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Archive of MindFreedom "Dendrite" Alerts 2004 and 2005
The alert system for MindFreedom News was previously called "Dendrite." Here's an archive of some of the alerts put out during the 2004 to 2005 years.
From office at MindFreedom.org Tue Mar 1 12:31:08 2005
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: MindFreedom Update: Action Conference Scholarship Info
Message-ID: <BE4A110C.21ACE%office@MindFreedom.org>
NEWS: MindFreedom Action Conference - 1 March 2005
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward
LIMITED SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR
"ACTION CONFERENCE" ON CHANGING
THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM
The MindFreedom Action Conference is scheduled for
April 29 to May 2, 2005, and is co-sponsored by
MindFreedom International and American University
Washington College of Law in Washington, DC, USA.
The title is: "Activism for Human Rights in Mental
Health: How the Law Can Support Grassroots Action
for Human Rights in the Mental Health System."
There is a complete packet of information about the
conference at http://www.MindFreedom.org, including
invitation, housing, transportation. etc. The price
has purposely been kept low to be affordable.
A very limited amount of scholarship funding has been
raised for those who require assistance to attend. BELOW
is the Scholarship Info & Application. Please forward widely.
MORE DONATIONS are urgently needed for this scholarship
fund. Whether or not you plan on attending this event,
please consider helping others go to this conference now!
Your donation is tax-deductible under IRS 501(c)(3).
You may donate via the web, please specify in the
"comments" section that your donation is for SCHOLARSHIPS:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINDFREEDOM ACTION CONFERENCE
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
Application Deadline: All conference scholarship
applications must be received by e-mail in the MindFreedom
office by 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday March 15, 2005.
All applicants will be notified of MindFreedom's
decision by Monday, March 21, 2005.
Please request ONLY enough money to make it
possible for you to attend, so that scholarships
can go to as many participants as possible.
Scholarship funds available will go mainly to
registration fees, and will mainly be partial.
Your application data will be kept confidential.
Upon completion, please e-mail the below
application only to: office@mindfreedom.org,
include the word "SCHOLARSHIP" in subject line.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINDFREEDOM ACTION CONFERENCE
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
Name:
Street Address:
City/State/Postal Code:
Country:
E-mail Address:
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
Work Phone:
PLEASE KEEP YOUR ANSWERS TO BELOW *BRIEF*, THANKS.
(1) What do you need assistance paying for to
allow you to attend the Action Conference?
PLEASE MARK ONLY EXPENSE(S) THAT APPLY TO YOU,
IN USA DOLLARS:
-- CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE
Registration fee (including 5 meals): $145
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- TRAVEL: Air, train, bus, other? (please specify)
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- LODGING (see web site for cost estimates)
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- OTHER EXPENSES: Please specify.
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
~~~~~~~
TOTAL SCHOLARSHIP REQUEST: $
~~~~~~~
(2) What other sources have you approached
for funding? Please list source and results.
(3) Please tell us: How will this scholarship
help you further your activism for human rights
and alternatives for people affected by the mental
health system? What about the Action Conference
particularly interests you?
(4) If you are a member of MindFreedom International,
please describe how have you been active in
any MindFreedom campaigns, committees, activities or
Sponsor Groups?
(5) Would you be available to volunteer before or
during the conference? If you have a skill or
job in mind, please list.
(6) OPTIONAL: Are you a member of a very marginalized
and disempowered constituency (such as because of
psychiatric label, race, disability, gender preference,
etc.)? Please list.
(7) Is there anything else you'd like the
MindFreedom Scholarship Committee to know?
(Please keep comments brief.)
~~~~~~~
More information about the conference, including
invitation, housing and transportation is on
the web site http://www.MindFreedom.org.
Please forward, thank you.
From office at MindFreedom.org Wed Mar 2 11:36:28 2005
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: MindFreedom Update: Action Conference Scholarship Info
Message-ID: <BE4B55BC.21AF2%office@MindFreedom.org>
NEWS: MindFreedom Action Conference - 2 March 2005
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward
LIMITED SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR
"ACTION CONFERENCE" ON CHANGING
THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM
The MindFreedom Action Conference is scheduled for
April 29 to May 2, 2005, and is co-sponsored by
MindFreedom International and American University
Washington College of Law in Washington, DC, USA.
The title is: "Activism for Human Rights in Mental
Health: How the Law Can Support Grassroots Action
for Human Rights in the Mental Health System."
There is a complete packet of information about the
conference at http://www.MindFreedom.org, including
invitation, housing, transportation. etc. The price
has purposely been kept low to be affordable.
A very limited amount of scholarship funding has been
raised for those who require assistance to attend. BELOW
is the Scholarship Info & Application. Please forward widely.
MORE DONATIONS are urgently needed for this scholarship
fund. Whether or not you plan on attending this event,
please consider helping others go to this conference now!
Your donation is tax-deductible under IRS 501(c)(3).
You may donate via the web, please specify in the
"comments" section that your donation is for SCHOLARSHIPS:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINDFREEDOM ACTION CONFERENCE
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
Application Deadline: All conference scholarship
applications must be received by e-mail in the MindFreedom
office by 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday March 15, 2005.
All applicants will be notified of MindFreedom's
decision by Monday, March 21, 2005.
Please request ONLY enough money to make it
possible for you to attend, so that scholarships
can go to as many participants as possible.
Scholarship funds available will go mainly to
registration fees, and will mainly be partial.
Your application data will be kept confidential.
Upon completion, please e-mail the below
application only to: office@mindfreedom.org,
include the word "SCHOLARSHIP" in subject line.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINDFREEDOM ACTION CONFERENCE
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
Name:
Street Address:
City/State/Postal Code:
Country:
E-mail Address:
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
Work Phone:
PLEASE KEEP YOUR ANSWERS TO BELOW *BRIEF*, THANKS.
(1) What do you need assistance paying for to
allow you to attend the Action Conference?
PLEASE MARK ONLY EXPENSE(S) THAT APPLY TO YOU,
IN USA DOLLARS:
-- CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE
Registration fee (including 5 meals): $145
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- TRAVEL: Air, train, bus, other? (please specify)
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- LODGING (see web site for cost estimates)
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
-- OTHER EXPENSES: Please specify.
Estimated Cost:
Amount You Can Afford:
Scholarship Amount Requested:
~~~~~~~
TOTAL SCHOLARSHIP REQUEST: $
~~~~~~~
(2) What other sources have you approached
for funding? Please list source and results.
(3) Please tell us: How will this scholarship
help you further your activism for human rights
and alternatives for people affected by the mental
health system? What about the Action Conference
particularly interests you?
(4) If you are a member of MindFreedom International,
please describe how have you been active in
any MindFreedom campaigns, committees, activities or
Sponsor Groups?
(5) Would you be available to volunteer before or
during the conference? If you have a skill or
job in mind, please list.
(6) OPTIONAL: Are you a member of a very marginalized
and disempowered constituency (such as because of
psychiatric label, race, disability, gender preference,
etc.)? Please list.
(7) Is there anything else you'd like the
MindFreedom Scholarship Committee to know?
(Please keep comments brief.)
~~~~~~~
More information about the conference, including
invitation, housing and transportation is on
the web site http://www.MindFreedom.org.
Please forward, thank you.
From office at MindFreedom.org Mon Jan 31 12:43:14 2005
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: MindFreedom Action Conference Info Center Launched
Message-ID: <BE23D862.2120B%office@MindFreedom.org>
NEWS RELEASE - 1 February 2005
http://www.MindFreedom.org - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: David Oaks (541) 345-9106 oaks@mindfreedom.org
Momentum Builds for the MindFreedom 2005
Action Conference and Protest
Friday, April 29 to Monday May 2, 2005
American University Washington College of Law
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Momentum continues to grow for
MindFreedom International's 2005 Action
Conference entitled, "Activism for Human
Rights in Mental Health: How the Law Can
Support Grassroots Action for Human
Rights in the Mental Health System."
The 2005 Action Conference will bring
together key leaders, activists, allies
and advocates in the field of human
rights for people labeled with
psychiatric disabilities. The
conference is co-sponsored by American
University Washington College of Law
and MindFreedom International.
Today the conference planning committee
announced the lineup of facilitators and
opened up registration for the
conference, which will take place at
the American University Washington
College of Law in Washington, D.C.
For your invitation to the conference
complete with information about
registration, agenda, transport,
lodging and the protest, go to the
ACTION CONFERENCE INFO CENTER at:
http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/action_conference.shtml.
Facilitators include Robert Whitaker,
award winning author of _Mad in
America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and
the Enduring Mistreatment of the
Mentally Ill_.
David Oaks, Director of MindFreedom,
said, "We are seeing a lot of interest
in this conference and expect it to get
even more exciting. This is not just
another conference where lecturers
address a passive audience. This is
about participants uniting to
self-organize campaigns together."
Conference Chair Krista Erickson, added
"Space is limited to the first 150
people to pre-register, and
pre-registration is required. If you
are committed to rolling up your
sleeves to win freedom in the mental
health system please register soon. We
kept the registration fee, which
includes meals throughout the
conference, as low and affordable as
possible."
The conference will start Friday
evening, 29 April, and take place all
day Saturday, 30 May and Sunday, 1 May
2005. A nonviolent protest will be held
at noon on Monday, 2 May 2005 at the
Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PHRMA).
The conference has six facilitated
tracks that will develop specific
action and implementation plans.
** US Congress/Federal Government. The
focus includes countering the improper
influence of the psychiatric drug
industry on the US government.
Facilitators include: Dominick Riccio,
PhD, Executive Director of the
International Center for the Study of
Psychology and Psychiatry (ICSPP).
** Public Education and the Media. Win
media coverage of psychiatric practices
that are routinely violating people's
rights and subjecting them to harmful,
ineffective -- even fatal -- drugs and
procedures. Facilitators include:
Robert Whitaker, author, and Laurie
Ahern with Mental Disability Rights
International (MDRI).
** International: Work with The World
Health Organization (WHO) and the
United Nations (UN) to combat abuses
internationally. Facilitators include:
MindFreedom President, Celia Brown and
MindFreedom Director, David Oaks.
** Choices In Mental Health. Develop,
network and support humane and truly
helpful alternatives to the mental
health system. Facilitators include:
Long-time organizer and MindFreedom
co-founder and board member Janet
Foner.
** How the Law Can Help Fight Forced
Treatment. Fight the sham legal
proceedings resulting in forced
drugging and other horrors, such as
forced electroshock, by combining the
tools of the legal system and
grassroots activism. Facilitators
include noted attorney, James B. (Jim)
Gottstein, Esq., of the Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights).
** Open Track. This track welcomes
suggestions for other actions by any
conference participants to raise
topics, ideas or concerns not covered
by other conference tracks, especially
voices from neglected and marginalized
groups. Facilitators include dedicated
psychologist and MindFreedom board
member, Al Galves, PhD.
For an invitation to the conference
complete with information about
registration, agenda, transport,
lodging and the protest, go to:
http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/action_conference.shtml.
# # #
PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL APPROPRIATE PLACES
ON AND OFF THE INTERNET.
MindFreedom Support Coalition
International is a grassroots human
rights non-profit uniting over 100
sponsor groups in 15 countries working
for human rights and alternatives in
mental health. The organization is
a Non Governmental Organization
accredited by the United Nations.
Sometimes called the "Amnesty
International of mental health,"
MindFreedom is independent from any
government, mental health provider,
drug company or religion.
To join or renew your membership in
MindFreedom, or make an additional
end-of-year tax-deductible donation,
go now to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
Those interested in joining may
request a free sample copy of the
Winter 2005 _MindFreedom Journal_ by
e-mailing your postal mailing address to:
office@mindfreedom.org.
Or write to:
MindFreedom
454 Willamette, Suite 216
PO Box 11284
Eugene, OR 9744-3484 USA
For information about MindFreedom's
human rights action campaigns see:
http://www.MindFreedom.org
Please forward to all appropriate
places on and off the Internet.
From office at MindFreedom.org Mon Dec 27 17:28:50 2004
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS from Inside a Psychiatric Institution, to You
Message-ID: <BDF5F6D1.2070E%office@MindFreedom.org>
NEWS - 27 December 2004 - please forward
http://www.MindFreedom.org
"We Are Stepped On Daily."
Psychiatric Survivors Protest From
*INSIDE* Montana State Hospital.
How You May E-Mail the New Governor
of Montana to Support the Protesters!
Eight psychiatric inmates of Montana State Hospital
have contacted MindFreedom asking for urgent help.
Most have even joined MindFreedom as members.
They all have united to protest and speak out
about violations inside the psychiatric facility.
With a brand new Governor taking office next
week, there's an easy way for you to e-mail
your support for these protesters inside
Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.
These courageous psychiatric survivors report:
* They are locked up for no good reason.
* They do not have access to adequate advocacy.
* They are being forcibly drugged with powerful
psychiatric drugs that can cause brain damage.
* They feel hopeless about ever getting out.
* And the food is lousy, to boot.
There is no known organization in Montana
of, by and for mental health consumers and
psychiatric survivors. None.
Here are quotes from these MSH protesters:
"I don't deserve to be locked up just because
I didn't go to therapy. They gave me Haldol
shots against my will. Please help me get
out of here. I have been here too long, and
am suffering for no reason." - Julia Weeks,
a new MindFreedom member.
"We are stepped upon daily." - Susan Ann Green,
a new MindFreedom member.
"They trumped up all these charges about me.
So my therapist wrote all these trumped-up
charges against me because I saw my case
manager and not my therapist. I took my
medication and they lied and said that
I didn't take it." - anonymous
"I was just traveling through Montana.
I have been locked up and heavily drugged
here for months." Kathleen A. Johnson,
a new MindFreedom member
"I am fortunate to have come across your path.
The conditions are deplorable. People are
treated worse than animals. There is
over drugging, mis-medicating, shock
therapy, and on it goes. I am enclosing a
membership application." - Ana Valentine,
a new MindFreedom member.
"I was forcibly drugged and held for
months in MSH." - Robert Kay, a long-time
MindFreedom member, finally released.
"I have been in mental institutions for the
past 17 years. Warm Springs doesn't offer
much in the way of healthy measures. Instead
they press medications. I am writing you in
hope you could intervene and ease the burden."
- Charles McCormick, a new MindFreedom member.
~~~~~~~~~~
* ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *
NEXT WEEEK a brand new Governor of Montana
takes office on 3 January 2005.
Please take a moment now to e-mail even a
brief civil note to the transition team for:
Governor-Elect Brian Schweitzer
E-MAIL: govelectschweitzer@mt.gov
FAX: 406-444-9631
PHONE: 406-444.9600
SAMPLE MESSAGE (though your own words are best):
Dear Governor-Elect Schweitzer:
Please investigate allegations made
by eight inmates of Montana State Hospital
that they are being held without due
cause and without adequate advocacy,
and that they are being forcibly
administered powerful psychiatric drugs.
Signed: ______[your name]____________
~~~~~~~~~~
EXTRA ACTIONS:
YOU MAY WRITE TO any of the current
psychiatric survivors quoted above at:
Montana State Hospital
PO Box 300
Warm Springs, MT 59756 USA
You may try phoning them on the
patient ward phone at: (406) 693-9950.
Or you may try phoning and faxing these
inmates, and/or Ed Amberg, administrator, via
ph: (406) 693-7000 or fax: (406) 693-7069.
~~~~~~~~~~
YOU MAY ALSO copy your e-mail to Montana media:
bwilke@dailychronicle.com, editor@mtstandard.com,
editor@broadwatercounty.net, ajones@kbzk.com,
news@ktvm.com, ljulius@maxmontana.com, Pkonecny@kxlf.com
~~~~~~~~~~
ARE YOU INSPIRED...
... by these brave psychiatric survivors
*inside* Montana State Hospital who are
joining MindFreedom International?
It's the end of the year and an ideal
time to join or renew *your* membership.
If you've already joined or renewed,
thanks. If not, the end of the year is
an ideal time to act.
AND GET YOUR WINTER 2004/2005 ISSUE OF
MINDFREEDOM JOURNAL, NOW AVAILABLE,
with news from India to the USA.
MindFreedom Support Coalition
International is a grassroots human
rights non-profit uniting over 100
sponsor groups in 15 countries working
for human rights and alternatives in
mental health. The organization is
a Non Governmental Organization
accredited by the United Nations.
Sometimes called the "Amnesty
International of mental health,"
MindFreedom is independent from any
government, mental health provider,
drug company or religion.
To join or renew your membership in
MindFreedom, or make an additional
end-of-year tax-deductible donation,
go now to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
Or write to:
MindFreedom
PO Box 11284
Eugene, OR 9744-3484 USA
For information about MindFreedom's
human rights action campaigns see:
http://www.MindFreedom.org
Please forward to all appropriate
places on and off the Internet.
~~~~~~~~~~
From office at MindFreedom.org Wed Nov 3 15:22:48 2004
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: MindFreedom Shield vs. Psychiatric Coercion
Message-ID: <BDAEA7C0.1F633%office@MindFreedom.org>
MindFreedom News - 3 November 2004
http://wwww.MindFreedom.org - please forward
NEWS RELEASE
Today's Re-Election of President Bush
May Mean More Psychiatric Coercion,
Advocates Warn
MindFreedom Announces New
MindFreedom Shield Program
"All for One and One for All!"
With today's re-election of President Bush,
advocates for the human rights of people
affected by the mental health system are
preparing for the worst.
Today, MindFreedom International, an
independent non-profit coalition of 100
grassroots groups, is launching the
MindFreedom Shield Program to defend members
from an expected increase in coerced and
forced psychiatric procedures.
President Bush has endorsed a drug company
plan to screen every American for mental
health problems. A Bush appointee to a key
federal committee, psychiatrist Sally Satel,
has openly called for more "coercive,"
"intrusive, highly paternalistic" and
"involuntary care" in mental health.
MindFreedom International has an
established track record of taking
constructive, nonviolent action when a
person is being subjected to coerced or
forced psychiatric procedures. In order
to better utilize its very limited
resources, MindFreedom International
announces the official beginning of the
MindFreedom Shield Program.
MindFreedom Shield is a coordinated
registration system and solidarity
network composed by and for people who
want to have as much protection as
possible from being subjected to
coerced or forced psychiatric
"treatment."
"I hope this program lets people know
that they not only have choice A, B, or
C but that they are free to choose,
'NONE OF THE ABOVE!'" explains
advocate Pat Risser, one of a group of
psychiatric survivors who envisioned
and initiated the concept that has
become the MindFreedom Shield.
"This is a way to 'just say no' to
oppression."
MindFreedom Shield is designed to
support a person's choice to be
free from coerced or forced
psychiatric "treatment" by backing this
personal choice up with the MindFreedom
Solidarity Network -- a network of
people ready to take constructive,
nonviolent action if someone's choice
to be free from coerced or forced
psychiatric "treatment" is not being
respected or upheld.
As the current mental health system
continues to globalize and rely more
and more on coercion and outright
force, many people's rights to have
their previously expressed and even
properly documented wishes carried out
are being ignored. The recent
recommendations of the President's New
Freedom Commission to begin universal
mental health screening, currently
being implemented in several states, is
only one example of the increasing use
of such pressure.
In order to best implement this
program, MindFreedom is collaborating
closely with sponsor group The Law
Project for Psychiatric Rights
(PsychRights.org). "Through this
mechanism people saddled with
psychiatric labels can unite and offer
effective resistance to psychiatric abuses,"
said attorney Jim Gottstein, director
of PsychRights. "The MindFreedom Shield
Program fits PsychRights' mission of
defending people facing the horrors of
forced psychiatric drugging and other
forced psychiatric procedures
administered against their will
perfectly."
All for One and One for All
MindFreedom board member and psychologist
Al Galves, PhD said, "The MindFreedom Shield
is a quick, cost-effective defense against
people being railroaded into using such
methods as medication and electroshock
to alleviate normal responses to life
issues that can more effectively,
economically and safely be addressed
through interpersonal emotional support
and creative action."
"We can't guarantee the results,"
cautions MindFreedom director David
Oaks, "But it has been our experience,
including testing the MindFreedom
Shield Program to help free a member
from a Canadian psychiatric facility,
that public awareness and people
engaging in specific, nonviolent action
can often reduce or even end coerced or
forced psychiatric 'treatment.'"
MindFreedom Shield is not meant to take
the place of legal documents expressing
a person's medical and psychiatric care
preferences, such as an "Advance Directive."
MindFreedom Shield is intended to provide
the people power clout it sometimes takes
to enforce a member's wishes, including
members with Advance Directives. "Our
recommendation is that a member have
both a MindFreedom Shield and an
Advance Directive in place." said Krista
Erickson, chair of the MindFreedom Shield
committee.
Any current member of MindFreedom may
register a MindFreedom Shield for free.
Detailed information about the program,
as well as a registration form, can be
found online at:
http://www.mindfreedom.intenex.net/shield
Any MindFreedom member who does not
have access to the Internet may write
to the MindFreedom office to obtain
information about the program.
MindFreedom Support Coalition
International is a grassroots human
rights non-profit uniting over 100
sponsor groups in 15 countries working
for human rights and alternatives in
mental health. The organization is
the only group of its kind with
Non Governmental Organization
accreditation by the United Nations
(ECOSOC Consultative Roster Status).
Sometimes called the "Amnesty
International of mental health,"
MindFreedom is independent from any
government, mental health provider,
drug company or religion.
To join or renew membership in
MindFreedom go to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
Or write to:
MindFreedom
PO Box 11284
Eugene, OR 9744-3484 USA
For more information on the nationwide
screening program approved by President
Bush, along with his appointee psychiatrist
Sally Satel, see:
http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_psychiatry.shtml
For information about MindFreedom see:
http://www.MindFreedom.org
- end -
Please forward to all appropriate
places on and off Internet.
From oaks at mindfreedom.org Thu Oct 21 15:02:46 2004
From: oaks at mindfreedom.org (David Oaks - www.MindFreedom.org)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: Who bankroll$ extremist psychiatrist Torrey?
Message-ID: <F09A5801-23AC-11D9-9990-000A95C0B960@mindfreedom.org>
NEWS: http://www.MindFreedom.org - 21 Oct. 2004
PSYCHIATRIST E. FULLER TORREY FACES
CHARGES OF FRAUDULENT "BRAIN HARVESTING."
TORREY PUSHES FOR MORE FORCED PSYCHIATRY.
WHO FUNDS E. FULLER TORREY'S WORK?
by David Oaks, Director, MindFreedom
One of the main psychiatrists in the world to promote the use
of more force by psychiatry -- E. Fuller Torrey -- is in the
midst of a controversy because of the way his organization
apparently obtained brains for research without proper
informed consent of families. (See alert AT BOTTOM.)
To whom is Dr. Torrey accountable?
Much of the millions of dollars behind much of Torrey's work
are from millionaire Ted Stanley who owns MBI Inc., one of
the biggest direct marketers in the world. You may
recognize MBI's product outlets such as Danbury Mint, the Easton
Press, the Postal Commemorative Society and others. MBI Inc.'s
web site claims they launch about 500 new products each year.
With those millions Dr. Torrey has been lobbying for more
forced psychiatry, especially the use of court orders to
require US citizens to take psychiatric drugs while living
in their own homes. Today, 42 USA states have such
"outpatient commitment" laws.
Torrey and his Treatment Advocacy Center have also pushed research
into implanted disks with time released neuroleptic psychiatric drugs.
See http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/implant_1.shtml.
And apparently Dr. Torrey has been unethically obtaining
the brains of people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities
for research. (See alert and articles at bottom.)
~~~~~~~~
* ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *
BELOW is contact information for civil phone calls and
media inquiries to Mr. Ted Stanley to ask him about
his funding of Dr. Torrey's pursuit of more involuntary
psychiatric procedures and his pursuit of more brains.
You may need to talk about much more general subjects
in order to reach Ted Stanley on the phone line first,
or leave a civil message.
MBI Inc
47 Richards Ave
Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
http://www.mbi-inc.com/
webmail@mbi-inc.com
Phone number to try to reach Ted Stanley c/o of his
assistant Barbara at MBI Inc. is: (203) 853-2000.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: "Why have you not held Dr. Torrey
accountable for his promotion of forced psychiatry,
and his apparently improper brain collection methods?"
BELOW is a release from AHRP about the brain
theft controversy with news articles. Feel free to forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[BELOW is separate forwarded message by AHRP
that is not related to above introduction.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward.
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION Promoting
Openness and Full Disclosure www.ahrp.org
FYI
An investigative series of articles in Sunday's
Portland Press Herald (excerpt below) reveals that the
state's funeral inspector had harvested and shipped 99
brains--one third without informed consent--to the
Stanley Foundation. The Stanley Foundation maintains
a brain bank of about 560 brains of people diagnosed
with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, many of who
committed suicide.
In the UK a similar scandal has led the government to
pledge tightened legal protection: BBC reports that
the government indicated its intention to "'enshrine
the principles' of informed consent - changing the
emphasis away from simply acting if relatives object,
towards having to gain explicit consent in every
case."
See: BBC. Q&A: Brain 'theft' inquiry 2003/05/12
See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3021367.stm
The Stanley Foundation is headed by E. Fuller Torrey,
a psychiatrist whose controversial viral theory of
schizophrenia has not been validated by any
confirmatory evidence. The Stanley Foundation is the
largest private funder of mental illness research:
providing $40 million a year in grants for research in
schizophrenia and manic-depression--whether the
research meets ethical standards or not.
For example, Stanley has funded symptom provocation
experiments (a.k.a. "challenge studies") that
deliberately exacerbated patients' disabling condition
in order to take brain scans during a psychotic
episode. Our complaints about such inhumane
experiments on mentally disabled human beings aroused
public condemnation, forcing the director of the
National Institute of Mental Health to shut down 29
such experiments in 1998. But that has not changed
the schizophrenia research culture.
Until the Gagnon family filed a lawsuit against Mathew
Cyr, the state's funeral inspector, the Stanley
Foundation, and Torrey, charging them with taking
their son's brain without their permission, the
Stanley Foundation never disclosed how it acquired its
brains. Private research foundations are accountable
to no one except themselves. AHRP believes that
invites abuse.
According to the Portland Herald, the Stanley
Foundation paid Cyr $150,000 for his services. The
arrangement was approved by the state Chief Medical
Officer who had been approached by Dr. Torrey. Of
note: The Stanley Foundation is not accredited by the
American Association of Tissue Banks, a national
organization that sets ethical standards.
The Herald reports: "Some of the consent forms
obtained by the newspaper indicate that phone calls
between Cyr and the families were supposed to be
tape-recorded. However, someone crossed out the word
"recorded" on the form and wrote the word "witnessed."
"Dow, of the Attorney General's Office, said the state
does not have any recordings of the phone calls. Nor
are state officials aware of any such recordings.
Lorie Stevens of Bucksport was listed as the witness
on 65 of the 68 forms. In any dispute with a donor
family, the relationship between Cyr and Stevens could
undermine efforts to show that the brains were
obtained with the families' clear permission"
Court documents reveal rather tawdry business
transactions. For example, to increase the number of
brains sent to the Foundation, Torrey offered greater
and greater financial incentives to Cyr. Torrey put a
higher price tag on the brains of people diagnosed
with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder ($2,000)
compared to those diagnosed with depression ($1,500);
and he paid Cyr an extra $500 for obtaining a donor's
psychiatric records.
In a March 2001 letter, the Herald reports: "Torrey
also encouraged Cyr to take advantage of his state
government connections. He suggested that Cyr offer a
modest sum of money to a clerical employee in the
Medical Examiner's Office to send the request letters
on office stationery.
"It is our experience with San Diego and Seattle that
when a record request is sent out on (medical
examiner's office) stationery at the time of death,
the response is excellent and very rapid," Torrey
wrote.
No employee of the Medical Examiner's Office sent such
letters, according to Dow, spokesman for the attorney
general. Greenwald, through the spokesman, said she
is not aware that any employee in her office was asked
to do such work.
In his March 2001 letter to Cyr Torrey wrote: "Given
your energy and track record in obtaining specimens,
it seems reasonable that you could average about two
normal controls and one case per month, which if you
also obtained records, would gross $5,000-$5,500 per
month although we can cover whatever you can obtain.
Obviously some months might be better and some worse."
In the US, a 1987 Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,
prohibits the trafficking of organs for transplants,
there is no federal law prohibiting the sale of human
organs for research. Given the lucrative financial
incentives, and the absence of regulatory restraints,
a cottage industry in brain harvesting is thriving in
the US and the UK: many of the brains are acquired by
academic research institutions were acquired without
the knowledge or informed consent of surviving
relatives.
One might question the validity of the legal double
standard applied to organ harvesting for
transplantation compared to research--inasmuch as
organ transplants save lives, while one is hard
pressed to point at any clinically significant
diagnostic or therapeutic improvements as a result of
these brain studies.
See: PORTLAND PRESS HERALD series. Ethical problems
plagued brain donations in Maine By KEVIN WACK,
October 17, 2004 online at:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/041017brain.shtml
Of further note: The Stanley Foundation also bankrolls
the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) a lobbying
organization that exploits the perception that
mentally ill patients are violent, in order to promote
state involuntary commitment laws for mental patients
to allow them to be "treated." The tactic says much
about ruthless prophets whose arrogant certainty about
what's good for others leads them to justify any means
toward achieving those ends.
As the facts about psychotropic drug effects continue
to unfold, it will become evident that more often than
not, the drugs, not the disorder, are the catalyst for
violent behavior.
See, for example: Psychiatrist: Mom was depressed
Hearing held for Polk woman charged in fire death of
her children By Matt Birkbeck. October 19, 2004
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-
b1_1childdeathsoct19,0,4608449.story?col
l=all-newslocal-hed
Another example: "Her 14-year-old daughter, Dominique,
died in April 2003 after jumping into a canal. Slater
blames her death on the four different antidepressants
her daughter was put on in less than a year. She said
the drug companies failed to warn of suicide risk and
that Dominique's doctors failed to carefully monitor
her.
Dominique's depression began during the summer of
2002. She told her parents she had taken an Internet
survey sponsored by a drug company that seemed to
confirm her depression and asked to see a doctor.
The family physician agreed Dominique was depressed
and put her on an antidepressant. A month later, she
tried to kill herself but failed.
A series of antidepressants and hospitalizations
ensued. Finally, after being put on the drug
Effexor... Days later, her daughter was dead.
Sacramento Bee: Warning spurs caution on
antidepressants in kids By Dorsey Griffith, September
27, 2004.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/10892887p-11810493c.html
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav 212-595-8974
veracare@ahrp.org
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2004/10/17/
brain_harvesting_operation_raises_questions/
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Brain-harvesting program faulted Parents say donation
lacked consent By Associated Press October 18, 2004
PORTLAND, Maine -- A Gorham couple's claim that their
dead son's entire brain was donated to a research
laboratory in Maryland without their consent points to
a lack of oversight of brain harvesting at the state
medical examiner's office, according to the Maine
Sunday Telegram.
The newspaper said its investigation found that 31 of
99 brains that were shipped from Maine to the Stanley
Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., from 1999
to 2003 lacked consent forms that would provide
written proof that family members authorized the
donations.
The brain harvesting was coordinated by Matthew Cyr,
who was then the state's funeral inspector. The
Telegram said the Stanley Institute paid Cyr $1,000 to
$2,000 for each brain he sent there, and that records
show that he collected more than $150,000 from the
laboratory during the four years. Cyr resigned his
part-time post as funeral inspector last August. Four
months earlier, he was named, along with the private
research laboratory and its founder, as a defendant in
a lawsuit filed by Frank and Lorraine Gagnon in
Cumberland County Superior Court.
The Gagnons said they agreed to supply a 1-inch or
2-inch sample of the brain of their son, A.J. Gagnon,
who died last year of a drug overdose. Lorraine
Gagnon said she was stunned to learn that her son's
entire brain had been taken.
''This is a kid I brought into the world and loved and
cherished, and in death they have no right to touch
him," Lorraine Gagnon said. Officials with the
Stanley Institute, renowned for its research into
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are fighting the
lawsuit. The lab's founder, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey,
concluded in a memo last year that Lorraine Gagnon
consented to the brain removal, then changed her mind.
''This is the first such instance in the 560 brains we
have collected to date but should be expected to occur
occasionally, given the difficult circumstances of
death for a family. We will therefore return the
brain to the funeral home as Ms. Gagnon requests,"
Torrey wrote.
In June 2003, a brain, identified by the Stanley
Institute as A.J. Gagnon's, was sent to a Portland
funeral home for cremation.
Maine's connection with the Stanley Institute came
about after Dr. Margaret Greenwald was hired as
Maine's deputy chief medical examiner in 1997.
Greenwald, now chief medical examiner, had done work
for Torrey's brain bank while she was in San Diego and
he approached her in 1998 about supplying brains from
Maine.
Greenwald declined the offer but suggested that Torrey
work with Cyr, who went on to coordinate the brain
harvesting work within the medical examiner's office
in Augusta. Cyr, who now works as a police officer in
Bucksport, still has a contract with the medical
examiner's office to answer its phones after business
hours, when reports of fatal accidents, drug
overdoses, and suicides often come in. Cyr did not
respond to the Telegram's requests for an interview
and has not responded to the suit.
Chuck Dow, spokesman at the attorney general's office,
said there is no evidence that any laws were broken
during the period when Cyr supplied the research
laboratory with brains, but several bioethicists said
lax oversight and record-keeping can invite problems.
C Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
~~~~~~~
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/041017torrey.shtml
Portland Press Herald Sunday, October 17, 2004 Deep
pockets fuel brain researcher's quest By KEVIN WACK,
It's a scientist's dream - a mega-rich philanthropist
opens his checkbook to underwrite your research.
Suddenly the constant scramble for money is a memory.
And there's more. Your benefactor is so committed
that millions of dollars are left over, meaning you
can issue grants of your own and extend your influence
worldwide. Fifteen years ago, that's exactly what
happened to Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, founder of the
Stanley Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md.
Torrey had written a book called "Surviving
Schizophrenia," in which he argued that mental-illness
research was underfunded. The book struck a chord
with a Connecticut businessman whose son was diagnosed
in the late 1980s with bipolar disorder, or manic
depression.
Ted Stanley, who built a fortune in direct-mail
marketing, arranged to meet the book's author for
dinner. Since then, the philanthropist and his wife
have given hundreds of millions of dollars to a
research institute founded by Torrey, whose
contractor's efforts to collect brains in Maine are
the subject of a lawsuit. It's not the first time
that Torrey, once described by the Washington Post as
the "perhaps the most famous psychiatrist in America,"
has faced controversy.
His theories about possible infectious causes of
schizophrenia are seen by many researchers as outside
the mainstream. Another lightning rod is Torrey's
support for forcing drug treatment on some mentally
ill patients, which he voiced during a "60 Minutes"
interview in 2002.
But Torrey's detractors have not soured the Stanleys'
support. "Obviously we've been very impressed by
him," Ted Stanley said in a telephone interview from
his office at MBI Inc. in Norwalk, Conn. "Basically,
we provide the money, and he has figured out what to
do with it." The first research programs began in 1989
at what would become the nonprofit Stanley Institute.
Five years later, Torrey started a brain bank so he
would have brains to use for his own research.
Torrey, 67, hopes to find the causes of schizophrenia
and bipolar disorder - or, short of that, to develop
more effective treatments.
Those are daunting scientific challenges, Torrey said
in a telephone interview. "The complexity of the
brain is extraordinary, and it's also been
extraordinarily underresearched. It's in a very
inconvenient place called your head," he said.
For most of Torrey's more than 30 years in psychiatry,
he has been exploring the idea that infectious agents
contribute to schizophrenia. "I think he's been on a
mission to prove that," said Dr. Daniel Weinberger of
the National Institute of Mental Health, who has at
times criticized Torrey but also has collaborated with
him. "And I don't think he's been particularly
objective in his analyses of the data."
In 2000, Weinberger told an academic magazine that
Torrey's viral theory is "very interesting" but has
"been supported by very little credible scientific
data."
Today, science has established that genetics are
central to explaining schizophrenia, something Torrey
acknowledges. "There are now five, close to 10
schizophrenia genes that have been found," Weinberger
said. "We're no longer in the realm of speculation
when it comes to schizophrenia."
However, establishing the role of genes does not
necessarily rule out the involvement of infectious
agents. One theory being explored by Torrey posits a
link between schizophrenia and Toxoplasma gondii, a
parasite found in cat feces. Dr. Irving Gottesman of
the University of Minnesota, a leading proponent of
genetic explanations, said environmental factors,
including viruses, could trigger the disease among
people who have a genetic predisposition.
This explanation offers some common ground between
Torrey and mainstream geneticists, but there are still
differences. "We don't agree on the major causes in
the story of schizophrenia. But we've agreed to
disagree," Gottesman said.
Torrey's theories cast a large shadow over the field,
in part because he oversees the distribution of so
much money. Last year, the institute's rapidly
growing research budget exceeded $40 million, 74
percent of which was doled out to other researchers
through grants, according to the lab's 2003 annual
report.
Today, the Stanley Institute, which has 30 employees,
funds half of all U.S. research on bipolar disorder
and about a quarter of all schizophrenia research,
according to its Web site and various industry
reports. The Stanley Institute spends a large
percentage of its money funding research related to
Torrey's own viral theory, according to Gottesman. "I
have to say - as an outside judge with a biased
opinion - that Fuller is in a very powerful position,"
Gottesman said. Torrey's reputation as something of a
maverick among scientists extends well beyond his
research.
Xxx cut xxxx
- Staff researchers Julia McCue and Beth Murphy
contributed to this report. Staff Writer Kevin Wack
can be contacted at 282-8226 or at:
kwack@pressherald.com
[end AHRP alert]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded by http://www.MindFreedom.org
A NEW ISSUE OF MINDFREEDOM JOURNAL is now out.
Join or renew to get your issue about winning
human rights for people affected by the
mental health system.
From oaks at mindfreedom.org Tue Oct 26 12:16:51 2004
From: oaks at mindfreedom.org (David Oaks - www.MindFreedom.org)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: Bush, Forced Psychiatry, and Mental Health in USA
Message-ID: <9774F3D6-2783-11D9-BC65-000A95C0B960@mindfreedom.org>
NEWS: Your Mind & Freedom - 26 October 2004
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward
"Whatcha Gonna Do When They Screen For You?"
Warning: Bush administration pushes for
more US citizens to be forcibly drugged,
even on outpatient basis.
by David Oaks, Director,
MindFreedom International
What would a second term by President George
W. Bush look like for the increasing number
of US citizens who are being "screened" by
the mental health system?
For some it may look like "One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest" has landed in their homes.
A Bush appointee to a key federal mental health
advisory council is pushing for more coerced
and involuntary outpatient commitment as a
central USA goal over the next few years.
Forty-two US states have passed outpatient
commitment laws in the last 15 years, allowing
citizens to be court ordered to take psychiatric
drugs against their will even while living
peacefully in their own homes.
The official minutes from the meeting reveal
that psychiatrist Sally L. Satel -- in her
own words -- called for the federal government to
encourage the States to use more "coercive,"
"intrusive, highly paternalistic" and
"involuntary care." A federal employee confirmed
to MindFreedom that Satel used these exact words.
Since the Bush Administration is also calling
for screening of all US citizens for mental
health problems, Dr. Satel's crusade for more
coercion could potentially impact any American.
The President's Psychiatrist: Dr. Satel
President Bush appointed psychiatrist Sally
Satel to the National Advisory Council (NAC)
for the US Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS).
CMHS oversees hundreds of millions of federal
money for mental health care, and the NAC must
approve all grants.
This Fall the official minutes were released for
the 16 June 2004 NAC meeting in Rockville, MD:
http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/AdvisoryCouncil/minutes/
min0904.asp
Dr. Satel, according to the minutes, stated her
goals for the important "State Incentive Grants"
(SIGs) that the federal government uses to impact
mental health policy and practice in the States.
The official minutes reported Dr. Satel's comments
about goals for the future of USA mental health:
"She recommended that SIGs address whether States
provide assisted outpatient treatment. Acknowledging
her controversial view, she noted that stigma
regarding severe mental illness may be addressed
by early coercive care that then migrates into
other, less coercive systems. She asserted that
some people need intrusive, highly paternalistic,
life-saving care....Dr. Satel offered to provide
contacts for a discussion on involuntary care."
Dr. Satel also challenged the concept of
"recovery" for people diagnosed with
psychiatric disabilities.
Dr. Satel's comments will come as no surprise to
those familiar with her work. Dr. Satel wrote the
book _PC MD_ that devotes a chapter called "Inmates
Take Over the Asylum" to denouncing the social
change movement led by psychiatric survivors and
mental health consumers.
Dr. Satel works for the American Enterprise
Institute (AEI), which is one of the best-funded
corporate think tanks in Washington, D.C. AEI is
widely acknowledged to have some of the closest
ties to the Bush Administration of any think tank,
especially to the Cheney's.
As an example of their influence, an investigation by
_Mother Jones Magazine_ credits AEI with laying the
groundwork for the war in Iraq. AEI, which is partly
funded by pharmaceutical corporations and has a
pharmaceutical company CEO on its board, also held an
all-day gathering to promote more forced psychiatry.
Enforcement Arm for Screening?
Concern is rapidly spreading among both conservative
and progressive circles about Bush administration
announced plans -- directly created by the pharmaceutical
industry -- to screen each and every American for mental
health problems.
The President's New Freedom Commission called for this
widespread screening, which is already being put into
effect in a number of schools in the US. Adults would
also be screened during routine visits to their general
practitioner for annual exams and common ailments.
But what if a US citizen says "No!" to mental health
screening, for their child or themselves?
In a 21 October 2004 letter in the _Washington Times_,
Michael F. Hogan, chair of the President's Commission
defended it from charges, saying, "The commission did
not call for mandatory universal mental-health screening
for all children."
But many in the public are still very concerned. Rep.
Ron Paul, a Republican congressperson from Texas,
has proposed a bill from the floor of the House on
6 Oct. called "Let Parents Raise Their Kids Act," to
try to prevent any coerced screening of children.
And what about adults?
The President's New Freedom Commission did not oppose
forced outpatient commitment and other forms of
psychiatric coercion being promoted by Dr. Satel.
The fact is the MindFreedom office regularly receives
phone calls, e-mail and letters from US citizens who
are already under a wide range of coercion in their
own homes and out in their own neighborhoods to force
them to take psychiatric drugs, drugs that can cause
brain damage, addiction and death. While MindFreedom
is pro-choice about taking prescribed psychiatric
drugs, to be forced to take them is a profound
violation of fundamental human rights.
When the President's New Freedom Commission's vision
of widespread screening is combined with Dr. Satel's
vision of even more "intrusive, highly paternalistic...
coercive... involuntary care," we're left with
"more of the same" by the mental health system:
A chemical crusade backed up by government coercion.
- end -
~~~~~~~~~~
For more information about mental health screening:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_psychiatry.shtml
For more information about Dr. Sally Satel:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_b.shtml
http://www.aei.org/scholars/scholarID.69/scholar.asp
For Michael Hogan's letter to the _Washington Times_:
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20041020-092931-2216r.htm
For information on Rep. Ron Paul's new bill:
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2004/cr100604.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
NEW ISSUE OF MINDFREEDOM NEWSJOURNAL IS OUT
A new issue of _MindFreedom Journal_ is now out, featuring
articles about mental health screening, the globalization
of mental health human rights violations and much more. Join!
To get your copy and support human rights campaigns, join
here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward.
From oaks at mindfreedom.org Thu Oct 21 15:02:46 2004
From: oaks at mindfreedom.org (David Oaks - www.MindFreedom.org)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: Who bankroll$ extremist psychiatrist Torrey?
Message-ID: <F09A5801-23AC-11D9-9990-000A95C0B960@mindfreedom.org>
NEWS: http://www.MindFreedom.org - 21 Oct. 2004
PSYCHIATRIST E. FULLER TORREY FACES
CHARGES OF FRAUDULENT "BRAIN HARVESTING."
TORREY PUSHES FOR MORE FORCED PSYCHIATRY.
WHO FUNDS E. FULLER TORREY'S WORK?
by David Oaks, Director, MindFreedom
One of the main psychiatrists in the world to promote the use
of more force by psychiatry -- E. Fuller Torrey -- is in the
midst of a controversy because of the way his organization
apparently obtained brains for research without proper
informed consent of families. (See alert AT BOTTOM.)
To whom is Dr. Torrey accountable?
Much of the millions of dollars behind much of Torrey's work
are from millionaire Ted Stanley who owns MBI Inc., one of
the biggest direct marketers in the world. You may
recognize MBI's product outlets such as Danbury Mint, the Easton
Press, the Postal Commemorative Society and others. MBI Inc.'s
web site claims they launch about 500 new products each year.
With those millions Dr. Torrey has been lobbying for more
forced psychiatry, especially the use of court orders to
require US citizens to take psychiatric drugs while living
in their own homes. Today, 42 USA states have such
"outpatient commitment" laws.
Torrey and his Treatment Advocacy Center have also pushed research
into implanted disks with time released neuroleptic psychiatric drugs.
See http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/implant_1.shtml.
And apparently Dr. Torrey has been unethically obtaining
the brains of people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities
for research. (See alert and articles at bottom.)
~~~~~~~~
* ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *
BELOW is contact information for civil phone calls and
media inquiries to Mr. Ted Stanley to ask him about
his funding of Dr. Torrey's pursuit of more involuntary
psychiatric procedures and his pursuit of more brains.
You may need to talk about much more general subjects
in order to reach Ted Stanley on the phone line first,
or leave a civil message.
MBI Inc
47 Richards Ave
Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
http://www.mbi-inc.com/
webmail@mbi-inc.com
Phone number to try to reach Ted Stanley c/o of his
assistant Barbara at MBI Inc. is: (203) 853-2000.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: "Why have you not held Dr. Torrey
accountable for his promotion of forced psychiatry,
and his apparently improper brain collection methods?"
BELOW is a release from AHRP about the brain
theft controversy with news articles. Feel free to forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[BELOW is separate forwarded message by AHRP
that is not related to above introduction.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward.
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION Promoting
Openness and Full Disclosure www.ahrp.org
FYI
An investigative series of articles in Sunday's
Portland Press Herald (excerpt below) reveals that the
state's funeral inspector had harvested and shipped 99
brains--one third without informed consent--to the
Stanley Foundation. The Stanley Foundation maintains
a brain bank of about 560 brains of people diagnosed
with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, many of who
committed suicide.
In the UK a similar scandal has led the government to
pledge tightened legal protection: BBC reports that
the government indicated its intention to "'enshrine
the principles' of informed consent - changing the
emphasis away from simply acting if relatives object,
towards having to gain explicit consent in every
case."
See: BBC. Q&A: Brain 'theft' inquiry 2003/05/12
See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3021367.stm
The Stanley Foundation is headed by E. Fuller Torrey,
a psychiatrist whose controversial viral theory of
schizophrenia has not been validated by any
confirmatory evidence. The Stanley Foundation is the
largest private funder of mental illness research:
providing $40 million a year in grants for research in
schizophrenia and manic-depression--whether the
research meets ethical standards or not.
For example, Stanley has funded symptom provocation
experiments (a.k.a. "challenge studies") that
deliberately exacerbated patients' disabling condition
in order to take brain scans during a psychotic
episode. Our complaints about such inhumane
experiments on mentally disabled human beings aroused
public condemnation, forcing the director of the
National Institute of Mental Health to shut down 29
such experiments in 1998. But that has not changed
the schizophrenia research culture.
Until the Gagnon family filed a lawsuit against Mathew
Cyr, the state's funeral inspector, the Stanley
Foundation, and Torrey, charging them with taking
their son's brain without their permission, the
Stanley Foundation never disclosed how it acquired its
brains. Private research foundations are accountable
to no one except themselves. AHRP believes that
invites abuse.
According to the Portland Herald, the Stanley
Foundation paid Cyr $150,000 for his services. The
arrangement was approved by the state Chief Medical
Officer who had been approached by Dr. Torrey. Of
note: The Stanley Foundation is not accredited by the
American Association of Tissue Banks, a national
organization that sets ethical standards.
The Herald reports: "Some of the consent forms
obtained by the newspaper indicate that phone calls
between Cyr and the families were supposed to be
tape-recorded. However, someone crossed out the word
"recorded" on the form and wrote the word "witnessed."
"Dow, of the Attorney General's Office, said the state
does not have any recordings of the phone calls. Nor
are state officials aware of any such recordings.
Lorie Stevens of Bucksport was listed as the witness
on 65 of the 68 forms. In any dispute with a donor
family, the relationship between Cyr and Stevens could
undermine efforts to show that the brains were
obtained with the families' clear permission"
Court documents reveal rather tawdry business
transactions. For example, to increase the number of
brains sent to the Foundation, Torrey offered greater
and greater financial incentives to Cyr. Torrey put a
higher price tag on the brains of people diagnosed
with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder ($2,000)
compared to those diagnosed with depression ($1,500);
and he paid Cyr an extra $500 for obtaining a donor's
psychiatric records.
In a March 2001 letter, the Herald reports: "Torrey
also encouraged Cyr to take advantage of his state
government connections. He suggested that Cyr offer a
modest sum of money to a clerical employee in the
Medical Examiner's Office to send the request letters
on office stationery.
"It is our experience with San Diego and Seattle that
when a record request is sent out on (medical
examiner's office) stationery at the time of death,
the response is excellent and very rapid," Torrey
wrote.
No employee of the Medical Examiner's Office sent such
letters, according to Dow, spokesman for the attorney
general. Greenwald, through the spokesman, said she
is not aware that any employee in her office was asked
to do such work.
In his March 2001 letter to Cyr Torrey wrote: "Given
your energy and track record in obtaining specimens,
it seems reasonable that you could average about two
normal controls and one case per month, which if you
also obtained records, would gross $5,000-$5,500 per
month although we can cover whatever you can obtain.
Obviously some months might be better and some worse."
In the US, a 1987 Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,
prohibits the trafficking of organs for transplants,
there is no federal law prohibiting the sale of human
organs for research. Given the lucrative financial
incentives, and the absence of regulatory restraints,
a cottage industry in brain harvesting is thriving in
the US and the UK: many of the brains are acquired by
academic research institutions were acquired without
the knowledge or informed consent of surviving
relatives.
One might question the validity of the legal double
standard applied to organ harvesting for
transplantation compared to research--inasmuch as
organ transplants save lives, while one is hard
pressed to point at any clinically significant
diagnostic or therapeutic improvements as a result of
these brain studies.
See: PORTLAND PRESS HERALD series. Ethical problems
plagued brain donations in Maine By KEVIN WACK,
October 17, 2004 online at:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/041017brain.shtml
Of further note: The Stanley Foundation also bankrolls
the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) a lobbying
organization that exploits the perception that
mentally ill patients are violent, in order to promote
state involuntary commitment laws for mental patients
to allow them to be "treated." The tactic says much
about ruthless prophets whose arrogant certainty about
what's good for others leads them to justify any means
toward achieving those ends.
As the facts about psychotropic drug effects continue
to unfold, it will become evident that more often than
not, the drugs, not the disorder, are the catalyst for
violent behavior.
See, for example: Psychiatrist: Mom was depressed
Hearing held for Polk woman charged in fire death of
her children By Matt Birkbeck. October 19, 2004
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-
b1_1childdeathsoct19,0,4608449.story?col
l=all-newslocal-hed
Another example: "Her 14-year-old daughter, Dominique,
died in April 2003 after jumping into a canal. Slater
blames her death on the four different antidepressants
her daughter was put on in less than a year. She said
the drug companies failed to warn of suicide risk and
that Dominique's doctors failed to carefully monitor
her.
Dominique's depression began during the summer of
2002. She told her parents she had taken an Internet
survey sponsored by a drug company that seemed to
confirm her depression and asked to see a doctor.
The family physician agreed Dominique was depressed
and put her on an antidepressant. A month later, she
tried to kill herself but failed.
A series of antidepressants and hospitalizations
ensued. Finally, after being put on the drug
Effexor... Days later, her daughter was dead.
Sacramento Bee: Warning spurs caution on
antidepressants in kids By Dorsey Griffith, September
27, 2004.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/10892887p-11810493c.html
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav 212-595-8974
veracare@ahrp.org
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2004/10/17/
brain_harvesting_operation_raises_questions/
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Brain-harvesting program faulted Parents say donation
lacked consent By Associated Press October 18, 2004
PORTLAND, Maine -- A Gorham couple's claim that their
dead son's entire brain was donated to a research
laboratory in Maryland without their consent points to
a lack of oversight of brain harvesting at the state
medical examiner's office, according to the Maine
Sunday Telegram.
The newspaper said its investigation found that 31 of
99 brains that were shipped from Maine to the Stanley
Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., from 1999
to 2003 lacked consent forms that would provide
written proof that family members authorized the
donations.
The brain harvesting was coordinated by Matthew Cyr,
who was then the state's funeral inspector. The
Telegram said the Stanley Institute paid Cyr $1,000 to
$2,000 for each brain he sent there, and that records
show that he collected more than $150,000 from the
laboratory during the four years. Cyr resigned his
part-time post as funeral inspector last August. Four
months earlier, he was named, along with the private
research laboratory and its founder, as a defendant in
a lawsuit filed by Frank and Lorraine Gagnon in
Cumberland County Superior Court.
The Gagnons said they agreed to supply a 1-inch or
2-inch sample of the brain of their son, A.J. Gagnon,
who died last year of a drug overdose. Lorraine
Gagnon said she was stunned to learn that her son's
entire brain had been taken.
''This is a kid I brought into the world and loved and
cherished, and in death they have no right to touch
him," Lorraine Gagnon said. Officials with the
Stanley Institute, renowned for its research into
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are fighting the
lawsuit. The lab's founder, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey,
concluded in a memo last year that Lorraine Gagnon
consented to the brain removal, then changed her mind.
''This is the first such instance in the 560 brains we
have collected to date but should be expected to occur
occasionally, given the difficult circumstances of
death for a family. We will therefore return the
brain to the funeral home as Ms. Gagnon requests,"
Torrey wrote.
In June 2003, a brain, identified by the Stanley
Institute as A.J. Gagnon's, was sent to a Portland
funeral home for cremation.
Maine's connection with the Stanley Institute came
about after Dr. Margaret Greenwald was hired as
Maine's deputy chief medical examiner in 1997.
Greenwald, now chief medical examiner, had done work
for Torrey's brain bank while she was in San Diego and
he approached her in 1998 about supplying brains from
Maine.
Greenwald declined the offer but suggested that Torrey
work with Cyr, who went on to coordinate the brain
harvesting work within the medical examiner's office
in Augusta. Cyr, who now works as a police officer in
Bucksport, still has a contract with the medical
examiner's office to answer its phones after business
hours, when reports of fatal accidents, drug
overdoses, and suicides often come in. Cyr did not
respond to the Telegram's requests for an interview
and has not responded to the suit.
Chuck Dow, spokesman at the attorney general's office,
said there is no evidence that any laws were broken
during the period when Cyr supplied the research
laboratory with brains, but several bioethicists said
lax oversight and record-keeping can invite problems.
C Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
~~~~~~~
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/041017torrey.shtml
Portland Press Herald Sunday, October 17, 2004 Deep
pockets fuel brain researcher's quest By KEVIN WACK,
It's a scientist's dream - a mega-rich philanthropist
opens his checkbook to underwrite your research.
Suddenly the constant scramble for money is a memory.
And there's more. Your benefactor is so committed
that millions of dollars are left over, meaning you
can issue grants of your own and extend your influence
worldwide. Fifteen years ago, that's exactly what
happened to Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, founder of the
Stanley Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md.
Torrey had written a book called "Surviving
Schizophrenia," in which he argued that mental-illness
research was underfunded. The book struck a chord
with a Connecticut businessman whose son was diagnosed
in the late 1980s with bipolar disorder, or manic
depression.
Ted Stanley, who built a fortune in direct-mail
marketing, arranged to meet the book's author for
dinner. Since then, the philanthropist and his wife
have given hundreds of millions of dollars to a
research institute founded by Torrey, whose
contractor's efforts to collect brains in Maine are
the subject of a lawsuit. It's not the first time
that Torrey, once described by the Washington Post as
the "perhaps the most famous psychiatrist in America,"
has faced controversy.
His theories about possible infectious causes of
schizophrenia are seen by many researchers as outside
the mainstream. Another lightning rod is Torrey's
support for forcing drug treatment on some mentally
ill patients, which he voiced during a "60 Minutes"
interview in 2002.
But Torrey's detractors have not soured the Stanleys'
support. "Obviously we've been very impressed by
him," Ted Stanley said in a telephone interview from
his office at MBI Inc. in Norwalk, Conn. "Basically,
we provide the money, and he has figured out what to
do with it." The first research programs began in 1989
at what would become the nonprofit Stanley Institute.
Five years later, Torrey started a brain bank so he
would have brains to use for his own research.
Torrey, 67, hopes to find the causes of schizophrenia
and bipolar disorder - or, short of that, to develop
more effective treatments.
Those are daunting scientific challenges, Torrey said
in a telephone interview. "The complexity of the
brain is extraordinary, and it's also been
extraordinarily underresearched. It's in a very
inconvenient place called your head," he said.
For most of Torrey's more than 30 years in psychiatry,
he has been exploring the idea that infectious agents
contribute to schizophrenia. "I think he's been on a
mission to prove that," said Dr. Daniel Weinberger of
the National Institute of Mental Health, who has at
times criticized Torrey but also has collaborated with
him. "And I don't think he's been particularly
objective in his analyses of the data."
In 2000, Weinberger told an academic magazine that
Torrey's viral theory is "very interesting" but has
"been supported by very little credible scientific
data."
Today, science has established that genetics are
central to explaining schizophrenia, something Torrey
acknowledges. "There are now five, close to 10
schizophrenia genes that have been found," Weinberger
said. "We're no longer in the realm of speculation
when it comes to schizophrenia."
However, establishing the role of genes does not
necessarily rule out the involvement of infectious
agents. One theory being explored by Torrey posits a
link between schizophrenia and Toxoplasma gondii, a
parasite found in cat feces. Dr. Irving Gottesman of
the University of Minnesota, a leading proponent of
genetic explanations, said environmental factors,
including viruses, could trigger the disease among
people who have a genetic predisposition.
This explanation offers some common ground between
Torrey and mainstream geneticists, but there are still
differences. "We don't agree on the major causes in
the story of schizophrenia. But we've agreed to
disagree," Gottesman said.
Torrey's theories cast a large shadow over the field,
in part because he oversees the distribution of so
much money. Last year, the institute's rapidly
growing research budget exceeded $40 million, 74
percent of which was doled out to other researchers
through grants, according to the lab's 2003 annual
report.
Today, the Stanley Institute, which has 30 employees,
funds half of all U.S. research on bipolar disorder
and about a quarter of all schizophrenia research,
according to its Web site and various industry
reports. The Stanley Institute spends a large
percentage of its money funding research related to
Torrey's own viral theory, according to Gottesman. "I
have to say - as an outside judge with a biased
opinion - that Fuller is in a very powerful position,"
Gottesman said. Torrey's reputation as something of a
maverick among scientists extends well beyond his
research.
Xxx cut xxxx
- Staff researchers Julia McCue and Beth Murphy
contributed to this report. Staff Writer Kevin Wack
can be contacted at 282-8226 or at:
kwack@pressherald.com
[end AHRP alert]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded by http://www.MindFreedom.org
A NEW ISSUE OF MINDFREEDOM JOURNAL is now out.
Join or renew to get your issue about winning
human rights for people affected by the
mental health system.
From oaks at mindfreedom.org Tue Oct 26 12:16:51 2004
From: oaks at mindfreedom.org (David Oaks - www.MindFreedom.org)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: NEWS: Bush, Forced Psychiatry, and Mental Health in USA
Message-ID: <9774F3D6-2783-11D9-BC65-000A95C0B960@mindfreedom.org>
NEWS: Your Mind & Freedom - 26 October 2004
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward
"Whatcha Gonna Do When They Screen For You?"
Warning: Bush administration pushes for
more US citizens to be forcibly drugged,
even on outpatient basis.
by David Oaks, Director,
MindFreedom International
What would a second term by President George
W. Bush look like for the increasing number
of US citizens who are being "screened" by
the mental health system?
For some it may look like "One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest" has landed in their homes.
A Bush appointee to a key federal mental health
advisory council is pushing for more coerced
and involuntary outpatient commitment as a
central USA goal over the next few years.
Forty-two US states have passed outpatient
commitment laws in the last 15 years, allowing
citizens to be court ordered to take psychiatric
drugs against their will even while living
peacefully in their own homes.
The official minutes from the meeting reveal
that psychiatrist Sally L. Satel -- in her
own words -- called for the federal government to
encourage the States to use more "coercive,"
"intrusive, highly paternalistic" and
"involuntary care." A federal employee confirmed
to MindFreedom that Satel used these exact words.
Since the Bush Administration is also calling
for screening of all US citizens for mental
health problems, Dr. Satel's crusade for more
coercion could potentially impact any American.
The President's Psychiatrist: Dr. Satel
President Bush appointed psychiatrist Sally
Satel to the National Advisory Council (NAC)
for the US Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS).
CMHS oversees hundreds of millions of federal
money for mental health care, and the NAC must
approve all grants.
This Fall the official minutes were released for
the 16 June 2004 NAC meeting in Rockville, MD:
http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/AdvisoryCouncil/minutes/
min0904.asp
Dr. Satel, according to the minutes, stated her
goals for the important "State Incentive Grants"
(SIGs) that the federal government uses to impact
mental health policy and practice in the States.
The official minutes reported Dr. Satel's comments
about goals for the future of USA mental health:
"She recommended that SIGs address whether States
provide assisted outpatient treatment. Acknowledging
her controversial view, she noted that stigma
regarding severe mental illness may be addressed
by early coercive care that then migrates into
other, less coercive systems. She asserted that
some people need intrusive, highly paternalistic,
life-saving care....Dr. Satel offered to provide
contacts for a discussion on involuntary care."
Dr. Satel also challenged the concept of
"recovery" for people diagnosed with
psychiatric disabilities.
Dr. Satel's comments will come as no surprise to
those familiar with her work. Dr. Satel wrote the
book _PC MD_ that devotes a chapter called "Inmates
Take Over the Asylum" to denouncing the social
change movement led by psychiatric survivors and
mental health consumers.
Dr. Satel works for the American Enterprise
Institute (AEI), which is one of the best-funded
corporate think tanks in Washington, D.C. AEI is
widely acknowledged to have some of the closest
ties to the Bush Administration of any think tank,
especially to the Cheney's.
As an example of their influence, an investigation by
_Mother Jones Magazine_ credits AEI with laying the
groundwork for the war in Iraq. AEI, which is partly
funded by pharmaceutical corporations and has a
pharmaceutical company CEO on its board, also held an
all-day gathering to promote more forced psychiatry.
Enforcement Arm for Screening?
Concern is rapidly spreading among both conservative
and progressive circles about Bush administration
announced plans -- directly created by the pharmaceutical
industry -- to screen each and every American for mental
health problems.
The President's New Freedom Commission called for this
widespread screening, which is already being put into
effect in a number of schools in the US. Adults would
also be screened during routine visits to their general
practitioner for annual exams and common ailments.
But what if a US citizen says "No!" to mental health
screening, for their child or themselves?
In a 21 October 2004 letter in the _Washington Times_,
Michael F. Hogan, chair of the President's Commission
defended it from charges, saying, "The commission did
not call for mandatory universal mental-health screening
for all children."
But many in the public are still very concerned. Rep.
Ron Paul, a Republican congressperson from Texas,
has proposed a bill from the floor of the House on
6 Oct. called "Let Parents Raise Their Kids Act," to
try to prevent any coerced screening of children.
And what about adults?
The President's New Freedom Commission did not oppose
forced outpatient commitment and other forms of
psychiatric coercion being promoted by Dr. Satel.
The fact is the MindFreedom office regularly receives
phone calls, e-mail and letters from US citizens who
are already under a wide range of coercion in their
own homes and out in their own neighborhoods to force
them to take psychiatric drugs, drugs that can cause
brain damage, addiction and death. While MindFreedom
is pro-choice about taking prescribed psychiatric
drugs, to be forced to take them is a profound
violation of fundamental human rights.
When the President's New Freedom Commission's vision
of widespread screening is combined with Dr. Satel's
vision of even more "intrusive, highly paternalistic...
coercive... involuntary care," we're left with
"more of the same" by the mental health system:
A chemical crusade backed up by government coercion.
- end -
~~~~~~~~~~
For more information about mental health screening:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_psychiatry.shtml
For more information about Dr. Sally Satel:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_b.shtml
http://www.aei.org/scholars/scholarID.69/scholar.asp
For Michael Hogan's letter to the _Washington Times_:
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20041020-092931-2216r.htm
For information on Rep. Ron Paul's new bill:
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2004/cr100604.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
NEW ISSUE OF MINDFREEDOM NEWSJOURNAL IS OUT
A new issue of _MindFreedom Journal_ is now out, featuring
articles about mental health screening, the globalization
of mental health human rights violations and much more. Join!
To get your copy and support human rights campaigns, join
here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~
Please forward.
From office at MindFreedom.org Tue Sep 21 16:08:50 2004
From: office at MindFreedom.org (www.MindFreedom.org Office)
Date: Tue May 17 14:23:17 2005
Subject: MindFreedom News: Pfizer, Events, Bush, Voting & More
Message-ID: <BD760291.1EA95%office@MindFreedom.org>
MindFreedom News - 21 September 2004
http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward
Seven Brief News Items on Human Rights
and the Mental Health System:
~~~~~~~~~~
Pfizer, Inc. vs. MindFreedom - Round 3.
Maybe you've seen the Pfizer, Inc. ads with
the bouncing smiley face. The ad promises that
"Zoloft helps correct the chemical imbalance
of serotonin in the brain." Pfizer fibs.
MindFreedom's Scientific Panel has had a
new back and forth debate with Pfizer, Inc.
You can view the whole debate here, and ask
for a Congressional investigation:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/pfizerlies.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~
Debate on Bush Screening Heats Up
President Bush has approved plans
cooked up by the psychiatric drug
industry to screen every American,
especially students, for mental
health problems.
Watcha gonna do when they screen for you?
Opposition to mandatgory screening is
networking in a way that bridges
the usual "left - right" split,
including Rep. Ron Paul, MD, a
Republican Congressperson from
Texas, and progressive activists.
See the latest at:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_psychiatry.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~
MindFreedom Event in New York City.
"Human Rights and Alternatives: A way of Life"
is on Saturday, 9 October 2004. Celebrate
with music, food and speakers including Dr.
Peter Breggin, author Bob Whitaker, and
psychiatric survivor activists Judi
Chamberlin, David Oaks, Celia Brown.
It's also a tribute to Loren Mosher, MD.
Advance tickets recommended. Help MindFreedom
raise funds for human rights campaigns.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/nyc10-09-04event.shtml
This event dovetails with the conference
of the International Center for the Study
of Psychiatry and Psychology, a sponsor
group of MindFreedom. For info see:
http://www.icspp.org
~~~~~~~~~~
MindFreedom 2005 Action Conference
Save the date: "MindFreedom 2005 Action
Conference for Human Rights in Mental
Health: How the Law Can Support Grassroots
Action for Human Rights in the Mental
Health System."
29 April 2005 to 2 May 2005,
at American University Washington
College of Law, Washington, D.C.
An action-oriented conference. More info:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/action_conference.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~
MindFreedom at Alternatives 2004
If you are attending the conference
Alternatives 2004 in Denver drop by
the MindFreedom booth to check out
the Mad Market, plus catch the
MindFreedom workshop & caucus.
Participants who wish to volunteer
are encouraged to contact the office.
~~~~~~~~~~
New MindFreedom Journal at Press.
Read about the globalization of the
mental health system from the front
lines in India. Find out how you can
become active in MindFreedom campaigns.
Plus poetry, news briefs and more.
* Current members: If you have moved and
are *unsure* if we have your new postal
address to at: office@mindfreedom.org.
* Lapsed & future members: Don't miss the
new MindFreedom Journal. A great time to
renew or join is now. It's an easy way to
unite to support human rights:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml
* Not certain your membership is current?
Just ask Laurie at office@mindfreedom.org.
She'll make sure you get your issue, and
let you know when your membership expires.
~~~~~~~~~~
Voter Registration USA Deadlines Near.
In many states the deadline is soon for
first-time registration to vote in the
USA election. Help get this information to
people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities
who are often left out of the voting process.
Online info on registering:
https://register.campaign.com/democracy/e4/nvra/
~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE FORWARD THIS NEWS ALERT!
The majority of MindFreedom members have
personally experienced psychiatric human rights
violations, but membership is open to everyone
who supports human rights in mental health and
includes a