Psychiatry’s Deadliest Scam

Posted on October 29, 2011 by cchrstl

Diagnostic & Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Psychiatry’s Deadliest Scam

It’s psychiatry’s best-selling catalog of mental illness — 943 pages long and covering everything from depression and anxiety to stuttering, cigarette addiction, fear of spiders, nightmares, problems with math and even disorder of infancy — all reinterpreted and labeled as a brain disease.


And though it weighs less than five pounds, its influence pervades all aspects of modern society: our governments, our courts, our military, our media and our schools.

Using it, psychiatrists can enforce psychiatric drugging, seize your children and even take away your most precious personal freedoms.

It is psychiatry’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and it is the engine that drives a $330 billion psychiatric industry.

But is there any proof behind the DSM? Or is it nothing more than an elaborate pseudoscientific sham?

From the makers of the award-winning documentaries Making a Killing, The Marketing of Madness and Dead Wrong, comes the shocking truth behind psychiatry’s deadliest scam. Watch the documentary here.

Protect Yourself Against Misdiagnosis and Abuse

Anyone diagnosed with a psychiatric (mental) disorder and/or their parent or guardian has the right to informed consent before any treatment is undertaken. Unlike diagnoses for medical conditions, psychiatrists do not have blood tests or any other biological tests to ascertain the presence or absence of a mental illness. It is important to know that according to one state government medical manual, “Mental health professionals working within a mental health system have a professional and a legal obligation to recognize the presence of physical disease in their patients” and to rule out any physical condition causing “a patient’s mental disorder.”

Psychiatrists rarely conduct thorough physical examinations to rule out medical conditions, thereby misdiagnosing the patient. This can result in inappropriate and dangerous treatment, added to the fact that the real underlying medical condition is left untreated. Treatment for alleged mental illness is also extremely expensive to you or to your insurance company.

Further, if a psychiatrist asserts that your mental condition is caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain or is a neurobiological disorder, you have the right to ask for the lab test or other test to prove the accuracy of that diagnosis.

The DSM in Missouri Law

The Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo) contains several explicit mentions of the DSM in Chapter 376 on Life, Health and Accident Insurance.

Section 376.810: Definitions for policy requirements for chemical dependency

(10) “Recognized mental illness”, those conditions classified as “mental disorders” in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but shall not include mental retardation;

Section 376.1550: Mental health coverage, requirements–definitions–exclusions

(4) “Mental health condition”, any condition or disorder defined by categories listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders except for chemical dependency;

Section 376.1224: Definitions–insurance coverage required–limitations on coverage–maximum benefit amount, adjustments–reimbursements, how made–applicability to plans–waiver, when–report

(3) “Autism spectrum disorders”, a neurobiological disorder, an illness of the nervous system, which includes Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Rett’s Disorder, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association;

Contact your Missouri State Senator and Representative and ask them to remove all references to the DSM from Missouri State Law.

CCHR has been vigilant in exposing the lack of science behind psychiatry’s diagnostic methods that, left unquestioned for years by authorities and insurance companies, led to soaring increases in dangerous psychiatric drugs being prescribed. Click here for more information about the DSM.

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More than one in 10 Americans use antidepressants

Posted on October 28, 2011 by cchrstl

More than one in 10 Americans over the age of 12 takes an antidepressant, according to a recent Reuters article. Antidepressants were the third-most common drug used by Americans of all ages between 2005 and 2008 and they were the most common drug among people aged 18 to 44, according to an analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

They found that antidepressant use in the United States jumped nearly 400 percent in the 2005-2008 survey period compared with the 1988-1994 period, with 11 percent of those over age 12 taking the drugs.

Why is this a problem?

Very few people recognize that illegal drugs represent only part of today’s drug problem. During the last 40 to 50 years there have been major worldwide changes in our reliance on another type of drug, namely prescription psychiatric drugs.

Once reserved for the mentally disturbed, today it would be difficult to find someone – a family member, a friend or a neighbor – who hasn’t taken some form of psychiatric drug. In fact, these have become such a part of life for many people that “life without drugs” is simply unimaginable.

Little surprise then that worldwide statistics show that a rapidly increasing percentage of every age group, from children to the elderly, rely heavily and routinely on these drugs in their daily lives.

Understanding society’s skyrocketing psychiatric drug usage is now even more critical than ever. How did millions become hooked on such destructive drugs? We need to look earlier than the drug.

Before becoming hooked, each individual was convinced that these drugs would help him or her to handle life. The primary sales tool that was used was an invented diagnostic system, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM) and the mental disorders section of Europe’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Once diagnosed and the prescription filled, the destructive properties of the drugs themselves took over.

Forcing widespread implementation of this diagnostic sham, psychiatrists have ensured that more and more people with no serious mental problem, even no problem at all, are being deceived into thinking that the best answer to life’s many routine difficulties and challenges lies with the “latest and greatest” psychiatric drug.

Our failure in the war against drugs is due largely to our failure to put a stop to the most damaging of all drug pushers in society. This is the psychiatrist at work today, busy deceiving us and hooking our world on drugs.

To read the full story about how psychiatry has hooked our world on drugs, download and read the CCHR booklet, “Psychiatry Hooking Your World on Drugs — Report and recommendations on psychiatry creating today’s drug crisis,” from the CCHR St. Louis web site.

Alternatives to psychiatric drugs

Here are some resources for alternatives to psychiatric drugs:

http://www.naturalnews.com/033928_antidepressant_drugs_alternatives.html

http://www.resultsproject.net/

http://theroadback.org/

http://www.cchrstl.org/causes.shtml

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Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion

Posted on October 22, 2011 by cchrstl

[This information references the book, Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, by Ross Pelton, R.PH., PH.D; James B. LaValle, R.Ph.; and Ernest B. Hawkins, R.Ph., M.S. (Lexi-Comp, 2001]

This book alerts health professionals and consumers to the fact that approximately 1,000 commonly prescribed prescription drugs and many over-the-counter (OTC) medications deplete one or more nutrients in humans.

When the amount of nutrients in the body (e.g. vitamins and minerals) is depleted by drug action, a large number of unpleasant side effects are possible that are directly caused by a lack or out-of-balance condition of essential nutrients.

Commonly prescribed drugs that cause nutrient depletions include oral contraceptives, estrogen replacement therapy medications, anti-convulsants, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta blockers, phenothiazines, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and antibiotics.

The knowledge that long-term use of many drugs leads to nutritional deficiencies of specific nutrients has been documented by a large number of studies done over the last three decades. Conclusively, these studies show that drugs deplete nutrients whether by interfering with absorption, or by inhibiting transport or metabolism. Yet this information is not generally communicated to the people taking these drugs.

Amphetamine and amphetamine-containing drugs are associated with the depletion of vitamin B1. Stimulant drugs for ADD and ADHD can deplete the amino acid carnitine.

Major tranquilizers deplete vitamin B-2, coenzyme Q-10, and melatonin.

Many antidepressants are associated with depletion of vitamin B2, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and coenzyme Q10.

SSRIs (Selective Seratonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) such as Prozac and Zoloft deplete vitamin C.

There are many more examples.

How Do Drugs Work?

Drugs are essentially poisons and have their own side effects in addition to those caused by nutrient depletion. The amount taken determines the effect.

A small amount acts as a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. An even larger amount poisons and can kill. This is true of any drug. Only the amount needed to achieve the effect differs.

But many drugs have another liability: they directly affect the mind. They can distort the user’s perception of what is happening around him or her. As a result, the person’s actions may be odd, irrational, inappropriate and even destructive.

Drugs block off all sensations, the desirable ones with the unwanted. So, while providing short-term help in the relief of pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy one’s thinking.

Medicines are drugs that are intended to speed up or slow down or change something about the way your body is working, to try to make it work better. Sometimes they are necessary. But they are still drugs: they act as stimulants or sedatives, and too much can kill you.

Abuse of prescription drugs has become a more serious problem than most street drugs. Painkillers, tranquilizers, antidepressants, sleeping pills and stimulants may appear “safe” due to being prescribed by doctors, but they can be just as addictive and potent as the heroin or cocaine sold on the street.

Depressants: These drugs, which slow down your brain and nervous system functions, include Xanax, Zyprexa, Amytal, Seconal, Valium and many others. Effects can include heart problems, weight gain, fatigue and slurred speech. Continued use can lead to addiction.

Stimulants: These drugs speed up your heart rate and breathing, similar to “speed” or cocaine. They include Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta and drugs known as “bennies.” Effects include increased blood pressure and heartbeat, hostility and paranoia. The stimulant drugs prescribed to children are so addictive they are referred to by experts as “kiddie cocaine” because of their many similarities to cocaine.

Antidepressants: Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Celexa are some of the commonly used antidepressants. Effects can include irregular heartbeat, paranoid reactions, violent or suicidal thoughts and hallucinations. Long-term use can lead to addiction.

Painkillers, depressants and antidepressants are responsible for more overdose deaths in the US than cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and amphetamines combined.

Summary

LaValle, one of the authors of this book, has these additional things to say in one of his papers [“Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion,” Alternative Therapies, Mar/Apr 2006, Vol. 12 No. 2]:

“One of the potential challenges facing healthcare professionals today is the problem of drug-induced disease. With polypharmacy prescribing [prescribing multiple drugs at the same time] occurring in younger and younger populations, it is becoming increasingly important to assess nutrient depletion risks as they relate to future symptoms, conditions, or progression of disease.”

“Often, patients are displaying symptoms of a nutrient depletion, and rather than a nutrient being given, other drugs are being prescribed to mask metabolic problems that have been brought about by drug therapy.”

“Dysregulation of metabolic pathways should always be evaluated to see if nutrient depletion could be an underlying cause of common co-morbidities [the presence of one or more disorders or diseases in addition to a primary disease or disorder] such as restless legs, insomnia, low energy, and depression.”

If you are taking psychiatric drugs, do not stop taking them based on what you read here. You could suffer serious withdrawal symptoms. You should seek the advice and help of a competent medical doctor or health care practitioner before trying to come off any psychiatric drug. The information in this newsletter should not be construed as medical advice.

The real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior or study problems as “diseases.” Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful. All psychiatric treatments, not just psychiatric drugs, are dangerous.

“Given the nature and potentially devastating impact of psychotropic medications…we now similarly hold that the right to refuse to take psychotropic drugs is fundamental.” [Alaska Supreme Court, 2006]

Click here for more information about the side effects of psychiatric drugs.

Click here to download booklets specific to each different class of psychotropic drug.

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Posted on October 15, 2011 by cchrstl

Prozac for Pets

The FDA has approved a reformulated version of the much-prescribed SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride), but this one is just for dogs. Reconcile was created to treat canine separation anxiety. It is a once-daily, chewable, dog-treat-flavored drug that is supposed to be used “in conjunction with a behavior modification plan.”

Reconcile is manufactured for Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.

Of course Prozac, even for dogs, has some pretty hefty side effects: “The most common adverse events reported in decreasing order of reported frequency are: decreased appetite, depression / lethargy, shaking / shivering / tremor, vomiting, restlessness and anxiety, seizures, aggression, diarrhea, mydriasis, vocalization, weight loss, panting, confusion, incoordination, and hypersalivation.”

On October 15, 2004 the FDA ordered pharmaceutical companies to add a “black box” warning to all antidepressants because the drugs could cause suicidal thoughts and actions in children and teenagers. The agency also directed the manufacturers to print and distribute medication guides with every antidepressant prescription and to inform patients of the risks. Dogs were not mentioned.

Many other side effects of Prozac in people have been documented, such as hallucinations, hostility, mood swings, panic attacks, paranoia, psychotic episodes, seizures, violent behavior, and withdrawal symptoms.

Would you want your dog, or your neighbor’s dog, to be taking Prozac on top of existing behavior problems, given the known link between violence and Prozac in people? In fact, Reconcile is specifically not recommended for the treatment of aggression.

Read the full article at http://www.anh-usa.org/prozac-for-pets/.

The newer antidepressants, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) emerged in the late 1980s/1990s, marketed as being capable of selectively targeting a chemical—serotonin—in the brain that was theorized to influence depression. This has remained a theory only, and is no more than a theory when considered for dogs. Serotonin (of which about only 5% is found in the brain) is one of the chemicals by which brain cells signal each other. SSRIs prevent serotonin from being naturally reabsorbed and thus create continued stimulation of cells.

Psychiatry has been targetting you and your children, and now it is targetting your pets.

In 1998 Alan I. Leshner, psychiatrist and former head of the National Institute of Drug Abuse stated: “My belief is that today, you [the physician] should be put in jail if you refuse to prescribe SSRIs for depression.”

Today, a physician, and now a veterinarian, can be criticized, bullied and treated like a “fringe” dweller for practicing traditional, workable, diagnostic medicine. The coercive undercurrent characterizing psychiatry is manifest in many ways, and wherever it meddles, it is destructive of certainty, pride, honor, industry, integrity, peace of mind, well-being and sanity. These are qualities that we must fight to preserve not only for ourselves, but also for our animal dependents.

For more information, download and read the CCHR booklet, “Psychiatric Hoax — The Subversion of Medicine — Report and recommendations on psychiatry’s destructive impact on health care.”

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No Benefit, Possible Harm From Routine Depression Screening

Posted on October 8, 2011 by cchrstl

No Benefit, Possible Harm From Routine Depression Screening

PsychSearch News

September 23, 2011 — Routine screening for depression in primary care, as recommended by organizations in the United States and Canada, has not been shown to be beneficial, and may even be harmful, according to new research published online September 19 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In addition, in this era of fiscal restraint, this screening is a waste of precious healthcare dollars, the authors write.

“Canadian and US task force recommendations suggest screening, and there are many places in Canada where there is screening going on, or healthcare bodies are putting in place provisions to screen patients for depression. Essentially they assume that it’s a good thing, but there is no evidence that it is,” lead author Brett D. Thombs, PhD, from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.

They came to the conclusion that although the prevalence of depression and the availability of relatively easy-to-use screening instruments make it “tempting” to endorse widespread screening, they could find no benefit in the practice.

Read the full article on PsychNews.

Mental Health Screening

Recognize that the real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior or study problems as “diseases.” Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful. All psychiatric treatments, not just psychiatric drugs, are dangerous.

Click here for more information about the history, practice, and hoax of mental health screening.

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Anesthesia and Learning Disabilities

Posted on October 8, 2011 by cchrstl

Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota have found a strong association between children undergoing surgery requiring general anesthesia before they are 2 years old and learning disabilities later in childhood.

Over a third of the children who had more than one surgery developed a learning disability later in life.

The study concludes that, “Repeated exposure to anesthesia and surgery before the age of 2 was a significant independent risk factor for the later development of LDs [Learning Disabilities] … We cannot exclude the possibility that multiple exposures to anesthesia/surgery at an early age may adversely affect human neurodevelopment with lasting consequence.”

The article appears in the journal Pediatrics, “Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes After Early Exposure to Anesthesia and Surgery,” published online October 3, 2011 (10.1542/peds.2011-0351).

So-called Learning Disabilities are typically treated with harmful and addictive psychiatric drugs. In the cases cited here, one observes that an LD might be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder instead of as the result of a toxic drug overload which has vastly different treatment options.

There are hundreds of common prescription and over-the-counter drugs whose side effects masquerade as mental symptoms. Look for a future newsletter about drug-induced nutrient depletion and how this can cause many symptoms appearing as mental distress.

For more information about psychiatric misdiagnosis, download and read the CCHR booklet, Pseudoscience — Psychiatry’s False Diagnoses — Report and recommendations on unscientific fraud perpetrated by psychiatry.

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Mental health worker dies after restraining patient

Posted on October 4, 2011 by cchrstl

Mental health worker dies after restraining patient

The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services says a mental health worker at Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown died after being involved in restraining an unruly psychiatric patient who was being held to forcibly administer drugs.

We have previously discussed psychiatric restraints and the harm this does to patients, but we have not addressed the harm it can do to psychiatric workers.

Is it any wonder that a patient fought back when five of his “caretakers” held him down to give him psychiatric drugs?

Thousands of people of all ages continue to die from such callous, physical assault in psychiatric facilities across the globe; and now, regrettably, we can add mental health workers to this list.

“Assault” is by definition an attempt or apparent attempt to inflict injury upon another by using unlawful force, along with the ability to injure that person. “Battery” is defined as any unlawful beating or other wrongful physical violence or constraint inflicted on a human being without his consent. Psychiatric restraint procedures, and all other psychiatric procedures for that matter, qualify as “assault and battery” in every respect except one — they are lawful.

Download and read the CCHR report, Deadly Restraints — Psychiatry’s “Therapeutic” Assault — Report and recommendations on the violent and dangerous use of restraints in mental health facilities, and draw your own conclusions about the danger psychiatry poses, not only to our mental health, but to our very lives.

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Bedlam

Posted on October 2, 2011 by cchrstl

As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge (1810-1812), the English mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was a member of the Extractors Club, dedicated to liberating its members from the madhouse, should any be committed to one.

Of course, at the time the most famous psychiatric institution was the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, variously known as St. Mary Bethlehem, Bethlem Hospital, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam.

Bedlam became notorious for the brutal ill-treatment meted out to the mentally ill. In the 18th century people used to go to Bedlam to stare at the lunatics. For a penny one could peer into their cells, view the freaks of the “show of Bethlehem” and laugh at their antics. Entry was free on the first Tuesday of the month. In 1814 alone, there were 96,000 such visits.

The word “bedlam” became synonymous with an insane asylum, or any place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion.

One might be confused and noisy indeed if one were involuntarily committed to such an institution and forcibly given psychiatric drugs, as happens frequently today. The fact is, every 1¼ minutes, someone in the U.S. becomes the next victim of involuntary incarceration in a psychiatric hospital.

While involuntary commitment laws enrich the psychiatric industry, they not only deprive individuals of their freedom of choice, but milk millions of health insurance dollars annually from private, state, national and military health plans.

For more information about involuntary commitment, download and read the CCHR booklet Involuntary Psychiatric Commitment – A Crack in the Door of Constitutional Freedoms.

A Living Will lets you specify decisions about your health care treatment in advance. Should you be in a position where you are to be subject to unwanted psychiatric hospitalization and/or mental or medical treatment, a Letter of Protection from Psychiatric Incarceration and/or Treatment directs that such incarceration, hospitalization, treatment or procedures not be imposed, committed or used on you. Download the document and follow the instructions now.

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Psychiatry to blame for abduction and rape of 11-year-old girl

Posted on September 25, 2011 by cchrstl

Citizens Commission on Human Rights’ (CCHR) mission has always been to investigation and expose psychiatric violations of human rights, and crime and fraud in the mental health industry. One aspect of this has been to educate the public about the erosion of the justice system that started when psychiatric “expert witnesses” and mental health evaluators were allowed into our courts.

Courts, ignorant of psychiatry’s complete lack of medical and scientific substance, have put entirely too much value on the psychiatrists’ evaluations and recommendations.

A recent report issued by the El Dorado County (California) District Attorney solidifies this reality by systematically showing how law enforcement reliance on psychiatrists and other mental health evaluators in the legal system put the public in danger and enabled one of the most heinous federal crimes in recent memory.

On June 10, 1991, Phillip and Nancy Garrido abducted 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard in South Lake Tahoe, California and held her as a sex slave for the next 18 years, during which Dugard gave birth to two daughters fathered by Garrido.

In his August 2, 2011 report, the El Dorado County District Attorney (DA) points out that in March 1977, Garrido was given a 50-year federal prison sentence for kidnapping a young woman and was concurrently given a Nevada state prison sentence of five years to life for forcibly raping her (he’d handcuffed and sexually assaulted her for hours). Garrido’s “reliable documented criminal history” includes:

  • A May 1970 conviction and probation for possession of marijuana and LSD
  • A March 1972 conviction and jail sentence for possession of marijuana
  • An April 1972 arrest for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, Possible Rape and Adult Providing Dangerous Drugs to a Minor (case was dismissed)
  • The kidnapping and rape of a 14-year-old girl in 1972
  • The kidnapping and rape of a 19-year-old young woman in June 1976
  • The attempted kidnapping and rape of a 25-year-old woman in November 1976, just hours before the kidnap-rape that got him put in prison
  • “Garrido alluded to many additional crimes that may never be solved.”

Further, Garrido later admitted to abducting two other women and to having a deviant sexual interest in young children. Yet, rather than consider his past conduct as grounds for his continued incarceration, the courts relied instead on psychiatrists’ evaluations of Garrido, based largely on Garrido’s own statements about his “rehabilitation.”

One psychologist was willing to recommend parole for the convicted rapist after he’d been in prison a little over a year, finding him to be “a likeable young man whose bearing excites the positive regard of others.”

This, the DA points out, was because Garrido knew how to use psychiatry to his advantage: act in the right manner and say the right things and the psych would write a glowing report of the criminal’s rehabilitation and value to society. Psychiatry’s utter lack of medical substance, coupled with the court’s reliance on psychiatric opinion, allowed a sexual psychopath to get out of jail after only eleven years and go mostly unnoticed before, during and after the abduction of Dugard.

The DA does not merely make passing mention of psychiatry in the matter but repeatedly raises the point throughout:

  • “When looking at the Garrido case…it is hard to ignore the role that the psychiatric profession played…Garrido manipulated the system with the assistance of the psychiatric profession…”
  • “Far too often, the psychiatrist focuses on what the criminal says (rather than their past actions and conduct) to evaluate their risk for future dangerousness. This runs counter to common sense.”
  • “…the ultimate failure of the system and its dealing with Garrido was the result of a complete over-reliance of criminal justice system upon the opinions of psychiatric professionals…and a parole system that gives too much weight to a prisoner’s institutional adjustment and psychiatric evaluations…”
  • “Far too often, these psychiatric reports are taken as gospel, and overly relied upon by parole boards (and many others in the criminal justice system).”
  • “Should these psychiatric evaluation continue to be conducted, however, they should be given less weight in determining parole suitability…”

We urge you to download and read the DA’s entire report, as it contains valuable professional insight into the actual workings (and repeated failings) of psychiatry in the justice system and contains as well the seeds of the reforms that will prevent future tragedies like the abduction of Jaycee Dugard.

For more information about psychiatry’s infiltration of the justice system, download and read the CCHR report, “Eroding Justice—Psychiatry’s Corruption of Law — Report and recommendations on psychiatry subverting the courts and corrective services.”

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Mental Health Counselor Gets 35 Years in Prison

Posted on September 19, 2011 by cchrstl

Mental Health Counselor Gets 35 Years in Prison

By Jay Weaver The Miami Herald jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
 A federal judge Monday (9/19/2011) issued another lengthy sentence in one of the nation’s biggest mental-health fraud cases, sending a Miami therapist to prison for 35 years.

The sentencing of Marianella Valera, 40, came only days after the same judge sent her 49-year-old boyfriend, Lawrence Duran, to prison for 50 years. The pair ran Miami-based American Therapeutic Corp, which prosecutors say defrauded the taxpayer-funded Medicare program of more than $200 million.

The couple’s company, with clinics stretching from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, collected $87 million in Medicare payments after submitting $205 million in false claims. The couple paid kickbacks to recruiters to supply patients suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s and addictions, but they could not have benefited from the company’s purported group therapy sessions.

Valera and Duran also threw “charting” parties, where they and other American Therapeutic employees altered patients’ records to make it look like they needed the purported group therapy sessions when they didn’t.

A total of 34 people, including American Therapeutic employees, doctors, therapists, nurses and recruiters, have been charged in the ongoing fraud case, which is being investigated by the FBI and Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General.

Previously, federal agents busted 42 South Florida suspects on Medicare fraud charges as part of a Justice Department sweep, including the owners of Biscayne Milieu Health Center, a Fort Lauderdale psychiatrist, Dr. Gary Kushner, patient recruiters and assisted living facility landlords. Out-of-state patients, suffering from disabilities and addictions, were lured to South Florida with the promise of a roof over their head. But once they arrived, with their valuable Medicare cards in hand, they would be squeezed into rundown assisted-living facilities and steered to purported mental-health programs — at a multimillion-dollar cost to taxpayers, authorities say. If they dropped out of the group therapy sessions, the assisted living facility owners would toss the patients out into the street.

Crime in Mental Health Care

For decades psychiatrists and psychologists have claimed a monopoly over the field of mental health. Governments and private health insurance companies have provided them with billions of dollars every year to treat “mental illness,” only to face industry demands for even more funds to improve the supposed, ever-worsening state of mental health. No other industry can afford to fail consistently and expect to get more funding.

A significant portion of these appropriations and insurance reimbursements has been lost due to financial fraud within the mental health industry, an international problem estimated to cost more than a hundred billion dollars every year. The United States loses approximately $100 billion to health care fraud each year, with up to $40 billion of this due to fraudulent practices in the mental health industry.

For more information about psychiatric fraud, download and read the free CCHR booklet, Massive Fraud – Psychiatry’s Corrupt Industry – Report and recommendations on the criminal mental health monopoly.

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