a clearly inappropriate and dangerous medical solution to a psycho-social problem. This is not simply something to decry. It needs to be stopped." read here

Here is the latest treatment algorithm to ensure kids will be drugged: 

via The Reach Instittute

T-MAY: Treatment of Maladaptive Aggression in Youth

Psychotropic agents are increasingly prescribed to aggressive youth on an outpatient basis,^5–7 despite limited efficacy and safety data.⁶ For example, sixfold increases in outpatient antipsychotic prescriptions were found between 1993 and 2002,⁸ followed by further increases between 2002 and 2006,⁹ largely with aggressive, nonpsychotic youth. These practices fall largely outside of indications approved by the Food and Drug Administration, raising concerns about efficacy, safety, role of alternative therapies, polypharmacy, and appropriate parent engagement and education.⁹Furthermore, a significant portion of antipsychotic prescribing takes place by primary care physicians, including pediatricians. For example, an estimated 32.2% of antipsychotic prescriptions for children ages 2 to 18 during 1995–2002 were by non–mental health providers.¹⁰ Evidence-based guidance is necessary for implementing care that addresses patients’ severity and source of symptoms, development, primary diagnosis, coexisting conditions, and family situations.¹¹

To address these needs, the Rutgers Center for Education and Research on Mental Health Therapeutics, in collaboration with Columbia University, the REACH Institute, and others, launched a consensus development initiative to address the outpatient management of maladaptive, impulsive aggression in children and adolescents.

Treatment of Maladaptive Aggression in Youth: CERT Guidelines I. Engagement, Assessment, and Management

Treatment of Maladaptive Aggression in Youth: CERT Guidelines II. Treatments and Ongoing Management

updated 2-17-2014

One of my Heroes

"Contempt has something in common with respect; 

much like respect, contempt can only be earned." 

A MadMother quote

Isaac on my birthday June 1990 

My son has endured mistreatment, abuse, and civil rights violations virtually his entire life at the hands of mental health professionals and child welfare workers. He has even been told he can not go swimming at the YMCA and a Yakima City pool by himself as an adult. Yakima School District gave him a half day of school from the first through sixth grade. The local DSHS office Children’s Administration staff had an attitude that can best be described as unprofessional; in truth, hateful.

Federal guidelines state a person cannot be denied federally funded Medicaid medical services by virtue of needing them for long periods, by virtue of needing them in the past, or because their condition requires a high level of care. The disrespectful unprofessional attitude of Child Welfare staff was evident from my first contact with the local Children’s Administration office and prevelant the entire time I was forced to deal with them. The first time I had any contact was when the Seattle office asked the Yakima office to make a “courtesy” home visit to a new home that Isaac and I had moved to. The caseworker who performed this "courtesy visit" stated with a sneer upon her arrival, "If it were up to me, you wouldn’t have got your son back.” My son was in the room.

The local children's Administration office referred to Isaac as, “A Seattle Dump Job.” My son, was severely behaviorally disturbed due to having been beat up and locked in a closet by a foster parent. A crime that by Law should have been reported to Law Enforcement; but was covered up by Children's Administration instead. For having the audacity to aggressively seek appropriate treatment and services for my severely traumatized child, I was given a psychiatric diagnosis; and of all the things I've been called, this one is my favorite. I was labeled with "Dependent Personality Disorder." 

I believe the State of Washington has a duty to help my son recover from his injuries. I also believe that once Isaac was victimized by a violent crime in foster care, the State was unwilling to ethically perform any duty it owed my son. The State does whatever it can, legal or illegal doesn't matter, as long as it can abdicate it's duty to those victimized in state paid care settings; and it does so with impunity.

When I brought Isaac home from foster care he was 5. I was asked, “If you can’t take care of him, why did you take him back?” by a Children's Administration Supervisor. The same supervisor, Gary Peterson, later lied about what had taken place at a team meeting held to discuss Isaac's needs; he lied about what was recommended by the treatment team for Isaac's care. Isaac's needs were unchanged, his condition had not improved; he continued to need a great deal of help. Peterson's lie resulted in services being terminated. My son was hospitalized yet again; a hopitalization that cost the taxpayers $30,000 for a three week hospital stay. The services that were terminated cost $2,200. a month.

 All of the treatment and supports that were recommended for Isaac that I begged, pleaded, and ultimately screamed about him needing; were supposed to be available under EPSDT; on paper, in the contract the  local mental health clinic had with the State, the County and the RSN, the services were available; mandated by the contract, and State Law; in reality, they were nonexistent. The services that were provided as a substitute were federally funded "Family Preservation Services" which are supposed to be used in crisis situations; and were never intended to be used long-term, and not as a substitute for providing the necessary treatment for chronic mental health conditions. The fact that Family Preservation Services were supposed to be short-term is something I was constantly being reminded of by Child Welfare staff; staff blamed Isaac and myself for his "failure to recover" (my  "failure as a parent" was merely implied) without recommended treatment. The fact is, my son and I were being traumatized by the manner in which we were treated by professionals who were failing to perform their jobs as public servants, people who in effect, worked for us...


I was ultimately forced to give custody back to the state, Children's Administration claimed it was required, that it was the only way Medicaid would pay for his ongoing care. I found out later when I was doing my research to rescue him from CSTC, this claim was in fact a lie. Isaac already had Medicaid; and there was then, and there is now, no such requirement that a child must be in State custody in order for Medicaid to cover the cost of their Medical care. My court appointed attorney advised me to sign the “consent” for an "Agreed Order" to place my son in the custody of the system that had harmed him so very badly in the first place. I wanted it put on the record the real reason, we were even there. (the failure to provide  recommended treatment and in-home services that his psychiatrist said were necessary to treat his injuries)

I found out years later, that at that particular hearing, was the only opportuntity the law allows to have entered into the Court's record my own understanding of why the State of Washington was in effect, "legally" kidnapping my son. I was never properly informed of this parental right by my Court-appointed attorney, or by the Case Worker with Children's Administration. In effect, my attorney, the Social Worker with Children's Administration, and Isaac's Team Child attorney worked together to coerce me into signing the "Agreed Order" by reassuring me it was the only "responsible" thing for me to do. They told me if I didn't sign the "Agreed Order," the State's attorney would simply claim I was refusing to act in my son's "best interest," and the Order would be granted anyway.  

I remained unaware of the how badly my parental rights were violated for years, it was not until I was researching in order to rescue my son, that I found out on my own, how badly I had been betrayed by my legal advocate.  It is my belief the reason for the charade was so that the State of Washington could defraud the Federal Child Welfare program, to help pay for the cost of Isaac's care. The State could only claim child welfare funds if he was a ward of the State. So they violated State and Federal Law and made him a ward of the State. I was robbed of my parental rights, and I was assured that I retained my parental rights to provide Informed Consent for Isaac's medical treatment. What the law stated my rights were, and the rights I in reality was allowed, are not even close... For an "Agreed Order for a Consent to Place" to be a valid legal document, is to be signed without coercion.  I was in fact coerced.  The only reason I signed it is because I was told that if I did not sign it, the State would tell the Court I was not willing to act in my son's best interest; and I was assured by my attorney that I retained my parental rights to provide Informed Consent for Isaac's medical treatment. I was lied to, I was betrayed. It is, and has been, a nightmare that is made worse by the prospect that my precious son's death from iatrogenic injuries will in all likelihood, will precede my own.

Initially, he was placed in a group home here in town for 10 months, at a cost of $5,000. a month. 4 times in those 10 months he left the group home without the staff on duty being aware he was gone. 2 of these occasions, he hitchhiked to our home, and I was legally obligated to return him to the group home; even though the staff person on duty was unaware he had even been missing! Can you imagine, the horror of being obligated by law to return your child to a place where  you know for a fact he is neglected and abused?! On another occasion, he broke his foot so severely, it required surgery to repair, and he walks with a limp to this day. After breaking his foot, he hitchhiked to the hospital and I was contacted by the ER and informed that my son was injured and that he was alone. I called the group home, and the staff on duty lied to me, telling me Isaac was asleep in his bed. The staff person was unaware he had jumped out of a 2nd floor window, and was not even at the group home. When I asked if they would please check on him so I could tell him gooodnight if he was still awake; the staff person was rude to me, and only agreed to do so when I insisted.

While the local DSHS Child Welfare office provided services when I forced the issue, the services were NEVER what was recommended for Isaac's injuries and his diagnoses of PTSD and Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. The system should have bent over backwards to provide the help he needed since his injuries are a direct result of the State's negligence; Children's Administration placed him in the foster home where he was victimized. He was placed in a home that had several credible reports filed with CPS asking the state to stop placing children in the home.  12 reports were in fact filed prior to Isaac being placed in the foster home, a pediatrician, a minister and the social worker that had recommended the foster parent to the state in the first place, among them.

If the local DSHS Children's Administration staff had a problem with the Seattle office, it was an administrative issue; it certainly was not grounds for the abusive and negligent manner they "provided services" to "help" my son and my family. Some of these people still have State jobs as public servants; some have been able to retire and now receive State pensions. It is not "the system" that is broken. What happened to my son was not due to a "broken child welfare system."

The initial crime occurred because state employees failed to follow guidelines. He was placed in a home that a State licencor had recommended only infants and toddlers be placed in, due to the foster parent's lack of parenting skills. Going even further the licencor alleged a child average intelligence over he age of a oddler would soon outwit her...

The fact that Isaac had been victimized was covered up by state employees who then blamed both of us when Isaac's condition did not improve. The treatment recommended by every single psychiatrist was never provided and state employees in effect said it was our fault his condition not only didn't improve but worsened over the years. Public servants who failed to act with ethical integrity and in effect, blamed a crime victim for his injuries which only adds insult to injury. Not a day has went by that I have not remembered that I placed him in foster care. I am responsible for placing him in harm's way; I don't believe it's possible for me to ever forgive myself for that fact. he was harmed because of it.

After the group home, my son spent over 4 years at Child Study and Treatment Center, the state-run psychiatric research facility for children. The picture below was taken on the grounds of CSTC and Isaac is leaning on the tree to keep himself from falling down. Heavily drugged, he would stumble and fall to the ground, much like a child first learning to walk. He is smiling in this picture, he couldn't really smile like he had before, it looked more like grimace; it's a direct adverse effect of the drugs he'd been forced to take.

He was 15 when this picture was taken:  

My son has recently felt safe enough to tell me what it felt like to be him growing up. He told me he felt like nobody who was supposed to be helping him, had any compassion for him. When he talks about the heavy doses of neuroleptic drugs, and the “side effects” which in reality, are the direct, adverse effects; in agony, he asked me, “how could they take so much from me mom?” Referring to the staff at CSTC, that had traumatized him, "over and over and over" he said, “To tell you the truth, I pity them. I feel sorry for their morality.”

Isaac was still in the custody of the state when he went to an inpatient psychiatric hospital for the first time, the month before he turned 7 years old. A few weeks later, a Children's Administration social worker purposely misinformed the court by stating that Isaac was doing well because he as receiving the services he needed at home in order to have Isaac's dependency dismissed. The case was closed, the record sealed. I had spoken with the social worker less than a week after Isaac was admitted to the hospital stating she was just finishing up paperwork and was calling to ask how he was doing. I told her he was in the hospital and that it did not look good; the psychiatrist was saying he would need to be hospitalized for a long time. It ended up being ten months.

I told her he kept talking about someone named Margaret and what had been done to him. Less than an hour later, I got a call from a Seattle Police Homicide Detective, named Don Cameron. The foster parent who victimized him was suspected of killing babies placed in her care. Just a few months prior to Detective Cameron calling me, she had apparently killed a fourth baby. Detective Cameron wanted to talk to Isaac about what had happened to him in the foster home; I was advised by the psychiatrist not to allow it. I now know following the psychiatrist's advice was a serious mistake.  I have wished at least a million times over the years that I had not listened to that psychiatrist. It is a burden knowing I took the wrong person's advice I bear it without any grace; it is another consequence of having put my son in foster care in the first place.

I had to fight for almost 2 years after the CSTC staff put on paper he no longer needed to be in the hospital, before I was finally able to bring my son home; it was less than 3 months before his 17th birthday.

Isaac lives at home with me and I am his Medicaid personal caregiver. (see The story of a background check for current info) His current assessment is inaccurate and flawed, due the fact that the assessment tool was developed to assess physical disabilities, not the cognitive disabilities that my son has. Isaac chooses to live at home and I am grateful.  I would be stupid (and negligent) to trust a system that has given me compelling reason to have no trust in it. It is a system that abdicates all responsibility when wrongs occur, does nothing to investigate crimes committed against vulnerable people it serves, and does nothing to ameliorate any harm sustained once they have been victimized.  In fact these “service systems” and some of the “public servants” employed by them, have caused so much more harm unnecessarily in their attempts to cover up ethical and criminal failures. Crimes committed both by employees of the State of Washington and by contracted service providers are not reported as required by law to Law Enforcement, and are neither investigated nor prosecuted. There is no accountability for the grievous errors made and outright abuse and neglect (and the harm done to my son) that employees of the State of Washington and contracted service providers who failed to perform their jobs ethically, or legally. It is apparent to me that some of these "public servants" have no conscience, and no compassion whatsoever for my seriously traumatized son. The chief concern continues to be to abdicate all responsibility for failing to perform their duties with integrity; and when they fail to help, to keep from harming the people whom they purport to serve.

I am utterly disgusted by State employees whose abject individual failures are minimized and dismissed by other State employees who attribute criminal failures to the fragmented and broken system. It is individuals who are failing the system, and it is individuals that are broken; not the system. The failure to hold individuals who commit crimes accountable for the crimes they commit as State employees and contracted care providers is systemic failure; but "the system" can only be as functional as the people who are employed by it. Attributing the failures to "the system" is why the system is "broken."  The failures are caused by individuals who lack the fortitude required to perform their jobs with ethical integrity. It is individuals who fail our children in the foster care system, and they will continue to do so with impunity for as long as we continue to attribute their individual failures to "the system."  The system will remain "broken" as long as we fail to hold individuals accountable for failing to perform their jobs with ethical integrity. Children will continue to be grievously harmed, children will continue to have their lives destroyed. Children will continue to be killed until the adults that we, as a society, entrust to care for them, to act in their best interests are held accountable for their negligent and careless criminal behavior.
  

It is a very conservative estimate that a million dollars of Medicaid and Child Welfare fraud was committed by Washington State to pay for my son's "care."  It is by defrauding of my neighbors and my family members that the criminal mistreatment of my son was paid for. I have no respect whatsoever for the mental health and social service systems employees who perpetrated these crimes; I have no respect for people whose  corrupt behavior and fraudulent billing practices I have borne witness to for almost twenty years.

My son has survived, a miracle many times over again. It is an honor and a priviledge to do for him those things he can not do, because of his iatrogenic injuries. It is a blessing to be a mother. I will be eternally grateful for being blessed with my children; I am proud of the adults they have become. Isaac knows that recovery is possible, because he says, "My family knows what happened to me, and they believe in me." 

Isaac deserves so much more than to simply to recover from his iatrogenic injuries, but due to the nature of his injuries, he doesn't remember what he once wanted to be; have any aspirations for a job or career, to finish school. He knows the reason he has lost some of his abilities, and knows he can regain what he has lost. I tell him he's doing great, because he is. He has no hate or animosity for the people who have caused him so much harm; to me, that is admirable. 

It is one of the many reasons he is a hero to me.  

Portions of post were first published 7-11-2011

Why can't you simply DO YOUR JOBS as paid public servants and demonstrate some ethical integrity?

“Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.” 

Dorothy Day

"I believe we must speak our conscience in moments that demand it, 

even if we are but one voice" Richard B. Sanders

Keeping Up Appearances in Washington State the State's investigation of my complaint because It took one minute... for the Court hearing to commit my son to Involuntary Treatment.  Then I learned How Many Go Without Effective Assistance of Counsel? 
How my son came home from Child Study and Treatment Center  A MadMother in Pro Per 

December 14, 2012

Dear Ms. Murphy:

I am writing in response to your e­mail exchanges with the Attorney General’s Office that have occurred since September 18, 2012.  In your e­mails, you have stated a concern that your son was not treated with appropriate mental health services by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).  Further, you have stated that you believe a criminal investigation should be commenced to look into felony crimes committed in the course of your son’s treatment.

I am one of the attorneys in the Attorney General’s Office involved in the representation of behavioral health programs within DSHS.  In that capacity, I was asked to respond to your letter.

Your letter does concern me because the mission of DSHS is to decrease poverty, improve safety and health status and increase educational and employment success to support people and communities in reaching their potential.  Each year, more than 2.2 million children, families, vulnerable adults and seniors come to DSHS for protection, comfort, food assistance, financial aid, medical and behavioral health care.

In your correspondence, you have raised concerns about the treatment your son received by various behavioral health care providers, including the Child Study and Treatment Center.  Our office is not in a position to investigate the state agencies or systems that we are charged with representing.  Therefore, I recommend that you take your concerns to a private attorney or legal service organization (such as the Northwest Justice Project), who can counsel you as to the most appropriate action.  Criminal actions are generally investigated by the county prosecuting attorneys.  The Attorney General’s Office only investigates and prosecutes those criminal cases where local prosecuting attorneys cannot undertake the case.

I hope this information is helpful to you in clarifying the role of the Attorney General’s Office.

Sincerely,

ERIC NELSON

Assistant Attorney General

EN:jsn

Please do not respond to this e-mail address; it is an unmonitored account.  For any further correspondence to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, please go to the AGO Web site and use the contact form at

https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ContactForm.aspx.

Mr. Nelson, 

I appreciate your response, however, I am disappointed in it's content, particularly the notice at the bottom.  I am fully cognizant of the legal functions the Attorney General is responsible for as an elected public servant working for the people of the State of Washington. One the legal duties as the State's legal representative whose job is to enforce the Law, is also to ensure that the people who are Court Ordered to Involuntary Treatment have their procedural and substantive Due Process Rights, their Human Rights, i.e. their Constitutional Rights, preserved. 

An Order to Detain was sought and obtained using perjured testimony, the petition was supported by a forged Affidavit, the DMHP, Nancy Sherman, further attested she had informed me of her intention to Detain my son, who was seeking to be hospitalized; she did not inform me. She further attests on her petition that my son was accompanied by his brother, which is true. What she did not say, is that he was also accompanied by me, his mother. She states in her petition that she notified me "verbally" of her intent to detain my son; this is a lie. She attested that she notified me "verbally," but lists a number that is not my phone number.---I was present at the Crisis Center, so there would have been no reason to call me on the telephone---the testimony Ms. Sherman  offers the Court implies that I was not present.  These "facts" along with slander are used by Ms. Sherman in an obvious an attempt to characterize my son being violent and aggressive, the statements are libelous and are offered as evidence on her petition seeking an Order to Detain. Ms. Sherman commited felony perjury and fraud  when performing her job and acting as an agent of the State as the Designated Mental Health Professional; she is employed by Central Washington Comprehensive Mental Health (CWCMH) who is the only contracted provider for crisis response mental health services in Yakima County. The psychiatrist, Jeffrey Jennings, who subsequently sought a Court Order for Involuntary Treatment, had never met my son, and refused to return multiple telephone messages I left both at his CWCMH office and at the hospital; yet on multiple occasions he had left messages with Memorial Hospital staff for me to call him. The man had no first hand information about my son, or the circumstances which led up to the crisis when his brother and I accompanied him to the crisis center. So, instead of using only information he knew first hand to be true, as the instructions from the Washington State Court form states must be used when filing an Affidavit and a petition for a Court Order, Jeffrey Jennings simply repeats the false testimony offered by the DMHP, Ms. Sherman.  Both the Deputy Prosecutor, Dan Polage, and Assigned Counsel, Jennifer Lesmez, were aware that the facts alleged were in dispute. Dan Polage had an ethical and a legal Duty to verify the veracity of the evidence, and did not. Specifically, the Court was told that my son had attacked me, had thrown a large television at me---breaking it to peices---and the Court was told that he threatened both his parents and that we are afraid of him; my son had not seen his other parent for over a decade---

Below is a picture of the TV the Court was told had been smashed to pieces.  What really seriously ANGERS me, it that bitch told the Court that I am afraid of my son, and that he had attacked me, neither of which are true.

I am afraid FOR my son.  After this chain of events, I have no doubt that the biggest threat to his life, what health he has left, and his happiness comes from unethical Mental Health Professionals. I now know DMHPs and psychiatrists are allowed to commit Felony Crimes in Washington State's Superior Court, with impunity.   

Mr. Nelson,  I want to point out that you neglected to share anything about what the Attorney General's legal duty was/ and still is, to MY SON, the victim of Nancy Sherman, Jeffrey Jennings, Dan Polage, and Jennifer Lesmez.  The State has a duty to my son, and to all people who like him, have a psychiatric diagnosis and are brought before the Washington State Superior Court by Washington State's Designated Mental Health Professionals. The DMHPs are acting as agents of the State of Washington, tasked with determining when the deprivation of a person's Liberty is required in order to help a person with a mental illness. 

Ensuring that these Court Orders are only obtained when necessary, and in compliance with Washington State Law, is one of the duties that the involuntary treatment statute states the State of Washington must perform.  As the SOW's legal representative, this legal duty resides with the Attorney General's office.  I filed my complaint with the designated complaint taker in DSHS that Washington State's Administrative Code identifies as the proper receiver of such complaints. The complaint should have been forwarded to the Washington State Patrol so that the Felony Crimes alleged in the criminal complaint could be investigated.  The crimes were perpetrated by people acting as agents of the State of Washington; which is probably why the Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery did not inform Law Enforcement so that a proper Criminal Investigation could be conducted.

Instead, DSHS DBHR sent a couple of social workers who "investigated " and determined that my son's rights had not been violated, but were in fact, effectively preserved. This so-called investigation did no fact-finding or fact checking; and did not even interview eye-witnesses or speak to the victim, my son. In fact, these so-called investigators, claimed that merely by examining an electronic record, parts of which were copies of the fabricated testimony Nancy Sherman cut and pasted on a Court form Affidavit; and that psychiatrist, Jeffery Jennings, subsequently used in support of his petition to commit my son; is an investigation! These idiots concluded that everything in the record, including factual errors, i.e. contact information, and events that both attested under penalty of perjury to have occurred--which neither of these attestors witnessed. In reality, the attestations of Nancy Sherman and Jeffrey Jennings, have no basis in fact.  The State's "investigators" concluded in effect, the perjured statements are FACTUALLY correct, because the "investigators" had read them in the electronic record. The so-called investigators basically assert in their written report that the electronic record, is evidence that my son's Constitutional Rights were not violated. I assure you it is a violation of a person's individual rights to be proceeded against in a Court of Law when fraud and perjured testimony is the only "evidence." 

The Court Order was in fact illegally obtained, the Deputy Prosecutor and the Assigned Counsel went along, acting as accessories these officers of the Court facilitated the Felony Crimes committed by the DMHP, Nancy Sherman and psychiatrist, Jeffrey Jennings. I hope by now, my point is obvious to you, Mr.Nelson. Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Boys could have conducted a better investigation... 

It is my understanding from your email that you are asserting the State has no duty to investigate crimes committed by it's agents when it has been informed it's agents have committed felony crimes in their professional capacity which harm people and violate their individual rights; when the law clearly states the State does in fact have a duty. To be clear, you are telling me that the Attorney General has no duty to investigate felony crimes committed in Washington State Superior Court in Civil Commitment proceedings.  I suspect your assertion is made because the State is liable for the harm caused by the unethical, illegal actions of it's employees and contracted service providers Nancy Sherman, Jeffrey Jennings, Dan Polage and Jennifer Lesmez. To reiterate, are you suggesting it is not illegal to violate a person's individual rights under the Washington State Constitution and the Constitution of the United States of America when agents of the SOW, a DMHP, a Deputy Prosecutor, Assigned Counsel for the Defense, and a psychiatrist, submit and/or suborn perjured and fraudulent testimony to obtain the Court Order? You appear to be stating that the AG's office has no legal duty to investigate Civil Rights crimes committed against people with psychiatric diagnoses; and no duty to prosecute perpetrators who criminally victimize vulnerable adults with psychiatric diagnoses?

In fact, Mr. Nelson, the State has a legal duty to ensure that my son's individual rights are secured, and effectively preserved when it's agent's petition the Court to commit him to Involuntary Treatment. The State failed to do this. It is the State's duty to prosecute felony crimes, which victimize vulnerable adults; I would think it is in the State's best interest to prosecute felony crimes committed by Officers of the Court, and people acting as the SOW's agents that victimize vulnerable adults. The failure to conduct a criminal investigation implies the SOW has no fiduciary interest in actually performing it's ethical and legal duties in order to preserve the individual rights of people subject to being deprived of their liberty in civil commitment proceedings by agents of the state EVEN though State and Federal Law require the state to perform these duties... 

These events resulted in a  temporary loss of my son's Liberty---for six months; and a permanent loss of my son's Second Amendment Rights, these actions also violated his individual rights under the 4th, the 8th and the 14th amendments---in effect, and in fact, these are Human Rights Crimes.  What infuriates me, is these events further traumatized my son, who was and is a trauma victim.  The treatment he received at CSTC can best be described as torture, as Human Experimentation, i.e. Crimes Against Humanity.  The reason I file complaints on his behalf Mr. Nelson, is that he has cognitive and neurological impairments which also compromise his ability to effectively defend and advocate for himself. These injuries were caused by Jon McClellan, Medical Director of CSTC, who tortured my son using him as a guinea pig in Drug Trials.  It's true the Statute of limitations has tolled on Jon McClellan's crimes, it is also true that his crimes were a violation of State and Federal Law and the Nuremberg Code; Jon McClellan's crimes violated both my son's and my Constitutional Rights.  Worst of all, Jon McClellan permanently disabled my once brilliant son who at the age of seven, had an IQ of 146; but today can't do what he did at the age of seven. He did this without Informed Consent, and in spite of my vehement protests--and he was enabled to do this by agents of the state working in DSHS Children's Administration who violated State and Federal Law, and ultimately committed over a million dollars of Medicaid and Child Welfare fraud . 

I share these facts because they are the necessary background which must be understood and are relevant to as to why I report crimes committed, not only because the crimes further traumatize my son, but also because Mandated Reporters working for the State do not. Once again, the State of Washington has failed to do it's duty with due diligence, or with ethical integrity, and also once again, the State of Washington is denying any responsibility to perform a duty owed to my son. 

RCW 71.05.520

Protection of rights — Staff. The department of social and health services shall have the responsibility to determine whether all rights of individuals recognized and guaranteed by the provisions of this chapter and the Constitutions of the state of Washington and the United States are in fact protected and effectively secured. To this end, the department shall assign appropriate staff who shall from time to time as may be necessary have authority to examine records, inspect facilities, attend proceedings, and do whatever is necessary to monitor, evaluate, and assure adherence to such rights. Such persons shall also recommend such additional safeguards or procedures as may be appropriate to secure individual rights set forth in this chapter and as guaranteed by the state and federal Constitutions.

[1973 1st ex.s. c 142 § 57.]

  

The more recent felony crimes committed in the summer of 2010, caused my son, who is a large man of 6'3" and close to 300 lbs., to be so severely traumatized that it took me three weeks to convince him it was safe for him to step outside into our fenced yard. 

It is obvious the State of Washington is not compelled by any sense of ethical duty, and that it fails to perform it's legal duty to preserve and protect the individual rights of people who have psychiatric diagnoses in Civil Commitment proceedings. In my son's case, the State of Washington FAILED utterly and completely.  My son's rights were neither preserved nor defended, he was further traumatized yet again, and suffered further iatrogenic harm.   

My point is simply this: The State of Washington has a legal duty and I should not need to get an attorney to compel the Attorney General's office to ethically perform a job as an Officer of the Court that is in fact the AG's ethical legal duty to perform according to Washington State and Federal Law. Your email message suggests that the only way the AG's office and State of Washington will comply with State, Federal and International Law to ensure that individual rights are preserved and defended for people who are Court Ordered to Involuntary Treatment, is if the State is forced to perform it's duty. In effect, you imply the AG must be compelled to do the tasks he is obligated by Law to perform.  I am not surprised at your outrageous claim; but I am once again disappointed. 

I would like to point out that legal action against the State, would be legal action against the people who live here, my neighbors and my family members who pay your's and the Attorney General's salaries; that hardly seems just. Why can't you simply DO YOUR JOBS as paid public servants and demonstrate some ethical integrity? Stop trying to blow smoke up my proverbial skirt, and stop abdicating responsibility for performing your legal duties with ethical integrity. You are public servants with an obligation to serve the people; are you aware that it is the people who are the State of Washington? The State of Washington is not the public mental health and social service systems. Protecting the criminals who are public servants that commit felony crimes, and victimize vulnerable people whom the State has a duty to protect, is not serving the people, i.e. the State of Washington. 

Respectfully,

Becky Murphy

Children With Neuroleptic Induced Tardive Dyskenisia

Neuroleptic drugs are called "antipsychotics" and are now used for everything but hangnails, it seems.  These drugs are now approved for use in children for behavioral symptoms like aggression,who have a diagnosis of Autism---although there is no evidence these drugs "treat" behavioral problems.  There is however evidence that they shrink brains, and cause  Diabetes, Tardive Dyskenisia, brain damage and alter how the parasympathetic nervous system functions. The alterations of multiple physiological processes are not corrections of dysfunctions, but are evidence of drug induced, iatrogenic illness.  The eyes, the entire digestive tract from the esophagus to the rectum, the cardio-vascular, the metabolic and the endocrine systems all rely on the parasympathetic nervous system to function properly...

What if you left a mental patient in a hot car? Would anyone care?

guest post written by Juli Lawrence, long time Civil Rights activist and psychiatric survivor:

One of my favorite tools in social science research has always been content analysis, because it can show the media's point of view on a subject. Since the public tends to buy into whatever the mainstream media tells them, it's a good source of recognizing popular views and knowledge of a subject.

Nearly every year, parts of the US endure deadly heat waves, and the media does a good job of putting out warnings. Except in the case of psychiatric patients on psych drugs, who are at high risk, along with the senior population. The media also does a good job of reminding people that pets are at risk as well.

Most years, I send out a well-composed press release to major media, asking that they specifically mention the dangers to psychiatric patients. And to date, they have completely ignored this very real medical emergency. As has the government.

So to borrow the words of Kanye West, "Weathermen don't care about persons with psychiatric issues." (Or more bluntly, "Kent Ehrhardt and friends don't care about crazy people.")

Now to the content analysis, which does not follow the strict standards of statistical methods. It's simply a quick look into the media's warnings about the current heat wave, and who matters.

Using Google News, the term "heat wave," and searching from July 15 to July 20, 2011, 9,259 article results are returned.

Using the same date parameters and adding the term "elderly," 1,579 articles are returned. When the term "psychiatric" is put in place of "elderly," two results appear, although one is discounted because the result has two unrelated stories on the same page (the heat wave, and a story about the child murder in New York).

The only newspaper that mentions psychiatric is the Burlington (North Carolina) Times News:

"Some medications make people more susceptible to the heat-related problems. People who take diuretics or certain cholinergic and psychiatric medications will be more sensitive to issues related to dehydration."

Changing the term "psychiatric" to "mental" brings up 235 results during the same five-day period, but most of the articles used the word mental in a way other than warning mental patients to be careful in the heat. Four articles included persons with mental illness in the list of high risk populations.

If media coverage is consistent, then the reporting of the death toll in the days ahead will include absolutely no mention of the persons who died thanks to psychiatric drugs, heat and a lack of knowledge. The media's silence will continue because this population is a devalued group of human beings.

Note: Google results change regularly, so these results are not static.

I'd like to thank Juli giving me permission to post this important article.

More information on neuroleptic drugs risk for inducing heatstroke: 

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Related Disorders 

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome A Review for Neurohospitals

Differentiating Neuroleptic-Related Heatstroke From Neuroleptic ..

first posted 7-21-2011

Perception and Perspective: my hope for my son

Photo by Scott Fisher

google.com had a search query in May of 2011: "will my son's anosognosia go away" directed to my blog, my article titled, Psychiatry Has Anosognosia  was listed as the #1 hit for this query.

My son has some iatrogenic damage which limits his ability to process complex information and situations unaided.  I would not say anosognosia is an apt description description of how his iatrogenic injuries are manifested.  The fact of the matter is, he is aware of the iatrogenic damage; and the cause of it.  He tells me he is alright with it, which blows me away.  He pities those who caused it, which humbles me entirely.  He says he feels sorry for their morality.  He remembers being more functional---he remembers things he does not want to think about.  He experiences overwhelming fear and pain when he remembers...

He has a great deal of insight, and just wants to have what any adult who has never had a psychiatric diagnosis, takes for granted---He wants to be treated with respect, to make his own choices, and not be questioned as to why he should have the right to do so.  He believes this is important.  I want this for him too; and I know my son is right.  Life has been severely complicated by the lack of honesty on the part of the professionals that we relied on to be ethical and to have integrity; professionals who betrayed our trust.  My child is now a man.  I believe his expectation that he deserves to be treated with respect like anyone and everyone else takes for granted, shows a great deal of insight on his part.

I find the search query, "will my son's anosognosia go away" sad on so many levels.  Mostly, I think the query is symptomatic of the lack of accurate information being shared by mental health professionals with patients, family members, and the general public.  This has bred skepticism and mistrust; which is not surprising. (or it shouldn't be anyway)  It is a natural consequence of the failure to disclose risks about psychiatric drugs; and more it is a consequence of the harmful teratogenic drugs instead of what psychiatry  claimed to be providing; e.g. effective medical treatment grounded in scientific principles known as evidence-based care.

Instead, psychiatry instituted Treatment Protocols based on flawed, biased subjective opinions; instead of deriving treatment recommendations from clinical research data.   Then, psychiatry claimed to be providing Evidence-Based treatment for mental illness.  This is fraud; and this fraud has been perpetrated for decades in spite of the overwhelming scientific evidence refuting treatment standards not to mention the ongoing toll of human tragedy caused by the teratogenic drugs and the inhumane social control methods used.  The drugs cause a myriad of negative health effects, increasing chances for disability and early or sudden death.  Given the reality of what passes for 'medicine' in bio-psychiatry, and the negative life outcomes for a significant percentage of psychiatry's patients; I am confused, and at a loss to understand why this profession still has the power, privilege and authority that it does.  There are still those who are willfully blind.  Thankfully, there are also those of us who not only question the bio-psychiatric paradigm; but take a stand against it.

It is my personal opinion that many people with a psychiatric diagnosis are labeled with anosognosia because they dare express an opinion which is deemed 'unacceptable' by mental health professionals; and the person is labeled, "noncompliant" or "treatment resistant" to justify the professional's abuse of authority.  This is not to say that people who are experiencing extreme states or psychosis, can not temporarily lose some or all of their ability to express their understanding of what is happening to them; in terms others can readily understand.   However, this loss should not be assumed to be permanent, or automatically assumed that a person lacks understanding or abilities.  A person's wishes should never be effectively dismissed, because "they just don't know what's good for them" either.

Here is an excellent paper on Mentalism in the mental health treatment system: Identifying and Overcoming Metalism by Pat Risser.  Thanks to Ed Knight for sharing Pat's paper with me.
Portions of this post appeared May 28., 2011 titled, "Google Search #1 will my son's anosognosia go away" this post is a slightly modified version of the original.