Mental Health Inc

by Art Levine

  228 Steve Filton: Steve Filton, Presentation at Cowen Health Care Conference, March 4, 2013, cited in Amicus Curiae, Bazelon Center, Universal Health Services, Inc., v. United States and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Ex Rel. Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa, p. 4, S. Ct., no. 15-7, http://www.scotusblog.com.

  229 For nearly thirty years: David Altimari et al., “11 Months, 23 Dead,” Hartford Courant, October 11, 1998, http://articles.courant.com; also see “Universal Health Services: Profits Over People,” http://www.psychcrime.org; Service Employees International Union, Local 1107, Failure to Care, A National Report on Universal Health Service’s Behavioral Health Operations, December 1, 2006, http://www.nappp.org.

  229 died while being restrained: David Altimari, “11 Months, 23 Dead”; Deaths from Restraints in Psychiatric Facilities, Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, 106th Cong., 1st sess., April 13, 1999, 106–193, https://www.gpo.gov.

  229 burgeoning field: Matt Shea, “Teens Are Being Trapped in Abusive ‘Drug Rehab Centers,’” Vice, May 22, 2013, https://www.vice.com.

  229 as many as 200,000 kids: GAO, “Residential Facilities: Improved Data and Enhanced Oversight Would Help Safeguard the Well-Being of Youth with Behavioral and Emotional Challenges,” GAO-08-346, May 2008, http://www.gao.gov.

  230 earlier settled two lawsuits: Levine, “Dark Side of a Bain Success.”

  230 complaints about abusive staff conduct: Levine, “Dark Side of a Bain Success”; [Pseudonym for Toni Thayer], “Utah Does It Their Way,” October 2, 2006, http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php?topic=7205.15; Jonny Bonner, “Torture Alleged at Utah Treatment Center,” citing alleged incidents in 2005, Courthouse News Service, June 27, 2012, http://www.courthousenews.com/torture-alleged-at-utah-treatment-center/.

  231 4,000 scattered facilities: The Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY) nationwide facilities’ Excel spreadsheet, June 25, 2011, provided with permission of Brian Lombrowski, former CAFETY president; Email correspondence with Lombrowski, February 2014, online at https://www.scribd.com/document/343567772/Number-of-Teen-Treatment-Facilities; Angela Smith, It’s All the Rage! An In-depth Look at Behavior Modification in the United States, (Seattle: HEAL, 2010), http://www.heal-online.org/ebook.pdf.

  231 145 facilities nationwide: CRC Health Group, website, http://www.crchealth.com/about-us.

  231 industry-leading patient care: “CRC Health Group to Be Acquired by Acadia Healthcare,” PR Newswire, October 29, 2014, http://www.prnewswire.com.

  Chapter 13: Recipe for Disaster?

  233 finalized its takeover: Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., 10-K, February 27, 2015, 1, available at http://www.acadiahealthcare.com/investors/sec-filings.

  233 responsible for cleaning up the legal mess: Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., 8-K, July 2, 2015, 25–26, available at http://www.acadiahealthcare.com/investors/sec-filings.

  233 two drug treatment patients died: Walter Roche, Jr., “New Life Lodge Settles Suit Over Woman’s Death,” Tennessean, December 26, 2013, http://www.tennessean.com; “Lawsuit Filed Against Drug Rehab Center in Death,” Daily Report, November 30, 2012, http://www.dailyreportonline.com; Nate Rau and Walter Roche, Jr., “Death Prompts New Probe of Rehab Center,” Tennessean, October 27, 2011.

  233 froze all new admissions: Walter F. Roche, Jr. and Nate Rau, “New Life Lodge Investigated,” Tennessean, April 2, 2013, see online at https://static1.squarespace.com.

  234 won a $9.25 million settlement: Walter F. Roche, Jr., “New Life Lodge Agrees to Settle Charges,” Tennessean, April 16, 2014.

  234 prioritize profit margins: DOJ, “Tennessee Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Agrees to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for $9.25 Million,” news release, April 16, 2014; Nate Rau and Walter F. Roche, Jr., “New Life Lodge to Reopen in April, Accept Only Adults,” Tennessean, March 24, 2012.

  235 barred by the state from accepting Medicaid or Medicare: DOJ, “Tennessee Substance Abuse Treatment Facility…,” https://www.justice.gov; confirmed by author via phone call to facility, April 17, 2017.

  235 doing business as Mirror Lake: See Mirror Lake Recovery website at http://www.mirrorlakerecovery.com.

  235 8-K filing: Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., 8-K, July 2, 2015; Jim Higgins, “New Life Lodge Rehab Center Faces Lawsuit Over Death of Second Patient,” The Higgins Firm, September 22, 2011, https://www.tennesseelawblog.com.

  235 conference call: “CRC Health Group to Be Acquired by Acadia Health-care,” PR Newswire, October 29, 2014, http://www.prnewswire.com.

  235 “sexualized role play”: Maia Szalavitz, “Really Special Education: State Investigation Confirms ‘Lap Dance Therapy’ Allegations,” HuffPost, March 18, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com; Levine, “Dark Side of a Bain Success”; Michelle Cole, “State Suspends License From Central Oregon School for Troubled Teens,” Oregonian, November 3, 2009, http://www.oregonlive.com.

  235 potentially costly counter-claim: CRC Health Group et al. and the State of Oregon, Settlement Agreement and Release, September 28, 2010, http://www.theinvestigativefund.org; Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, & Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment, “Case Charging Abuse of Students at Mount Bachelor Academy Closes,” December 2010, http://astartforteens.org.

  235 claimed the allegations: Shelby R. King, “Lawsuit Against Mount Bachelor Academy Moving Forward,” Bulletin (Bend, OR), January 7, 2014, http://www.bendbulletin.com; Claire Withycombe, “Mount Bachelor Academy Suits Resolved Privately,” Bulletin, January 22, 2015, http://www.bendbulletin.com.

  236 settled three separate lawsuits: Withycombe, “Mount Bachelor Academy Suits Resolved.”

  236 died of heatstroke: Steve Beaven, “Portland Teen Collapses and Dies During Wilderness Camp Hike,” Oregonian, September 1, 2009, http://www.oregonlive.com; Erin Golden, “No Closure in SageWalk Death,” Bulletin, August 29, 2010; for Lake County Sheriff’s press release, see “Homicide Charges Possible in SageWalk Student Death,” WTVZ, March 30, 2010, available at http://www.heal-online.org/homicide033010.pdf.

  237 “unwelcomed bumps in the road”: Levine, “Dark Side of a Bain Success.”

  238 reviewed 911 log data: Incidents at Specific Address, 3192 Glen Canyon Road, January 2008–August 2011, Santa Cruz Regional 911, 9-page report, http://www.theinvestigativefund.org.

  238 scathing report: John Hill, Rogue Rehabs: State Failed to Police Drug and Alcohol Homes, With Deadly Results, California Senate Rules Committee, Office of Outcomes and Oversight, September 4, 2012, http://sooo.senate.ca.gov.

  238 felon-run treatment centers: California State Auditor Report 2013–119, August 2014, https://www.auditor.ca.gov; Christina Jewett and Will Evans, “Rehab Racket,” series by Center for Investigative Reporting, http://cironline.org/rehabracket.

  238 eleven criminal cases: Christina Jewett, “Two Years Later, California Is Still Cleaning Up Drug Rehab System,” Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, November 12, 2015, https://www.revealnews.org.

  238 sweeping anti-fraud investigation: Julie Miller, “Health Net Looking for Fraud Among Treatment Centers,” Behavioral Healthcare Executive, January 28, 2016, http://www.behavioral.net/article/health-net-looking-fraud-among-treatment-centers.

  238 unlicensed psychiatric evaluations: Hill, Rogue Rehabs, 31.

  239 dozen young people: Jesse Hyde, “Life and Death in a Troubled Teen Boot Camp,” Rolling Stone, November 12, 2015.

  239 “were not faking it”: U.S. House, 110th Congress, no. 110–68, Cases of Child Neglect and Abuse at Private Residential Treatment Facilities, Hearing Before the Committee on Education and Labor, October 10, 2007 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2008), 31, https://www.gpo.gov.

  239 never investigated the deaths: Levine, “Dark Side of a Bain Success”; Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs Reported Narcotic Treatment Program (NTP) Patient Deaths FY 2006–2007, September 15, 2011, http://www.theinvestigativefund.org.

  240 failing to properly screen patients: Sydney P. Freeberg,
“Drug Users Turn Death Dealers as Methadone From Bain Hits Street,” Bloomberg, February 8, 2013, https://www.bloomberg.com.

  240 over eighty methadone clinics: See at CRC Health website, http://www.crchealth.com.

  240 loosely regulated: Freeberg, “Drug Users Turn Death Dealers.”

  240 lowers overdose mortality by 75 percent: Maia Szalavitz, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction (New York: St. Martins, 2016).

  242 criticized the Joint Commission: Andis Robeznieks with Matthew DoBias, “Joint Commission Under Fire,” Modern Healthcare, March 12, 2007, http://www.modernhealthcare.com.

  242 notorious chains: Cult Education Institute, “Straight Inc.,” news articles 1983–2007, https://www.culteducation.com/group/1274-straight-inc.html.

  242 as many as ninety lawsuits: Wesley M. Fager, “Some Civil Suits and Criminal Cases Against Straight, Inc. and Straight-Descendent Programs,” The Straights, May 27, 2002, http://thestraights.net.

  242 remained in their executive posts: “CRC Health Group CEO to Step Down; Announces Search for Successor,” CRC Health, press release, June 28, 2010, http://www.crchealth.com.

  242 remains in her post: Trina Quinney-Packard, Executive Director, bio, http://www.youthcare.com/about/staff/trina-packard/.

  242 down to just four treatment facilities: Aspen Education Group, “Help for Troubled Teens: Residential and Wilderness Programs,” http://aspeneducation.crchealth.com.

  243 two lawsuits: Sebastian Murdock, “The Troubled Teen Industry Has Been a Disaster for Decades,” HuffPost, Aug 23, 2016, http://testkitchen.huffingtonpost.com/island-view/.

  243 Seroquel and other antipsychotics: Murdock, “Troubled Teen Industry Has Been a Disaster.”

  NOTE: CRC’s reply to the author’s July 2012 Salon article and my response can be read online at https://www.scribd.com/document/344435519/CRC-Reply-to-2012-Salon-Article.

  244 lobbied for by HEAL: Washington State House of Representatives, 2016 Regular Session, House Bill 2746-S.PL, online at https://www.scribd.com; also see HEAL, State Action Campaign[s], http://www.heal-online.org/action2.htm.

  244 oversight law: Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008, H.R. 5876 (110th Cong.), https://www.govtrack.us.

  244 including religious schools: Private Alternative Boarding Schools and Outdoor Programs, Senate (State of California), SB-524, approved September 30, 2016, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

  244 Survivors of Institutional Abuse: For SIA website, go to http://www.sia-now.org.

  245 “regulate this rogue industry”: Los Angeles LGBT Center, “Protecting Youth From Institutional Abuse Act,” press release, Sept 1, 2016, https://lalgbtcenter.org.

  Chapter 14: Florida/Free-Fire Zone for Killing, Abusing and Raping Kids?

  246 ‘I was raped.’: Art Levine, “Alleged Rapes Show How Failed Oversight Endangers Florida’s Most Vulnerable Children,” Miami New Times, November 11, 2014, http://www.miaminewtimes.com.

  247 the same day: See excerpt LWPD incident report, March 4, 2011, https://www.scribd.com.

  248 Richard Straughn: Letter from Richard Straughn, November 3, 2014, https://www.scribd.com.

  249 National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP): Testimony of Jan Moss, Executive Director, Cases of Child Abuse and Neglect at Private Residential Treatment Facilities, House Committee on Education and Labor, October 10, 2007, 44–75, https://www.gpo.gov.

  250 ninety-six children died: Nina Berman and Michael Mechanic, “It Was Kind of Like Slavery,” Mother Jones, February 19, 2014.

  250 unmonitored Christian academies: Alexandra Zayas et al., “In God’s Name: Unlicensed Religious Children’s Homes,” Tampa Bay Times, October 2012, http://www.tampabay.com/faccca/.

  250 nearly five hundred children: Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D. S. Burch, “Preserving Families but Losing Children,” Miami Herald, March 16, 2014, part I of series, “Innocents Lost,” http://media.miamiherald.com.

  253 fired in January 2012: Phil Attinger, “Capt. James Foy Fired From Police Force,” The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida), January 14, 2012, http://www.theledger.com.

  Chapter 15: Karen’s Story and The Mental Health System That Never Was

  257 $444 billion a year: Liz Szabo, “Cost of Not Caring: Nowhere to Go,” USA Today, May 12, 2014.

  257 reduce relapses: SAMHSA, DHHS, Family Psychoeducation: The Evidence, pub. no. SMA-09-4422, Center for Mental Health Services, 2009, https://store.samhsa.gov/; William R. McFarlane et al., “Clinical and Functional Outcomes After 2 Years in the Early Detection and Intervention for the Prevention of Psychosis Multisite Effectiveness Trial,” Schizophrenia Bulletin 41, no. 1 (2015): 30–43, https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin.

  261 800 percent more likely to develop schizophrenia: Pekka Tienari et al., “Genotype-environment Interaction in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorder,” British Journal of Psychiatry 184, no. 3 (February 2004): 216–222, http://bjp.rcpsych.org.

  Chapter 16: Why Can’t We Just Do What Works?

  271 pioneered a work program: Liz Szabo, “‘Bleak Picture’ for Mentally Ill: 80% Are Jobless,” USA Today, July 10, 2014; “About IPS,” The IPS Employment Center, The Rockville Institute, https://www.ipsworks.org/about-ips/.

  271 A little over half: NAMI, “Mental Health by the Numbers,” http://www.nami.org.

  271 unemployment rate: NAMI, “Road to Recovery,” July 1, 2014, 17, https://www.nami.org/.

  272 two-thirds of people: Gary Bond et al., “Making the Case for IPS Supported Employment,” Administration and Policy in Mental Health 41, no. 1 (January 2014): 69–73, researchers’ copy online at https://www.researchgate.net.

  272 No one is excluded: K. Campbell et al., “Who Benefits From Supported Employment: A Meta-Analytic Study,” Schizophrenia Bulletin, 37, no. 2 (March 2011), https://academic.oup.com.

  272 Cornerstone Montgomery: Vocational Department at Cornerstone Montgomery, Inc., http://www.cornerstonemontgomery.org/vocational.

  274 $166,000: P. W. Bush et al., “The Long-Term Impact of Employment on Mental Health Service Use and Costs for Persons With Severe Mental Illness,” Psychiatric Services 60, no. 8 (August 2009), http://ps.psychiatry-online.org.

  274 portions of approximately twenty states: Johnson & Johnson Dartmouth Community Mental Health Program, “Johnson & Johnson–Dartmouth Community Mental Health Program: The IPS Learning Community,” January 25, 2016, https://www.ipsworks.org; update by Robert Drake, phone interview with author, April 2017.

  274 billions wasted on medications: Art Levine, “Follow the Money,” American Prospect, June 20, 2008, http://prospect.org/article/follow-money.

  275 mandated reforms: Disability Rights Center, New Hampshire, “Federal Judge Approves Class Action Settlement Expanding Mental Health Services,” February 12, 2014, http://www.drcnh.org/mentalhealthcrisis.html.

  276 didn’t make the toolkits available: SAMHSA Publications Ordering, http://store.samhsa.gov/list/series?name=Evidence-Based-Practices-KITs.

  276 published in 2007: Gregory McHugo et al., “Fidelity Outcomes in the National Implementing Evidence-Based Practices Project,” Psychiatric Services 58, no. 10 (October 2007), http://ps.psychiatryonline.org.

  277 blamed: Reply from SAMHSA on Delays in Evidence-Based Toolkits, Implementation, February 5, 2016, 3–4, online at https://www.scribd.com.

  Chapter 17: Putting People Before Big Pharma

  284 illnesses develop by age twenty-four: Child Mind Institute, Children’s Mental Health Report, 2015, http://www.speakupforkids.org/report.html.

  284 Dr. Peter Breggin: Peter R. Breggin, Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide, and Crime (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008).

  285 appeared to worsen prospects: Thomas Insel, “Antipsychotics: Taking the Long View,” NIMH, August 28, 2013, https://www.nimh.nih.gov.

  285 either/or debate: Sarah Glazer, “Are Antipsychotic Drugs the Best Treatment?” CQ Researcher 24, no.
43 (December 5, 2014), http://library.cqpress.com.

  285 few people: Liz Szabo, “Solutions to Woes of Mentally Ill Exist but Aren’t Used,” USA Today, December 22, 2014, http://www.usatoday.com.

  286 biology doubtlessly plays a key: Eric R. Kandel, “The New Science of Mind,” New York Times, September 6, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com; P. F. Sullivan et al., “Schizophrenia as a Complex Trait: Evidence From a Meta-Analysis of Twin Studies,” Archives of General Psychiatry 60 no. 2 (December 2003): 1187–1192, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; Benedict Carey, “Scientists Move Closer to Understanding Schizophrenia’s Cause,” New York Times, January 27, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com.

  286 “The Village,” a successful program: Art Levine, “Abilify Is Top-Selling U.S. Drug—But New Reports Question Long-Term Antipsychotic Use, Cite Need for Personalized Services,” HuffPost, December 12, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com; MHALA The Village outcomes are online at https://www.scribd.com.

  286 compassionate psychiatrist: Mark Ragins, “Dr. Mark’s Writings,” MHA The Village, http://mhavillage.squarespace.com/writings.

  289 Hearing Voices Network: Benedict Carey, “An Alternative Form of Mental Health Care Gains a Foothold,” New York Times, August 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com.

  290 best: Full Service Partnership Program, program brochure, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, http://file.lacounty.gov.

  291 Alameda County in California: Alameda County–Dartmouth Collaborative, Behavioral Health Care Services, Alameda County (CA), http://www.acbhcs.org.

  291 smeared by critics: D. J. Jaffe, “SAMHSA Slammed by Congress…and for Good Reason,” HuffPost, May 24, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com; for an opposing view, see October 16, 2013 reply letter from members of National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery to Torrey and Jaffe National Review article, August 15, 2013, http://www.ncmhr.org.

  292 Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz: McCance-Katz, “New Hope for the Mentally Ill,” National Review, November 22, 2016, http://amp.nationalreview.com; McCance-Katz, “The Federal Government Ignores the Treatment Needs of Americans With Serious Mental Illness,” Psychiatric Times, April 21, 2016, http://www.psychiatrictimes.com.