Wednesday, June 22, 2011

CPN: The Anthrax Report

--I'm posting this for Clink because she is in prison where she can't access blogger.


In ClinkShrink's post on Clinical Psychiatry News she points to some ethically troubling actions in the official investigation into Dr. Bruce Ivins's alleged involvement in the 2001 Anthrax attacks, including the sale of a report containing his medical records.  

11 comments:

rob lindeman said...

Strong work, Clink.

jesse said...

Thank you, Clink. There will always be pressure to go beyond what we know.

Sarebear said...

Who on earth ever thought selling someone's medical records was ethical or even a good idea? The moronic stupidity of some people.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jesse. Just a question: What are the governing or compliance institutions in psychiatry which determine when psychiatrists overstep what is known, which oversee ethics? Does your profession rely solely on blogger psychiatrists who read the news to police ethics? I'm not indicting anyone or trying to be antagonistic. I'm just trying to understand why this isn't being addressed, professionally, elsewhere, where there can be consequences. It is, after all, a story which is a few months old. I suppose my question is: who polices the ethical standards of psychiatry? Thank you.

Anonymous said...

David Willman in Mirage Man explains:

“Montooth invited a psychiatrist, Dr. Gregory Saathoof, to the meetings for advice on how Ivins might react to certain questioning.” (p. 279)

So to be clear, Dr. S didn't just work with DOJ and DOD. He worked with the FBI specifically on the Ivins case -- both in 2008 and 2007 before the November 2007 search. He opined at the time that Dr. Ivins was a suicide risk.

Turning to the merits, the key witness relied upon by Dr. Saathoff, although her name was not revealed until the recent book MIRAGE MAN. (The book tracks the EBAP report in its theme very closely). The key witness relied on by both Mr. Willman and Dr. Saathoff was Judith McClean. Reverend McLean is the author of the fascinating ASCENSION JOURNEY (2009).

Their key witness describes her experience as an exorcist, medium, astral traveler, telepath. She taks to rocks and plants and gets instructions at night on where to travel. She reports that she was protected from a psychiatric diagnosis by her husband. After 9/11, her astral travels had her doing astral recovery work in Afghanistan and Ground Zero. She says she got very sick for months from the debris at Ground Zero. She says spirits with murderous intent would transfer themselves from her counseling clients (she was licensed in 1999 and worked at it for 2 years before leaving the state due to her exhaustion from her astral traveling.) This is hugely ironic because the entire theme of the report was to criticize the Army for not doing follow up when there were "red flags." The panel members relied on Reverend McLean not just for what Dr. Ivins said but the notes of the psychiatrists were "supplemented" by her notes.

The 2009 book ASCENSION JOURNEY was available to the panel members at the time of their August 2001 report to the United States District Court judge. It required only a simple google. It would have cost just $10 out of the $38,000 billed the taxpayers. The should now withdraw or revise their report to take into account the new information. It is highly relevant to an evaluation of the validity of David Willman’s and Dr. Saathoff's conclusions.

She is available online and responsive to email and communicates well. Her book is well-written and I encourage people to download it at Amazon.com for about $10. She is courageous to address such issues with such refreshing candor and honesty. But I don't credit anything she says about the psychic powers granted her by a being from another planet -- or any of the other claims she makes. The facts underlying report are a key illustration of why without being tested for admissibility, such a report should never have been touted as evidence of Dr. Ivins' guilt.

DXer said...

Correcting my post above, the report to the United States District Court in August 2010 and the name McLean, not McClean. To err is human. The important thing is that people correct mistakes. Dr. Saathoff should correct the massive mistaken in the report that resulted in a failure to do a simple google.

I think the conflict of interest issue is very significant -- and the Amerithrax investigation was riddled with such conflicts. On the comparatively minor issue of selling the report, I wrote the organization the day the report was announced and told that they could not sell it. It was paid for by taxpayer dollars and thus reasoned under FOIA it should be made available for free. I provided them my address and told them I would widely distribute it to anyone who wanted a copy. I also asked that disclosure of his work for the FBI in connection with the approach to be taken with Dr. Ivins be disclosed at the press conference. I see now it was mentioned in the report in passing -- for anyone who wanted to spend the $41 and didn't just satisfy themselves with the national news stories.

ClinkShrink said...

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Anon #1: Every state has a medical board which accepts and reviews complaints against physicians, for both ethical and standard of care issues. Professional organizations like the APA or state medical societies can offer policy statements or ethical guidelines, but have no authority to take action against a license. The most they can do is toss someone out of the organization.

Dxer: Thank you for the additional background information. I had not heard of the book yet, although since it's just hitting the shelves that's understandable. It's interesting you see the selling of the report as a minor issue; for psychiatrists the idea that someone would sell personal psychiatric information is shocking. We are pretty stringently aware of HIPAA and state confidentiality laws, although granted these seem to be eroding a little more every day.

Captcha: splative (adj. a sound similar to the noise of a dropped tomato)

jesse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jesse said...

Hi Anon, I am not an expert on the governing institutions, but this is what I would think: Psychiatrists all have medical licenses. Complaints come to the Board of Physicians (in Maryland) which determines whether a physician is or is not in compliance with applicable sections of the code. A reprimand may be issued or stronger action taken, such as revocation of the license.

The Board may ask the Maryland Psychiatric Society's Ethics Committee their opinion. The Society is the local branch of the American Psychiatric Association. A complaint may also go to the Society directly.

There are other associations or academic institutions of which the doctor may be a member which also might have ethics committees.

One thing I can say with certainty: unless an action by a physician is quite egregious, in which case the Board may issue a summary order for a physician to cease practicing, complaints can take quite a long time to be heard and resolved. The situation you are writing about may well be before various boards. The process is a legal one and physicians, like anyone else in our society, are generally advised to notify his malpractice carrier and to retain counsel. The stakes can be very serious and everyone has a right to defend and explain himself.

Dinah, Roy and Clink (may well know much more about this than I do.

DXer said...

On the book MIRAGE MAN, I got the book 10 days or so before it published through a special arrangement and overnight delivery.

I published excerpts of ASCENSION JOURNEY online but David Willman, author of Mirage Man, did nothing to change his course. He and Bantam continue to promote the book which relies heavily on the account by Judith McLean and the EBAP report.

On the issue of sales, I did consider it important enough to angrily write the person on the panel handling logistics and publicity. I also wrote panel member Ron Schouten -- and told them they had no right to sell it under the law IMO.

I invited them to bring suit against me for ignoring their copyright. I still do. (I emailed a copy to people and encouraged its distribution).

I knew then that the surest way to hide the massive mistake in analysis it represents would be to have people just rely on Dr. Saathoff's press conference announcing the "independent" conclusions.

Amerithrax represents the greatest failure in counterintelligence in United States history and Dr. Saathoff is its spokesman. The country is put at risk because of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri's plan to attack the United States with anthrax.

The FBI has a long history of being defensive and not taking criticism well. They seldom correct their mistakes until years later.

FBI Director Mueller can consider it new information if he likes -- or just critical information that Greg overlooked.

Here are excerpts from ASCENSIONS JOURNEY.

http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/why-is-all-this-material-about-judith-mclean-relevant-to-an-evaluation-of-the-validity-of-david-willman’s-conclusions-in-his-recently-published-“the-mirage-man”-because/

http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/excerpts-from-david-willmans-key-witness-in-his-book-mirage-man/

http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/david-willman-relies-extensively-upon-dr-ivins-first-therapist-judith-m-mclean-who-writes-of-how-she-acquired-her-psychic-abilities-in-her-book-available-for-sale-on-amazon-com/comment-page-1/#comment-13704

The other mistakes on the merits of the crime are even more fundamental but are beyond the scope of the psychiatric profiling issues. Mr Willman addresses the merits in an Appendix to the Epilogue. The rest of his book is devoted to Dr. Saathoff's psychological narrative -- and includes such bombshells as the fact that Dr. Ivins didn't kiss his prom date and had the nickname as a child of "Bruce the Goose."

Dr. Ivins was falsely told by the investigators that Dr. Heine had said he did it. Source: Dr. Heine radio interview. He was tested for DNA to test against the semen on his panties. Source: Lab submission form among NAS materials. He was told his family was going to be called before the grand jury to confirm he was unhappy at home. Source: Amerithrax Summary. At the same time, the FBI withheld the lab notes showing the reason he was in the lab those nights. The Army produced them to me on May 11, 2011 -- long after we heard this spin from Dr. Saathoff.

The poisoning story was first leaked to the Washington Post and resulted in an August 7, 2008 Washington Post story. Washington Post is also on notice that they need to correct their story.
The issue was hugely important in persuading the country that Dr. Ivins was guilty.

... when in fact there is not a shred of evidence indicating Dr. Ivins committed the crime. All the subsidiary points are equally specious -- and provably so based on documentary evidence.

DXer said...

On the book MIRAGE MAN, I got the book 10 days or so before it published through a special arrangement and overnight delivery.

I published excerpts of ASCENSION JOURNEY online but David Willman, author of Mirage Man, did nothing to change his course. He and Bantam continue to promote the book which relies heavily on the account by Judith McLean and the EBAP report.

On the issue of sales, I did consider it important enough to angrily write the person on the panel handling logistics and publicity. I also wrote a panel member -- and told them they had no right to sell it under the law IMO.

I invited them to bring suit against me for ignoring their copyright. I still do. (I emailed a copy to people and encouraged its distribution).

I knew then that the surest way to hide the massive mistake in analysis it represents would be to have people just rely on Dr. Saathoff's press conference announcing the "independent" conclusions.

Amerithrax represents the greatest failure in counterintelligence in United States history and Dr. Saathoff is its spokesman. The country is put at risk because of Dr. Ayman Zawahiri's plan to attack the United States with anthrax.

The FBI has a long history of being defensive and not taking criticism well. They seldom correct their mistakes until years later.

FBI Director Mueller can consider it new information if he likes -- or just critical information that Greg overlooked.


The other mistakes on the merits of the crime are even more fundamental but are beyond the scope of the psychiatric profiling issues. Mr Willman addresses the merits in an Appendix to the Epilogue. The rest of his book is devoted to Dr. Saathoff's psychological narrative -- and includes such bombshells as the fact that Dr. Ivins didn't kiss his prom date and had the nickname as a child of "Bruce the Goose."

The poisoning story was first leaked to the Washington Post and resulted in an August 7, 2008 Washington Post story. Washington Post is also on notice that they need to correct their story.
The issue was hugely important in persuading the country that Dr. Ivins was guilty.

... when in fact there is not a shred of evidence indicating Dr. Ivins committed the crime. All the subsidiary points are equally specious -- and provably so based on documentary evidence.