I'm not surprised, but do you know what *does* shock me? THIS: "The board suspended his license for seven months and restricted it for two years after that."

This information is easily found on the state's Medical Board website.

Why do people not check out their doctors before they make initial appointments, or even keep checking their current physicians disciplinary actions?

Sure, it's obvious when a license is suspended - you can no longer see your doctor. But gross negligence and a slap on the wrist? You'd only know by checking with the Medical Board...

People should do this EVERY SINGLE TIME they consider seeing a doctor.

To not do so is gross negligence on the part of the patient, but I'm NOT saying it's their fault for what happened. There always has to be that "first time" anyway.

I'm just saying past history can be researched.

Also;A Battle With Depression and Suicidal Tendencies

"Saying she wanted “to water my plants and pick up my mail,” Ms. Endersbe, 40, left at 10:45 the next morning. She walked the five blocks to her apartment, retrieved a St. Francis of Assisi medallion given by her mother, locked up, slid her keys under the door and walked to the Franklin Avenue Bridge where, at noon, she jumped to her death.

Dr. Abuzzahab would not comment on particular cases but said the state medical board’s disciplinary action against him was “without heft.”

The one thing in this article that I really hope registers with readers is this: troubled and treated patients are being abruptly withdrawn from drugs in order to enter clinical trials, thus utterly confounding any honest results from the trial. (Now we see also that doctors are being paid handsomely to do this by the drug companies.) By the time the results of these trials make it into medical journals all mention or evidence of this abrupt withdrawal has been eliminated and professionals and patients alike are left with wonderful reassurances about how well these drugs work "compared to placebo". But the placebo events reported are really nothing of the sort -- they are in many cases withdrawal events.

I want to know where the peer pressure from other psychiatrists is? Why do they not speak up to keep this psychiatrist from giving them all a bad name? It seems instead that other psychiatrists are doing nothing to protect people from this guy. And psychiatrists keep asking themselves in their journal why they aren't respected as a profession--I think they could get a clue as to the reason right here.

Hi. Just wanted to wave Hi and say I'm from Philly and read a piece about you in Liz Spikol's column. I really enjoy your blog so far. Great job on Zyprexa research, too!

Last year I was recruited for a clinical trial for an insomnia med. They offered to pay me $500 to participate. I declined. I thought if they are willing to pay $500 per patient, this drug must have some bad side effects. I'm curious to know how much the docs were getting per patient. They were probably making a killing.