That is what the three persons stated, they had the letter already prepared for Catherine’s signature.
Jacob Neitzel
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Marin County's idea of Health and Human Services
Towards the end of the year 2011, Marin Community Mental Health made Catherine the offer that if she ever wanted her son released from Napa State Hospital, she would have to move from California.
That is what the three persons stated, they had the letter already prepared for Catherine’s signature.
That is what the three persons stated, they had the letter already prepared for Catherine’s signature.
Rogue Valley Indeed!
A good example of the condescension Jacob and Catherine face on a constant basis.
Note the tone of utter faigned indifference, and the carefull worded guarantee that the complaine will certainly be totally and completely ignored, in order to protect the staff.
Malfeasance, Corruption, Incompetence
Malfeasance, corruption, incompetence and abject failure have played a major role in the magical mystery tour that poor Jacob was subjected to in Medford, Salem, Portland and Eugene, OREGON!!
Post Scriptum...
Jacob has been diagnosed with schizophrenia since he was 18 years old; at age 32 he suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). His mental disability was sufficiently controlled by his medication, yet his TBI has been denied him by his previous treatment professionals. Oregon, so Catherine was told by a friend and attorney, was a better place for Jacob to receive the appropriate treatment for his TBI.
It was not to be!
Now, almost three years later Jacob has been shuffled in and out of nine facilities within Oregon, including twice at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem and twice in Portland. In between, Jacob was kept in a behavioral facility in Springfield as well as in a hospital in Eugene.
A Guardian, serving as the court’s puppet, has been appointed for Jacob by a Salem Judge. The official reason for this move is to afford better care for Jacob and access to more facilities.
The real objective is not only to separate Jacob from his relatives and friends, but mainly to prevent his mother to notice the facility’s shortcomings and abuses on her son. In addition, Catherine is also prohibited from perusing Jacob’s medical records as well as her son’s medication regimen.
Because Catherine’s father was a medical doctor, as well as a psychiatrist, she is well informed and knowledgeable as to how the profession of psychiatry functions, and that in many cases a mental patient’s medical record is documented in such a way that it will suit the attending doctor’s rationale and objective.
Finally, to protect the State of Oregon, an attorney was put in place by the very same Judge in Salem, Oregon. Again, the official purpose given was to afford Jacob the proper level of advocacy and representation in a court procedure. Yet once more, the true intention is to make sure Jacob’s placement and treatment takes place according to the Oregon Courts’ wishes and of course, the appointed attorney’s job is to thwart any possible legal action against the State of Oregon.
After all, the Judge, the Guardian and the attorney are on Oregon State’s Payroll.
To add insult to injury, Jacob’s Special Needs Trust is slowly but surely being plundered by the same persons that were appointed to provide special care for him, namely the appointed guardian and the attorney!
Not only has Jacob’s other medical ailment, hepatitis C been ignored, but he has also gained more than 80 lbs. during the time that the State of Oregon has cared for him. Consequently, Diabetes Mellitus II and Insulin resistance are additional problems he and his mother will have to deal with in the future.
TBI Treatment in the State of Oregon
Psychological support for the patient or financial windfall for the State?
"We are aware of Jacob's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and we do take this into account in his treatment." Or so said Kate Hill, a social worker at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene Oregon, where Jacob was staying for 3 months.
Ms. Hill went on with an impressively detailed statement, as if to make certain she covered very specific issues. Or was it to repeat details that for some particular reason needed repetition?
She made statements like "His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine, Jacob’s mother, has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept this answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he finds it discouraging. Some facts must be faced, and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was before."
So the ongoing frustration and tribulation of Catherine continues as she wages her one-woman battle against the mental health system in this country. In her case, it is in Oregon, where the system itself apparently needs medical attention. Let’s look at what seems to be going on.
For the past 8 years, Catherine has been trying to get the minimum proper TBI treatment for her son, never mind the state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials that no one in the mental health system seems to know anything about.
Instead, it appears facilities are eager to take the extra money allotted to TBI treatment from the Federal and State budgets, by mentioning TBI treatment plans in their license applications. Any actual treatment of TBI though is another story entirely, and apparently fiction.
Catherine’s best efforts seem to confront her with double jeopardy. As she tries to reason with the various treatment centers that take turns caring for Jacob, at least until the funds run out, they begin to attack her mental condition. Whenever she loses patience and becomes more animated, vocal, and impatient and angry with them, they go so far as to suggest that she might understandably be suffering from her own form of mental condition as in “delusions!”
Looking at it objectively, here’s the situation: Everyone in the mental health profession knows that the last treatment you would administer, especially with TBI, is the traditional series of psychotropic medications used to treat schizophrenia. Yet Jacob is routinely dosed into a stupor, and pickled with the worst meds for TBI. It is well-documented that schizophrenia is a mental illness and TBI is a medical condition. Treating Jacob for schizophrenia in the traditional way greatly reduces his ability to recover from his TBI.
Treatment centers pretend not to know this when confronted by someone who does, for example a trouble making mother of one of their patients. Rather than admit ignorance or selective disregard of the current state of knowledge, they choose to cover up their practice by deflecting Catherine with insinuations about her need for medical attention.
In many instances, if anything goes by the wayside or goes wrong, the psychiatrist, psychologist, conservator or social worker likes to blame the patient or the mother for the cause of all the problems, sui generis for this industry, first written about by psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann in 1948.
And treatment plans for patients are themselves evasive schemes. Patients stay only a few months at one location under a particular doctor’s care before they are shuffled to another facility, taken off their medications, and then restarted again when their behavior begins to emerge. They are basically passed from one drugged-up encounter to another.
Treatment centers, psychiatric units and staff follow a methodology reminiscent of “Cognitive Abuse". Isolation, social exclusion, and control of almost every aspect of Jacob's day-to-day life are all part of the plan to create the very kind of patient they can demean and control. That is the type of patient they want and apparently need to continue business as usual. The result is a carefully orchestrated practice, using a well-designed script that specifically ensures that Jacob does not get better. In fact, he is relegated to remain under this dehumanizing care indefinitely.
When confronted with Catherine's demand that her son be properly treated for TBI, facilities get nervous. They know the problem with their lucrative practice and nearly perfect crime is that Catherine knows more about TBI than they admit. She is onto their welfare scam. Her tireless pursuit and continued demands are growing louder and louder with each passing day. It is only a matter of time, before Catherine and Jacob will finally be free of this mental tyranny.
Although institutions may be eager to protect the income stream that a patient like Jacob provides, the inhumanity and fiscal greed underlying the current treatment of TBI must be uncovered and eliminated.
Jacob is primarily treated by the attending psychiatrist at each facility. He has been manipulated by either being over or under medicated, according to the different psychiatrist’s whims.
The total denial of Jacob’s brain injury is remarkable; it is in fact the argument most overlooked by Jacob’s caretakers. Jacob suffers from a medical disability, namely his traumatic brain injury, as well as schizophrenia. His schizophrenia has always been well controlled by his medication.
This can only be defined as an almost patent and institutionalized denial of Jacob's human and civil rights by a process, an entire system stacked against the individual, a person that their very charter is defined to serve.
Psychiatry:
“There are no diagnoses in psychiatry. Only umbrella terms for observed patterns of complaint, groupings of symptoms given names and oversimplified, and assigned what are probably erroneous causes because those erroneous causes can be medicated.
And then both the drug and the supposed disease are made legitimate and thus the profession as well as the patient, legitimized too, by those medical words going hand in hand to the insurance company: ‘Diagnosis’ and… it’s not your fault.
"We are aware of Jacob's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and we do take this into account in his treatment." Or so said Kate Hill, a social worker at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene Oregon, where Jacob was staying for 3 months.
Ms. Hill went on with an impressively detailed statement, as if to make certain she covered very specific issues. Or was it to repeat details that for some particular reason needed repetition?
She made statements like "His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine, Jacob’s mother, has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept this answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he finds it discouraging. Some facts must be faced, and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was before."
So the ongoing frustration and tribulation of Catherine continues as she wages her one-woman battle against the mental health system in this country. In her case, it is in Oregon, where the system itself apparently needs medical attention. Let’s look at what seems to be going on.
For the past 8 years, Catherine has been trying to get the minimum proper TBI treatment for her son, never mind the state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials that no one in the mental health system seems to know anything about.
Instead, it appears facilities are eager to take the extra money allotted to TBI treatment from the Federal and State budgets, by mentioning TBI treatment plans in their license applications. Any actual treatment of TBI though is another story entirely, and apparently fiction.
Catherine’s best efforts seem to confront her with double jeopardy. As she tries to reason with the various treatment centers that take turns caring for Jacob, at least until the funds run out, they begin to attack her mental condition. Whenever she loses patience and becomes more animated, vocal, and impatient and angry with them, they go so far as to suggest that she might understandably be suffering from her own form of mental condition as in “delusions!”
Looking at it objectively, here’s the situation: Everyone in the mental health profession knows that the last treatment you would administer, especially with TBI, is the traditional series of psychotropic medications used to treat schizophrenia. Yet Jacob is routinely dosed into a stupor, and pickled with the worst meds for TBI. It is well-documented that schizophrenia is a mental illness and TBI is a medical condition. Treating Jacob for schizophrenia in the traditional way greatly reduces his ability to recover from his TBI.
Treatment centers pretend not to know this when confronted by someone who does, for example a trouble making mother of one of their patients. Rather than admit ignorance or selective disregard of the current state of knowledge, they choose to cover up their practice by deflecting Catherine with insinuations about her need for medical attention.
In many instances, if anything goes by the wayside or goes wrong, the psychiatrist, psychologist, conservator or social worker likes to blame the patient or the mother for the cause of all the problems, sui generis for this industry, first written about by psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann in 1948.
And treatment plans for patients are themselves evasive schemes. Patients stay only a few months at one location under a particular doctor’s care before they are shuffled to another facility, taken off their medications, and then restarted again when their behavior begins to emerge. They are basically passed from one drugged-up encounter to another.
Treatment centers, psychiatric units and staff follow a methodology reminiscent of “Cognitive Abuse". Isolation, social exclusion, and control of almost every aspect of Jacob's day-to-day life are all part of the plan to create the very kind of patient they can demean and control. That is the type of patient they want and apparently need to continue business as usual. The result is a carefully orchestrated practice, using a well-designed script that specifically ensures that Jacob does not get better. In fact, he is relegated to remain under this dehumanizing care indefinitely.
When confronted with Catherine's demand that her son be properly treated for TBI, facilities get nervous. They know the problem with their lucrative practice and nearly perfect crime is that Catherine knows more about TBI than they admit. She is onto their welfare scam. Her tireless pursuit and continued demands are growing louder and louder with each passing day. It is only a matter of time, before Catherine and Jacob will finally be free of this mental tyranny.
Although institutions may be eager to protect the income stream that a patient like Jacob provides, the inhumanity and fiscal greed underlying the current treatment of TBI must be uncovered and eliminated.
Jacob is primarily treated by the attending psychiatrist at each facility. He has been manipulated by either being over or under medicated, according to the different psychiatrist’s whims.
The total denial of Jacob’s brain injury is remarkable; it is in fact the argument most overlooked by Jacob’s caretakers. Jacob suffers from a medical disability, namely his traumatic brain injury, as well as schizophrenia. His schizophrenia has always been well controlled by his medication.
This can only be defined as an almost patent and institutionalized denial of Jacob's human and civil rights by a process, an entire system stacked against the individual, a person that their very charter is defined to serve.
Psychiatry:
“There are no diagnoses in psychiatry. Only umbrella terms for observed patterns of complaint, groupings of symptoms given names and oversimplified, and assigned what are probably erroneous causes because those erroneous causes can be medicated.
And then both the drug and the supposed disease are made legitimate and thus the profession as well as the patient, legitimized too, by those medical words going hand in hand to the insurance company: ‘Diagnosis’ and… it’s not your fault.
The Gateway Behavioral Facility in Eugene Oregon
From Salem State Hospital (heretofor referred to as "The Pan"", on or about March 7th 2013 Jacob was dumped into "The Fire" and was transferred to the Gateway Behavioral Facility in Eugene. Another "facility" that had no knowledge of or any experience dealing with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), we were told that one day, there might even be an entire new building added in the future for people with TBI! Funding-willing of course!
The "staff" consisted of an East Indian Psychiatrist, Dr. Satyanary Chandragiri. He had a bit of difficult and took a lot of time to express himself in what one would expect to pass for clear English, neither Jacob nor Catherine understood much of what he was talking about, the majority of the time they met. To our recollection, this latest "Dr.", saw Jacob about once per month, and again, he had no training or understanding of TBI, nevermind any sort of treatment options widely knonw and avaialble, if you took the time to research the tones of information, once you actually realized your patient was suffering from it.
There is no doubt that in addition to his mental illness of Schizophrenia, as a result of abuse diruing his illeaga and mistaken incarcerations, Jacob is suffering from TBI at this time. Treat the TBI along with the mental illness, and Jacob can function well. Mistreat it entirely, or worse, don't treat it correctly, or at all, and he can't.
Sounds simple enough.
The next person that served as Jacob’s attending staff was a head nurse by the name of Shari Miller. Needless to say, she also had no clue about TBI, but felt that over and mis-medicating Jacob was the obvious natural answer to any and all of the facility’s patient problems.
To explain this so you the reader can understand the horrifying "There but for the grace of God go I" consequences of this, the facility was basically a warehouse which "stored" people, with different behavioral "problems". No treatment. Not even the capacity to diagnose what is now common and simple and easy to do. Not lifting a finger to help someone when it is not only obvious, possible, but so easy to do, is baffling. To go out of your way and without any sort of consideration, put people with illness in jeopardy or stress, as a matter of procedure and policy? Inexcusable. Bordering on cruelty. Possibly torture.
One of Jacob’s many stress points came when he was given a bedroom right next to the laundry room, where the washing machine and the dryer kept running for most of the night. This is not what you do to someone in jacob;s condition. Constant drumming sounds and machinery clanking would not be tolerated by anyone. In the case of Jacob, this deprived him of not only the critical need for a "quietened state of mind" during rest periods when the brain can self heal, it deprived him of outright sleep! Which we all need to function.
Jacob’s lack of sufficient sleep, in turn, naturally only caused more behavioral problems, for which he was promptly punished, including of all things, not being able to call home.
When Catherine finally learned of the night time noise preventing jacob from getting rest, she phoned Gateway and told them the problem with the washer & dryer. The guardian's answer to what is the simplest most obvious problem to solve, was to put a stop on all communication with Jacob’s family. which in itself is proof of insanity.
Do we now have the insane in charge of the mentally ill? Apparently.
At one point, after asking repeatedly, Catherine was finally allowed to visit her son for the first time. The conditions of the facility were deplorable.
See attached letter from Orrin Grover to Jacob's guardian's daughter:
The "staff" consisted of an East Indian Psychiatrist, Dr. Satyanary Chandragiri. He had a bit of difficult and took a lot of time to express himself in what one would expect to pass for clear English, neither Jacob nor Catherine understood much of what he was talking about, the majority of the time they met. To our recollection, this latest "Dr.", saw Jacob about once per month, and again, he had no training or understanding of TBI, nevermind any sort of treatment options widely knonw and avaialble, if you took the time to research the tones of information, once you actually realized your patient was suffering from it.
There is no doubt that in addition to his mental illness of Schizophrenia, as a result of abuse diruing his illeaga and mistaken incarcerations, Jacob is suffering from TBI at this time. Treat the TBI along with the mental illness, and Jacob can function well. Mistreat it entirely, or worse, don't treat it correctly, or at all, and he can't.
Sounds simple enough.
Nancy Doty was appointed by Oregon Judge, Thomas Hart, as Jacob’s guardian, had no treatment plan for Jacob, even though that was supposed to be done shortly after he arrived. Apparently in mental healthcare nowadays, it is OK to completely promise you know everythgin there is to know about something, when you don't have the slightest clue what it is. Now and ironicall, that's just crazy!
The next person that served as Jacob’s attending staff was a head nurse by the name of Shari Miller. Needless to say, she also had no clue about TBI, but felt that over and mis-medicating Jacob was the obvious natural answer to any and all of the facility’s patient problems.
To explain this so you the reader can understand the horrifying "There but for the grace of God go I" consequences of this, the facility was basically a warehouse which "stored" people, with different behavioral "problems". No treatment. Not even the capacity to diagnose what is now common and simple and easy to do. Not lifting a finger to help someone when it is not only obvious, possible, but so easy to do, is baffling. To go out of your way and without any sort of consideration, put people with illness in jeopardy or stress, as a matter of procedure and policy? Inexcusable. Bordering on cruelty. Possibly torture.
One of Jacob’s many stress points came when he was given a bedroom right next to the laundry room, where the washing machine and the dryer kept running for most of the night. This is not what you do to someone in jacob;s condition. Constant drumming sounds and machinery clanking would not be tolerated by anyone. In the case of Jacob, this deprived him of not only the critical need for a "quietened state of mind" during rest periods when the brain can self heal, it deprived him of outright sleep! Which we all need to function.
Jacob’s lack of sufficient sleep, in turn, naturally only caused more behavioral problems, for which he was promptly punished, including of all things, not being able to call home.
When Catherine finally learned of the night time noise preventing jacob from getting rest, she phoned Gateway and told them the problem with the washer & dryer. The guardian's answer to what is the simplest most obvious problem to solve, was to put a stop on all communication with Jacob’s family. which in itself is proof of insanity.
Do we now have the insane in charge of the mentally ill? Apparently.
At one point, after asking repeatedly, Catherine was finally allowed to visit her son for the first time. The conditions of the facility were deplorable.
See attached letter from Orrin Grover to Jacob's guardian's daughter:
Friday, June 6, 2014
Train Ride to Portland
The risk of that however is that if they allow her to see Jacob, she may become aware of new "issues", and "situations" he has been put in, opening up yet more objections and concerns. We'll just have to see.
Once she arrives in Portland, it is uncertain if Catherine will have the bed she has requested to sleep in, at the Salvation Army. Oregon being the capital of bi-polar America tends to have these services over booked. A very peculiar and sad situation.
If you are reading this, and can help, please help Catherine with whatever you can spare. And above all pass this on to your friends and family, if we can get enough support rallied, Catherine can survive to keep fighting the system for her son's rights and freedom.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The Oregon Business Model: Keep Everyone Mentally Ill As Long As Possible!
Oregon is known for keeping their mentally ill patients for as long as it is conceivable, possibly indefinitely!
The mentally ill clients represent ‘revenue’ for the State as well as ‘heads’ to be counted in order to receive federal funding … all for the Oregon facilities’ programs, as well as keeping many people employed including their vacations, pensions and health insurance costs.
Jacob’s having a TBI can be counted as a bonus, in that he is definitely worth more to Oregon, more funding can be applied for.
Noteworthy is the fact, even though Jacob’s medical records contain many entries in regard to his TBI, and are filled with notations that speak of treating his traumatic brain injury, nothing of the kind is afforded to him, because none of the staff, wherever Jacob was kept, had either the training or education or even a basic understanding of Jacob’s medical disability, namely TBI. (Traumatic Brain Injury)
Overmedicating was the call of the day, it is the kind of treatment that Oregon knows best and earns the highest profit in the shortest amount of time.
In order to stay true to Oregon’s business model of ‘getting a lot’ and ‘giving as little as possible’ Jacob’s TBI treatment has been denied him.
Oregon State Hospital has been in the crosshairs of federal civil-rights investigators since mid-2006, and there appears to be no end in sight to the long-running inquiry.
In fact, federal lawyers at the forefront of the investigation made two recent trips to Salem to gather more information about Oregon's main mental hospital and other aspects of the state's mental-health system, email correspondence obtained by the Statesman Journal shows.
The first visit occurred in February when lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice met at the state hospital with a number of patients to hear their concerns and complaints.
Patients vented frustration about long stints of hospitalization and restrictive release practices that keep patients cooped up on psychiatric wards after therapists have found them fit to be released.
During the second trip to Salem, visitors from the U.S. Department Of Justice spent three days, April 6-8, conducting interviews with at least 10 state mental health administrators.
The talks took place in a conference room at the Commerce Building.
Heading up the federal team was Robert Koch, a trial attorney for the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. DOJ.
Much of the correspondence focused on scheduling matters and other arrangements for the two recent visits.
This June will mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the federal investigation of the state hospital and other mental health facilities.
In 2008, the feds threatened legal action if Oregon did not fix numerous defects in patient care and hospital conditions.
Despite reform-minded efforts, the federal Justice Department put the state on notice in November that it was widening the investigation, digging into concerns beyond patient care and hospital conditions.
The expanded investigation has been scrutinizing how long patients stay at Oregon State Hospital, the availability of mental health services for people coming out of the hospital and those at risk of being institutionalized, and whether the state is complying with federal law, which requires that government dollars support the most appropriate care for people with disabilities in the least restrictive settings.
Mental health advocates maintain that Oregon spends too much on hospitalization for people with mental illnesses and not enough on community programs.
The mentally ill clients represent ‘revenue’ for the State as well as ‘heads’ to be counted in order to receive federal funding … all for the Oregon facilities’ programs, as well as keeping many people employed including their vacations, pensions and health insurance costs.
Jacob’s having a TBI can be counted as a bonus, in that he is definitely worth more to Oregon, more funding can be applied for.
Noteworthy is the fact, even though Jacob’s medical records contain many entries in regard to his TBI, and are filled with notations that speak of treating his traumatic brain injury, nothing of the kind is afforded to him, because none of the staff, wherever Jacob was kept, had either the training or education or even a basic understanding of Jacob’s medical disability, namely TBI. (Traumatic Brain Injury)
Overmedicating was the call of the day, it is the kind of treatment that Oregon knows best and earns the highest profit in the shortest amount of time.
In order to stay true to Oregon’s business model of ‘getting a lot’ and ‘giving as little as possible’ Jacob’s TBI treatment has been denied him.
Oregon State Hospital has been in the crosshairs of federal civil-rights investigators since mid-2006, and there appears to be no end in sight to the long-running inquiry.
In fact, federal lawyers at the forefront of the investigation made two recent trips to Salem to gather more information about Oregon's main mental hospital and other aspects of the state's mental-health system, email correspondence obtained by the Statesman Journal shows.
The first visit occurred in February when lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice met at the state hospital with a number of patients to hear their concerns and complaints.
Patients vented frustration about long stints of hospitalization and restrictive release practices that keep patients cooped up on psychiatric wards after therapists have found them fit to be released.
During the second trip to Salem, visitors from the U.S. Department Of Justice spent three days, April 6-8, conducting interviews with at least 10 state mental health administrators.
The talks took place in a conference room at the Commerce Building.
Heading up the federal team was Robert Koch, a trial attorney for the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. DOJ.
Much of the correspondence focused on scheduling matters and other arrangements for the two recent visits.
This June will mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the federal investigation of the state hospital and other mental health facilities.
In 2008, the feds threatened legal action if Oregon did not fix numerous defects in patient care and hospital conditions.
Despite reform-minded efforts, the federal Justice Department put the state on notice in November that it was widening the investigation, digging into concerns beyond patient care and hospital conditions.
The expanded investigation has been scrutinizing how long patients stay at Oregon State Hospital, the availability of mental health services for people coming out of the hospital and those at risk of being institutionalized, and whether the state is complying with federal law, which requires that government dollars support the most appropriate care for people with disabilities in the least restrictive settings.
Mental health advocates maintain that Oregon spends too much on hospitalization for people with mental illnesses and not enough on community programs.
A New Definition of: "Guardian"
Nancy Doty’s actions, as long as she has been Jacob’s Guardian, can only be defined as an almost patent and institutionalized denial of Jacob's human and civil rights by a process, an entire system stacked against the individual, a person that their very charter is defined to serve.
It has been written, that in many instances, if anything goes by the wayside or goes wrong, the psychiatrist, psychologist, conservator or social worker likes to blame the patient or the mother for the cause of all the problems, sui generis for this industry, first written about by psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann in 1948.
The above mentioned paragraph applies in Jacob’s case as it has unfolded since he and his mother entered the State of Oregon.
Private facilities as well as hospitals that are run by the State of Oregon are morally bankrupt enterprises, bereft of ethics….and noticeably deceptive!!
The total denial of Jacob’s brain injury is remarkable; it is in fact the argument most overlooked by Jacob’s caretakers. Jacob suffers from a medical disability, namely his traumatic brain injury, as well as schizophrenia. His schizophrenia has always been well controlled by his medication.
It has been written, that in many instances, if anything goes by the wayside or goes wrong, the psychiatrist, psychologist, conservator or social worker likes to blame the patient or the mother for the cause of all the problems, sui generis for this industry, first written about by psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann in 1948.
The above mentioned paragraph applies in Jacob’s case as it has unfolded since he and his mother entered the State of Oregon.
Private facilities as well as hospitals that are run by the State of Oregon are morally bankrupt enterprises, bereft of ethics….and noticeably deceptive!!
The total denial of Jacob’s brain injury is remarkable; it is in fact the argument most overlooked by Jacob’s caretakers. Jacob suffers from a medical disability, namely his traumatic brain injury, as well as schizophrenia. His schizophrenia has always been well controlled by his medication.
One Day, Marin Community Mental Health will make you an offer you can't refuse...
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In essence, get the hell outta here, especially since we sued Marin County Community Mental Health, as well as the Marin County Sheriff, Robert Doyle.
So, in November of 2011 we set out in a rental car, followed by a rental truck that held Catherine & Jacob’s belongings to drive up to Oregon. At first Catherine wanted to move to Ashland, but settled for Medford, the rents were more affordable.
Rogue Valley Hospital in Medford 11.23.2011----- 02.18.2012
We arrived in Medford around the 16th of November 2011. It was a long drive, about ten hours it took. After sleeping at a Motel, Jacob was overcome with anxiety, since Marin County refused to give Jacob any Ativan (Valium) before he would have to make this long trip, cooped up in the back of the car. It was very difficult for Jacob, who just left a hospital environment locked facility, institutionalized, to being a free person within society.
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In order for Oregon to keep Jacob …or others…Oregon does a court commitment in 3-4 days when mental persons are brought to their hospital. That is done so Oregon receives a ‘sizable Medicare Part A’ reimbursement from the Federal Government.
In comparison to California, where it takes 6 weeks and a court hearing to commit any mental client.
While at Rogue Valley, the psychiatrist, Dr. O’Connell immediately lowered Jacob’s medications for the purpose of titration (Medical talk…. The serial dilution of a substance of interest). Jacob did not do well under that kind of treatment.
Not only has Jacob’s TBI been completely ignored, but what Dr. O’Connell did is typical for psychiatrists, in that they like to treat their new patients like guinea pigs, in order to observe their new reactions / behavior! when given different medications or changing their current meds. Also, on many occasions doctors get “perks” from their pharmaceutical companies, quite sizable ones and gifts as well.
“How do you feel now?” …..the patient is asked?
Jacob was very angry for being pulled away from his family, he was acting out his emotions.
Consequentially, he was considered as being “violent” …and this was duly noted in his medical jacket….forthwith!
The employees at the mental health system do not look at an individual client as a sensitive human being, only as schizophrenics or manic depressives. Employees, doctors and nurses are desensitized so that they are only able to look at the mental illness and categorizes it as such, with every mental / emotional behavior.
One day Jacob rolled in his wheel chair and hit the fish tank by accident. It shook the fish up a bit.
As punishment for that, Jacob was sent to the seclusion room without his wheelchair.
In the seclusion room, a 20’x20’ area, there was but only one chair. Jacob found himself with two other clients in said space, a fight broke out as to who got to sit down in the only chair. The staff would watch this brawl through the window, and began to shoot up the clients with psychotropic medication.
Catherine immediately contacted the Rogue Valley Administration and talked to them about their seclusion room policies. As she learned, there may only be one person in the seclusion room by himself, with one chair. If there are more than one person in said room, there have to be chairs for every person there, as well as a staff member to supervise them.
These rules were not being followed, and subsequent to Catherine filing an official complaint, Jacob received a letter “Mea Culpa” by administration officials that will not give their last name. See copy attached.
After that debacle, Dr. James Hammel fudged Jacob’s medical records, stating that Jacob committed a crime…….. and he needed to be transported to a forensic unit at Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
Jacob was transported in chains from Medford to Salem, holding in his hands a copy of his deceased Uncle, Robert Powers Death Certificate, see copy attached. This document was given to Jacob on his way out by Dr. James Hammel, who wanted to really hurt Jacob because his mother had complained.
Jacob left on February 18th from Medford Rogue Valley Hospital to Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
In ending this paragraph, I must mention that the final Rogue Valley Medical Bill was $103,466.- for Jacob’s stay starting on 11.23.2011 up to 12.29.2011.. at total of about 36 days. In comparison, Napa State Hospital charged Jacob $ 29,000.- for 77 days of treatment. Medicare Fraud by Rogue Valley Hospital in Oregon is deeply suspected!
Oregon State Hospital in Salem
Starting from 12.30.2011 until…. about 03.16.2012
Oregon State Hospital was a new $ 280 Million Hospital with a bad reputation of abuse.
It was in the old building, that the movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest was filmed”!
The State of Oregon has somewhat sensationalized this movie, to hide its own negative reputation and to hide its own present abuses.
Jacob’s grandfather, Alvah Powers, was very upset when the movie was first shown, because it took away from the biological diseases i.e. schizophrenia & bi-polar disease and made it a societal comedy schtick!
Back to Jacob:
Lighthouse II, at OSH Salem, was a forensic unit where the patients were educated for court competency, before they had to go on trial.
Dr. Farivar was Jacob’s psychiatrist and Michelle Dague was Jacob’s social worker. Michelle knew that Jacob was sent to OSH on a PSRB (Psychiatric Security Review Board) which is a criminal action. She absolutely had no understanding as to why Jacob was at a forensic unit.
Catherine asked Michelle to have Jacob changed to another non-forensic unit, but she refused. Both Dr. Farivar and Michelle felt that Jacob should be at home with his mother, who would take her son to an “outpatient TBI facility and neurologist, because that is what Jacob really needed and deserved.”
Also, Dr. Farivar would not let Jacob used his wheelchair at the hospital, because he felt that Jacob would be beaten up by other peers. It is well known, that Oregon State Hospital’s environment is very harsh and abusive with the medication the patients there receive. Most of them have been separated from their family, they have nothing to do and nothing to look forward to, their civil rights are non-existent.
The above paragraph cements the reason that Dr. Farivar and Michelle Dague decided to leave their employment not to forget their opinion and suggestion that Jacob should go home to his mother.
At the end of March 2012,, both Dr. Farivar & Michelle Dague were no longer at OSH in Salem.
On March 16 Jacob was released to my new home in Salem, on Center street..!
Center street was an unfortunate choice apartment because of an abundance of drug dealers and drug activity, which I was not aware of at the time I moved in.
After about a week of Jacob living there, he was offered drugs as he was on his balcony. in addition to having had contact with these dealers, and the constant noise, almost 24 / 7….. Jacob got quite upset, was unable to sleep, and called the police.
The Police ran his name, and brought him to the crisis center, at a place called Salem Health.
At that place, contrary what Jacob wanted, they stripped Jacob naked and demanded a blood sample because the police suspected he was high on drugs. Of course, his blood sample turned out clean.
While there, Salem Police created a Police Report charging Jacob with assault against hospital staff while Jacob tried to defend himself against being stripped naked and blood being taken from him, without any reason or court order!
Even though Catherine was present and explained Jacob’s story in more detail, they shipped Jacob to the crisis center at Salem Behavioral Health. Again, he was committed within 4 days and shipped to Oregon State Hospital in Portland.
Salem State Hospital to Cascadia Behavioral Health: Frying Pan to Fire
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| Oregon State Hospital: Salem |
The staff consisted of an East Indian Psychiatrist, Dr. Satyanary Chandragiri
He had a difficult time to express himself in clear English, neither Jacob nor Catherine understood what he was talking about, the majority of the time they met. To our recollection, this Dr. saw Jacob about once per month, and again, he had to training or understanding of TBI.
Nancy Doty, who by then was appointed by Oregon Judge, Thomas Hart, as Jacob’s guardian, had no treatment plan for Jacob, even though that was supposed to be done shortly after he arrived at said facility.
The next person that served as Jacob’s staff was the head nurse by name Shari Miller. Needless to say, she also had no clue about TBI, but felt that by overmedicating Jacob was the answer to all of the facility’s environmental problem.
To explain, the facility was basically a warehouse which kept persons with different behavioral problems.
One of Jacob’s problems came when he was given a bedroom right next to the laundry room, where the washing machine and the dryer kept running for most of the night. This deprived Jacob of his sleep.
Jacob’s lack of sufficient sleep, in turn, caused more behavioral problems, for which he got punished by not being able to call home.
When Catherine phoned gateway and told them the problem of the washer & dryer, the guardian put a stop on all communication with Jacob’s family.
At one point, after asking repeatedly, Catherine was allowed to visit her son for the first time. The conditions of the facility were deplorable. See attached letter from Orrin Grover to the Guardians daughter Emily.
After Catherine complained to the facility about safety problems and more, she was then retaliated against by the guardian in that they moved Jacob into a new building with more security.
What it meant for Jacob was, that he no longer could go to any outings into the community.
A very big problem for Jacob was that he refused to take a shower. The reason was, that the bathroom was very small and had absolutely no ventilation, so Jacob could not breathe properly which made him feel very uncomfortable.
Most persons that suffer from a TBI, especially Jacob who also had dysphagia, forget to breathe as they need to be reminded.
Because Gateway did not have one person that was familiar with TBI, or had studied Jacob’s medical records he suffered more than necessary, and again he was misunderstood in the way he behaved.
The last visit Catherine had with Jacob at said facility was on 13 October 2014. The backyard was covered with half-smoked cigarette butts and Jacob wanted to smoke. He noticed that the staff were all smoking, Jacob asked them if he could smoke as well…and he was told “NO”! That in turn became a trigger point that led to an argument between staff and Jacob, which got him thrown out of Gateway Facility on 16 October 2014.
To sum matters up, Jacob was in the wrong place again, and suffered tremendously at the hands of persons that had no clue as to how to handle or understand TBI, which includes his guardian and her daughter.
It needs to be mentioned, that in all of Jacob’s medical records or documents his TBI is mentioned repeatedly but only for the purpose so that the different facilities including the hospitals can collect extra money from the State & Federal Government, under which everyone is subsidized.
On or about 16 October 2014, Jacob was transferred to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, where he spent almost three months in the ‘Johnson Psychiatric Unit’!
On 9 September Catherine gave up her apartment in Salem and moved to a homeless shelter in Eugene so that she could be closer to her son.
Sacred Heart Hospital … Psychiatric Johnson Unit
Once at Sacred Heart, all communication was cut off under the guise that the doctor felt it was not good for Jacob that he could contact any of his family members, see them or write to them.
A young psychiatrist by name of Dr. Veles was in charge, who clearly was under the gun of the guardian.
I did communicate with Jacob’s social worker, by name Kate Hill, below are some of our communiqués.
Hi Johann, I just wrote you a response to your other email, and at this time, I am being instructed to have all communications go through Nancy Doty. This is per hospital policy. Given the complex dynamics in the case, the less ‘cross talk’ the better.
It only serves to further muddy the waters. I know that Catherine has been given this message but she continues to call and leave lengthy, angry messages. I will not be returning her calls and in the future will likely just delete them as they are not issues I can discuss with her. ‘
Take care,
Kate
Johann ~ I forwarded your message to Dr. Velez, his response is: “the only person I am talking with is the guardian, per the guardian’s request. They should make their requests to the guardian, who will pass them on to me”.
It is noted in his records both the allergy to penicillin and his history of Hep C. Catherine left a message on my voicemail 2 days ago insisting that Jacob has a UTI. MD ordered a UA to screen for this, but he is refusing. When he was admitted he was tested for a UTI and the results were negative.
I know this is difficult for you both, but all decisions about his care will be made by his guardian and the doctor. The only way this will be changed is if Catherine is able to convince a judge that she should be appointed his guardian. It appears this has not been successful in the past.
She brought him to Oregon and is now unhappy with that decision. He cannot be transferred to the state hospital in California because he is now an Oregon resident. He may have to go back to the Oregon state hospital if another program is not willing to accept him.
We are aware of Jacob’s TBI, and we do take this into account in his treatment. His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept that answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he does find it discouraging. Some facts must be faced and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was.
We are doing our best to give him good treatment, and to some extent he will cooperate. He receives injections because he refuses oral medications. I believe that what is happening in the communication between you and Catherine and Jacob is what we refer to as triangulation. Jacob is saying things to you that are not, in fact, true and this results in reactions that are out of context with the actual situation.
Please know that we are taking good care of Jacob and he we continue to work towards an appropriate placement for him, where he can perhaps find some happiness in his life.
We have also read through his website and have a better understanding of his history.
Sincerely,
Kate
The next time we heard from Jacob he was at Portland State Hospital. According to Jacob, Sacred Heart Hospital discharged him without our knowledge back to Salem State hospital, where Jacob stayed for approximately one month, after which said hospital attempted to discharge him into a community homeless shelter.
The Guardian at that time interfered and insisted that Portland State Hospital must accept him, because Jacob has been institutionalized almost the whole time that he has lived in Oregon.
None of the above mentioned items were known by his family, we found out by April 2014.
Oregon State Hospital Portland….. second time…..
At this time Jacob is back at Portland State Hospital, being cared for by the same psychiatrist as before,
namely Dr. Solomon Wolf.
Dr. Wolf also has no training or background in TBI, instead, he has prescribed 2nd generation psychotropic medications, which he has done since the first time Jacob was there, about May 2012.
The significance of the above statement is that the medication Risperdal & Invega, a derivative of Risperdal, have caused Jacob to gain a noteworthy amount of weight, about 80+ lbs. after he arrived in Oregon.
Invega: Weight gain (tends to produce a moderate degree of weight gain, possibly related to its potent blockade of the 5-HT2C receptor)
Risperdal: Adverse effects of Risperidone include significant weight gain and metabolic problems such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, as well as tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Risperidone and other antipsychotics also increase the risk of death in patients with dementia.
Now, after Catherine spoke with Dr. Wolf repeatedly, Jacob finally is being put on Haldol again, a first generation psychotropic medication. The importance of mentioning this is, that Jacob’s guardian, who has absolutely no qualifications to decide over Jacob’s medical treatment …is in charge of Jacob’s well-being. That in itself, is a crime by Judge Hart and the Oregon Judicial System etc.
From the time that Jacob entered Oregon, in November of 2011, he has been to 9 different facilities, none of them are qualified or trained in dealing with his disabilities. Instead he has gained more than 80 lbs. weight, has been excluded from society.
Things That Jacob Used to do...
The following are things Jacob used to do perfectly fine for himself, but thanks to his current "quality care" is now no longer allowed to do:
Note: TBI means Traumatic Brain Injury.
Note: TBI means Traumatic Brain Injury.
- Jacob was able to go shopping on his own, exchange money and make choices at stores. Now he is no longer able to!
- Jacob was able to walk at least three miles per day….He pushed his own wheelchair and used it for safety so he would not fall.
- Jacob was able to go out by himself, use cross walks. He went to visit the nearby shopping center, while confined to his wheelchair. That was when he was in Bennett Valley, CA.
- Jacob made intelligent choices concerning his diet. He even has good style when he chooses his clothing!
- Jacob was able to phone his doctor, talk about his medications and pick them up from the pharmacy.
- Jacob took his meds diligently, was never denied them, or refused to take his medication.
- Jacob used to have and manage his own ATM bankcard and his own bank account.
- Jacob used to have money left to him from his deceased father, which has been "taken" by Oregon and or his guardian.
- Jacob used to have Medicaid. DHS in Oregon, Jacob’s social worker and his doctors at the time, denied him a type of Medicaid that would give him access to TBI providers. In addition Jacob's MEDICARE has also been compromised. Currently Jacob is again at Oregon State Hospital in Portland, which is a paid by Jacob’s MEDICARE
- Part A.OSH keeps Jacob in their facility in order to receive his MEDICARE as well as Federal Assistance.
- The program he is subject to attend is the same program Jacob has been to during the last two years.
- Jacob used to be able to get treatment for his TBI. Oregon State Hospital is denying Jacob’s TBI, no evaluation has been performed since the State of Oregon, without sending jacob to a qualified TBI specialist, has conveniently determined that Jacob cannot ever be rehabilitated for his traumatic brain injury.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
"... It will benefit [Jacob] if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was..."
"We are aware of Jacob's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and we do take this into account in his treatment." Or so said Kate Hill, a social worker at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene Oregon, where Jacob has been staying since [insert date].
Hill, went on in a puzzlingly detailed statement, as if to make certain she covered very specific areas of note. Or to document details that for some strange reason needed documentation. That "His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept this answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he finds it discouraging. Some facts must be faced and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was."
So goes the ongoing frustration and tribulation of Catherine, as she wages her one-woman battle against the mental health system in this country. Now in Oregon. A system that needs medical attention itself apparently! Could they be this crazy?
For the past 8 years Catherine has been trying to get the minimum proper TBI treatment for her son, never mind the cool state of the art stuff that no one in the mental health system seems to know anything about.
Oh, they are eager enough to take the extra money from the Federal and State budgets allotted to TBI treatment, by merely mentioning it in their applications. But doing any actual treating of TBI though is another story entirely. Fiction apparently.
The jeopardy that Catherine faces as she tries to convince the various treatemnt centers who take turns caring for Jacob until the funds run out, is that they turn their attention to her mental condition, whenever she loses her patience with them, and becomes loud, animated, and angry, as anyone being Nurse Ratched pressured into unfair helpless compliance would.
And to put it as simply and calmly as is possible under these highly complicated and infuriating conditions, here's the deal:
EVERYONE in the mental health profession knows, that especially with TBI, THE LAST treatment you would administer is the traditional series of psychotopic medications used to treat schizophrenia. Yet Jacob is routinely dosed into a stupor, and pickled with the worst meds for TBI.
Because Schizophrenia is a mental illness, and TBI is a MEDICAL CONDITION. Tretaing him for Schizophrenia in the traditional way, greatly reduces his ability to recover from his TBI.
But the treatment centers don't seem to know this, and when confronted with someone who does, for exampe a troublemaking mother of one of their patients, rather than admit ignorance, which would be entirely fogiveable given the relatively new field of TBI treatment, they choose the other sin, of vanity, and instead now try to cover up their lack of informed knowledge, by deflecting Catherine, and even goin so far as to suggest that she might be understandably suffering from her own form of mental condition.
One that surely they have many treatment plans and schemes in mind.
So the dilemma, pitfall, trap, call it what you will, is this. When confronted with Catherine's demand that her son be properly treated for TBI, the treatment centers and psychiatric units and the staff, eager to protect the fund generation that a patient like Jacob provides, follow a methodology of "Cognitive Abuse".
This is practiced subtly on Catherine with thinly veiled threats of possibly institutionalizing her, while they apply this en-masse and in force on Jacob while under their care. Isolation, social exclusion, control of almost every aspect of Jacob's day to day life, all part of the plan to create the very kind of patient they incorrectly claim that he is. The kind of patient they want, and apparently need.
The result is a well documented, carefully scripted con, a self fulfilling prophecy, and specifically designed tactic that ensures that Jacob remains in care, and especially does not get better, thereby requiring him to remain in care. Indefinitely.
The problem with this perfect crime, or the one fatal flaw in it, is that Catherine knows more about TBI than they do. She is onto their welfare scam. And her tirelessly continued pursuit and demands are growing louder and louder with each passing day. It is only a matter of time, not if, but when Catherine and Jacob will finally be free from this aggression which seems to stand well enough today, but will hopefully not stand much longer.
Hill, went on in a puzzlingly detailed statement, as if to make certain she covered very specific areas of note. Or to document details that for some strange reason needed documentation. That "His condition is chronic and is unlikely to improve in terms of cognitive function. I believe that Catherine has been told this repeatedly, but she does not accept this answer. When he jumped off that building he did irreparable damage to his brain much of which cannot be reversed. Jacob seems to understand this, although he finds it discouraging. Some facts must be faced and it will benefit him if he is not constantly reminded that he is not who he was."
So goes the ongoing frustration and tribulation of Catherine, as she wages her one-woman battle against the mental health system in this country. Now in Oregon. A system that needs medical attention itself apparently! Could they be this crazy?
For the past 8 years Catherine has been trying to get the minimum proper TBI treatment for her son, never mind the cool state of the art stuff that no one in the mental health system seems to know anything about.
Oh, they are eager enough to take the extra money from the Federal and State budgets allotted to TBI treatment, by merely mentioning it in their applications. But doing any actual treating of TBI though is another story entirely. Fiction apparently.
The jeopardy that Catherine faces as she tries to convince the various treatemnt centers who take turns caring for Jacob until the funds run out, is that they turn their attention to her mental condition, whenever she loses her patience with them, and becomes loud, animated, and angry, as anyone being Nurse Ratched pressured into unfair helpless compliance would.
And to put it as simply and calmly as is possible under these highly complicated and infuriating conditions, here's the deal:
EVERYONE in the mental health profession knows, that especially with TBI, THE LAST treatment you would administer is the traditional series of psychotopic medications used to treat schizophrenia. Yet Jacob is routinely dosed into a stupor, and pickled with the worst meds for TBI.
Because Schizophrenia is a mental illness, and TBI is a MEDICAL CONDITION. Tretaing him for Schizophrenia in the traditional way, greatly reduces his ability to recover from his TBI.
But the treatment centers don't seem to know this, and when confronted with someone who does, for exampe a troublemaking mother of one of their patients, rather than admit ignorance, which would be entirely fogiveable given the relatively new field of TBI treatment, they choose the other sin, of vanity, and instead now try to cover up their lack of informed knowledge, by deflecting Catherine, and even goin so far as to suggest that she might be understandably suffering from her own form of mental condition.
One that surely they have many treatment plans and schemes in mind.
So the dilemma, pitfall, trap, call it what you will, is this. When confronted with Catherine's demand that her son be properly treated for TBI, the treatment centers and psychiatric units and the staff, eager to protect the fund generation that a patient like Jacob provides, follow a methodology of "Cognitive Abuse".
This is practiced subtly on Catherine with thinly veiled threats of possibly institutionalizing her, while they apply this en-masse and in force on Jacob while under their care. Isolation, social exclusion, control of almost every aspect of Jacob's day to day life, all part of the plan to create the very kind of patient they incorrectly claim that he is. The kind of patient they want, and apparently need.
The result is a well documented, carefully scripted con, a self fulfilling prophecy, and specifically designed tactic that ensures that Jacob remains in care, and especially does not get better, thereby requiring him to remain in care. Indefinitely.
The problem with this perfect crime, or the one fatal flaw in it, is that Catherine knows more about TBI than they do. She is onto their welfare scam. And her tirelessly continued pursuit and demands are growing louder and louder with each passing day. It is only a matter of time, not if, but when Catherine and Jacob will finally be free from this aggression which seems to stand well enough today, but will hopefully not stand much longer.
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