Wednesday, June 29, 2011

J&J's Tylenol: 60,192 More Bottles Recalled

The Orange County Register has;


The Lot Number Is: ABA619 and a UPC of 300450444271.

And once again it's a musty aroma attributed to a chemical in the wood of the shipping pallets.

And here's some back story from CNN in May of 2010.



But for us, We'd personally rather puke our guts out with an evil smelling OTC pain reliever, than be Lobotomized with Risperdal.


And BTW; Has ANY Govt. Regulatory Agency in ANY Country Officially tied the commission of VIOLENT HOMICIDES to Tylenol? If you know of any which have, please drop us a line, OK?

Monday, June 27, 2011

Irish Lawyers Threaten Blogger Mom

Once Again, Psychiatry gets called, and gets its Junk Science ruffled into Threatening the Victim's surviving family.

Psychiatry:
No Science
No Cures

But do they Ever have Lawyers.

SEROXAT SUFFERERS STAND UP AND BE COUNTED has;




Irish lawyers, Brophy Solicitors, have sent a threatening letter to Leonie Fennell, the mother of Shane Clancy, who writes about her son's death and offers opinion as to why he died.

Shane was just 22 when he killed a young man before turning the knife on himself. The subsequent inquest found an open verdict, large traces of the SSRi antidepressant citalopram [Cipramil UK, Celexa US] were found in his system.

[Ed: Here's what the US FDA knew about Celexa as of December 2006]

"Top 20 Celexa side effects reported to MedWatch between Jan. 2004 and Dec. 2006:

Completed Suicide - 232 cases
Drug Interaction -116 cases
Depression - 94 cases
Hyponatraemia - 80 cases
Nausea - 77 cases
Overdose - 76 cases
Drug Toxicity - 74 cases
Confusional State - 72 cases
Anxiety - 70 cases
Suicidal Ideation - 69 cases
Condition Aggravated - 63 cases
Multiple Drug Overdose - 63 cases
Tremor - 63 cases
Dizziness - 61 cases
Fall - 61 cases
Vomiting - 58 cases
Serotonin Syndrome - 57 cases
Headache - 55 cases
Agitation - 53 cases
Convulsion - 51 cases

Does anyone Else also find the level of hubris from these solicitors veering off into the Outer Limits, ...... with Completed Suicide being the Known, most frequent adverse reaction?]

Back to SEROXAT SUFFERERS

Irish psychiatrist Patricia Casey was present at the inquest representing and observing for Psychiatry Ireland and to ask questions if the need arose. Casey has come under fire from Fennell on a number of occasions, in particular her relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and fees, grants etc that she has received from them.

Casey was at Shane’s inquest and took issue with some aspects of it, according to Leonie, Casey has publicly stated that there is no evidence to suggest that antidepressants can cause suicide or homicide and she is also a member of psychiatry Ireland and has worked in association with Lundbeck, the manufacturers of citalopram.

The threatening letter from Brophy Solicitors carries an odd disclaimer at the footer, this, more than the threatening content, rather intrigued me.


************************************************************************
The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this messages is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to message and deleting it from your computer.
***********************************************************************


I just love the use of the word 'may' here. It either is...or it isn't. It appears Brophy Solicitors are trying to stop Leonie Fennell from posting the letter or passing it on to third parties. Quite what disclosure they refer to is baffling as no court proceedings are in place to my knowledge.

What lands in my inbox becomes my property and I can do with it what I wish to do. I certainly wouldn't pay any attention by a law firm who represent a psychiatrist!

The content of the letter appears to be telling...not asking...Leonie to remove certain segments of a post she wrote about Patricia Casey.

Our client has instructed us in relation to comments appearing on your internet blog in which you repeat a statement that another lady made to you that “Patricia Casey ruined my son’s life”.

You also publish a letter on your blog to the Irish Medicines Board on 16th March 2011. As part of this letter you say “... as Patricia Casey has a long and I am sure lucrative association with Lundbeck ... you can take from that anything you want to”.

So, let's just get this straight. A blogger uses a quote from another person and then writes an
opinion about Casey's association with Lundbeck. For that she is sent a threatening letter because Casey didn't like it?

Boo hoo.

I imagine writers across the blogsphere are shitting themselves!

I find it comical that a psychiatrist such as Casey wishes to suppress
opinion, particularly when the whole field of psychiatry is based on opinion. The mere fact that Casey hands out antidepressants to children is based on opinion...unless of course Casey can provide evidence that shows her patients have a mental disorder? Blood tests, urine samples will suffice. Incidentally, SSRi antidepressants are not recommended for children in Ireland but they can be prescribed 'off-label' - in other words, if the doctor or psychiatrist are of the opinion that a child will benefit from them then they will prescribe them.

Leonie Fennell is right to question a psychiatrist who has links to the manufacturer of the drug that, she believes, killed her son. If she didn't question then what sort of mother would she be?

Brophy solicitors are making assumptions as far as I can ascertain.

"The implication in this second comment is that our client either knows or ought to know of what you describe in your blog as the potentially fatal side effects of certain antidepressants, and yet continues to prescribe these anti-depressants."

First off, it is Brophy Solicitors that have drawn that conclusion. If they feel that antidepressants do not pose a fatal reaction to young people then they are going against what medicine regulators around the world claim. The fact that their client, Patricia Casey, prescribes them should be in question, particularly when they are not recommended for Casey's younger patients. Visit the MHRA website
HERE - I'll leave it to Brophy Solicitors to work their way around that particular labyrinth to find what they are looking for.

"The very clear implication here is that our client receives payments from drug companies and is quite happy to prescribe anti-depressants to individuals who should not take these drugs and who would be placed in danger if they did take these drugs."

Brophy Solicitors really need to do their homework. Children and adolescents
ARE placed in danger when prescribed these drugs. It is on Casey's own behest [her opinion] that despite not being recommended she continues to prescribe after weighing up the risks versus benefits.

"The first comment – that our client ‘ruined’ someone’s life is even more serious and while it is entirely untrue and without foundation, it is clearly extremely damaging to our client."

This is a particular sticky issue and, as I understand, Leonie Fennell, has now removed that comment. It kind of runs against those programs you see such as Crimewatch where the victim is silhouetted and their voices are changed. They do so for protection. Fennell claims the woman who made that statement feared repercussions from Casey, hence the reason for leaving her name out.

Are Brophy Solicitors going to send out letters to all bloggers who have
opinions about their client or who question their client's ties to the industry?

Leonie Fennell lost her son because he was prescribed an antidepressant on the
opinion of a doctor. No blood samples were taken, no urine samples were taken, no MRI scan, PET scan or X-rays. It was the opinion of Shane's doctor that citalopram would help lift the blues he was feeling. Sadly it didn't and Shane took his own life. If these drugs worked then there would be no suicides. If they were so safe then regulators around the world would not have imposed restrictions on them...restrictions that Casey appears to ignore because she has her ownopinions on these types of drugs.

Leonie has published the threatening letter in full and added her own
opinion HERE

If either Casey or indeed Brophy Solicitors wish to debate the ethics of giving children and adolescents drugs that are not recommended for children and adolescents then I'm all ears. Feel free to leave a comment beneath this post. If the benefits outweigh the potential risks then please feel free to send me a detailed list of those benefits.

For the record I take umbrage to Casey making the following statement on the
Irish Health Website:

“Around 50% of people do not have a trigger or risk factors for depressive illness”, she said. “The outcome for those who get treatment is very good. It is also important to be aware too that antidepressants are not addictive”.

Coincidental that Casey sings from the same hymn sheet as the manufacturers of antidepressants?

Perhaps Casey would like to tell the
10,000 or so paroxetine users that what they are experiencing is not addiction?

Maybe she should confront the 20,000+ Prozac sufferers who have
posted online regarding Prozac's addictive qualities?

Or she could oppose the near 24,000 who have
expressed their views regarding the SNRi Effexor online?

I could go on but then again I'm of the opinion that psychiatrists who don't speak out against psychiatric drugs have irrational and delusional traits - Just an
opinion of mine I happen to hold.

Here's a classic reason why:

“Fidgeting and foot movements (known in our research setting as ‘Wender’s sign’) are very common signs of hyperactivity in adult ADHD patients – so much so that such patients can usually be diagnosed in the waiting room by a knowledgeable receptionist.” - Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Paul Wender [Paul H. Wender, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995, p. 20]

Professionalism at its very best.

In the meantime, stick in your headphones and listen to the mother of Shane Clancy pour her heart out in a recent podcast she did with me
HERE.

Am I sticking up for Leonie Fennell because she did an interview with me? Nup, I'd stick up for any parent who was having their voices stifled by lawyers who have not done their homework with regard to the way their client's prescribe drugs to a generation, despite those drugs not being recommend by world-wide medicines regulators.

All of the above is my
opinion, I'm sure many other bloggers will offer theirs over the course of the next week or so. I'm of the opinion that Casey has brought some rather unwanted attention on herself by using Solicitors to try and suppress the voice of a grieving mother.

Some bedtime reading for Brophy Solicitors -
http://www.ssristories.com/ - Your opinion and Casey's too, on the stories featured, would be greatly appreciated, there's over 4,500 of them! If you disagree with the 4,500+ stories, I won't be sending you a threatening letter, it is, after all, just your opinion, however wrong you may be.

Related Media

Podcast - Robert Whitaker on Today With Patricia Casey


Now, ..... Whitaker's podcast is, ..... well, It is what it is, ..... BUT, he lost us at 14:38 where he says "And I'm not saying that nobody benefits from antipsychotics, ...... " We happen to respect Mr. Whitaker and would like to commend him for the terrific work he's done, ........ HOWEVER:

In California antipsychotics come with State Police Registration, ...... because they CAUSE, ...... VIOLENT HOMICIDES.

If someone can explain to us How in the Hell selling HOMICIDE & SUICIDE constitutes Healthcare, we Have a Comment Box, ..... and Nobody's ever tried, Not Once, in the over 3 years we've been online. Nor do we Expect them to.

Friday, June 24, 2011

AHRP Replies To Criticism From Dr. Allen Frances

AHRP has;

Where Can One Find an Honest, Forthright Psychiatrist?

But 1st; Pharmalot has;


which, in part, says;

"In his report as a witness for the plaintiffs, Rothman takes note of what were called Tri-University Guidelines, which were published in supplements in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 1996 and 1999, and were used to create TMAP. Although not publicly connected to the program, the guidelines were funded by a J&J grant. As noted by The Boring Old Man, who first disclosed this report, the guidlines were “one step in the process.” And this is what Rothman wrote:

“As one of its first activities, and in disregard of professional medical ethics of principles of conflict of interest, in 1995, J&J funded a project led by three psychiatrists at three medical centers [Duke, Cornell, and Columbia] to formulate Schizophrenia Practice Guidlines.From the start, the project subverted scientific integrity, appearing to be a purely scientific venture when it was at its core, a marketing venture for Risperdal. In fact, the guidelines produced by this project would become the basis for the TMAP algorithms, giving a market edge to the J&J products in Texas.

“Three psychiatrists, Dr. Allen Frances, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Duke University, Dr. John P. Docherty, Professor and Vice Chairman of Psychiatry, Cornell University and David A Kahn, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University, took the lead in designing and developing the Tri-University Guidelines. The project would employ three questionnaires to establish the guidelines: one went to academic experts, one to clinicians and one to policy experts. Including the third group was in all likelihood J&J’s idea as witness to the fact that Frances wrote J&J: ‘This is new to us and requires additional discussion. The panel members would include mental health commissioners, community mental health directors, NAMI representatives (a non-profit partly funded by industry), experts in pharmacoeconomics, and so forth.’

“These were precisely the constituencies that J&J was eager to influence. J&J was the exclusive supporter of the project, dividing an ‘unrestricted’ grant of $450,000 among the three schools. It further agreed to a $65,000 bonus incentive payment if the team was timely with its product. The team met the requirement, requested the additional payment, and received it."


See also CCHR's expose of NAMI

National Alliance on Mental Illness


And now, Dr. Frances delivers a package of blackberry waffles to AHRP, who promptly fry and re-serve them to him.



Sunday, 19 June 2011

Following our March 15 Infomail/ post, "Inside Psychiatry's Battle to Define Mental Illness," we received an e-mail from Dr. Allen Frances, objecting--in essence retracting his statements in an article in WIRED magazine by Gary Greenverg. Our response to Dr. Frances follows his communication.

From: allenfrances@vzw.blackberry.net [mailto: allenfrances@vzw.blackberry.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:20 PM
To: Manning; Vera Sharav

Subject: I was disturbed by your posting. You went way overboard and am forced to respond to it. I return next week. Will not post til you have chance to comment.

Defending Psychiatry From Reckless Attacks

The Alliance for Human Research Protection is attempting to draft me as an unwilling soldier in its dangerous campaign to discredit psychiatry and to discourage psychiatric patients from staying in treatment and taking medication. In a posting titled "Toxic Victims or Mentally Ill ? Re: Inside Psychiatry's Battle to Define Mental Illness" there is the ludicrous claim that Dr Frances' "publicly expressed criticism of psychiatry's grandiose ambition--demonstrated by its ever expanding list of unvalidated disease designations and reliance on demonstrably harm-producing chemical interventions--essentially validates the criticism expressed by the Alliance for Human Research Protection for more than a dozen years."

No. No. No. And a thousand times no. My views and the Associations do have a small degree of overlap- but at a fundamental level could not be more opposite. My critique of diagnostic inflation and overtreatment in psychiatry in no way "validates" the Association and its reckless rhetoric.

Here is the difference. I believe psychiatry is a noble and extremely helpful profession. My concern is that it has strayed beyond its suitable boundaries- leading to too much diagnosis and treatment of people who are not really ill or too mildly ill to require an intervention. My goal is to keep psychiatry doing what it does best and what only it can do really well- treating the clearly ill who definitely need help.

The Association makes no distinction between this absolutely necessary role of psychiatry and its recent overshoot toward excessive treatment. It is vigorously engaged in a determined effort at throwing out the precious baby with the bath water. Psychiatry is a toxic evil and the Association is a crusader, protecting its victims. This is a wildly inaccurate and simply terrible message for the millions of people who desperately need psychiatric help. So no- I do not validate the Association in any way and would encourage patients to ignore its ill founded, strident and potentially dangerous criticisms of psychiatry and its medications.

Psychiatry is imperfect, but essential. And it is not alone in its problems. All of American medicine is currently engaged in a frenzy of overdiagnoses, overtesting, and overtreatment. We spend twice as much on health care as other countries and have only mediocre outcomes to show for it. This does not, and should not, lead to cries that all of medicine is toxic and is best avoided. Medicine and psychiatry both stand greatly in need targeted reformation, not blind undiscriminating attack.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: veracare [mailto: veracare@ahrp.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 5:48 PM
To: ' allenfrances@vzw.blackberry.net'

Subject: Response to your objection to the AHRP Infomail about the Greenberg article in WIRED

Alliance for Human Research Protection
A Catalyst for Debate
www.ahrp.org

In response to your objection to the AHRP Infomail, Inside Psychiatry's Battle to Define Mental Illness, http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/783/9/

The Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) disseminates credible information as public service: our aim is to be a catalyst for open debate about ethics in medicine. Sometimes our Infomails are couched in non-academic terminology--the better to make our points come across clearly and unambiguously to everyone.

You state that "the [AHRP] is attempting to draft me as an unwilling soldier in its dangerous campaign to discredit psychiatry and to discourage psychiatric patients from staying in treatment and taking medication."

First, AHRP is committed to the principle of voluntary informed consent. We do not "draft unwilling soldiers."

Second, AHRP does not have to discredit psychiatry. Psychiatry's financially compromised leadership and the dubious practices of many of its practitioners have accomplished that all by themselves.

We reached out to you because, in your recent writings and utterances, you expressed concerns similar to ours. AHRP has long expressed worries about psychiatry's aggressive moves to pathologize ever more behavior patterns as diseases. Most recently, as you did, we criticized the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 panel for lowering--or even eliminating--the previous DSMs’ threshold for diagnosing mental disorder.

In particular, AHRP is concerned about the DSM-5 proposal to adopt "Psychosis Risk Syndrome" and "Temper Dysfunctional Disorder," which will pathologize millions of healthy children. We are also concerned about the proposal for a "Minor Neurocognitive Disorder," which will pathologize everyone over age 50 with minor forgetfulness as “at risk” for Alzheimer's. You know as well as we do that the most likely result of these changes will be the exponential increase in prescriptions for antipsychotics and other psychotropic drugs.

You refer to "a posting titled "Toxic Victims or Mentally Ill?” I have no idea whose posting you are referring to. No such titled post was ever disseminated by the AHRP, nor does such a titled posting exist or ever existed on the AHRP website.

The actual AHRP posting, "Inside Psychiatry's Battle to Define Mental Illness," borrows its title from Gary Greenfield's extensive portrait of you in the January 2011 issue of WIRED Magazine.

In the WIRED article, Greenfield writes that you, Dr. Frances, came out of retirement "to launch a bitter and protracted battle with the people, some of them friends, who are creating the next edition of the DSM. And to criticize them not just once, and not in professional mumbo jumbo that would keep the fight inside the professional family, but repeatedly and in plain English, in newspapers and magazines and blogs. And to accuse his colleagues not just of bad science but of bad faith, hubris, and blindness, of making diseases out of everyday suffering and, as a result, padding the bottom lines of drug companies. These aren’t new accusations to level at psychiatry, but Frances used to be their target, not their source. He’s hurling grenades into the bunker where he spent his entire career."

In the article, you are quoted as stating that: “there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit. I mean, you just can’t define it.”

Furthermore, you acknowledged "keenest regrets" that the DSM-IV under your leadership “made mistakes that had terrible consequences.” Specifically, the DSM-IV redefinitions of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder set off an epidemics of these "disorders" accompanied by skyrocketing prescriptions for psychotropic drugs (most notably, antipsychotics) for children.

Indeed, as the WIRED article summarizes, "Shortly after [DSM-IV] came out, doctors began to declare children bipolar even if they had never had a manic episode and were too young to have shown the pattern of mood change associated with the disease. Within a dozen years, bipolar diagnoses among children had increased 40-fold. Many of these kids were put on antipsychotic drugs, whose effects on the developing brain are poorly understood but which are known to cause obesity and diabetes."

You accuse AHRP of engaging in "a dangerous campaign to discredit psychiatry and to discourage psychiatric patients from staying in treatment and taking medication."

But, Dr. Frances, if there is no definition or valid criteria for psychiatry's DSM diagnoses--the official basis for psychotropic drug prescription -- then surely there is no medical justification for anyone "staying in treatment and taking medication."

Moreover, Gary Greenberg quotes you as being horrified at the idea of more “kids getting unneeded antipsychotics that would make them gain 12 pounds in 12 weeks hit me in the gut. It was uniquely my job and my duty to protect them. If not me to correct it, who? I was stuck without an excuse to convince myself.”

So, what is "ludicrous" about the AHRP Infomail stating that Dr Frances' "publicly expressed criticism of psychiatry's grandiose ambition--demonstrated by its ever expanding list of unvalidated disease designations and reliance on demonstrably harm-producing chemical interventions-- essentially validates the criticism expressed by the Alliance for Human Research Protection for more than a dozen years"?

Dr. Frances, which statements that you made, and that appeared to agree completely with the AHRP’s own critiques, do you now disavow?

Vera Hassner Sharav


Thank You AHRP

"Here is the difference. I believe psychiatry is a noble and extremely helpful profession. My concern is that it has strayed beyond its suitable boundaries- leading to too much diagnosis and treatment of people who are not really ill or too mildly ill to require an intervention. My goal is to keep psychiatry doing what it does best and what only it can do really well- treating the clearly ill who definitely need help."

IF, as DR. Frances claims, Psychiatry is a noble and extremely helpful profession, ...... Why is every 'No Positive Outcome Has Been Observed To Date' peddler Immune from having to wear their Own Ennobling and Helpful Stink?

"In the article, you are quoted as stating that: “there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit.”

The Law is not a Psychiatric Opinion, regardless of politically expedient Judicial Opinions which up until now have turned a blind eye to every Tom, Dick and Sherry purchasing a Pharmaceutically Corrupted University issued Medical/Pseudo-Medical Work License being allowed to evade the pains and penalties inflicted by Psychiatry's Ennobling & Helpful Stinks.

It's not just "Bullshit".

It's 14th Amendment Violating "Bullshit".


Thursday, June 23, 2011

Texas HHSC Hits A Home Run: Fewer Antipsychotics For TODDLERS!

This post was originally titled 'Texas HHSC Hits A Home Run : Fewer Antipsychotics For Children' and an astute reader contacted us, ..... it's TODDLERS, ...... BABIES, ..... these behaviorist Poisoners were Lobotomizing with antipsychotics.

The Texas Tribune has;

Texas Rule Will Prescribe Fewer Potent Drugs To Kids

"Children on Medicaid under the age of three would not be prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs without a special authorization, under new rules the state Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) implemented last week.

In response to widespread concerns about the number of impoverished Texas kids being prescribed drugs like Seroquel and Risperdal — medications that can have serious side effects in children — prescribing doctors would have to get a prior authorization from the state, a steep hurdle designed to limit use of the drugs.

The changes to state policy, which took effect June 14, are “based on evidence-based clinical criteria and nationally recognized peer-reviewed information,” said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the HHSC.

"We consider this to be a long overdue starting point in protecting young children from dangerous drugs," said Lee Spiller, director of investigations for the Citizens Commisson on Human Rights. "At least one other state has seen significant benefit from adopting such protections. However, given our state's history of defending if not promoting the use of these drugs, we'll definitely have to keep a close eye on this to see how it plays out."

In an interview last year, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston and an opponent of the use of such drugs among kids on Medicaid, said they’d been prescribed to children “under the age of two, and in some cases under the age of one.”

“The goal is not to micromanage, or to delay needed treatment,” Turner said at the time. “But there should be at least some minimum level of authorization to check the safety and appropriateness of these drugs in children under 16.”

And make sure you Also read the top article's Interview Link.

"North Texas psychiatrist Fernando Siles, the second-highest prescriber, wrote nearly 22,000 antipsychotic prescriptions to Texas Medicaid patients between 2005 and 2009, and was paid $1.9 million from the state for treating them. Siles, who attended medical school in South America, is a recording artist who plays the Peruvian pan flute. His website emphasizes his “Flute Doctor” music therapy practice, and attributes “major psychiatric breakthroughs” to “listening to his original music.” Messages left with Siles’ office were returned by his music manager. Siles, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has treated foster children, could not be reached for comment."


$1.9 Million Public Dollars to play this guy's Peruvian Pan Flute, ...... to 'Treat' Mystic Illnesses.

And you wonder Why America's Broke.

Hat Tip for the heads up to Pharmalot.

Monday, June 20, 2011

J&J Recalls 40K Bottles Of Risperdal: "It Stinks!"

InPharm has;

Smelly Risperdal Adds To J&J's Recall Tally

"Johnson & Johnson continues to be plagued by product recalls, with the latest involving two lots of its schizophrenia drug Risperdal (risperidone) distributed in the US and Puerto Rico.

Once again the recall has been called because of consumer reports of an "uncharacteristic odour" that is thought to be caused by trace amounts of TBA (2,4,6 tribromoanisole), a by-product of a chemical preservative sometimes applied to wood used in the construction of pallets on which materials are transported and stored.

J&J is initiating a voluntary recall of one lot of brand name Risperdal 3mg Tablets, involving a total of around 16,000 bottles, as well as 24,000 bottles of a generic risperidone product manufactured by the company's generic drugs unit Patriot Pharmaceuticals."




Risperdal's been on the market for over 16 years. It doesn't even Pretend to cure Anything. It grossed just short of $30 Billion Dollars for J&J. 97% of that was Profit. The people Peddling it will NOT tell the consumer what Risperdal actually is because they Can't. If they Did, Nobody would Dream of poisoning themselves or their family with it.

In just 36 Months, according to the FDA, Risperdal Killed 308 American consumers. The Global death toll on this obscenely expensive Brain Eater is Anybody's guess.

We'd Like to ask just What the FDA thought it was Doing when it released this drug on an unsuspecting American people, but we already know what they were thinking.


Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) > PDUFA User Fee Rates Archive


So now we have J&J recalling 16,000 bottles & 24,000 bottles of a generic risperidone product that they produce, because it stinks. And it's Been stinking for 16 years. Here's what it stank of for just 36 months, in America.

http://psychroachesadverseevent.blogspot.com/2009/03/risperdal-adverse-reactions.html

Risperdal's top 20 side effects reported to MedWatch between Jan. 2004 and Dec. 2006:

Death - 308 Cases
Diabetes Mellitus - 176 Cases
Drug Interaction - 176 Cases
Increased Weight - 138 Cases
Leukopenia - 124 Cases
Fall - 123 Cases
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome - 116 Cases
Extrapyramidal Disorder - 109 Cases
Tardive Dyskinesia - 104 Cases
Cerebrovascular Accident - 102 Cases
Convulsion - 99 Cases
Somnolence - 98 Cases
Aggression - 99 Cases
Tremor - 93 Cases
Neutropenia - 91 Cases
Rhabdomyolysis - 88 Cases
Condition Aggravated - 86 Cases
Creatine Phosphokinase Increased - 85 Cases
Psychotic Disorder - 82 Cases
Pneumonia - 82 Cases


J&J''s Janssen Unit - responsible for this drug - has been carping, in Texas, about their Ethical Business Practices in the face of a Billion Dollar lawsuit filed against them by the Texas State Attorney General's Office.

And Pharmalot tells us;

J&J Risperdal Project 'Subverted Scientific Integrity'

16 Years and our VA admits they haven't yet achieved a Single positive Outcome with Risperdal or any Other Psychiatric drug, ....... but Psychiatrists Suspect that a larger sample size/patient population will yield them the continuing Cover Story to save them All from having to get a Real job and actually Contribute anything to society, ...... rather than continuing to cripple, kill, and Bill it based on their opinions.



Patriot Pharmaceuticals: Generic Risperdal.

That's one Hell of a way to define Patriotism.

Friday, June 10, 2011

SC Judge Calls J&J's Actions "Detestable" So Pay, $327 Million

Pharmalot has;


We'd like to do our own send up here but Justice Crouch in South Carolina using the word 'Detestable' before Ordering J&J to ante up $327 Million, ..... Oh Well.

Just go read Mr. Silverman's write up, and if you're too busy right now, at least download Justice Crouch's pdf/Order for later. Fascinating Stuff Indeed!


Now, ..... while we find the Good Judge's initial:

"it is acknowledged by all concerned that Risperdal is an excellent drug for the treatment of mental illnesses."

Way beyond tough to swallow, once he gets beyond That, we think you'll enjoy him too.

"this Court finds the actions of the Defendants, upon this audience, to be detestable."

"Annual Sales of Risperdal worldwide per annual reports of Johnson & Johnson, Inc.
1994: $0.172 Billion
1995: $0.343 Billion
1996: $0.502 Billion
1998: $0.588 Billion
1999: $0.892 Billion
2000: $1.083 Billion
2001: $1.845 Billion
2002: $2.146 Billion
2003: $2.512 Billion
2004: $3.05 Billion
2005: $3.552 Billion
2006: $4.180 Billion
2007: $4.697 Billion
2008: $1.309 Billion
2009: $1.425 Billion
2010: $1.50 Billion

Total for the period: $29.796 Billion

Testimony at trial indicated that the profit margin for sales of Risperdal was 97% or $28.90 Billion for the period of 1994-2010"



Judy Garland's Ruby Slippers, and an idiot who drove 500 miles to see his brother, ...... On A LAWNMOWER, ...... because he was too stupid to scrape up a bus ticket.

"Detestable"

Has a nice ring to it.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

In San Francisco, They're After EVERY Child

The San Francisco Mental Health Board has;


Featuring SF Mental Health Board Chairperson Dr Rebecca Turner, the Queen of Oxytocin Research who has done SO much to relieve the incurable torments of the 'Mentally Ill' ...... on everybody Else's hard earned money.


Dr. Turner: Every child needs some form of treatment. There is an argument that could be made for this.
Mr. Maloney: MediCal will not fund all treatments.
Dr. Turner: There is a connection between foster care and children who later end up in prison. We need to give everyone preventative care.
Dr. Jones: That was our initial goal, but we couldnt successfully implement a plan due to lack of resources. Integration is increasing the opportunity for more screening.

"We need to give everyone preventative care."
Is Dr Turner writing the checks to give/inflict her Opinions of Disability on everyone Else's Children against her own checking account? Excuse us, but a 'Mental Health' Label is Anything BUT a gift, and Dr Turner is talking about making the Parents of all those children whose lives She wants Incurably Slimed, to Pay for it themselves.


Here’s Dr. Turner again.
Here’s a smidgen of Dr. Turner’s life saving, suicide preventing, research.
Here’s a page on Dr. Turner’s Oxytocin itself, “The World’s First TRUST Spray” which certainly looks as ‘Mentally Healthy’ as anything Else the ‘Mental Health’ Industry is peddling.
And here, her “Cuddle Chemical” is cuddling with National Depression Screening day.
And God Bless Wiki: who inform us that we are expected to have Dr Turner's Oxytocin Shoved Up our Noses in order to be chemically swindled into the Highest Level of Trust, in somebody Else's Risky Investment Game.
“Increasing trust and reducing fear. In a risky investment game, experimental subjects given nasally administered oxytocin displayed "the highest level of trust" twice as often as the control group. Subjects who were told that they were interacting with a computer showed no such reaction, leading to the conclusion that oxytocin was not merely affecting risk-aversion.[23]
And: it looks like it's Also good for increasing the chemically swindled subject's Generosity.
"Affecting generosity by increasing empathy during perspective taking. In a neuroeconomics experiment,intranasal oxytocin increased generosity in the Ultimatum Game by 80%

Now, ..... we've read through a whole lot more of the San Francisco Mental Health System's 'Integrated' Billings of Uncle Sam than we've posted here, yet, and we keep reading, from them, about the Important Work that they're 'Doing'.
As you're about to read, their 'Important Work' is a Slash and Burn 24/7 Assault on Businesses by Raising Taxes and Driving those Businesses Clean Out of San Francisco Wholesale in order to peddle 'Mystic Illness' Incurables, Wholesale: $200 Million a Year worth of Incurable.

And Congress is currently obsessed with Raising our National Debt Ceiling by another $9 Trillion Dollars over the next 10 years, even After S&P has Downgraded US Treasury Securities from a AAA rating.


And as we're continually Noting, with One notable exception, these Mental Health Creatures will NOT wear their own Stench. They go to extraordinary lengths Avoiding having to wear it, ...... while making a meal of Everyone Else, ...... with it.

And apparently, they Don't want their Own Children getting Slimed with it Either, while they're trying to stick it to everyone Else's children.


"1.1 Directors Report: Board Discussion

Mr. McGhee: Unfortunately Dr. Turner is not here. She is sending her son to college in Scotland."


"ADOPTED MINUTES
Mental health Board
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
City Hall, Room 278
San Francisco, CA 94102
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Rebecca Turner, Ph.D. (Chair); James L. McGhee (Vice-Chair); Bridgett Brown; Bob Douglas, J.D; Toye Moses, Ph.D., M.P.H; Tom Purvis; Jagruti Shukla, M.D., M.P.H; Kate Walker; Virginia Wright.
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Benito Casados; Jeanna Eichenbaum, L.C.S.W; John Kevin Hines; James Shaye Keys; Claudia Lebish; Lisa Williams.
OTHERS PRESENT: Emeric Kalman, Member of the Public; Brother Jefferson R. Johnson-Jeffrey-Reiken-Johnson Clergy Public Ministry (aka John Terrana Group), Member of the Public; HelynnaBrooke (MHB Executive Director); Ayana Baltrip-Balags (MHB Administrator)
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Rebecca Turner, Ph.D. (Chair)
ROLL CALL
Ms. Brooke read the roll.
1.0 PRESENTATION BY PRESIDENT AARON PESKIN, Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Peskin: Im the offspring of two mental health professionals. My father was a psychologist in private practice and taught at San Francisco State University for forty-two years. My mother taught at the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, and ran the Youth and Family Center in Berkeley.
I am also a former member of the Mental Health Board (MHB), and I am familiar with the high level of work done by Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) and MHB.
Im looking at two issues: Money and specific legislation needed that will allow for mental health services in communities where people are vulnerable or at risk; or where mental health has been stigmatized. I was involved with the Proposition 63 process.
The Mental Health Board is on the frontline of mental health issues and serves as an advisory agent to the Board of Supervisors (BOS). I want you to feel free to present these issues to my colleagues and me on the BOS.
If I dont hear from you about gaps in mental health services or other issues, Im assuming MHB is doing its job. James McGhee comes by a couple times a week to keep me abreast of things.
What are your concerns?
Mr. Purvis: There were efforts by CBHS to see about getting more Proposition 63 money. What other efforts are being made?
Supervisor Peskin: San Francisco didnt fair well under Proposition 63. Dr. Cabaj tried to turn that around; but so far no luck.
Ms. Brown: I will be meeting with Supervisor Maxwell concerning services for women. One area we are looking into is the Veteran Administration services for women returning from Iraq.
Supervisor Peskin: The best way to use the Board of Supervisors is to have us send a letter to Assemblywoman Pelosi to build capacity for veterans.
Dr. Turner: How much of a local issue is this Maybe we can partner with the Veterans Administration.
Ms. Wright: There are not enough programs for transitional youth.
Supervisor Peskin: I commend the Mayor Newsom for focusing on this issue. City Build that comes out of the Office of Economic and Work Force Development is beginning to address the issues of training youth to be able to develop skills that will enable them to get employment. Chris Iglesias is the head of City Build.
Mr. Douglas: I would like the Board of Supervisors to think about safe housing for the mentally ill with primary care. Sixty percent of those in primary care is dealing with psychosomatic illnesses.
Supervisor Peskin: The Department of Health is the largest recipient of the San Franciscos $5.2 billion budget, receiving $1.1 billion. $334 million of the General Fund goes to the health budget. This still is not enough money to meet the need we have.
We need to convince voters to be willing to pay some increase in taxes to cover these costs. We need to be able to tell those who dont need these services of their importance and how good a job we are doing. We can look at a real estate transfer tax, or a parking tax. San Francisco has a progressive real estate transfer tax:

.5%=$1/2 million
.64%=$1/2 million to $1 million
.75%=>$1 million
In Alameda, its 1.64% for all brackets.
The Transamerica building sold twice in eighteen months, which brought us a nice windfall. I tried to raise this tax but was unsuccessful.
In California, only voters can raise taxes; while in other states city councils can do this. It takes fifty-one percent of New York Citys City Council to pass a tax increase.
Ms. Wright: What about illegal apartments? There are a large number of these in the city, and this causes a great problem with car clutter. Sometimes there are twelve to fifteen people living in these places and they all have cars. Maybe the city could require them to become legal, and generate income from this.
Mr. McGhee: I want to thank you publicly for putting me on the Board. The Mental Health Board needs to be more of an impact on what affects mental health services. We need to raise the visibility of people who are providing services for the mentally ill.
Supervisor Peskin: It is important to let the world know what is going on in mental health.
2.0 DIRECTORSREPORT
Monthly Directors Report
1. Awards. On September 30, 2006, Robert P. Cabaj, MD, Director of the Department of Public Health's Community Behavioral Health Services, was awarded the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Addiction Professionals Finnegan-McNally Founders Award for his support of the NALGAP mission to improve substance abuse prevention and treatment services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals continuously for over 25 years. Bob Cabaj was selected by the NALGAP Board as the secondawardee in the organization's history--a group that was founded in 1979 by Dana Finnegan and Emily McNally for whom the award was named. Bob noted he was one of the earliest supporters of NALGAP and was honored to accept an award that emphasized the continuing need to address one of the greatest health problems facing LGBT people. In his acceptance speech, Bob noted the important work our own DPH CBHS is doing around LGBT substance abuse intervention and treatment, especially in addressing the methamphetamine epidemic in San Francisco.

2. Great News From Sacramento - Mobile Methadone Bill (AB631) Signed by Governor. On September 29th, legislation authored by Assembly member Mark Leno was signed into law by the Governor. The bill, AB631, which was supported by the San Francisco Department of Public Health and CBHS, changes regulations around methadone treatment to allow the utilization of methadone vans to provide comprehensive treatment services to opiate addicts. CBHS and SFGH OTOP have successfully operated a mobile methadone service as a state pilot program in Bayview and the Mission district for the past 3 years. More than 260 clients have received treatment from this program. The law becomes effective January 1st, 2007, allowing the San Francisco program to move from pilot status into status as a state recognized Narcotic Treatment program. Other areas in California will also be allowed to develop mobile methadone treatment programs, and MediCal clients will be unable to use this service.
Congratulations to all Van Program Staff!
3. CBHS Exemplary Billing Practices. San Francisco CBHS was cited for Exemplary Practice, in the Annual Report of APS Healthcare, for applying quality management practices to its billing procedures.APS Healthcare is the External Quality Review Organization for county mental health plans in California.
The APS citation lauds the CBHS Billing Unit, led by Maria Barteaux, for applying a quality management technique that compares SDMC claims data in context with historical and trend information, instead of only from month to month. The analysis allows for the examination of variations in claims totals by provider and by seasonality, as well as those due to changes in claim processing. This efficient and effective method of claims processing allows the CBHS Billing Unit to identify problems such as "locked out" services, to obtain feedback information about specific providers, to identify corrective action or adjustments needed, and to pinpoint areas for improvement. It has resulted in greater claim reimbursements and, more importantly, fewer claim denials.
Congratulations to Maria Barteaux and the staff of CBHS Billing Unit!
4. CaliforniaBriefMulticultural Competence Scale-Based Training Program
Five County Pilot. San Francisco Community Behavioral Health Services has been chosen as one of five counties to participate in the California Brief Multicultural Competence Scale-Based Training Program (CBMCS) pilot training. Approximately 40-50 San Francisco CBHS providers will be administered the CBMCS, a 21 item scale that assesses training needs in cultural competence. Providers will then complete four eight hour training modules on 1) Multicultural Knowledge; 2) Awareness of Cultural Barriers; 3) Sensitivity to consumers; and 4) Non Ethnic Abilities.
The CBMCS is an empirically-derived scale that was developed by academicians in partnership with the California Department of Mental Health and providers of county mental health departments. Its strengths are that the scale provides a tie in between assessment and training and is regarded as real world. Its appeal is that it is able to assess the cultural competence of providers and then be able to specifically target points of intervention for training.
While most of the five Counties chosen to pilot the CBMCS Training will utilize this training program to specifically target its MHSA programs, San Francisco CBHS will extend its program across all of its direct service programs. As part of the pilot, CNHS will contract with Master Trainers for the program and assist with team teaching.
5. Organizational Provider Manual. Community Behavioral Health Services has published the 5th edition of the Organizational Provider Manual. The manual includes a description of each operated and funded program as well as a catalogue of programs by service mode. It also includes an overview of CBHS mission, scope, selected policies,glossary and other helpful tools for organizational providers day to day operations. Providers may order this manual through the forms room. It can be found online athttp://www.sfdph.org/CBHS/docs/OrgProviderManual2006.pdf . There are similar manuals for use by clients. These may also be ordered through our forms room.
6. Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Update. CBHS contracts for MHSA services are moving forward, with some programs beginning to initiate services in October. The MHSA Advisory Board will have its bi-monthly meeting on November 2, 2006. Members of the public are welcome at all MHSA Advisory Board meetings. CBHS will be hiring Public Service Aides (job class 9924, as needed) to assist in the implementation of MHSA at CBHS. The positions are posted on the DPH websitehttp://www.dph.sf.ca.us/emplymnt/genljobs.htm. These positions are designed for consumers who have internship experience, and who are interested in employment at CBHS administration.
7. CBHS Integration. Integration materials are available for activities to be performed during the 06-07 fiscal year. CDs have been produced that contain the primary information necessary to complete integration tasks this year. CDs will be distributed to Executive Directors and Program Change Agents, but may also be obtained by contacting Kathleen Minioza or Lucy Arellano at CBHS. If you would like to receive the materials in a different format other than a CD (i.e., floppy disk) or by email, please contact Kathleen Minioza at 255-3585 or kathleen.minioza@sfdph.org.
An exciting development for integration is that the state has approved new MediCal codes for Substance Abuse Screening and Brief Intervention/ Referral for Treatment of Substance Abuse. These codes will become effective January 11, 2007. CBHS will provide additional information and training as January 1st approaches.
8. Comings and Goings:
Maria Iyog-O'Malley is our new MHSA Coordinator. Maria has been with CBHS for 5 years working with the substance abuse component as the Analyst for Prop 63, Drug Court, and grants awarded to the substance abuse unit. In her capacity as Analyst,

Maria worked in tandem with program managers to interpret legislation and make policy recommendations, developed budgets and analyzed expenditures, performed financial reviews of provider expenses, coordinated State audits and prepared State and federally required reports. Prior to working with the City, Maria served as the Program Administrator of the UCSF Collaborative Program for Women's Health in Zimbabwe, Africa. As MHSA Coordinator, Maria will coordinate the planning, coordination and implementation of State program and reporting with all MHSA collaborators including internal DPH units and outside providers and agencies.
Welcome Maria and congratulations on your new position!
9. Other Upcoming Events:
AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURAL EVENT To kick off Novembers American Indian Heritage Month, the San Francisco Mayors Office of Neighborhood Services and the Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. present the 2nd Annual American Indian Cultural Event - November 2, 2006, 10:00am-4:00pm, Joseph L.Alioto Performing Artz Piazza (Formerly Civic Center Plaza/across from City Hall). Celebrating the rich culture of the American Indian Community and bringing awareness to policies impacting the future of American Indian people. The event will include a symposium inside City Hall on health, substance abuse, and housing policies impacting American Indians. For more information, please call 415-865-0964 x 4017.
Past issues of the CBHS Monthly Directors Report are available at:http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/CBHS/default.htm To receive this Monthly Report via e-mail, please e-mailkathleen.minioza@sfdph.org
2.1 DirectorsReport: Board Discussion
Mr. Purvis: On behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), thank you for helping us get an office free of charge at the Family Service Agency. It is at 1010 Gough Street near Ellis Street.
Dr. Moses: Can you address the diversity of your new staff?
Dr. Cabaj: The new hires are part of additional positions for the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), and also replacements of people who left.
John Grimes is African American; Ernestina Carrillo is Latin American; Sidney Lam is Asian American, and Helaine Weinstein is Caucasian. Hannibal Lowry, the new Director of Family Mosaic is African American.
Dr. Moses: Good job. We cant ask for more.
Mr. Douglas: How about the disabled?
Dr. Cabaj: We are open to hiring the disabled, but we must rely on the pool of people who apply.
Dr. Cabaj: We make active referrals, and are aware of the newest programs; but they dont want more of a connection with us because they are not actually treatment programs.
Dr Turner: Where does integration of community programs and primary care providers stand?
Dr. Cabaj: Barbara Garcia has talked about a new partnering with substance abuse and primary care. We are also looking at partnering services geographically: Southeast Health Center with Bayview Mental Health for example
We need to look at incorporating disaster response. This would require more localized services.
Dr. Turner: Do you have any more information about Proposition 63?
Dr. Cabaj: We had a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Clinical Services. Of the money listed in last months report, fifty-one percent was supposed to go to Clinical Services and Support. The State said that a portion (thirty-five percent) must also be used for housing.
- Twelve percent went to administrative services.
- Thirty-five percent went to direct full service partnerships.
- Ten percent to housing for these programs.
- Five percent to Trauma and Violence, and recovery programs.
Were looking at increasing cultural competency around youth programs, as well as wellness programs at schools. Larkin Street received three percent for transitional youth support. Ten Percent ($632K) went to supportive housing, and eleven percent ($740K) peer-based centers.
Residential treatment programs like Walden House received one percent ($80K) of the funds. Five percent ($320K) went to developing more integration between mental health and primary care. Four percent ($248K) went to expanding intensive case management. Vocational rehabilitation received two percent ($100K). Well get an additional $200K from the State.
Dr. Moses: Are there any residential programs in the Bayview?
Dr. Cabaj: I dont think so.
Dr. Shukla: This list constitutes larger, more established agencies. How about smaller programs that may have innovative approaches?
Dr. Cabaj: The City cant actually encourage groups to apply. We didnt get new, innovative providers applying. Almost all who applied got funded. Most of who did not get funded were also well-established programs.

Mr. Purvis: Did we get more than $5 million?
Dr. Cabaj: We will get more, but we dont know when or how much.
Ms. Wright: How much did the YMCA get?
Dr. Cabaj: $120 thousand.
2.2 Publiccomment relevant to Item 2.0
Dr. Turner: Is there any public comment to Item 2.0?
There was no public comment.
3.0 PRESENTATION:
FOSTER CARE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: Steve Arcelona, Acting Deputy Director Family and Children's Services, San Francisco Human Services Agency; LizCrudo, Redesign Coordinator, San Francisco Human Services Agency; Tom Maloney, LCSW, Foster Care Mental Health Director, CBHS; Denise Jones, Ph.D, Assistant Director of Child, Youth and Family System of Care, CBHS.
3.1 Presentation
Mr. Arcelona: My actual position is Chief of Staff, but I am right now Acting Director of Child Welfare. I know that Trent Rohrer spoke to the Mental Health Board in June about his vision for foster care.
We are in a period of redesign, looking at improving the program. We had three goals:
- Maintain children safely in their homes.
- Establish permanency and stability, and reduce the number of children in foster care.
- Once emancipated, provide stability.
When a child comes into the program, immediately referrals are made to partners in the community. We work with families, referring them to community services. We are also looking at using a standardized and structured assessment tool which will require the child welfare worker to respond to specific questions.
Team decision-making is part of the process. We attempt to bring everyone, schools, community-based organizations, and social workers together before making a placement. Were doing business differently than in the past, involving a team to support the childs needs.
There is a disproportionate number of African American youth in the system. We are hoping that our new strategies will help change this fact. We are seeing some improvement with the African American youth numbers in the system going down.

Ms. Crudo: There are 2,395 open cases. This includes children at home with parents, as well as those in foster care. There were 1,937 in foster care as of January 1, 2006. One half of these children are placed with family members. A lot of the others are placed outside of the County. African Americans comprise seventy percent of the youth in foster care. African Americans make up only five percent of San Franciscos population.
Mental Health, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Probation share a common database. There are 1,064 cases shared by Mental Health and Child Welfare.
Youth with seven or more placements, or who are older often do not want therapy. Im not referring to very young children. We need better early screening. Were hoping to see an increase in referrals, and getting more support to foster families.
Authorizations take about three weeks, but we try to get in as early as possible. Out of county placements make it very difficult to offer mental health services because of the difficulty in coordinating with the other counties. We feel it acutely here because so many of our children go out of county.
There is a problem getting or keeping therapists due to the low pay for many of these cases. Therapists need a diagnosis in order to draw supplemental MediCal payments. We also may need to train therapists to be aware of diagnoses of foster care children, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, therapists need to be trained in dealing with the courts in many cases. For example, they need to know what reports to file in support of the foster care children. Many dont understand the procedures for filing these reports. Language issues can also be a challenge when navigating the system.
We have about twenty-five percent of children who return to foster care within one year, most of whom are very young. We need to strengthen after-care support programs. Mental Health is one aspect of this as many of the families have substance abuse issues. There also needs to be support for foster parents giving them tools they need, and support for foster care childrens biological parents to assist with unification.
Dr. Jones: In 1996, I became the first Director of Foster Care Mental Health, and began looking at setting up a collaborative framework between Human Services and our department. I am now the Program Monitor.
Mr. Maloney: I have been the Program Director of Foster Care for the past year and a half. Dr. Jones built the program and hired the appropriate staff. At that time, child welfare workers had to seek out and find mental health providers for children. There was no mechanism for coordination between departments and programs. The Foster Care program was created in 1996 to improve coordination between departments.
The Human Services Agency (HSA) and CBHS looked at the lack of progress that was being made by the children, and made an effort to coordinate departments to give children access to services more efficiently. Dr. Jones set up meetings in the community with partner organizations, programs, and stakeholder groups to determine the needs of foster care children. One issue talked about a lot was the need for a comprehensive evaluation of each child.
A pilot study looking at establishing collaboration between clinicians and child welfare workers was done. It determined there needed to be a Memorandum of Understanding. We were able to get court consent for exchange of information on each child to better help child welfare workers look at the childs mental health needs. A comprehensive form was created. Adult services, family services and others could be included in the childs assessment of needs.
The manner in which children were referred was established. A needs-based program was set up where referrals are made based on the needs of a child as identified by the child welfare worker on the assessment form.
We wanted services to be provided without barriers, so we still covered these services whether or not they we covered by MediCal. The development of a mental health plan for San Francisco allowed us to broaden our pool of therapists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), social workers, etc. We were able to add these other professionals, thanks to supplemental funding to MediCal. We are able to pay professionals from forty dollars to sixty dollars, compared to MediCals thirty two dollars and fifty cents. Those who accept five or more cases a year are paid sixty dollars a session. Multilingual specialists can get an additional twenty dollars bringing the fee to eighty dollars per session.
Dr. Jones: In the beginning, we had a staff of four. With the help of HSA, we are now up to twenty. HSA pays for ten of these positions.
Mr. Maloney: There are other avenues for children in foster care to access services. One of the positions is a court liaison that is there to deal with issues that arise here. There are three teams:
- Clinical team:
Six full-time staff, four social workers, one psychologist, one Masters in Family Therapy (MFT), and one court liaison.
The clinical team provides direct services: individual therapy, family therapy, and group therapy.
- MediCal team:
The team was established to assess a childs needs, and will identify the most difficult issues facing this child and will get a referral for medication if needed.
- Authorization team:
Comprised of case managers,
clinicians and psychologists. They do evaluations and reports for courts. They also review cases that are screened out and not going to a caseworker. These cases will often be referred to Mental Health.
Foster Care Mental Health will refer some of these cases to clinics and private providers. If needed, the team will authorize weekly or twice-weekly sessions for the child. These teams are located in different areas of San Francisco, like the Mission and the Bayview.
Foster Care Mental Health tries to oversee the quality of the services for the child. We provide testing for thechild, and work directly with the adults in the childs life.
Dr. Jones: When the program began, fifty-five percent of the children came from Bayview.
Dr. Turner: Seventy percent of children in foster care are African American. Sixty percent of children in the Youth Guidance Center are African American. Are seventy percent of your providers African American.
Mr. Maloney: We probably have only five to six percent African American providers. There are thirty-eight Spanish-speaking providers, seven Cantonese-speaking, and oneTagalog-speaking provider. Only one or two providers are located in the Bayview.
Dr. Turner: We need to recruit at the university level.
Dr. Jones: We have some African American providers in the clinics. There was a very strong effort made to recruit African American professionals.
Dr. Moses: These are alarming statistics. African Americans make up only five percent of San Franciscos population, something is wrong.
I am also concerned with the large number of children placed out of the County.
Ms. Crudo: One half of the children are placed with relatives.
Dr. Moses: What about grandparents who are taking care of their grandchildren? What can you do to increase funding to support them?
Mr. Maloney: This is on my wish list to have financial support for grandparents. Many of the children we see are in multiple homes.
Families have divided loyalties. They want to help the child, but often the child causes real stress on the family. We believe helping connect the family with support services is very important. We also help foster parents.
Dr. Moses: How can we create a solution to the revolving door issue?
Mr. Maloney: Often, foster families need help in working with these children. Child welfare workers need more training.
Dr. Shukla: Your figures strike me as low. Even though early evaluations may be difficult, doesnt every child deserve a psychological treatment plan because they are at a higher level of risk?

Mr. Maloney: There is a need to screen every child, but not every child needs mental health services.
Ms. Crudo: We need a more holistic approach as to how we are working with children.
Mr. Douglas: Im an attorney and used to practice in dependency court, and it seemed very adversarial.
Mr. Maloney: Enhancing attachment and bonding with parents is one of our strong goals. Sometimes the relative or the foster parent doesnt encourage bonding because the child may reunify with the parent. We emphasize that an increase in bonding helps the child.
Dr. Turner: Every child needs some form of treatment. There is an argument that could be made for this.
Mr. Maloney: MediCal will not fund all treatments.
Dr. Turner: There is a connection between foster care and children who later end up in prison. We need to give everyone preventative care.
Dr. Jones: That was our initial goal, but we couldnt successfully implement a plan due to lack of resources. Integration is increasing the opportunity for more screening.
Dr. Turner: What about Proposition 63?
Dr. Jones: Family Mosaic received Proposition 63 money. There is a plan to collaborate between Foster Care Mental Health and Family Mosaic.
Mr. Maloney: We are making good progress with many children and families which is very rewarding. We do have some resources for out of county children working with counselors.
Ms. Wright: What age do you screen children for substance abuse?
Dr. Jones: Six and over.
Mr. Maloney: Our screening tool is designed for teens. We have a part-time person for Foster Care Mental Health integration looking at other programs and presenting to us ways to strengthen partnerships with substance abuse programs.
3.2 Boarddiscussion of Possible Board responses to the presentation
Dr. Moses: The statistics are alarming.
Dr. Turner: Maybe people are turning down services because they are uncomfortable.
Dr. Moses: Trent Rohrer talked about the same issues. Sophie Maxwell understands the grandparent situation, because she is taking care of her grandson; but when the money is handed out, it doesnt go to programs for helping grandparents. We need to encourage the department to request money for aid to grandparents.
Ms. Walker: One thing that keeps coming up is that combining services is more efficient. Perhaps we can look for duplication of services being more costly.
Mr. Douglas: There are three to four bills signed by the governor to improve the foster care system, but it is very complicated.
Mr. McGhee: The Mental Health Board could draft a resolution to the Board of Supervisors. This is a mechanism we should be using.
Dr. Turner: The African American communities need support. Many are leaving San Francisco, and those remaining are in a lot of pain.
Dr. Moses: Years ago there was acupuncture in the Bayview.
Dr. Shukla: Mental health services are those in need. Im concerned about Mr. Maloneys statement that not all clients need mental health services.
Dr. Turner: Maybe someone from the Disproportionatly Task Force could do a presentation to the Board.
Dr. Moses: We should do a resolution or write a letter to the directors of the Department of Health and the Human Services Agency asking that they include in the next budget funding for a residential treatment program in the Bayview, and help for foster parents, and grandparents taking care of their grandchildren.
Dr. Shukla: Maybe the Board could be a resource to connect people to apply for Requests for Proposals.
Dr Moses: There should be money for technical assistance to small non-profits.
Dr. Turner: Is there any additional Proposition 63 money targeted for foster care?
Mr. McGhee: Outreach to the community is needed. The proposals are very intimidating. They want to limit the amount of people they give money to by looking at larger agencies to handle it.
3.3 Publiccomment relevant to Item 3.0
Mr. Kalman: "I couldnt hear thirty percent of the presentation because of the rooms poor acoustics. With each of the recent presentations, the issues discussed are always related to financing. The presenters should bring the costs of services to the meeting."
4.00 ACTION ITEMS
4.1 Publiccomment relevant to Item 4.0
There was no public comment.

4.2 Resolutions.
4.2a PROPOSED RESOULTION: Be it resolved that the minutes of the Mental Health Board meeting of September 13, 2006 be approved as submitted.
Mr. McGhee: On page nineteen in item 3.2a, my name is misspelled.
Minutes unanimously approved with correction.
4.2b PROPOSED RESOLUTION: Be it resolved that the Mental Health Board commends 12-Step Recovery Programs.
Resolution unanimously approved.
5.0 REPORTS
5.1 Report from the Executive Director of the Mental Health Board:
Ms. Brooke: There is a conference titled, Working to Erase Stigma that is coming up. I have brought copies of the flyer, and will do a mailing.
I have also brought Mental Health Board note cards for you all to use.
5.2 Report of the Chair of the Board and the Executive Committee:
Dr. Turner: The Mental Health Board Retreat is scheduled for December 9, 2006. Please email Retreat agenda items to Ms. Brooke.
There is a Family Member seat that is open. Let Ms. Brooke know about any people you feel are suitable candidates.
5.3 Program's Committee Report: Rebecca Turner, Ph.D.
Dr. Turner: "Mr. McGhee did a great job of getting everyone to sign up for the committees, and establishing a Planning Committee. Tom Purvis has agreed to chair the Planning Committee who will meet next Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at 1380 Howard Street."
5.4 Budget Committee Report: James McGhee
Mr. McGhee: We need to look at what it will cost to fund the reception.
5.5 Report by members of the Board on their activities on behalf of the Board.
There were no reports.
5.6 New Business
Dr. Moses: "I think the Executive Committee should draft a commendation for Trent Rhorer.
We should invite Ed Lee, Chief Administrative Officer to present about language issues they encounter. I heard him recently speak, and he was quite good."

6.0 PUBLICCOMMENT
Brother Jefferson: My group is developing a disaster preparedness program. We would like to encourage volunteers to work with us. We would like the City to consider creating a clearing house where we could have our ideas put through to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Every Child is at risk from Mental Health peddlers. They've never Cured Anything.
But at least they've been Cited for their 'Exemplary BILLING PRACTICES'
America is Broke.
We can't afford to keep funding 'Mental Health' Con Artists.