Psychiatric Pseudos. INTRODUCTION There have always been a plethora of cases of astounding miracles and doctors who have

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1 Shih 1 Carrie Shih Professor LeFebvre and Master Dockter COSMOS C7 28 July 2014 Psychiatric Pseudos ABSTRACT Pseudos are doctors who make mistakes no doctors should ever make. Psychiatrists are doctors who are responsible for mainly the mental health of their patients and are allowed to prescribe medicine to them. The amount of lawsuits and claims a psychiatrist gets is greater the most other medical professions, making insurance a necessity. Doctors like Dr. Masserman, Dr. Cone, and Dr. Dicke are pseudos who are sexual predators who have put their own interest before their patient. This has a widespread effect on patients everywhere and it is notable that women are the ones who are targeted. INTRODUCTION There have always been a plethora of cases of astounding miracles and doctors who have managed to do the impossible, but not many people know about the mistakes that occur, especially the fatal ones. The common belief is for people to have faith that their doctors always are knowledgeable and trustworthy, but there are always some bad doctors out there, a.k.a. pseudos. Psychiatry, especially, is a field of medicine that has an especially high amount of cases of doctors who make the mistake that no psychiatrist or doctor for that matter should make. In some cases, psychiatric pseudos take advantage of their patients who are usually of an unstable state of mind. This makes them especially prone to being taken advantage of. Unlike any other type of medicine, psychiatry has a very fine line that defines the difference between being a professional and just simply a pseudo. RESPONSIBILITY A typical psychiatrist or any other doctor, for that matter, is responsible for diagnosing and caring for their patient s well-being. According to the universal principle of doctors, the do

2 Shih 2 no harm principle, doctors are expected to cause no harm to their patients ("Primum Non Nocere." par. 2). Specifically, psychiatrists are given an extra responsibility because not only are they responsible to the well-being of their patient s mental health, they are also responsible for their physical health because psychiatrists are able to prescribe medicine. This is the primary difference between a psychiatrist and a physiologist. In order to become a psychiatrist, people must complete four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school, and four more years of residency( Clinical Psychiatrist: Job Description, Duties and Requirements par. 4). On top of that, the doctors are required to take the MCAT, complete internships, the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), and medical boards (par. 7). Since psychiatrists have to go through so much people believe that their psychiatrists should know what is best for them. Sadly, even with all the schooling and experience that doctors are supposed to have, fatal medical mistakes still occur due to the irresponsibility of the doctor. The actions of a pseudo are not only comprised of careless mistakes; they also include the decisions that affect the patient in a negative aspect which goes against the do no harm principle and Hippocratic Oath. LIABILITY/INSURANCE All doctors are prone to making mistakes so insurance is needed in order to cover for any malpractice expenses. Insurance is especially important in the field where suicide rate is twice the average of medical professionals ( The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch par. 18). A psychiatrist s insurance differs from any other doctor because they flexibility in what they can do. Since there are so many ways a psychiatrist can go about diagnosing and treating a mentally ill patient, the line between professionalism and taking advantage of someone is very thin. For the majority of the time, psychiatrists are sued for suicide/attempted suicide, psychopharmacology, non-specific administrative actions, breach of confidentiality and incorrect

3 Shih 3 treatment (PRMS par. 17). The insurance is in place to cover any claims or lawsuits which can cost up to $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 depending on the policy a doctor buys (PRMS par. 15). STATISTICS It is astonishing to know that even though psychiatrists make up only six percent of all doctors they account for thirty three percent of all the sexual crimes committed by doctors ( The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch par. 1). In fact, sexual molestation by a psychiatrist is thirty-seven percent higher than it occurs in public; sixty-seven percent of new patients tell their psychiatrists that they have been sexually assaulted by their previous doctor, and eighty percent of psychiatrists have sexual relations with more than one patient (par. 1). Women and children are especially prone to the sexual abuse by their doctors. Also, there are twice as many female psychiatric patients as men (par. 9) and ninety percent of psychiatrists are male (par. 13). The worst part is, since these pseudos are still considered doctors, they can manipulate the situation to make it seem that their actions were due to love, impulsivity, a judgment lapse or [an attempt] to enhance the patient s self-esteem (CCHR 10). While it should seem logical for these pseudos to be kicked out of their profession, the American Psychological Association only expels 10 out of 100 psychologists that lose their licenses due to sexual misconduct per year (CCHR 6). These psychiatric pseudos not only have the APA and authority of being a doctor on their side, but their profession allows for them to have access to drugs that can easily help erase a patient s memory (CCHR 6). The drugs that psychiatrists are allowed to prescribe to patients have become a widely debated topic. The use of psychotropic drugs by adult Americans increased 22 percent from 2001 to 2010, with one in five adults now taking at least one psychotropic medication (Smith par. 4). The psychotropic medication can prove to be helpful for the patients but the inappropriate prescribing can cause serious harm. With such a

4 Shih 4 large increase of prescriptions in a small amount of time, it is likely that inappropriate prescriptions are being given out (Smith par. 5). CASES There are several cases involving psychiatric pseudos, most of which are sexual assault cases that occur to both adults and children. One case occurred between Dr. Jules Masserman and Barbara Noel. After years of seeing Dr. Masserman, Noelfound out that her doctor had been administering drugs to her in order to have sex with her unconscious body (CCHR 7). On top of that, since she was considered a mental patient, Noel had to go through seven years of court before the doctor s license was suspended; furthermore, the American Psychiatric Association did not suspend his APA membership, because they did not want to lose one of their famous doctors (CCHR 7). To make matters worse, he was not charged for rape but simply a misuse of drugs (CCHR 7). These doctors are able to continue practicing medicine with their APA membership even after they have lost their licenses, allowing for many sexual predators to continue to victimize innocent patients (CCHR 7). Another shocking case occurred the in the 1990 s when psychiatrist William Cone tried to re-parent two female patients. He required them to have sex with him and gave them large doses of psychotropic drugs to the point where the women became addicted to the drugs. The drugs were prescribed in order for the women to follow his re-parenting treatment (CCHR 17). He was eventually charged with sexual assault and sentenced to one hundred and thirty three years in jail (CCHR 17). Even young kids are prone to these psychiatric pseudos. A 2001 study reported that one out of 20 clients [who] had been sexually abused by their therapist was a minor, the average age being seven for girls and 11 for boys, the youngest child [being] three (CCHR 4). For example, in 2003 Dr. Dicke s license was revoked for treating a 5-year old boy with sex toys and for reportedly strip[ing] naked,

5 Shih 5 tortur[ing], restrain[ing], verbally abus[ing], sexually abus[ing], brainwash[ing], and horrify[ing] [the boy with] a dildo (CCHR 5). EFFECTS The cases of these pseudos do not occur in isolated events. In fact they have had an overall effect on psychiatric patients. There are approximately 150,000 women that have been sexually abused by their psychiatrist in the United States ( The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch par. 4), and within those women, 14% attempted to commit suicide, 1% killed themselves, and 11% have been hospitalized from harm caused by their psychiatrist ( The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch par. 6). CONCLUSION All doctors, including psychiatrists, have a duty to help people to the best of their abilities. No matter how great a doctor can be, they still need insurance, just in case they make mistakes. Even through all the eye opening cases that have been mentioned, there are still great psychiatrists out there that can help save lives. People just need to be aware of the pseudos out there and hopefully be able to avoid them.

6 Shih 6 Works Cited "Primum Non Nocere." McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 20 Jul "Clinical Psychiatrist: Job Description, Duties and Requirements.". N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July "Two Top Liability Risks for Psychiatrists: Patients with Suicidal Behavior and Psychopharmacology." PRMS. Professional Risk Management Services, Inc., n.d. Web. 21 July "Psychiatric Rape Assaulting Women and Children." CCHR. Citizens Commission on Human Rights, 1 Jan Web. 22 July "The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch." The Dangers of The Psychiatrist's Couch. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July PRMS. "Questions Before Purchasing Liability Insurance." Questions Before Purchasing Liability Insurance. Manager of The Psychiatrists Program Medical Professional Liability Insurance for Psychiatrists, n.d. Web. 23 July Smith, Brendan L. "Inappropriate Prescribing." APA. American Psychological Association, June Web. 22 July 2014.