PSYCH DRUGS
UK psychiatrist Wendy Burn catches hell for “dangerous claim” of “withdrawal symptoms disappearing within two weeks of stopping antidepressants”
The Herald (Glasgow) Anger over 'dangerous claims' by psychiatrists By Helen McArdle March 12, 2018 Psychiatrist Wendy Burn MENTAL health experts have accused leading psychiatrists of making a "potentially dangerous" claim that most patients' withdrawal symptoms have disappeared within two weeks of stopping antidepressants. A letter signed by dozens of psychiatrists, academics and patients, including in Scotland, has called on the president and the chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists to issue an urgent correction. They said the goal of their complaint "is to correct a potentially dangerous misleading public statement". It comes after Professor Wendy Burn, RCPsych [...]
Siew Hin Chin, Singapore Psychiatrist, Suspended – failed to properly evaluate patient’s condition before giving him drugs
Straits Times Psychiatrist suspended, fined for irresponsible drug prescription By Linette Lai February 21, 2018 Psychiatrist Siew Hin Chin SINGAPORE - A 63-year-old psychiatrist has been suspended for six months and fined $15,000 for prescribing medication to a patient, despite knowing that he was at risk of abusing it. Dr Siew Hin Chin also failed to carry out a proper evaluation of the patient's conditions - anxiety, insomnia and obsessive compulsive disorder - before giving him the drugs, a Singapore Medical Council (SMC) disciplinary tribunal found. The patient had sought treatment from Dr Siew at Simon Siew Psychological Medicine [...]
Clifford Jacobson, NY Psychiatrist, Loses license – sold drugs for “recreational use”
Democrat & Chronicle Brighton doctor avoids prison for selling prescriptions Associated Press February 10, 2018 Psychiatrist Clifford Jacobson A Brighton psychiatrist will avoid prison but lose his medical license for selling prescriptions. Dr. Clifford Jacobson was sentenced Friday to one year of probation that will include four months of home confinement. He also must surrender his license to practice medicine and pay $75,000 in penalties. Federal prosecutors say Jacobson sold prescriptions for the tranquilizer clonazepam and other medications to people for recreational use between 2014 and 2017. He charged his patients $120 for each illegal prescription. Jacobson pleaded guilty [...]
Jason Evans, South Texas psychiatrist – license suspended – thousands of opioid prescriptions – “presents a continuing threat to the public”
Caller Times Questionable opioid prescriptions cost South Texas doctor his license By Eleanor Dearman February 1, 2018 Psychiatrist Jason Evans A South Texas psychiatrist has temporarily lost his license after an investigation found he issued thousands of opioid prescriptions over a year, according to Texas Medical Board records. The Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended the license of Jason Evans on Jan. 25, according to an order from the board. Evans' main practice is in Harlingen, but he also practices in Corpus Christi, the document shows. An investigator found that from August 2016 to August 2017, he prescribed "a total [...]
Joseph Zito, NY Psychiatrist, Arrested for selling drugs out of his apartment with no medical examination
Daily News (New York) SHRINK CHARGED IN ILLEGAL DRUG SALES By CORKY SIEMASZKO March 06, 1998 Psychiatrist Joseph Zito A West Side psychiatrist was arrested yesterday for allegedly peddling prescriptions for tranquilizers out of his Central Park West apartment. Joseph Zito's arrest capped a five-month undercover state investigation during which he allegedly wrote and sold prescriptions for Xanax and Klonopin to an investigator without any medical examination. Zito, 57, also allegedly sold the state's Medicaid fraud squad investigator three prescriptions for a fictitious wife, officials said. Zito was paid $ 160 for each of the nine prescriptions, which state [...]
Joel Dreyer, California psychiatrist, taken into custody by FBI agents, federal drug charges
City News Service By Paul Young March 12, 2008 Psychiatrist Joel Dryer A Murrieta psychiatrist accused of violating federal drug laws for allegedly prescribing pain medications without performing the required medical exams is scheduled to be arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Riverside. Joel Stanley Dreyer faces federal narcotics distribution charges for allegedly making prescription opiates like OxyContin and Vicodin, as well as anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax, available to patients in return for a $100 fee -- and free of any diagnostic procedures, according to prosecutors. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office has also charged Dreyer with multiple [...]
Stanley Giudici, NY psychiatrist – license revoked – “gross negligence”
Times Herald-Record State revokes Town of Wallkill psychiatrist’s license By Daniel Axelrod September 29, 2017 Psychiatrist Stanley Giudici TOWN OF WALLKILL — Patients of a psychiatrist who abruptly closed his office after his medical license was revoked are so desperate for records, prescriptions and help finding a replacement, they’re knocking on the doors of neighboring practices. “I have extreme anxiety. I’ve done all the investigations I can possibly do to reach him,” said one 55-year-old female patient from eastern Orange County, who asked that her name not be used. “If I keep investigating, I will become quite ill.” Dr. [...]
Italian psychiatrist Marco Bonetti accused of sexual violence against six women (5 of them patients)
Google machine translation: HuffPost € 50 for certificates and sexual violence to patients: arrested the aostan psychiatrist Marco Bonetti January 11, 2018 Psychiatrist Marco Bonetti Week of illness thanks to fake medical certificates obtained by paying the Aostan psychiatrist Marco Bonetti 50 euros: for this accusation the court of Aosta sentenced to two years and 10 months of imprisonment each of the two patients of the psychiatrist finished at home in March 2017, a fifty year old and a fifty-three residents in the valley, at the time of the facts belonging to the prison police. The judges also ordered [...]
Rand Ritchie, Pismo Beach, California, psychiatrist – disciplined twice for alcohol abuse and multiple convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol
Propublica EXAMINING MEDICARE Some Doctors Still Billing Medicare for the Most Complicated, Expensive Office Visits By Charles Ornstein and Ryann Grochowski Jones December 27, 2017 -- Excerpt Psychiatrist Rand Ritchie, 354 MAIN ST SUITE C PISMO BEACH, CA Also on the list is Dr. Rand Ritchie, a Pismo Beach, California, psychiatrist. He billed 1,475 visits at the highest level, or 97 percent of his Medicare office visits, in 2015. The California medical board has disciplined Ritchie twice for alcohol abuse and multiple convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol. He completed probation most recently in 2014 and currently [...]
Candy Man David Houlihan, Iowa and Wisconsin VA Psychiatrist, nicknamed because of prolific amounts of drugs he prescribed
USA TODAY Investigation: VA knowingly hires doctors with past malpractice claims, discipline for poor care By Donovan Slack December 3, 2017 +++ Excerpt Psychiatrist David Houlihan, the “Candy Man.” Psychiatrist David Houlihan landed a job at a VA hospital in Wisconsin in 2002 and was promoted to chief of staff two years later, even though the Iowa Board of Medicine had charged him with engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a patient and taking patient medications home. He went on to earn the nickname “candy man” at the Tomah, Wis., VA because of the prolific amounts of narcotics he [...]