A website about misconduct by medical professionals toward mentally ill people.

There is a "Create Article" link on the left that will let you write an article if you like.

The first article, below, is one of many experiences I've had.

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Intro

In the 1980s I spent about 5 years in tropical Central and South America. Of that 5 years, well over half was spent in the forest, some miles away from electricity, plumbing etc.

 During that time, I had a lot of parasites.

I had botfly larvae (torsolo in Spanish, vers macaque in French), a small parasitic worm that burrows into the skin. Also numerous internal parasites (for which I regularly took an anti worm medicine called Mentezol), Leishmaniasis (a protozoal parasite) and others.

By 1990 I had a lot of experience with certain parasites and thought it was likely I still had some in my system.

In 1991 I noticed a small cyst on my left testicle and went to a urologist, Dr. Wrigley (an honest doctor, now retired). He said he thought I probably had early testicular cancer and suggested I see a second doctor for a second opinion.

For the second opinion I went to Dr Latha Subramanian, an Oncologist (cancer doctor). She said it certainly was not cancer.

I decided to go with the latter opinion, since it did not involve cutting off a testicle.

Forward about 10 years

In 2001 I started having a manic episode (I am diagnosed as Bipolar 1). In the course of this episode I ended up at Alaska Psychiatric Institute and told them about the cyst on my left testicle that seemed to be growing. I told them I had had it for about 10 years and it was probably some sort of parasitic infection.

Their immediate response was to tell me the testicle had to be removed. I said that I was not interested in that. They responded by getting a court order that said the testicle was to be removed. I asked if they would use force to enforce that order and I was told "yes".

Dr Subramanian was brought in to say that she had made a mistake when she said it was not cancer (though she did no new tests). Realizing that nobody was even listening to anything I said (this was after the mania had subsided) I asked to at least have the opportunity to consult with a tropical medicine specialist.  The only other medical doctor I had seen about this issue at the Psychiatric hospital was Dr. Kevin Tomera, the surgeon who the hospital was going to pay to remove the testicle.

I was told that a tropical medicine specialist would come in to determine if it was a parasitic infection or a cancer. The "tropical medicine specialist" who came in was a Dr. Strawbridge. Without doing any kind of exam or asking any questions about my history with parasites and my travel history, he said that it was absolutely cancer and not any parasitic infection. There was not any laboratory evidence of cancer beyond an ultrasound that showed "something" that could be cancer.

There literally was not one single doctor that was even willing to listen to the reasons that I thought it was not a case of an urgent cancer that had to be removed. The main issue being that I had had the cyst for 10 years, during which time it had not spread, so how is it now an urgent malignancy? Facing the threat of force I agreed to the operation.

After

 During one of my "cancer followups" I decided to go to a different doctor. I looked in the Yellow Pages and found Dr. Strawbridge. Only he wasn't a "Tropical Medicine specialist". He was the business partner of Dr. Tomera, who was paid to do the surgery. During the visit (I was polite) he noticed a spot on my spleen. He volunteered that considering my travel history it was probably some kind of parasite. In fact parasites are more common on a testicle than on a spleen.

At some point I got copies of my medical records and found some more annoying things.

Dr. Tomera had written in big letters on the top of the first page of my chart "Watch out. This guy is from API" [Alaska Psychiatric Institute].

Despite the fact that I had the cyst for more than ten years without it spreading, and despite the fact that there were not any of the usual signs of malignant cancer, I was told to have radiation therapy. In one of the files I found a letter from the radiation doctor (Dr. Chung) to the Urologist (Dr. Tomera) thanking him for "sending business" his way.

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About a week after writing the paragraphs above I googled Dr Tomera and found out that his ability to practice medicine had been restricted by the Alaska State medical board in 2008. The reason for the restriction is not given, but it also says he received 5 years "probation" of his medical license, a requirement for his practice to be supervised and other conditions.

http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pub/2008_Board_Action_Summary.pdf

Another page complains that he is not in compliance with his restrictions.

http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pub/MED_Meeting_Minutes_Oct_2008.pdf

Here is a different type of issue that is also annoying, though less so.

According to the U.S. government, "In 2008, physicians practicing primary care had total median annual compensation of $186,044, and physicians practicing in medical specialties earned total median annual compensation of $339,738."

In a country like India, desperately short of doctors, more than a thousand MD's go abroad every year in search of more money. Of course if things turned dramatically and India became a wealthy country many American doctors would suddenly develop a taste for curry.

Example 1

 At one point I had government insurance (i.e., Medicaid or Medicare). The insurance was going to expire so I called and asked when it was good til. I was told December 31 (of roughly 2005 or so).

I've had lifelong insomnia and very obvious sleep apnea (i.e., I wake up often in a startle from not breathing). I understand that sleep medicine is a "luxury" medicine, and I normally would not waste resources on it, but I decided to see a sleep doctor anyway and take advantage of the insurance.

I went to the sleep clinic, where they called in my insurance to verify it. After the clinic I met with the doctor and was given a prescription for a CPAP machine. I got the machine and went on my way. Within a few hours I got a call that the insurance was lapsed and I had to return the machine, which I did, immediately. Soon after, I got a bill for around $5,000, far more money than all of my possessions and cash and so on would possible add up to. I called the doctors office and was told that the portion of the bill that was from the brief (less than 5 minutes) consult with the doctor was about $900 but if I wrote a nice long letter to the doctor the amount might be reduced.

Example 2

After I had the surgery above, for the supposed cancer, I got a coupon from a human services agency to get a follow up. The coupon is something used to pay for specific individual visits.

I took the coupon to the urologist and he performed some tests and I scheduled a follow up to discuss the results. When I returned for the follow up, I was told that the coupon covered the first visit and the tests but that I would have to pay cash up front to discuss the results of the tests. The amount they wanted was far more than the cash I had at the time.

 A lot of people will defend doctors' financial policies.

 People will say "Doctors have to go to school for 8 years, they have student loans", etc, etc.

 I have many doctors in my family, and they are all ethical people. A number of doctors I've seen over the years were very competent and did their job well enough. But how on earth can a $180,000 plus salary be justified? Many times I have had to avoid medical care because of the cost. I would consider myself lucky to make 10% of the lower median salary of a doctor.

 Here is an example of something that deals with basic competence.

 The first time I was prescribed lithium, I was glad to have something that might hopefully prevent episodes. Lithium is an element, a common mineral, certainly not some complicated new pharmaceutical molecule.

Some months after being prescribed lithium I was in Oregon and ran out of it. As I seemed to be starting to get manic, I decided to get some immediately. I had limited funds so I went to one of the cheap walk in clinics that let you see a doctor briefly for $80 or so. The doctor said that I would have to get lithium from a psychiatrist. So, I called around and found that the starting price at every single local psychiatrist was over $200 for the "first visit". I tried explaining the situation and so on, but with no success.

So I went to another walk in clinic and explained again, bluntly, that I needed a prescription for lithium. This time the doctor said that he would write it but first I had to get my blood lithium level tested. Blood lithium levels are something a person does when they are taking lithium, to make sure the level is in a therapeutic range. I pointed out that I had not taken lithium for some time so my level would be about zero. Still, the doctor said he could not write the prescription unless I went to a lab first and got my blood lithium level checked. I argued and argued with no success.

Finally, I went to a pharmacy and asked the person there if they could give me a bit of lithium to last until I went back home. They said "sure".

 For comparison When I was younger I traveled a bit and occasionally used medical services in foreign countries.

On my first visit to Central America I got sick in Costa Rica. I was extremely ill for a while, almost unable to get up, it would take perhaps ten minutes or more to go from laying down to standing. I had a return ticket from Managua, so when I was able to travel I returned there, still quite sick. At the time there was a strong anti United States attitude (for political reasons) but still I had no difficulty seeing a doctor quickly. They had no medicines, because the United States was mining their harbors and preventing other countries from sending basic supplies. So the doctor was not able to do any tests, other than telling me I had low blood pressure, and was unable to give any treatment, but I got the best care that anyone there would get.

 Another time, in Costa Rica, I had a very painful problem in my ankle. I went to a doctor and was told it was two botfly laravae. The doctor put me on a gurney, removed the larvae with assistants, and that was that. In America it would have involved several visits and perhaps thousands of dollars. In Costa Rica it was a simple job done in a straightforward way.

Once, in India, I was approached by a monk who said he had a friend who was very ill. I went with an acquaintance and saw he was indeed not healthy. I went to town and asked a local doctor (Dr B. M. Soni, in Rishikesh) if he would take a look at the man. He closed his office and came on the ferry to the other side of the river to look at the man. He said it would be a good idea to bring the man to a hospital, which we did (though the man actually died shortly before we got to the hospital). Dr Soni charged me something like 200 rupees for the long house call (about $5).

 In addition, of course there have been a number of psychiatric hospitalizations abroad. In each case there is no comparison with the American system. Even in less developed countries doctors have a clear vision of mental illness as being an illness that requires treatment. In America mental illness, for most doctors, is entirely a business.

 Before my last manic episode (in 2010), I had been taking a commercial type of lithium used by the ceramic industry and available cheaply without prescription. Dosing it was a vague guessing game as I had no scale. Taking a little too much lithium causes tremors that make everyday tasks difficult, so a person must err on the low side.

As I realized I was becoming manic I decided to try to get some proper rx lithium. I already owed $300 to the one neighborhood low cost clinic, so that was not an option (they started requiring cash up front). The lithium itself is very inexpensive, but the prescription is not.

After trying many avenues, I decided to call my last doctor and explain the situation. I told him I was becoming manic, needed lithium and had no way to get a prescription. He said he would like to help me but since I was not a client at his organization any more, his hands were tied. Shortly after that (months) I was hospitalized again.

A person can suggest all sorts of potential options. "Do this. Do that." I'm a reasonably well educated person who is familiar with the various services offered in this town and I have great difficulty getting basic services. Many other people have much more difficulty.