Arkansas Blog

Have you ever given thought to the structure of thought that is creating a holacaust for those forced into system of "care" that profits theose who operate and create the systems while marginalizing those who are "treated" and "rehabed"?

What structure of thought? I thought it's one greedy group digging the bucks from another greedy group. Kids are just an excuse to dig.

Oh yes. My congrats to MISTER Brummett on a very good column.

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Wow... maybe he does know a news story. Now that's the way to fight the Twitters, JB!

Dear Mary S.,
My heart goes out to you. Your loss of Misty is beyond tragic and continues an escalating trend of unspeakable, unconscionable abuse by the mental health industry.
I view all this from the unique perspective of having practiced psychology for thirty + years in both a private setting and at several mental health centers scattered throughout Arkansas during the early years of my career.
Now as you asked after reviewing Misty's files you provided,
let me try to summarize the unconscionable actions of the mental health treatment "professionals " which led to the senseless death of your precious daughter.
The incompetence, ignorance, and callous disregard for even the most minimal standard of care was abominable to the most extreme degree. Unfortunately, Misty's death was the ultimate consequence of the mental health industry madness fueled by greed that has become steadily more vile and also paradoxically more pervasive over the past fifty years.

Misty became, as is often seen in children caught up in the midst of dealing with the stresses of puberty and of the adolescent experience, rebellious to authority. Formerly an honor student and assigned to gifted and talented classes, her school performance began deteriorating in the 9th grade and she began exhibiting behavior problems at school. Though never tested positive for illegal drugs, she was expelled from school for " drugs ". This led her to be committed by a dismally moronic juvenile judge to an adolescent treatment center named, The BridgeWay on 10/13/05. The intake psychiatric evaluation performed by Brian Neukirch stated Misty presented as a casually dressed, happy, cooperative, appropriate, 4'10"/93 lb. child of at least average intelligence, superior abstracting and concentration abilities; but poor judgement.Dr. Neukirch diagnosed Misty as depressed and despite no positive test results for drugs, he also amazingly suggested she might be marjuana and cocaine dependent.
Misty was discharged by Dr. Neukirch two weeks later. He concluded she again tested negative for drugs (though certainly not those prescribed by them), she was discharged with Risperdal .25 mg 3 times daily, Tenex .5 mg, Zoloft 50 mg in the morning, and ordered to continue the drugs indefinitely and to receive treatment at SEABH in Pine Bluff for follow-up therapy. :..........................................

Children like Misty frequently become ensnared in the mental health nightmare in a progressive fashion. . They are likely first prescribed a stimulant such as Ritalin, Dexedrine or Adderall for treatment of the controversial ADHD labeling. As in Misty's case, when she became only slightly less impulsive and continued to argue at home; Clonidine or Tenex may be added. If problems still persisted, the doctor, invoking an underlying "atypical" depressive disorder as his reason, may try Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft or Wellbutrin. There's not a great deal of difference between the first three drugs except for their length of action.
But if the child doesn't improve or gets worse, especially if they act out at school or break the law, serious consideration is then given to using a "mood stabilizer." These drugs purport to treat the greatly expanded bipolar diagnosis. The anticonvulsants, Depakote and Neurontin, are often tried first. Some doctors prefer to prescribe lithium carbonate but its reputation as an adult drug that has frequent negative side effects decreases its popularity for use in children. Ultimately medications initially used to treat psychosis are used. They are categorized as novel or atypical anti-psychotics because their chemical structure is different from the earlier drugs like Thorazine or Mellaril used for schizophrenia. Risperdal and Zyprexia are the current "hot" anti-psychotics that are now being used to treat the current lucrative diagnosis du jour; bipolar disorder.
Several drugs that had been frequently prescribed by child psychiatrists and pediatricians plummeted in their use when catastrophic side effects were discovered. Desipramine, imipramine and clonidine have all been associated with episodes of sudden death in children.
Obviously the Risperdal and Tenex are incredibly dangerous when prescribed separately and even more hazardous when taken together. An interesting side-effect of Zoloft is that it often triggers mania/aggressiveness which is ironically one of the primary problems for which Misty apparently was being treated .
This combination of drugs is frequently prescibed as a " cocktail " for teens which should be made a major felony for any physician that does it!
Misty drifted in and out of The BridgeWay for two months; even spending her 15th birthday unobserved btw at the BridgeWay even though she tried to harm herself on that date.
While at Bridgeway she was declared average and even above average by two separate psychiatrists; but Misty , a gifted child until a few years before was incredibly labeled as retarded by Darla Earles and William Cochran,Ph.D. They unbelievably failed to note her history, her above grade level reading, spelling and comprehension skills. Everyone involved at The Bridgeway also apparently failed to note the neurotoxic effects of her being drowned in a cocktail consisting of : Zoloft 50mg
Seroquel 50mg three times daily
Clonidine .1 mg three times daily
Thorazine 25 mg every six hours prn
Ativan 1mg every six hours as needed
Misty was subsequently transferred to an even more destructive hell hole called Millcreek of Arkansas in mid- december 2005 and remained there until May 31, 2005 . She continued to deteriorate ...probably as a result of being poisoned by the following meds she was discharged with;
Zyprexa 40mg
Depakote 1500mg
Clonidine .2 mg
Trazadone 50 mg
Cogentin 1 mgTwice daily
Benadryl 50 mg
Prolixin 50 mg IM Mon.& Thurs.
By this time, Misty was no longer the 93 lb child discharged by The BridgeWay to Millcreek shortly after her 15th birthday. She had gained more than 40 lbs.on her 5 foot body and now had difficulty attending to her most basic needs such as toileting and bathing. Misty had been literally chemically lobotomized by the criminals at Millcreek and Bridgeway one of which was the appropriately named Hugh Nutt, M.D. who has in my opinion been been committing medical malpractice in Grant County for years but now being rewarded apparently by being named Medical Director at Millcreek of Arkansas
Misty died in her sleep in her bedroom as you horrifyingly discovered on the morning of August 8, 2005..
I hope I can be helpful to your struggle for justice.
Roy

Originally posted a year ago

Date: 12/14/2007 2:28:19 PM
Subject: Greenberg To Huck

When Paul Greenberg is not cheerleading the war crimes in Iraq or sharing space via his retreaded ArDemGaz sermons at Townhall.Com with Ann Coulter or using his learned Jewish heritage to teach Arkie Christians the nuanced differences between evangelicals and fundamentalist(at least we were spared for now perhaps lectures regarding Dominionism); he's now bestowing valentines upon his great conservative leader, Mike Huckabee.My opinion of Huckabee, the man who proudly denies his 'primate' heritage, is decidedly not so kind.
Huckabee's beginnings as a pubescent local radio star in his and former president Bill Clinton's hometown, Hope, Arkansas; obviously fed his insatiable appetite for all the trappings (especially those material) of fame/power. At age 21, he came under the wing of extreme right wing, millionaire televangelist James Robison: "I went out and bought him several suits and dressed him up real sharp," said pastor Robison, a prominent televangelist who hired Huckabee at the time to work on Billy Graham-style crusades and television programs. "He was hungry to associate with people who were difference-makers." Huckabee's association with Robison also brought him under the wing of the Nelson Bunker Hunt/Amway's Richard Devoss funded ultra right wing Council for National Policy.
> Despite Huckabee's extreme right wing tutelage exemplified by his " Adam and Steve " homophobic social policies, his ultra-conservative socio/religious beliefs did not carry over to his taxation policies. In fact, he raised taxes(+ $500 million) in Arkansas more than any previous governor; taxes added onto the burdens of one of the most impoverished, most regressively taxed citizenry in the country. And to make matters even worse, Huckabee left office in January,2007 with a surplus of a BILLION dollars; thus insuring his legacy as the greatest " Tax and Hoard " politician in Arkansas' history.
> Huckabee's greed-fueled personal corruption has been well documented for decades by the highly respected editor of The Arkansas Times; Max Brantley. For example, in his successful 1994 run for lieutenant governor, he set up a nonprofit ruse known as Action America so he could give speeches for money without having to disclose the names of his benefactors. We have only recently discovered the primary benefactor for Action America was the R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Company......But, perhaps his most blatant
> money grab was tied to his association with Ted Suhl, founder of The Lord's Ranch: purportedly a faith-based mental health treatment facility for children.
> During the course of its unfortunate existence and despite The Lord's Ranch history of being cited repeatedly for ethical, financial and 'other' violations; Suhl's venture, greatly abetted by Huckabee, seems to have been an extremely profitable enterprise.
> The ranch is one of eight providers of mental health services that are paid by the state when, for instance, a juvenile offender is referred by a juvenile court for mental health services. It received $8.5 million from the state in 2005, up from $140,000 just five years earlier..... And Arkansas now spends more state monies per capita for juvenile psychiatric sevices than any other state in the country! Among Huckabee's known tit-for-tats from Suhl is the questionable use of Suhl's private jet in which Huckabee, his family and his entourage have flown "gratis" around the country for Mike's private business/personal reasons. Only Huckabee, Suhl and , of course God one presumes, seem to know how long the free transport and other 'goodies' were made available to the Right Reverend/ Public Servant Huckabee.

Roy Murtishaw
Pine Bluff.AR