In Bending Science: How Special Interests Corrupt Public Health Research 1 Thomas McGarity and Wendy Wagner describe how special interest groups scheme to advance their own economic or ideological goals by using distorted or “bent” science to influence legal, regulatory and public health policy.
The authors describe a “separatist view” of science and policy that assumes scientific research is sufficiently reliable for public policy deliberations and legal proceedings when it reaches them. This is illustrated as a pipeline in which it is presumed the scientific community has properly vetted the information flow through rigorous peer-review and professional oversight. The final product that exits the pipeline is understood to be unbiased and produced in accordance with the professional norms and procedures of science. The reliability, integrity and validity of the final product is indubitably accepted.
The separatist view does not consider the possibility that the scientific work exiting the pipeline could be intentionally shaped and contaminated by biasing influences as it flows through the pipeline. When this occurs the final product exiting the pipeline is distorted or “bent” and bent science can result in bad decision making and bad policy.
Bent science starts with a pre-determined outcome and works backward from a desired result. It is not true science. Those orchestrating the deception (“benders”) use a variety of tactics and strategies to shape, package and spin science to support their own hidden agenda and suppress opposing science.
Benders attempt to hide, dismiss and debunk contrarian research and unsupportive science. Benders will attack and harass the science and scientists that pose a threat to their interests. Using carefully crafted studies designed to confirm a desired outcome, the pre-determined conclusions are subsequently promoted and publicized to the relevant stakeholders who are often unable ( or sometimes unwilling) to discern real science from junk-science.
Misinformation, propaganda, and deception are disseminated in a variety of venues. Public relations firms are used to manipulate public perception and freelance writers are hired brandish favorable consensus statements. Authoritative reviews and critiques are ghostwritten under the names of “outside experts” who profit both monetarily and by adding a high-profile publication to their resume.
Opinion is paraded as fact and with a dearth of professional oversight the charade usually goes unnoticed and unopposed.
Data-dredging, cherry picking, confirmatory bias, confirmatory distortion, fabrication, falsification, exaggeration, and a whole host of deceptive tactics are used to work backward from an already determined result.
Any information that contradicts the answer is manipulated, undermined, suppressed or downplayed; even if it is the result of real science and evidence-based research; even if it is the truth. Professional procedure, protocol and ethics are off the table. It is an underhanded free-for-all. Bare knuckle boxing. Trash your opponents work and label it junk-science. Undermine the integrity of your opponents. Use ad hominem attacks to question the opponents motives. Claim the scientists are hacks on the take. Start rumors about them.
Loudly claim you are the one who is evidence based. Proclaim professionalism and authority. Quibble. Move the goalpost. Nit-pick and split hairs. Proclaim over and over and over again you are the one who is evidence based.
And the problem is it usually works. It is an unfair playing field. When no meaningful barriers are in place to detect cheating and identify cheaters they usually win.
Bending science can have serious and sometimes horrific consequences and multiple examples including the Tobacco and pharmaceutical industry are given in the book.
Calling for immediate action to reduce the role that bent science plays in regulatory and judicial decision making, the authors emphasize the assistance of the scientific community is necessary in designing and implementing reform.
“Shedding even a little light on how advocates bend policy -relevant science could go a long way toward remedying these problems. Indeed, precisely because the advocates have overtaken the law in this area, heightened attention to the social costs of bending science could itself precipitate significant change.”
But there are difficulties in challenging bent science including a general lack of recognition of the problem. With an absence of counter-studies to oppose deliberately manufactured ends-oriented research this would be expected.
Bent science involves the deliberate manufacturing of a pool of information designed to promote a specific agenda. A level playing field would require a pool of opposing research specifically addressing that agenda. In reality this requires both the incentive and the power to do so–an unlikely scenario short of an equally well funded competitor or sufficient public concern about the problem.
In fact counter-forces are often nonexistent. Investigatory techniques developed and promoted by the FBI crime lab (such as firearms identification and intoxication testing) is one example described in the book. These techniques evolved with little meaningful oversight from the larger scientific community and could be badly bent but there is no meaningful pool of information to disprove them. The authors aptly state that “defendants in most criminal cases lack resources to mount effective challenges, much less undertake their own counter-research.”
And part of the “art” of bending involves swaying public opinion and the mainstream media is typically aligned with the benders so opposing viewpoints seldom make the headlines.
Additionally, there is no meaningful oversight or avenue to pursue accountability. No systems exist to prevent, catch and publicly expose bent-science or those who bend science.
The influence of special interest groups on the practice of medicine is unknown. No one has examined the role of bent science in the rules, regulations, policies and decisions made by those who are in charge of the standards of medical practice and professional behavior of doctors but as a regulated profession governed by the decisions and policies of regulators it is certainly possible.
Regulation of the Medical Profession
Alexis de Toqueville once observed that a key feature of American government was the decentralized character of administration. “Written laws exist in America,” he wrote, “and one sees the daily execution of them; but although everything moves regularly, the mover can nowhere be discovered. The hand which directs the social machine is invisible.”2
Administrative law is the body of law that allows for the creation of public regulatory agencies and contains all of the statutes, judicial decisions and regulations that govern them. Administrative agencies implement their powers in the form of rules, regulations, orders and decisions. State medical boards are the regulatory agencies responsible for the licensure and discipline of physicians. They grant the right to practice medicine in the form of a medical license and each state has Medical Practice Act that governs and defines the practice of medicine. The medical board is empowered to take action against a doctor for substandard care, unprofessional behavior and other violations as defined by the state Medical Practice Act.
Administrative Code governs the licensure and disciplinary process and the State Administrative Procedure Act governs the legal process (due process, discovery, etc.). Regulatory changes are enacted through procedural, interpretive and legislative rules.
Both medical practice acts and administrative procedure acts are subject to change. Changes in medical practice acts can redefine what is acceptable practice and what constitutes professional behavior. This can increase the power and control these agencies have over doctors both professionally and socially.
Changes in Administrative practice acts can decrease what rights a doctor has if this power and control is abused. Changes in the wording of administrative code and administrative practice acts can have profound implications in these rights including due-process, timeliness of being heard, rights to appeal decisions and time-constraints for judicial review.
And when these changes occur they do so silently. The hand that directs the machine is indeed invisible. The consequences, however, are not. These changes not only impact those touched by the hand but can have a systemic impact on the entire profession.
State medical practice acts as well as administrative practice acts and code are susceptible to change and therefore susceptible to the influence of special interest groups benefitting from such change. Regulation of the medical profession is thus susceptible to bent science.
Bent Science and the Medical Profession
The impact of bent science on the regulation of the medical profession has not been studied. As a profession governed by regulatory agencies medicine is certainly not immune to the influence of special interest groups who could in turn influence public policy and regulatory decisions, rules and regulations to benefit their own interests.
Making sound decisions about regulation calls for an understanding of the problem it is intended to solve. This demands methodologically sound science and evidence-based facts arrived at through rigorous peer review and professional oversight. The science on which policy decisions are made must be reliable and unbiased. Legitimate policy must be based on recognized and legitimate institutions and experts.
If the information regulatory agencies rely on to discipline doctors and protect the public is unreliable then serious consequences can occur.
It would be beneficial to look for changes in public policy, guidelines, rules and regulations involving the medical profession and examine the reasons behind them. When did the problem present? Who presented it? Was it based on methodologically sound and accurate data? What organizations do the problem presenters represent? What organizations or individuals aligned or associated with the presenters might benefit? What are the consequences? Who is harmed?
Howard Becker describes the role of “moral entrepreneurs,” who crusade for making and enforcing rules that benefit their own interests by bringing them to the attention of the public and those in positions of power and authority under the guise of righting a society evil.8
The mechanics and mentality is similar to the science benders and, as discussed below, they use some of the same techniques.
Moral entrepreneurs take the lead in labeling a particular behavior deviant and spreading this label throughout society. They associate the behavior of some group with a society evil, affix an easily recognizable label to it and then express the conviction that the evil must be combated. Labeled as being outside the central core values of consensual society, the deviants in the designated group are perceived as posing a threat to both the values of society and society itself.
Activities can rise to the level of ‘social problems” when harm or danger is attributed to those activities and governmental powers are called upon to put an end to those harms. Bent science requires convincing others of a viewpoint and the likelihood of this occurring increases when the activity that is identified as a problem resonates with underlying societal concerns and anxieties. The problem is then endorsed by experts who give legitimacy to such claims.3,4 This legitimacy results attracts media attention which further enforces support from both the public and policy makers.5,6
As a result any bent science directed at regulatory and public policy decision making should be clearly visible.
The sociologist Stanley Cohen used the term ”moral panic” to characterize the amplification of deviance by the media, the public, and agents of social control.7 According to cultural theorist Stuart Hall, the media obtain their information from the primary definers of social reality in authoritative positions and amplify the perceived threat to the existing social order. The authorities then act to eliminate the threat.9 The dominant ideas or ideologies are reproduced by relying on the opinions of the defining authority and then spread through the media.
An internet search of what labels have been affixed to doctors in association with a threat to society there are three. A google search of “impaired physician” yields 20, 600 results; “disruptive physician” yields 17, 400 results; and “aging physician” yields 27, 800 results. A large number of these articles, opinion pieces and reviews associate impaired, disruptive and aging physicians with patient death and other adverse events, medical error, and malpractice. The labels affixed to these physicians have been characterized as a major threat to public health and the rhetorical tools used in many of these articles seems aimed at increasing public anxiety.
A PubMed search yields 154 results for the “impaired physician”; 47 results for the “disruptive physician”; and 19 results for the “aging physician.” Many of these are opinion pieces written by the same group of physicians and aimed at hospital administrators, regulators and those involved in the legal or business aspects of medicine.
There is, in fact, no evidence based research that associates the impaired, disruptive or aging physician with any adverse events. The “impaired,” “disruptive” and “aging” physician labels as evinced by a quick google search seem escalated far beyond the level warranted by the existing evidence.
The “impaired” and “disruptive” labels have taken on the status of moral panic and the “aging” label, which is being associated with cognitive impairment, seems to be heading in that direction. The number of articles being published and lectures being given on the dangers of cognitively impaired doctors is increasing. It has not yet reached the level of public awareness the impaired and disruptive have.
To acknowledge that the current level of concern about these labels is exaggerated is not to suggest they do not exist. They do. But the disparity between the evidence-base, or lack thereof, and the level of concern warrants further investigation.
To be clear, doctors who are impaired by drug and alcohol abuse need to be removed from practice to protect the public and receive treatment; doctors who are abusive to others or engage in behavior that threatens patient care need to be held accountable for their actions; and doctors who are cognitively impaired due to dementia need to be removed from practice and evaluated by the proper specialists. If a diagnosis of dementia is confirmed then they need to be removed from practice.
What is the motivation behind the “impaired,” “disruptive” and “aging” physician labels and the multiple articles linking these labels to patient harm and medical error? There is no data driven evidence so where does it come from? Could moral entrepreneurs be behind it? If so then there should be evidence of bent science and to examine this we must look for evidence that these labels have been used to influence regulatory decisions, rules, regulations and policy.
And with the recently archived Journal of Medical Regulation this task can be easily accomplished.
The Journal of Medical Regulation as Timeline and Framework for Policy Evaluation
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is a national not-for profit organization that gives guidance to state medical boards through public policy development and recommendations on issues pertinent to medical regulation. Shortly after its founding in 1912, the Federation of State Medical Boards began publishing a quarterly journal addressing issues relating to medical licensing and regulation of doctors. First published in 1913 as the Quarterly of the Federation of State Boards of the United States, the publication has undergone several name changes and publication schedules. From1921 to 1999 it was published monthly as the Federation Bulletin. In 1999 it was changed to the quarterly Journal of Medical Licensure and Discipline and in 2010 was revised to the Journal of Medical Regulation The Journal of Medical Regulation is in the process of archiving all issues dating back to 1913.
Presently every paper dating back to 1967 is available online and the archival organization and availability of full articles published sequentially over the past half-century is historically invaluable. As the official journal of the national organization involved in the medical licensing and regulation of doctors, this archival organization allows for an unskewed and impartial examination in both historical and cultural context. We can identify when particular issues and problems were presented, who presented them and how.
The Journal of Medical Regulation archives provides a structured context to examine these issues in their historical and cultural context. This facilitates a retrospective analysis. As a timeline it allows identification of when the issues were presented. It also allows us to look at the events preceding the problem, who benefited from them, and the consequences. Could these factors be involved in influencing the regulation of medicine and shaping the medical profession? Could bent science have been involved in regulatory and administrative changes that have significantly impacted the rights and well-being of doctors and how the profession of medicine is defined? Could some of the current problems such as the marked increase in physician suicide, sham-peer review, and physician burnout be the result of bent science? If bent science is contributing to bad policy and bad decision making then it need to be exposed and addressed. Bent science is bad medicine and if it exists then we need to urgently shine a light on it.
- McGarity TO, Wagner WE. Bending Science: How Special Interests Corrupt Public Health Research. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2008.
- de Toqueville A. Democracy in America. New York: Penguin Books; 1984.
- Blumer H. Social Problems as Collective Behavior. Social Problems. 1971;18:298-306.
- Stone DA. Causal Stories and the formation of policy agendas. Political Science Quarterly. 1989;104:280-300.
- Best J. Threatened Children, Rhetoric and Concern about Child Victims. Chicago University of Chicago Press; 1990.
- Gerbner G, Gross L. The scarey World of TV’s heavy viewer. Psychology Today. 1976;9(89):41-45.
- Cohen S. Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers (New Edition). Oxford, U.K.: Martin Robertson; 1980.
- Becker H. Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press; 1963.
- Hall SC, Critcher C, Jefferson T, Clark J, Roberts B. Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan; 1978.
Disrupted Physician 
Wow! Thank you for this! This article may very well be far beyond its time, and thus, that much more impactful. There is so much to be added to the discussion of the mental and physical state of the modern day physician. It could provide so much more insight not only into the lives of physicians, but also their patients. Much like the police, there is a code of silence among the medical and scientific community; one so static and unwavering, it is much of the cause of the staggering amount of deaths and illnesses abound in our current society. Because by default, everyone is either a patient or a physician, by building the platform for this conversation, pieces of writing like this may prove to be the key to saving every single person in the world. Literally. Again, thank you!
Thanks! The problem is the mainstream medical bloggers will not address the role of physician health programs and physician suicide. In fact many of my comments on these blogs regarding this have been removed as “spam.” This barrier has been very hard to break for various reasons. How do we solve a problem most doctors will not even mention? To address the problem we need to acknowledge it and that is just not happening.
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So, so true! Please, just don’t stop what you’re doing. No matter how much blow back and obstacles you face, keep getting this message out there. People are watching and waiting for the courage to join in the conversation. People like you, with the courage to be the first on the dance floor, so to speak, are the reason the party gets started. No matter how long it may seem that you’re dancing alone, you’re not. And right when you last expect it, the whole world will begin acknowledging the significance of physician health and physician suicide, as if it’s been around as long as sliced bread. People like you and I rarely get the credit we deserve, but what’s credit, compared to saving lives. I can’t emphasize enough how important research, data and discussions like this are for the necessity of literally, saving lives. I get it. I really, really do. I’ve personally seen what can and continues to happen as a result of us ignoring what the lacking physician health programs and growing physician suicide. So, yea, just keeping going, please. For the children who may never meet you, but will live longer lives from the sacrifices you’ve made. Much peace, love and blessings be to you always! A’se (and so it is)!
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So is it suicide or accidental overdose? I had a physician who was found dead by his wife, overdosed on a prescription med. It has bothered me all these years, wondering if it was deliberate or an accident. I tell myself it was accidental, because that’s what I want to believe, and yet, you all have so much responsibility weighing on your shoulders. How do you cope?
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The 400 figure is an underestimate as death certificates and other traditional sources of information have proven unreliable. In addition most of these deaths are not investigated –especially if there was a PHP involved. Last August 3 doctors died by suicide in a 30 day period who were under monitoring by the state PHP and it did not even make the local news. In many cases it is difficult to determine if death is a result of suicide or an accident and suicides are often underreported to protect the victim or family from stigma or insurance investigations. An insurance company will more easily pay on a claim due to a “drug misadventure” than a suicide.
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That’s understandable, but so sad. Everything seems to boil down to insurance now, what they will or will not pay for. From a patient’s point of view, it gets frustrating that we all pay because of the ones who abuse the system, and from your side, it means extra work because some of the patients abuse the system, so all patients must be subjected to the same embarrassing testing. And you suffer because the patients hold you responsible, so it is an uphill battle all the way. I’m glad the COD is not included in obits that are seen in newspapers, and also glad autopsies are not required in every case. I can remember when they were, and how hard it was on families. In the case of my doctor, an autopsy was ordered and it was all over the front page of the local paper. Not a good thing for his family to live with.
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[…] http://disruptedphysician.com/2015/02/25/the-elephant-in-the-room-physician-suicide-and-physician-he…; […]
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(forgive if this is a redundant entry – left one yesterday but didn’t get posted.)
Another brilliantly incisive piece, Michael!
In what is sure to be a seminal work, Tom Bourne and colleagues examined the psychiatric impact of board complaint investigations on physicians in Britain (the GMC there is the equivalent of state licensing boards here) and found a 100% increase from baseline in depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Hmmm … any possible link between board “investigations,” PHP sham “diagnoses” and physician suicide?
(see: Bourne T, et al. BMJ Open 2015;4:e006687. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006687)
You would have expected medical boards (consisting of physicians who took an oath, for godsakes!) and PHPs (with their “oh-so-concerned-about-physician-health” mantra) to have shuddered at this finding and rushed out to investigate whether this could possibly be true.
Now, optimists that you are, brace yourself … not one medical board or PHP member has responded to the Medscape article which announced this, nor apparently countered the finding in any other forum. (As in “oh, board and PHP inquiries are really benign … see all our happy campers … our studies show everybody’s doing well and what great work we’re doing.”
Have you heard of any investigation by FSPHP or FSMB into whether this finding might be true? Or at least an expression of concern? Nah ….
Or perhaps the AMA …? Nah.
Oooh, oooh, maybe the APA which by all rights should be concerned about the illicit activities of unlicensed PHPs operating as “public charities” conducting career and life altering psychiatric and substance abuse evaluations under the sham rubric of “peer review,” referring, under board order based on their pontifical findings (whose report they adamantly refuse to provide to the subject physician), to pre-selected “preferred institutions” with whom there is a prearranged “understanding” of the admission diagnosis and impairment severity and the gross abuse of the field of psychiatry by the denial of due process and ensuing torture these programs commit…? Maybe they’d be concerned, right??? … nah. Multiple parties have emphatically tried to rouse them from their institutional slumber to utterly no avail but an insulting response implying that the complainer is nothing but a personality-disordered whiner who’s unhappy with “the program.” (Yes, the “program.” That’s like telling a Jew in 1940’s Germany that he shouldn’t be complaining about the free train ride the government is offering.)
As has been explicitly documented by the NC State Auditor in its comprehensive performance evaluation report on the NCPHP (see NCOSA Performance Evaluation of NCPHP April 2014, available online), NCPHP systematically violated the due process rights of over 1,140 physicians over the preceding decade. (Even the writing of the phrase does not convey the extremity of the violation – one has not only been denied justice and screwed by one’s own pathetically impotent lawyers, one has lost one’s career and even personal identity – all in one fell swoop by an agency with no oversight or accountability.)
Now, answer me this: if you were falsely accused of something, falsely diagnosed, had laboratory data falsified in order to both reinforce the false diagnosis and punish you for your defiant challenge, and had your due process rights violated, and you then were entirely deprived of your career and then so publicly shamed by the published proceedings based on the false but incontestable findings, and your practice was abruptly upended, and you then were forced to witness your patients’ suffering as a result of the disruption of their care with you, and you then were forced to bear the news of one of your patients committing suicide as a direct result of this abusive disruption of care, would you be … upset?
Keep up the extraordinary work, Michael. While there are innumerable docs who have been utterly obliterated by this combined board / PHP abuse and their manipulation of their privilege – and, yes, some have tragically taken their lives being put in such an impossible bind, there are a few of us who are determined to confront this abuse and demand that protections be put in place so that it never occurs again, without severe consequences ensuing to the offending party.
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Two examples of the misinformation and propaganda this group is putting out.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/840112
http://www.thefix.com/content/what-if-we-really-treated-addiction-disease-it
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(From a resident physician who wishes to remain anonymous)
Dr. Langan:
Thank you for your articles and research regarding PHPs and “impaired” physicians. I have become involved in this issue after someone close to me struggled with depression during residency. Sadly, they lacked the resources, support and coping skills and ended up committing a crime with a misdemeanor charge. Despite their treatment and rehabilitation, they were dismissed from residency. Not sure if they will ever get to practice clinical medicine. It is very sad. they are very smart, great doctor and very empathetic towards patients.
After their situation, I started looking on blogs and found that many residents had shared similar instances. Many reported struggling with depression and the stresses of residency put them over the edge– like the perfect storm of stress, fatigue, and loneliness that could exploit anyone’s weaknesses. It seems like during residency, we are emotionally as well as legally vulnerable. Many of these residents have never been able to resume training at their institutions despite their demonstration of clinical competence and emotional maturation. According to that medscape article, that is a huge loss to society, socially and financially.
Sadly, there still so much stigma surrounding mental health, and I think it may be worse in our profession.
I am very concerned regarding the future of our profession. We are becoming robots in a health care factory. Our own personal lives are being compromised as well as quality patient care.
I appreciate all you are doing to shed light on this very important issue.
Thank you for your time and consideration
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Reblogged this on Chaos Theory and Human Pharmacology and commented:
“How do we solve a problem most doctors will not even mention? To address the problem we need to acknowledge it and that is just not happening.” — Dr. Michael L. Langan.
Re: Happening now (i.e., reblog).
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I was sent the letter below by e-mail. Dr. Roop has specifically requested that it be published here with his contact information and I applaud his courage.
On Mar 5, 2015, at 4:04 PM, Jonathan Crane Roop MD wrote:
Name: Jonathan Crane Roop MD
Email: jonathanroop@hotmail.com
Comment: I am Board Certified in Internal medicine. I have endured years of emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse at the hands of the Washington Physician’s Health Program. I have suffered through a long list of injustices without recourse. They include, but are not limited to discrimination, abuse of power, breach of contract and repeated and WILLFUL medical negligence.
Because the actions of the WPHP have been SO egregious, I assumed what was happening to me must be extraordinarily rare.
I have nothing to hide. And I have shared my story with any and all who would listen. To date, my voice, my rights and now my life have been dismissed as unimportant. MY LIFE!! It’s apparently better that I die than my tormentors be questioned and compelled to defend their indefensible and evil behavior.
I am meeting with one last attorney tomorrow. I fully expect him to ignore the basic, indisputable and well documented facts of my case. Namely, there is massive and systematic malfeasance being committed by a tax payer funded agency in the State of Washington who act with omnipotence and without oversight. I have no reason to believe he will respond any differently than the others with whom I have met. HE WON’T CARE! HE WILL NOT BE MOVED. He will make statements that suggest I DESERVE this treatment. And that my life, as well as my imminent death, is unworthy of his time or efforts.
Once my assumptions about this last meeting are officially confirmed, I am committed to the only course of action available to me. The only thing which will put an end to this nightmare.
Today I stumbled upon your website. And today, for the first time, I have learned that my case is not rare. I suspect the other physician victims in this matter have occasionally allowed themselves to dream wistfully of justice. Justice which they have seen thwarted at every turn. Perhaps they, like me, have dreamily imagined the relief and joy and LIFE they would experience if the truth were simply presented and the perpetrators held accountable. I have imagined standing up in court and triumphantly affecting justice for myself as well as all of the other current and future victims. I deliver a powerful defense of justice. My ‘dream speech’. I have imagined that I might still live. And then I wake up.
And so today, imagine my shock, when I found my ‘dream speech’ here. My speech. Reasonable. Honest. Consistent. And based firmly in truth, justice and defense of the powerless against the (arbitrarily) powerful. My speech, it seemed, but authored by another.
Thank you, Dr. Langan. You have given a voice to my struggles. Please never stop speaking for me, and people like me, many of whom, I fear, will not survive to see justice.
Despite my intention to die, I actually WANT TO LIVE! And I will live and fight on if I ever believe that there is even a small chance of justice for me and the other innocent victims of PHP’s and the ‘treatment’ centers with whom they contract (Talbott in my case. Purely evil and loathsome human beings, for the record).
So, because I do WANT to live…PLEASE HELP ME, SIR!
Can you refer me to attorneys, individuals or groups who might advocate for me and the other victims? Do you have any specific words of hope or encouragement?
Please note my name. Please add me to the list of innocent victims of these power hungry, narcissistic BULLIES.
I don’t expect to live through this. And in a way, the PHP, Talbott and the addiction ‘experts’ with whom I have been tragically acquainted are correct…My life is worth very little. But this issue is so much larger than I. I can die with some serenity if I believe there will be meaningful justice for others like me. And that those responsible will be held to account.
Thank you Dr. Langan. Thanks to all of those involved in the creation and maintenance of this website. Although your shining beacon is barely perceivable through the darkness of injustice which surrounds and seeks to extinguish it…it is the only glimmer of hope I have found during my slow death by PHP.
Jonathan Crane Roop MD
811 S Cowley St #48
Spokane WA 99202
509-710-4641
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These miscarriages of justice remind one of nothing so much as Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables”. That was, of course, a mere novel. Sadly, the experiences described here are real. The loss of capable physicians is doubly tragic — not only for the physicians involved, but for society at large. I would add only that God is capable of giving our lives purpose, even after what is most precious to us has been taken. Life can be worth living, despite great loss.
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I have been hearing from 2 or 3 every day. Nearly all of them are afraid to leave comments here (even anonymously) for fear the PHP will find out. There is a “learned helplessness” because there is no lifeline. The Medical Boards are complicit, The Medical Societies have no oversight, Law enforcement turns a deaf ear because the perpetrators have convinced them it should be kept within the medical profession. Attempting to report valid crimes are refused and they are often reported back to the Board or PHP and further punished. The media is not interested because they have been labeled “impaired”or “disruptive” and no matter how strong the truth, evidence or facts are they take the PHPs word over theirs. And almost all of the doctors I have talked to are good doctors who are kind hearted and honest. But bad doctors are rarely sanctioned by medical boards; they have to do something so egregious that turning a blind eye would be noticed. And doctors who are bad people who have engaged in terrible behavior often get reinstated by claiming they were “helpless” over that behavior but are now “in recovery.” They go to extremes to protect sexual violators in these programs and also believe they can monitor pedophiles with polygraphs and treat them with 12-step. Just look at the case below. An adolescent psychiatrist gets arrested with child pornography and admits to a longstanding attraction to young boys. The PHP gives him a polygraph test “proving” he’s a looker not a toucher and he is back practicing medicine in no time. The PHP speaks as if he is a Saint. Perhaps they had a slot to fill in the “sexual addiction” department in one of the “PHP-approved” assessment and treatment centers.
http://www.psychsearch.net/montana-psychiatrist-james-h-peak-convicted-of-child-porn-wants-license-back/
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/peak-s-medical-license-reinstated-on-lifetime-probationary-status/article_fab77fef-188c-5f29-8013-4a86c87d32a8.html
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Reblogged this on Disrupted Physician.
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Doctors, I can sympathize with your pain although I am not a physician. I was trained at a university medical facility in laboratory medicine and during my sophomore year it was found that I was suffering from what their psychologist called “delayed grief” from the loss of my mother. Long story short, they pushed me out of school until I could get it together. I am a disabled, Christian and pastor of a small church now and not in laboratory technology practice anymore. My website http://thelivingmessage.com, is my way of bringing the hope of Jesus to those who are searching for answers in a world that seems not to want to hear them. Please feel free to refer any of your friends to my site or even to email me through it. I will be glad to pray with and for any or all of you in your time of pain and suffering. God gave you your talents and abilities so please don’t throw them away if possible.
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Thanks Gordon, I appreciate your comments and I will.
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The list really touched me….I have been close to just ending it before. I used to think it was something only “other” people experienced. This is so sad !!
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Reblogged this on diploctor and commented:
This article and video are so important !
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[…] require abstinence from all substances including alcohol and strict adherence to 12-step doctrine9 yet many of the physicians monitored by them are neither addicts nor alcoholics. Requiring […]
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[…] require abstinence from all substances including alcohol and strict adherence to 12-step doctrine9 yet many of the physicians monitored by them are neither addicts nor alcoholics. Requiring […]
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[…] system is also the unspoken and hushed major contributor to physician suicide-the elephant in the room. Those who really need help for mental health, substance abuse or other issues are afraid to get […]
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[…] require abstinence from all substances including alcohol and strict adherence to 12-step doctrine9 yet many of the physicians monitored by them are neither addicts nor alcoholics. Requiring […]
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[…] is also killing physicians by driving them to hopelessness, helplessness, and despair. The general medical community needs to awaken to the reality of the danger and expose and dismantle […]
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[…] for suicide. The prevalence of depression in physicians is close to that of the general population 1,2 and, if one looks critically at the evidence based literature, substance abuse in medical […]
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