Psych Observer – Exposing Bad Psychiatry

A Los Angeles psychiatrist has agreed to have his medical license placed on probation after a state agency accused him of having controlling and improper relationships with two adult patients, a brother and sister.

In an accusation filed by the Medical Board of California, the state agency that disciplines doctors, Dr. Norman J. Lachman, 68, of Los Angeles, was alleged to have struck and humiliated the brother — including forcing the man to buy dog food, which the doctor threatened to make him eat.

In addition, the board alleged that Lachman had “very discomforting” sessions with the sister, telling her she was a “hot tamale” and instructing her to stop attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings even though she had a drinking problem.

Under the terms of the settlement, Lachman did not admit to any of the allegations but did waive his right to contest them. The action by the board is relatively rare; in the fiscal year ending in June, the most recent available, 91 out of 127,000 licensed doctors had a license put on probation, and 80 who were being investigated either surrendered a license or had it revoked.
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Ray is a 55-year-old Minnesota resident who is regularly receiving “Involuntary Outpatient Maintenance Electroshock.”

Ray sandford FAQ

Please sign the petition to help Ray from having forced shock treatment http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-shocking-ray

To contact Governor Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Carol Molnau, please write, phone, fax or e-mail.

Mailing Address:

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free:    (800) 657-3717
Facsimile:   (651) 296-2089
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

By Jennifer K. Woldt of The Northwestern

While a former psychiatrist who had inappropriate sexual contact with a female patient he was treating avoided a prison sentence, a judge said he has already faced substantial consequences for his actions after losing his medical license and his career.

Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Key withheld sentence and placed Charles D. Morgan, 63, of Neenah, on probation for six years Thursday for a conviction on two counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist. As a condition of his probation, Key ordered Morgan to serve nine months in the county jail and perform 200 hours of community service. An additional three months of jail time was imposed and stayed.

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“Inside Outside” is a work of hope created by former patients and film-makers Pat Deegan and Terry Strecker. The film depicts the lives of eight people with very significant histories of institutionalization, as they transition from nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals into the community. In the spirit of the President’s New Freedom Initiative and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision, the film carries the message that recovery and life in the community are possibilities even for people who are viewed as the most chronic or impaired. The film leaves audiences of professionals and people with psychiatric disabilities alike, cheering for these eight individuals as they make their journey from inside institutions to full community inclusion on the outside. Produced for the US Department of Health And Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services. This is Part 1 of 2 parts. Producer: Pat Deegan, Ph.D and Terry Strecker
Production Company: Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. Creative Commons license: Public Domain.

PART 1

PART 2

By Miriam Hill |Inquirer Staff Writer

Shortly after new antipsychotic drugs came on the market in the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration started to worry that they might trigger diabetes in some patients.

So in 2000, the FDA asked AstraZeneca P.L.C. and other pharmaceutical companies to share data on cases of new-onset diabetes and related illnesses in patients taking the drugs. London-based AstraZeneca, which has U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, told the FDA that patients and doctors had reported 12 new cases of diabetes and five cases of related illnesses among the 623,000 who had taken its antipsychotic drug Seroquel.
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By Bill Sizemore |The Virginian-Pilot

Another Hampton Roads physician has had his medical license suspended for alleged inappropriate prescription of powerful narcotics to patients with chronic pain.

The Virginia Beach psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammed Soori, also is accused of improper sexual activity with patients. Soori faces a hearing in June before the Virginia Board of Medicine, which suspended his license Jan. 29, citing “a substantial danger to the public health or safety.”

It is the second recent license suspension involving a Virginia Beach doctor. Last month, Dr. Stephen Plotnick, a rheumatologist, surrendered his license for two years after the medical board accused him of contributing to a series of patient deaths by improperly prescribing potent painkillers.

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By Getahn Ward
THE TENNESSEAN

Psychiatric Solutions Inc. has been hit with a lawsuit that accuses the company of negligence in its oversight of employees at a residential psychiatric facility in Florida.

Abuse including beatings by employees at the Manatee Palms Youth Services in Bradenton caused plaintiff Nicholas E. Rossi to suffer severe emotional distress and bodily harm, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Manatee County Circuit Court. Rossi was a resident at the facility from September 2004 to May 2005.

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By Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer (Newsobserver)
State mental health officials were informed earlier this week they could lose federal funding at state psychiatric hospitals in Raleigh and Butner as soon as Feb. 20, potentially costing more than $1.2 million a month in lost revenue.

Meanwhile, federal inspectors were at both facilities Thursday and today reviewing new complaints of patient abuse and neglect.

The loss of Medicaid and Medicare money at Central Regional Hospital, which includes a new $130 million building in Butner and the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus in Raleigh, comes at a critical time for a state Department of Health and Human Services already facing deep budget cuts. It cost about $10 million a month to operate the two hospitals.

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Violence and Sexual Abuse Found at City-Run Psychiatric Unit
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

The federal government has documented a pattern of sexual and other violent assaults among patients at the psychiatric unit of a city-run Brooklyn hospital where a woman died in June on the floor of the emergency waiting room while staff members ignored her.

After a yearlong investigation, the Department of Justice portrayed the unit at Kings County Hospital Center as a nightmarish place where patients were not treated for suicidal behavior, were routinely subdued with physical restraints and drugs instead of receiving individualized psychiatric treatment, and were frequently abused by other patients.

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By Jeff O’Brien

Wed, Feb 4, 2009 (5:25 p.m.)
A former nursing assistant at Centennial Hills Hospital faces additional charges of sexual assault and lewdness involving patients after a sixth woman came forward with allegations of misconduct.

Steven Farmer, 56, was in Clark County District Court Wednesday for a procedural hearing. His trial, which was set for Monday, was rescheduled for June 22. That trial

is for sexual assault charges involving five women, all alleged victims he encountered

while working at either Centennial Hills or at a previous job at Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital.

A separate trial was set for May 26 on charges involving the sixth alleged victim, who came forward with her allegations in November. He faces one count of sexual assault, five counts of lewdness and two counts of indecent exposure over an incident involving the 51-year-old patient at Centennial Hills Hospital. The woman said Farmer sexually assaulted her and repeatedly lifted up her hospital gown sometime in May 2008.

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