Of greed, contraband, felonious violations of state and federal law, and patient health.

This article was originally published sometime in the first twelve months of the life of this publication, PJ Reed The Arizona State Hospital Patient Abuse. We are republishing it at this time as means to remind our readers of the simple fact that the conditions and care practices may well have not improved since that time, including since January, 2015, when the current Director of Arizona Department of Health Services Dr. Cara Christ came into that position. Christ has time and time again since 2015 stated that there have in fact been “great improvements”, which the staff of this blog feel is nothing better then the same propaganda that the citizens of Arizona (and beyond) were fed prior to 2015. 

#1 RE: Highly Illegal Tobacco Sales By Staff: Wherein, despite The Arizona State Hospital touting itself as a smoke free facility in legislative venues and the media, the staff at ASH criminally smuggle tobacco and other illicit substances onto Hospital grounds, which is then sold at exorbitant profit, fully untaxed or otherwise regulated, at the expense of patient health and well being.

       DISCLAIMER ON BEHALF OF THE HUMANE STAFF AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL: As I have tried to make clear in past articles, my good faith reporting of unlawful misconduct of staff at The Arizona State Hospital (ASH) only applies to some proportion of the overall staff at ASH. Regrettably, I do have to attest to the fact that in my experience, the majority of ASH staff do willfully engage in patient abuse and other like forms of very serious misconduct, but it also important for me to state that there are some very good people working at ASH, people who are sincerely dedicated to serving the interests and needs of the paitent-clients there at ASH in absolute accordance with standards of care and related common codes of morals and ethics in the context of vulnerable adults, and so on. That said, I will add at this time that the well intentioned staff at ASH have associated responsibilities in terms of reporting staff misconduct in every form, and that there are very clear protections in place that equally clarify the basic fact that there's really no excuse for standing aside and allowing for misconduct to go unreported. We, the patients, need all the help we can get, and I implore the good people at ASH to PLEASE do what they can to contribute to meaningful reform at ASH as soon as they can. State law in Arizona expressly bans all use of tobacco in public facilities of any kind, and furthermore expresses to right of citizens to report unlawful tobacco use whenever it occurs. ASH is- you knoW, a public hospital- and the critical problems with tobacco and other illicit substances do not flow from the willingness of addicted patients to smoke. As usual at ASH, the patients in this case are not the problem. Etc.
         The language of this next short passage reflects the protections of staff who do stand up to their best intentions, and I hope it helps the situation in this specific context:

    Arizona Revised Statutes (state law)

Title 36, Chapter 36; relating to smoking.

G. NO EMPLOYER MAY DISCHARGE OR RETALIATE AGAINST AN EMPLOYEE BECAUSE THAT EMPLOYEE EXERCISED ANY RIGHTS AFFORDED BY THIS SECTION OR REPORTS OR ATTEMPTS TO PROSECUTE A VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION.

The Arizona Department of Health website also states the following: 

"It is the policy of Arizona State Hospital to maintain a 100% tobacco free-environment for the preservation and protection of the health of our patients, visitors, and our staff; as such, smoking and use of other tobacco products are prohibited on Arizona State Hospital property." 
                         ----------------------------------------------  

Smoking Policy, Arizona Department of Health Services, versus reality:

       "Arizona State Hospital is completely Tobacco Free  for all patients, staff, contractors and visitors."  

BULLSHIT!

      "Arizona State Hospital is committed to advocate a healthy, tobacco free environment." 

   BULLSHIT!

         "Arizona State Hospital shall ensure a healthy, comfortable and safe environment for patients."

     

                                                                       BULLSHIT!

         "Arizona State Hospital shall provide leadership, example and guidance in health promotion."

                                                                       BULLSHIT!
----------------------------------------------------------------

    Trafficking in illegal sales and distribution of tobacco and other illicit substances is as about as low as a person can get, in my opinion. This is particularly true when the victims of the illegal drug trade are children and other like vulnerable persons. The willingness of administrators to allow employees at The Arizona State Hospital to carry on with smuggling such substances onto the grounds at the expense of the facilities mentally disabled patient clientele is unconscionable.
       

Arguably the single most disturbing feature of proven staff abuse, greed, and utter disregard for patient health and wellbeing, I attest to the fact the willingness of staff at The Arizona State Hospital (ASH) to smuggle and sell illicit substances within the Hospital grounds/property, including but not limited to tobacco products, reflects how deeply substandard the conditions at ASH are. The ASH staff who directly engage in or contribute to this problem ignore state and federal law, as well as the Hospital's own policies, in order to criminally profit off the addiction to nicotine that a relatively small proportion of the ASH patient population have to deal with in their own lives on a daily basis. An even smaller proportion of ASH patients control the selling of tobacco and other illicit substances, a very easily identifiable group of less that half a dozen who all come from one of two patent units; this belies the basic fact that staff on those two units are centrally involved with smuggling and distributing the tobacco and other illicit substances within the Hospital grounds/property. It is also clear that ASH security staff is directly involved with the problem due to the fact that security is required to search each and every ASH staff person before they are allowed access to the Hospital grounds/property.

In that area of ASH known as the "civil side" alone (which represents approximately one third to one half of the overall facility population of patients, and where I was located as a patient-client of ASH), a moderately steady flow of smuggled tobacco exists in spite of ongoing complaints about the issue in terms of compromises in safety and other related concerns with respect for criminal conduct specific to the selling and distribution of cigarettes, lighters, rolling papers. Such  complaints came from patients, at lease some ASH staff, and visitors alike. As with the presence of any criminal activity in the context of the selling of illegal drugs and substances in any area of the United States, the presence of this problem at ASH creates very hazardous conditions that effect each and every ASH patient in any number of ways.

In the civil section of ASH, I personally encountered patients dealing and using illicit substances in the common area ("patient mall") bathrooms on a near daily basis for the entirety of my thirteen (13) full months of hospitalization at ASH, for example, and as a consequence of me being a non-smoker seeking to use the bathroom for its intended purpose, I was regularly threatened and verIy nearly physically assaulted by these mentally ill and addicted patients on numerous occasions. I reported this matter to ASH administrators on a constant basis, as well, including via the formal submittal of detailed written reports to the ASH patient advocate, Sonya Serda, and to both the administrative offices of the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), as well that agency's Office of Human Rights (OHR). But as with every other serious issue of staff based misconduct and related impacts on myself and other patients, my complaints and concerns were systematically ignored.

Details relating to the selling and use of tobacco and other illicit substances on the civil side of ASH are common knowledge to the majority of patients as well as staff at ASH (even non-smokers such as myself), and include the following facts:

                1) There are a total of six (6) patient units on the civil side of ASH. During my time at ASH, I was able to reasonably verify that at least 4-6 specific patients were always involved in selling tobacco and other illicit substances in the common patient mall bathrooms and at other places throughout the facility, and their first names are as follows: Billy, George, Harold, Michele, Rodney. All of these patients are housed in two out of the six total patient units: Desert Sage East and Ironwood North.

               2) It is virtually impossible for patients to acquire tobacco and other illicit substances in any other fashion than from ASH staff. The frequency of visitors is far too low for that to be the source of the stuff, and there's no way it is thrown over the fences and walls. In other words, ASH is not a prison, and the sorts of methods commonly cited in the rampant supply of illicit substances in prisons do not apply at ASH. (Unless, that is, staff are the ones inserting balloons stuffed with tobacco and other illicit substances up their respective wazoos... Yuck.)

                3) As per ASH/ADHS policy specific to health and safety at ASH, the staff at ASH are expected to be subject to thorough searches by ASH security staff whenever they come onto the Hospital grounds/property. There is as much if not more concern about staff safety (which most definitely include concerns about the the safety of security staff) when it comes to these searches, and with the potential risk of staff bringing weapons onto Hospital grounds/property, it is reasonable to assume that security staff conducts its searches in this context thoroughly enough to fully shut down the steady flow of staff smuggled tobacco and other illicit substances. And yet, the flow continues, which belies the fact that ASH security staff contribute to the problem, most assuredly via turning a blind eye to the matter of staff smuggled tobacco and other illicit substances onto Hospital grounds/property.

                 4) One single cigarette at ASH, as per the prices charged by the patients who are always involved in the selling of tobacco, costs at least $4-5. Individual puffs ("hits") off of a cigarette cost $1, and even the use of a lighter costs up to $1. Simple math belies that fact that one full pack of cigarettes nets about $80-100.00, and cartons of ten packs obviously net the proportionate value of upwards of $1000.00. Clearly, the sole motivation for staff who are willing to engage and contribute to the smuggling of tobacco and other illicit substances is greed, pure and simple, and the ASH staff willing to engage in trafficking of tobacco and other illicit substances, including ASH administrators, are no better than a common drug dealer in the worst parts of Phoenix.


BELOW, I HAVE INCLUDED SOME LITERATURE FLOWING FROM ARIZONA'S POLICIES AND RELATED LAWS SPECIFIC TO MAINTAINING A "SMOKE FREE" ENVIRONMENT WITHIN STATE BUILDINGS AND PROPERTIES, AS FOLLOWS:

Thank you for visiting the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) "Tobacco Free Arizona" Web site and reviewing our Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy describes what information is collected from visitors to the Web site, how that information is used, the conditions under which it may be disclosed, and what steps are being taken to ensure the security of the collected information.

Arizona Department of Health Services Smoking Policy

      Arizona State Hospital is completely Tobacco Free, for all patients, staff, contractors and visitors. Arizona State Hospital is committed to:

1. advocate a healthy tobacco free environment;
2. ensure a healthy, comfortable and safe environment for patients, visitors and staff;
3. provide leadership, example and guidance in health promotion.

It is the policy of Arizona State Hospital to maintain a 100% tobacco free-environment for the preservation and protection of the health of our patients, visitors, and our staff, as such, smoking and use of other tobacco products are prohibited on Arizona State Hospital property. 
END.

Arizona Revised Statutes (state law)
Title 36, Chapter 36; relating to smoking.

Smoke-free Arizona act

         (Caution: 1998 Prop. 105 applies.)

(cont.)
2. The department shall inform persons who own, manage, operate or otherwise control a public place or place of employment of the requirements of this law and how to comply with its provisions including making information available and providing a toll-free telephone number and e-mail address to be used exclusively for this purpose.

3. Any member of the public may report a violation of this law to the department. The department shall accept oral and written reports of violation and establish an e-mail address(es) and toll-free telephone number(s) to be used exclusively for the purpose of reporting violations. A person shall not be required to disclose the person's identity when reporting a violation.

4. If the department has reason to believe a violation of this law exists, the department may enter upon and into any public place or place of employment for purposes of determining compliance with this law. However, the department may inspect public places where food or alcohol is served at any time to determine compliance with this law.

5. If the department determines that a violation of this law exists at a public place or place of employment, the department shall issue a notice of violation to the person who owns, manages, operates or otherwise controls the public place or place of employment. The notice shall include the nature of each violation, date and time each violation occurred, and department contact person.

6. The department shall impose a civil penalty on the person in an amount of not less than $100, but not more than $500 for each violation. In considering whether to impose 

ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES (2008 Amendment)  TITLE 36, CHAPTER 6; RELATING TO SMOKING 

    Sec1. Title

This act may be cited as the “Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Act.”

    Sec. 2. Purpose and Intent

In order to protect children, patrons, employees, veterans, jobs, tourism and private property rights, the people of Arizona declare their intent to enact the Arizona Non- Smoker Protection Act to ban smoking in all public places and places of employment with exceptions including bars and tobacco shops. 

-----------------------------------------

BELOW ARE SEVERAL CITATIONS OF FEDERAL LAW AND POLICY SPECIFIC TO THE TRAFFICKING OF TOBACCO AND OTHER ILLICIT SUBSTANCES APPLICABLE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

THE UNITED STATES TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU

Tobacco Diversion

If you suspect illegal activity regarding the diversion of tobacco products or cigarette papers or tubes outside the legal distribution chain, please contact the TTBIntelligenceDivision. 

Diversion includes, for example, tax evasion, theft, distribution of counterfeit products, and distribution in the United States of products marked for export or for use outside the U.S.  Diversion may also include Internet sales of tobacco products not in compliance with Federal, State, or local laws. 

For information on the Federal laws that apply to the unlawful transportation, shipment, or sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products, please refer to Industry Circular 99-2, or contact the Intelligence Division.

The Intelligence Division can be reached by:

Phone: 1-202-453-2173.

E-mail: ttbtobacco@ttb.gov

Mail:
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Attn: Intelligence Division, Room 200-W
1310 G Street, NW., Box 12
Washington, DC  20005

---------------------------------------------

In late March, 2011, I submitted a detailed report of the rampant sales and use of tobacco and other illicit substances at ASH to the Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Human Rights (OHR), including my deep concerns about the very real danger posed to myself and other non-smokers by the presence of the problem in the common patient mall bathrooms and other places within the Hospital facility.

In early April, 2011, I was visited by a representative advocate from OHR named John Gallagher, and he advised me of the fact that his office has already been contacted by a number other patients, as well as visitors to ASH (including employees of ADHS), who had expressed similar concern about the problem.

With direct reference to my letter, John Gallagher advised me that I could elect at that time to either file a formal grievance, or to simply request that OHR communicate on my behalf with a letter of their own about the matter. "A shot across the bow" is how John Gallagher characterized the purpose such a letter, by which the administrators of ASH would be directed to address the problems in a forthright and meaningful manner.

I opted at that time for the latter of these avenues in the hope of  possible resolution to the matter, and John Gallagher advised me that we could return to the issue in 6-8 weeks in order to review whether the letter his office would be directing to ASH administrators had any discernible affect on the problems associated with the matter.

Two months later, in early June, 2011, I met with John Gallagher again, and advised him that I had observed no charges whatsoever in terms of ongoing selling and related dangers posed in the common patient mall bathrooms, at which point he advised me, in turn, that he would speak to his supervisors at OHR about the matter as it stood at that time.

Two weeks after our conversation, ASH administrators officially closed the common area patient mall bathrooms on the basis of safety, and while there was no official detailing of what the safety issues were, it was common knowledge to patients and staff alike that smoking was the issue. This action was taken at the expense of the majority of ASH patients in the "civil" section of the hospital, who do not smoke or otherwise engage in activities relating to illicit substances. By closing these bathrooms in order to address a problem that is singularly caused by the willingness of ASH staff to illegally provide the addicted patients at ASH, administrators blatantly rejected accepting their direct responsibility for the problem, and placed the consequences on patients who were not involved in any unlawful activities.

Ultimately, the sole change in the conditions specific to this matter appeared in the presence of human feces in various outdoor corners throughout the entire patient grounds. 

I also submitted numerous requests to both the ASH patient advocate, Sonya Serda, as well as to the administrative staff at ASH, to have signs posted in the common patient mall area bathrooms, where the high majority of complaints about this problem stemmed form, but this suggestion was ridiculed by ASH security staff, and my basic request was ignored. As always. But as the following passage shows, even this refusal of ASH staff to do something of substance was outright unlawful in every sense of the term:         

Arizona Revised Statutes (state law)

Title 36, Chapter 36; relating to smoking.

    F. Posting of signs restricting or banning smoking:

    1. "No Smoking" signs of the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it) shall be clearly and conspicuously pasted by the owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of that place identifying where smoking is prohibited by this section and where complaints regarding violations may be may registered. 

       Throughout all of my thirteen months of hospitalization at ASH, the problems with tobacco and other illicit substances remained unchanged, with the same 4-5 patients constantly behind the sales of these products in the common patient mall bathrooms and other areas of the Hospital, indicating with absolute surety that fact that certain staff who specifically work on both Desert Sage East and Ironwood North were central to the ongoing supply and trafficking of these substances. In discussing the matter with various staff persons at different times, including with the ASH patient advocate, Sonya Serda and a former Ash investigator maned Vicky Fox, it was confirmed more than once that ASH security are 100% behind the insidious presence of tobacco and other illicit substances at ASH. These basic elements of the reality are irrefutably known to the so called clinicians and administrators at ASH, and I attest the the fact that when it comes to the issue of illegal trafficking of tobacco and other illicit substances at ASH, every one of these public health care "professionals" exposes themselves as who and what they really are, by virtually putting these substances into the bodies of the mentally ill and disabled patients at ASH with their own hands. 

One does not need to read this blog to understand the ramifications of illegal trafficking of tobacco and other products in public settings such as The Arizona State Hospital. Statistics specific to lung cancer in our nation being what they are today, as well as a host of other lethal health threats commonly associated to tobacco use, are common knowledge in the public sector (and not to mention the medical community), and the problems associated with nicotine addiction itself are equally recognized by a majority of Americans today. It is of further significance to realize that health conditions of mentally and emotionally disabled adults are directly exacerbated by addiction to substances, this is spelled out very, very clearly in every element of mental health care resources that I have ever encountered (I am an alcoholic, as well, and I understand the significance of this fact). For the doctors, administrators, and even the lesser educated staff at ASH to identify themselves as "care givers" in any sense of the term at all virtually sickens me as a citizen and client of the Arizona health care system. 

IN CLOSING:  Staff at ASH work in a public hospital for crying out loud (!), and it is unconscionable for the administrators and other staff at ASH to engage in or otherwise contribute to the smuggling and trafficking of tobacco and other illicit substances on the Hospital grounds/property. Administrators at ASH need to be held fully accountable under applicable law for this ongoing matter as it stands to date. 

I have full documentation of my good faith communications with ADHS authorities specific to this issue, and as such, I can attest to the despicable character of ASH administrators who would rather preserve the criminal activities of ASH staff than they would support the rights and fundamental well being of ASH patient-clients. These people need to be stopped. Anything short of that will only contribute that much further to the problem at the absolute expense of ASH' highly vulnerable mentally disabled patients.

      This problem reflects the abysmally substandard practices and directly related conditions at The Arizona State Hospital as clearly as anything I witnessed or was personally subjected to during my thirteen months of hospitalization at ASH. The fact that my good faith reports specific to this matter have been systematically ignored during the entirety of my time at ASH and beyond only goes to further prove how deep the problems within ASH administrative operation is, and also proves the depravity of certain ASH staff who utterly disregard the general health and well being of patients in order to serve their own selfish interests. This situation is an insult to the rights and fundamental dignity of each and every patient at ASH, and as with all of the issues that I am dutifully working to report and address through my writing today, this matter to needs to be addressed and the criminal misconduct of involved ASH staff needs to stop. Now. 

paoloreed@gmail.com

  

Prose: Katy Did

People like me
            cherish
                       the chance to die
                       while making it known to ourselves
                       that we are alive.
 People like me
            embrace
                         the chance to be thrilled
                         while staking claim
                         waking up for the first time
                         the final time.
People like me
           doggedly pursue
                           the chance to be different
                           while dodging plots
                           and defending glorious realms.

In contradiction to people like you
and all of your illegitimate wishes
I cannot say enough
how much we hate you.                                                                    
               
(January, 2012)
                             
                 

                               

Prose Levi Gorilla Taped Zawinul To Earthen Tones 
Yellow Red Green Black and Gray


Happenstance man long limbed artificial sight.
When I sit alone, and all my choices flow into one thing                              
I am youth again and I remember
The cold wetness of early winter storms
Upper Piedra Lisa canyon 
not far from the house
I grew up there and I changed 
And how I loved to be there on the high ridges 
Looking down into the lower canyons. 
But then I would turn again
Face back towards the higher mountains
Away from all the city spread
I knew then that a time would come
A time when I would go up there 
Never come down. Knowing                                                 I would never grow old.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                   

I would do that in an instant if I could

Be there walking again with one or two good old dogs
Into the hills. The trail would be vague
The destination would be vacant
My only concern would be where to rest
When a time to rest arrived.
The high ridgeline saddle above always looked good
But even when I'd first see them I'd know
It is too windy up there far too exposed
So we'd go that high up to those saddles
And then we would drop down again
Into the back land in around upper Oso pass                                                        
Where the main buttress of South Sandia peak's 
Stony west facing walls would rise directly above us
The wind there would be blocked 
As would all of the views
Of the shit I had left behind. 

I have always known that I'll be there again
When the time was right and even today
Sitting here in this god forsaken place
I am not convinced 
That I ever really left.

                    (October 2011)

paoloreed@gmail.com







  

Lest We Forget: A summary of the pain and suffering caused by The Arizona State Hospital's clinical and administrative ineptitude. Wherein, the conditions at ASH reflect endemically entrenched stigmatism and directly associated sanctioned abuses of administrative and clinical authority over patients, which is in radical contradiction to all/any contemporary models of optimum long term mental patient management and care.   

     "Most citizens (including mental health professionals) believe persons with mental illnesses are dangerous and/or criminal by nature.... Although studies suggest a link between mental illnesses and violence, the contribution of people with mental illnesses to overall rates of violence is small,” and further, “the magnitude of the relationship is greatly exaggerated in the minds of the general population, including in public psychiatric facilities which are assigned the duty  of mental health treatment and patient rehabilitation.” (Institute of Medicine, 2006)."

      ON OR AROUND MAY 24, 2011, FOLLOWING AN INTIAL 4 1/2 MONTHS OF HOSPITALIZATION AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, I HAD MY FIRST FORMAL ONE ON ONE CONSULTATION WITH DR. PERVAIZ AKHTER, A PAKISTANI TRAINED DOCTOR WHO WAS ASSIGNED AT THAT TIME TO BE MY PRIMARY PSYCHIATRIC CARE PHYSICIAN. AKTHER WAS ASSIGNED AS SUCH AFTER MY FIRST ASH PSYCHIATRIST, DR. LAXMAN PATEL  EXPRESSED CLEAR RESENTMENT FOR MY SELF DIRECTED ADVOCACY EFFORTS AND ADVISED ME TO REQUEST A DIFFERENT PRIMARY ATTENDING DOCTOR. I AGREED TO THIS IMMEDIATELY (FOR WHO WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED BE A DOCTOR NOT INTERESTED IN PROVIDING YOU WITH TREATMENT?), AND DID SO IN FRONT OF MY ENTIRE SEVEN PERSON TREATMENT TEAM, INCLUDING MY PRIMARY THERAPIST KEVIN JESSUP, MEDICAL (non-psychiatric) PROVIDER, DR. MAITREYI KULKARNI, AND OTHER LIKE STAFF WHO LATER ATTESTED TO THE FACT THAT PATEL DID IN FACT ADVISE ME AS SUCH. I MENTION THE  PRESENCE OF THESE OTHERS, BECAUSE A FEW DAYS LATER, LAXMAN PATEL 
FLATLY DENIED HAVING STATED THAT. 

HEREIN JUST ONE MORE DETAIL TO HOW DISORGANIZED AND ARGUABLY 

INEPT THE GENERAL FLOW OF CARE AND TREATMENT AT ASH IS, IN FACT,

WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE ISSUE OF ANY PATIENT'S RIGHT, 

AS PER WELL ESTABLISHED LAW,  TO OPENLY REPORT STAFF

MISCONDUCT, WITH THE ATTENDANT PROTECTION IN TERMS OF NOT 

BEING RETALIATED AGAINST, ANY FORM OR FASHION. THIS IS 

ATMOSPHERE BY WHICH MY RELATIONSHIP WITH PERVAIZ AKHTER

BEGAN, A MAN WHO DURING THAT FIRST, MAY 24, 2011, MEETING, 

EXHIBITED HIS OWN GRAPHICALLY IMBECILIC LACK OF SKILL AS A

LICENSED PSYCHIATRIST. HE DID SO AT THAT TIME, BY LOOKING 

ME IN THE EYE AND ASKING IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS:

               "ARE YOU REALLY NOT A FELON?"

       AT THE TIME, I WAS MODERATELY FLABBERGASTED BY THIS QUESTION. IT'S NOT AS THOUGH THIS DOCTOR DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS TO MY FULL PATIENT RECORDS, FOR EXAMPLE, INCLUDING ANY/ALL PUBLIC RECORDS SPECIFIC TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AND RELATED INCARCERATION. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY,  I WAS TAKEN IMMEDIATELY ABACK BY AKHTER'S  QUESTION BECAUSE SERIOUS
MENTAL ILLNESS DOES NOT INHERENTLY HAVE ONE GODDAMN THING
TO DO WITH CRIMINAL CONDUCT OF ANY KIND, MUCH LESS SO IN 
TERMS OF FELONIOUS MISBEHAVIOR. 
     THIS IS COMMON SENSE, BUT I CAN ALSO ATTEST TO THE FACT THAT NEVER DURING THE PROCESS OF BEING REFERRED TO ASH BY THE GOOD CARE PROVIDERS AT UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MEDICAL CENTER (TUCSON, AZ, FORMERLY KIN0/UPH) HAD I GOTTEN THE IMPRESSION THAT MENTALLY ILL PERSONS WERE INHERENTLY CRIMINAL BY NATURE. 
     LIKEWISE, NEVER DURING ANY OF MY EXPERIENCES IN THE ARIZONA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO THAT POINT IN TIME HAD I HEARD THAT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE TREATMENT AT ASH ONE HAD TO BE A FELON. 
     I MADE MY LACK OF UNDERSTANDING IN THIS CONTEXT VERY CLEAR TO DR. PERVAIZ AKHTER  AT THAT TIME, BUT HE REFUSED TO COMMENT FURTHER. I HAD BY THAT TIME  ALREADY WITNESSED AND/OR PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED VERY ALARMING DISCRIMINATION BY VARIOUS ASH STAFF IN THE CONTEXT OF THEM TREATING ME AS THOUGH I WAS MORALLY DECREPIT OR OTHERWISE UNDESERVING OF FUNDAMENTAL TRUST/RESPECT AS A HUMAN BEING, THIS ON THE BASIS ON NOTHING OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT I WAS AN ASH PATIENT. BUT IN TRUTH, I HAD NOT YET REALIZED THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS MATTER. IT LITERALLY TOOK AKHTER'S STATEMENT, IN COMBINATION WITH HIS MISCONDUCT AS IT PLAYED OUT OVER THE 
NEXT  MONTHS, FOR ME TO FULLY COMPREHEND THE FACT THAT AT
ASH, PERSONS AFFECTED BY SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS ARE SUBJECTED
TO THESE FORMS OF DEPRAVED MISTREATMENT AS A MATTER OF 
STANDARD PRACTICE. I ATTEST TO THE FACT THIS REALIZATION 
CAUSED ME HIGHLY UNDUE STRESS THAT VIRTUALLY TRANSCENDED
ANY OF MY OTHER FEARS AT ASH, INCLUDING IN TERMS OF MY PATIENT-PEERS, ACROSS THE BOARD.

INDEED, AND DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF PATIENTS WHO SOMEWHAT REGULARLY EXHIBIT VIOLENT OR OTHERWISE ABERRANT BEHAVIOR, I

CAME TO REALIZE THAT THE PATIENTS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM AT ASH. IT IS- RATHER- STAFF AT ASH WHO ARE FALL FAR SHORT OF GRASPING  THE FACT THAT SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL PERSONS ARE PEOPLE, TOO, MANY OF WHOM POSSESS REMARKABLY VIRTUOUS CHARACTERISTICS, INCLUDING FUNDAMENTAL INTELLIGENCE, HONESTY, KINDNESS, AND SO ON. 

I CAN ALSO ATTEST THAT BY NOW, I HAVE LEARNED THE HARD WAY THAT BLANKET DISCRIMINATION AGAINST INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY MENTAL ILLNESS WILL ARISE ANYTIME YOU HAVE A ACTIVELY DOMINANT POWER SYSTEM UNQUALIFIED IN TERMS OF GRASPING THESE BASIC DYNAMICS OF MENTAL ILLNESS. THIS IS TANTAMOUNT TO A RECIPE FOR DISASTER IN TERMS OF ANY SERIOUSLY MENTALLY PERSON FORCED BY LAW AND POLICY TO SEEK CARE AND TREATMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE FACILITIES SUCH AS ASH.

GIVEN THE VERY REAL FACT THAT ASH IS THE ONLY LONG TERM PUBLIC MENTAL HOSPITAL IN ARIZONA, AND THE RELATED FACT THAT PERSONS WITH NO OTHER OPTIONS IN LIFE BEYOND BEING REFERRED AND COMMITTED TO ASH HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE PROVIDED WITH OPTIMUM TREATMENT, AS PER ESTABLISHED STANDARDS OF CARE READILY AVAILABLE IN CONTEMPORARY HEALTH CARE LAW AND ETHICS, I AM COMPELLED TO SHARE INFORMATION IN THIS CONTEXT, WHICH I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING IN ORDER TO CLARIFY MY MOST CRITICAL CONCERNS, INCLUDING SPECIFIC TO THE GRAPHIC DISCRIMINATION EXHIBITED BY DR. PERVAIZ AKHTER, AND OTHER SENIOR CLINICAL STAFF AT ASH. 

BELOW IS ONE CLEAR EXAMPLE OF DATA SUPPORTING MY CONCERNS, PROVIDED BY THE RESEARCHERS AT THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. AKA "SAMHSA", THIS IS THE AGENCY WITHIN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THAT LEADS PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTS TO ADVANCE THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OF THE NATION TODAY, WITH THE ATTENDANT MISSION OF REDUCING THE IMPACT OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL ILLNESS ON IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN SOCIETY.

Violence and Mental Illness: The Facts

    The discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses largely stem from the link between mental illness and violence in the minds of the general public (including in psychiatric hospitals), according to the U.S. Surgeon General (DHHS, 1999). The belief that persons with mental illness are dangerous is a significant factor in the development of stigma and discrimination (Corrigan, et al., 2002). The effects of stigma and discrimination are profound. The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health found that, “Stigma leads others to avoid living, socializing, or working with, renting to, or employing people with mental disorders - especially severe disorders, such as schizophrenia. It leads to low self-esteem, isolation, and hopelessness. It deters the public from seeking and wanting to pay for care. Responding to stigma, people with mental health problems internalize public attitudes and become so embarrassed or ashamed that they often conceal symptoms and fail to seek or otherwise engage in treatment for their given illness (New Freedom Commission, 2003).”

    This link is often promoted by the entertainment and news media. For example, Mental Health America, (formerly the National Mental Health Association) reported that, according to a survey for the Screen Actors’ Guild, characters in prime time television portrayed as having a mental illness are depicted as the most dangerous of all demographic groups: 60 percent were shown to be involved in crime or violence. Also most news accounts portray people with mental illness as dangerous (Mental Health America, 1999). The vast majority of news stories on mental illness either focus on other negative characteristics related to people with the disorder (e.g., unpredictability and unsociability) or on medical treatments. Notably absent are positive stories that highlight recovery of many persons with even the most serious of mental illnesses (Wahl, et al., 2002). Inaccurate and stereotypical representations of mental illness also exist in other mass media, such as films, music, novels and cartoons (Wahl, 1995).                                                                                                            
  Most citizens (including mental health professionals) believe persons with mental illness  es are dangerous and/or criminal by nature. A longitudinal study of Americans’ attitudes on mental health between 1950 and 1996 found, “the proportion of Americans who describe mental illness in terms consistent with violent or dangerous behavior nearly doubled.” Also, the vast majority of Americans believe that persons with mental illnesses pose a threat for violence towards others and themselves (Pescosolido, et al., 1996, Pescosolido et al., 1999).

    As a result, Americans are hesitant to interact with people who have mental illnesses. Thirty-eight percent are unwilling to be friends with someone having mental health difficulties; sixty-four percent do not want someone who has schizophrenia as a close co-worker, and more than sixty-eight percent are unwilling to have someone with depression marry into their family (Pescosolido, et al., 1996).

    But, in truth, people have little reason for such fears. In reviewing the research on violence and mental illness, the Institute of Medicine concluded, “Although studies suggest a link between mental illnesses and violence, the contribution of people with mental illnesses to overall rates of violence is small,” and further, “the magnitude of the relationship is greatly exaggerated in the minds of the general population, including in public psychiatric facilities assigned the duty of mental health treatment and patient rehabilitation.” (Institute of Medicine, 2006). For people with mental illnesses, violent behavior appears to be more common when there’s also the presence of other risk factors, including physical abuse and emotional abuse (including in psychiatric hospitals), and directly related recent stressors such as being a crime victim, getting divorced, or losing a job (Elbogen and Johnson, 2009).

In addition:

• “Research has shown that the vast majority of people who are violent do not suffer from mental illnesses (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).”
• “. . . [T]he absolute risk of violence among the mentally ill as a group is still very small and . . . only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill (Mulvey, 1994).”
• In a 1998 study that compared people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and others in the same neighborhoods, researchers found that “there was no significant difference between the prevalence of violence by patients without symptoms of substance abuse and the prevalence of violence by others living in the same neighborhoods who were also without symptoms of substance abuse (Steadman, Mulvey, Monahan, Robbins, Applebaum, Grisso, Roth, and Silver, 1998).”

"People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime, both in the community as well as in psychiatric facilities." (Appleby, et al., 2001). Researchers at North Carolina State University and Duke University found that people with severe mental illnesses—schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis—are 2 ½ times more likely to be attacked, raped or mugged than the general population, including in conditions specific to residential psychiatric care.  (Hiday, et al., 1999).  

                (END OF ARTICLE)

------------------------------------------------------

       IN MY EXPERIENCE, THE PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS AT ASH ABUSE THEIR GIVEN AUTHORITY OVER THEIR PATIENTS IN PRECISELY THIS FASHION, BY FAR TOO REGULARLY IMPOSING COUNTER THERAPEUTIC (HARMFUL) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS THAT ARE OFTEN UNLAWFUL IN FORM AND UNETHICAL IN PRINCIPLE, AND THEN BY JUSTIFYING SUCH ACTIONS ON THE BASIS OF NOTHING OTHER THAN THEIR GIVEN AUTHORITY IN THIS CONTEXT. THESE ABUSIVE APPLICATIONS OF UNDUE POWER  AND AUTHORITY OVER PATIENTS OCCUR AT ASH AS A MATTER OF STANDARD PRACTICE, AND IN TWO VERY SPECIFIC CASES, AT LEAST SOME OF THIS MISCONDUCT WILL BE PRESENTED WHEN I TAKE THESE MATTERS INTO COURT (AT MY STILL YET TO BE SCHEDULED HEARINGS IN THE AZ OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS). THE MOST COMMON WAY THAT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CARE PROVIDERS AT ASH ABUSE THEIR AUTHORITY OVER PATIENTS IS THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF PHYSICAL RESTRICTION OF THE GIVEN PATIENT TO THEIR RESIDENTIAL UNIT, WHICH EFFECTIVELY DISQUALIFIES THE PATIENT FROM THE BULK OF ASH' VARIOUS THERAPEUTIC SERVICES AS WELL AS DISALLOWING THEM FROM GETTING FRESH AIR OR OTHERWISE REASONABLY BENEFITTING FROM THE HOSPITAL'S OVERALL RESOURCES. IN ONE SPECIFIC CASE, DR. PERVAIZ AHKTER UNLAWFULLY IMPOSED VERY TIGHT RESTRICTION ON ME IN ORDER TO FORCE (COERCE) ME TO SIGN A LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT I WAS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH SIGNING UNTIL AFTER I'D HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK ABOUT THE MATTER WITH MY ATTORNEY.  RESTRICTION OF THIS SORT IS ROUTINELY USED BY ASH CLINICIANS AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE AND NOT AS A LAST RESORT, WHICH IS HOW IT SHOULD BE USED. OVERUSE OF RESTRICTION IN THIS CONTEXT IS NOTHING SHORT OF GRATUITOUS CRUELTY, AND AS SUCH, REPRESENTS GROSS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ASH' MENTALLY DISABLED PATIENT-CLIENTS. IT IS ALSO REFLECTIVE OF THE GROSSLY INVALID BELIEF THAT MENTALLY ILL ADULTS ARE INHERENTLY CRIMINAL OR IMMORAL BY NATURE AND THUS DESERVING OF PUNITIVE AND UNLAWFULLY COERCIVE METHODS OF CLINICAL PATIENT MANAGEMENT.  THERE IS AN ENORMOUS BODY OF VERY WELL FOUNDED DATA SPECIFIC MENTAL ILLNESS THAT RELATES THE REALITY THAT EVEN IN THIS DAY IN AGE, FULLY CREDENTIALED PSYCHIATRISTS SUCH AS DR. PERVAIZ AKHTER COULD BE SO GRAPHICALLY OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT MENTAL ILLNESS HAS LITTLE IF ANYTHING TO DO WITH CRIMINAL OR IMMORAL CHARACTER. IN A NUTSHELL, IT'S LITTLE MORE THAN A MATTER OF SELF AWARENESS AND OPEN MINDED SELF EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH SPECIFIC TO THE STUDY OF LONG TERM PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT CARE. WITHOUT FURTHER REFERENCING THE FACT THAT THREE (3) OUT OF THE FOUR (4) PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS THAT I WAS UNDER THE CARE OF DURING MY THIRTEEN (13) FULL MONTHS OF HOSPITALIZATION AT ASH WERE TRAINED IN FOREIGN (FAR EASTERN AND MIDDLE EASTERN) SYSTEMS OF MEDICAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION, I WILL STATE MY OWN BELIEF THAT NONE OF THE DOCTORS OR ADMINISTRATORS AT ASH RIGOROUSLY ENGAGE IN ONGOING RESEARCH AND/OR CONTINUING EDUCATION SPECIFIC TO THE STUDY OF LONG TERM PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT CARE. I AM WILLING TO EXPRESS MY CONCERN IN THIS CONTEXT BECAUSE THE PRESENCE AT ASH OF GROSSLY SUBSTANDARD MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICES IS FAR, FAR HIGHER AT ASH THAN IN ANY OTHER MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED. 

IN CLOSING: Only at facilities such as The Arizona State Hospital are you going to find grossly substandard conditions in direct relation to the sorts of issues illustrated in the above data. ASH is not a corrections facility in any sense of the term, and the patients at ASH are not prisoners. Likewise, the clinicians and administrators at ASH are not authorized to impose constitutionally banned forms of restraint or undue restriction onto patients unless absolutely necessary in times of clearly evident threats to others or to the patients themselves. The Arizona State Hospital is operated in direct defiance of very clear rules and related law and policy, and the patients at ASH are afforded little to no meaningful access to support from the greater public and the resources found therein. Furthermore, the lower level clinical staff at ASH are among the lowest paid medical professionals in the state, and the upper tier clinical staff at ASH are clearly incapable of accepting and maintaining the most fundamental standards established in contemporary codes of medical practice and care. As such, the majority of staff at ASH are no more insulated from the endemically grounded discrimination against mentally ill adults described in the above article than anybody in our culture and society is today, and based on my very real experiences at ASH, I am even willing to argue that some of the very worst behavioral health care workers available on the market today find safe haven at ASH for their utterly abusive conduct.

Please get involved today. Patient Abuse at The Arizona State Hospital is sickeningly criminal in nature and ongoing even as I write this today. Please contact your locally elected representative(s), or go ahead and direct your passionate demands for mental health care reform to Arizona's public officials at the department of health services and beyond. Please see my "Resource Ideas" article (April 30, 2012) and determine the best avenue for you in terms of defending the rights of mentally ill patients at ASH today.

paoloreed@gmail.com 

    

Lest We Forget: A summary of the pain and suffering caused by The Arizona State Hospital's clinical and administrative ineptitude. Wherein, senior clinical staff at ASH have denied a patient with only one arm access to an electric or otherwise powered wheelchair for over 7 full years. 

Can you imagine the abject misery that would come with having lost three of your four major appendages due to an unsuccessful suicide attempt, only to then have your personal care provider blatantly deny you the basic comfort of modern technology to the fullest of their ability? To be forced, as such, to struggle your way through the outside grounds of a very large hospital facility while trying to mobilize yourself with a hand operated wheelchair with only your one arm and hand, while other patients and staff virtually fly past you as they go about attending to their daily lives there?

What Is Patient's Mental or Moral Abuse?

By Scott Wolfenden,

Mental or moral abuse against a patient has frequently taken place in history, most commonly against psychiatric patients. Abuse still takes place against patients in protective settings through neglect, sexual abuse, including rape by protectors in the hospital and through verbal abuse or cruelty
Psychological Violence

• Psychological violence, or emotional abuse, is one form of abuse that can be directed on patients in psychiatric facilities. While mental health patients benefit from compassion, some can be difficult to deal with. Staff can resort to psychological violence through threats, intimidation, pressure, displays of anger and forms of unwarranted (non-violent) punishment when dealing with patients.                Read more: What Is Patient's Mental or Moral Abuse? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6884441_patient_s-mental-moral-abuse_.html#ixzz1wi87IfZW          (ARTICLE END)

          IN 2004, A 33 YEAR OLD WOMAN NAMED AUDREY PETERSON DRANK AN EXCESS AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL AND THEN LAID HERSELF ACROSS A SET OF TRAIN TRACKS IN THE NORTHWEST REGION OF TUCSON, ARIZONA. APPROXIMATELY 45 MINUTES LATER, SHE WAS STRUCK BY A SOUTHBOUND TRAIN, AND THE COLLISION IMMEDIATELY SEVERED BOTH OF AUDREY PETERSON'S LEGS BELOW THE KNEE, AS WELL AS HER LEFT ARM. AMAZINGLY, SHE WAS NOT KILLED. FOLLOWING THIS INCIDENT, IN 2005, AUDREY PETERSON WAS DIRECTED BY COURT ORDER TO LONG TERM INVOLUNTARY RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL IN PHOENIX. DESPITE HER CLEAR PHYSICAL DISABILITY, AUDREY PETERSON HAS BEEN DENIED ACCESS TO AN ELECTRIC OR OTHERWISE POWERED WHEELCHAIR FOR THE ENTIRETY OF HER TREATMENT AT ASH, SEVERELY RESTRICTING HER MOBILITY AND EFFECTIVELY DENYING HER ACCESS TO VARIOUS THERAPEUTIC SERVICES THROUGHOUT THE HOSPITAL THAT ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL PATIENTS (PRESUMING THEY CAN PHYSICALLY GET THEMSELVES THERE). IN SPRING, 2011, I PERSONALLY INITIATED PUTTING AUDREY PETERSON IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH SEVEN (7) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MANUFACTURERS AND/OR NON-PROFIT PROVIDERS OF ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR TECHNOLOGY, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT SEVERAL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS MADE GOOD FAITH ATTEMPTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH AUDREY PETERSON IN ORDER TO PROVIDE HER WITH AN ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR. HOWEVER, AUDREY PETERSON'S PRIMARY ATTENDING PHYSICIAN AT ASH, DR. RUBY RAMOS-ROXAS, ACTIVELY INTERFERED WITH (BLOCKED) THIS COMMUNICATION. INTERFERENCE OF THIS SORT WITH AUDREY PETERSON'S FLOW OF PERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN THIS CONTEXT EXTENDS FAR BEYOND THE GRANTED AUTHORITY OF ANY LICENSED PHYSICIAN IN AMERICA TODAY, AND BY CONDUCTING HERSELF IN THIS MANNER DR. RUBY RAMOS-ROXAS RADICALLY ABUSED HER GIVEN CLINICAL AUTHORITY OVER AUDREY PETERSON'S TREATMENT AND CARE AT ASH. THIS NATURE OF CLINICAL MISCONDUCT IS IN GRAPHIC VIOLATION OF AUDREY PETERSON'S FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS AS A CITIZEN OF THIS NATION AND STATE.  I CAN FURTHERMORE ATTEST TO AUDREY PETERSON'S ONGOING CHRONIC DEPRESSION AND TO THE FACT THAT THIS TREATMENT HAS CRITICALLY WORSENED AUDREY PETERSON'S  MENTAL STATE, BECAUSE AUDREY PETERSON HAS PERSONALLY COMMUNICATED TO ME ABOUT HER ONGOING AGGRAVATED SUICIDAL IDEATION AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS SPECIFIC ABUSE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS.  

         YOU WILL NEVER FIND THIS KIND OF BULLSHIT OCCURRING ANYWHERE OTHER THAN AT A STATE MENTAL FACILITY LIKE THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND DR. RAMOS-ROXAS HAS ENGAGED IN THIS HIGHLY EGREGIOUS BEHAVIOR WITH THE FULL WILLFUL SUPPORT AND COMPLICITY OF ASH ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. 

IN CLOSING: To this day, in order to try and mobilize herself around the exterior grounds at The Arizona State Hospital, Audrey Peterson is still being forced to use a hand operated wheelchair. The only reason for this is Dr. Ruby Ramos-Roxas criminal denial of Audrey Petersons's fundamental rights. On a daily basis, Audrey Peterson is subjected to the ordeal of having to inch her way in and out of her unit at ASH, this in order to try and participate in experiencing the various therapeutic services available to other patients at ASH in a setting that includes a 1/4 mile long "patient mall" area, along which these services are located. The temperatures in Phoenix this summer have already crested the 112 degrees (F) point, and even in the best weather conditions, I attest to the fact that this woman cannot reasonably access the various therapeutic services available at different places in ASH due to her physical disability. As such, with the full support of the Hospital's administrative officials, the clinical staff at ASH is in gross violation of the American's With Disabilities Act, as well as the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.  

Can you imagine the abject misery that would come with having lost three of your four major appendages due to an unsuccessful suicide attempt, only to then have your personal care provider blatantly deny you the basic comfort of modern technology to the fullest of their ability? I have worked my tail off in order to expose the extensive patient abuse at The Arizona State Hospital. The administrators and senior clinicians at ASH are the modern equivalent to Machiavellians offspring. They are graphically discompassionate and utterly unwilling/unable to provide the patients at ASH with the fundamental liberties, services, and protections afforded  to them through the United States Constitution, the Americans With Disabilites Act, and the Universal Charter on Human Rights. Please take some time and do all that you can to help me in protecting the dignity and needs of the patients at ASH today. Contact me via email, anonymously if you so choose, and begin a flow of good faith support for this cause in whatever way you can. 


paoloreed@gmail.com  

RERUN: This story was originally published in this blog in June, 2012. And I attest to the bare bones fact that I am the sole informant by which the following debacle was ever brought to the attention of the public. I reported the earliest details of this cycle of violence and associated criminal misconduct of ASH administrators to JJ Hensley (of the Arizona Republic newspaper), while still and ASH patient in May, 2011. But when this reporter sought to confirm that report, ASH administrators patently denied all elements of the information I shared with him at that time. Thus, JJ Hensley felt he had to let the report go, due to not being able to confirm my report. 90 days later (August 2011), a young Phoenix woman with no association to the state's sole long term public mental health care facility was brutally murdered as a direct consequence the above described denial (by ASH); only following this horrific event was JJ Hensley compelled to take my initial report seriously, and (again) only after I informed him (yet again) of what was going on in the context.  

DATE LINE JUNE 2012

Lest We Forget: A summary of the pain and suffering caused by The Arizona State Hospital's clinical and administrative ineptitude. Wherein, an innocent member of the greater community is brutally murdered due to the fact that, in defiance of their public duty to the citizens of this nation and state, ASH staff willfully allowed a violent killer to move freely about the city of Phoenix simply because of their selfish desire to be free of oversight and basic accountability.  

             
NOTE: While no more or less truthful than any of my personal accounting of my experiences at ASH, all of the details of this article are part of the public record.

THIS IS SHIT THAT ONLY AT THIS LAT DATE HAS BEEN FULLY EXPOSED! LIKEWISE, I DO PERSONALLY ACCOUNT FOR THE THINGS THAT I HAPPENED TO WITNESS/EXPERIENCE AT ASH, BUT THERE ARE CLOSE TO 300 PATIENTS IN THAT FACILITY. THE FACT IS, AT EVERY LEVEL OF EMPLOY AS A MATTER OF STANDARD PRACTICE, THE STAFF AT ASH CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN UTTER DEFIANCE OF ESTABLISHED LAW AND COMMONLY ACCEPTED CODES OF DECENCY EVERY DAY AND GET AWAY WITH IT. I ATTEST TO THIS FROM MY HEART.

THIS MAN'S NAME IS JESUS RINCON MURIETTA. HE ESCAPED FROM THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL IN LATE MAY, 2011. BUT RATHER THAN BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE IN TERMS OF THIS MAN'S BRASH AND RELATIVELY EASY ESCAPE FROM ASH,  ASH ADMINISTRATORS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO AHS CHEIF OPERATING OFFICER DONNA NORIEGA) AND CLINICIANS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ASH' CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER DR. STEVEN DINGLE) CHOSE TO ALTER THE OFFICIAL RECORD SO THAT IT WOULD CHARACTERIZE THIS MAN'S DEPARTURE FROM ASH AS A LEGITIMATE DISCHARGE. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT POINT IN TIME AND ONCE AT LARGE IN THE PHOENIX COMMUNITY, JESUS MURIETTA PHYSICALLY STALKED AND THREATENED TO MURDER THE FAMILY OF A FEMALE ASH HOUSEKEEPER, BUT BECAUSE THE EMPLOYEE FEARED LOSING HER JOB FOR HAVING PROVIDED JESUS MURIETTA WITH PERSONAL INFORMATION, SHE REPORTED THE EVENT TO HER SUPERVISORS AT ASH (RATHER THAN WITH THE POLICE), WHO IN TURN FAILED YET AGAIN TO REPORT THE EVENT TO PHOENIX  POLICE BECAUSE OF THEIR UNLAWFUL INTENT TO AVOID ACCOUNTABILITY. AFTER THAT, OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT 10 WEEKS, JESUS MURIETTA WAS ARRESTED BY PHOENIX POLICE AT LEAST TWICE, BUT BECAUSE POLICE HAD NO IDEA ABOUT HIS HISTORY AS A MENTALLY ILL MAN OR THE FACT THAT HE HAD RECENTLY ESCAPED FROM A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY (ASH) JESUS RINCON MURIETTA WAS RELEASED ON BOTH OCCASIONS.  JESUS RINCON MURIETTA THEN WENT ON TO BEAT A 30 YEAR OLD YOUNG PHOENIX WOMAN NAMED APRIL MOTT INTO UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND THEN VICIOUSLY CUT HER THROAT, KILLING HER. HE WAS ARRESTED THE NEXT DAY, BUT THE COURSE OF THE INITAL INVESTIGATION WAS DISTORTED DUE TO THE FACT THAT NEITHER THE POLICE NOR HIS APPOINTED PUBLIC DEFENDER HAD ANY IDEA ABOUT HIS HISTORY AS A MENTALLY ILL MAN OR THE FACT THAT HE HAD RECENTLY ESCAPED FROM ASH. UNTIL I TOOK ACTION TO MAKE THIS INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN THE CONTEXT, THAT IS. FINALLY, ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2011, A REPORTER NAMED JJ HENSELY WITH THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC NEWSPAPER WHO HAD FOLLOWED UP ON MY TIP TO HIM ABOUT THIS MATTER REVEALED THE DETAILS OF THIS SORDID HORROR STORY TO THE PUBLIC. DURING THE COURSE OF THE REPORTER'S INVESTIGATION, ASH' SUPERVISOR CORY NELSON MADE STATEMENTS TO THE EFFECT THAT ASH HAD FULLY MET ITS OBLIGATIONS TO THE PUBLIC IN THIS MATTER, INCLUDING A COMMENT ABOUT JESUS MURIETTA'S MENTAL STATE, WHEREIN HE SUGGESTED THAT JESUS MURIETTA WAS NOT MENTALLY ILL. SINCE JESUS MURIETTA'S ARREST LAST AUGUST FOR THE MURDER OF APRIL MOTT, HIS CONDITION AS A CRIMINALLY INSANE MAN HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY CONFIRMED THROUGH THE COURSE OF HIS ONGOING LEGAL PROCEEDING. 

CLOSING NOTE: None of the staff at The Arizona State Hospital has been held acceptable for this atrociously criminal course of events. Each and every staff member having even the slightest connection to this course of events should be fired from their jobs with the Arizona Department of Health Services, delicensed from their professional status, and, as applicable, criminally convicted to the fullest extent of the law for their gross culpability in willfully contributing to April Mott's tragic death. End of story.

You think I am frivolously or unnecessarily trying to make trouble? Read JJ Hensley's news story about this shit. (See: "Victim's family Questions Why Man Was Free" AZ Republic, September 28, 2011). These people are monsters. If they're willing to put the well being of the public at so much risk, how you reckon they treat the patients at The Arizona State Hospital? These rat bastards personify contemporary evil incarnate, and they get away with it day in and day out. Do something about it now, before anybody else dies, or is otherwise directly harmed because of their wrongdoing.  Patient abuse at The Arizona State Hospital is inhumane, it is criminal, and it has to stop. These devils need to be stricken from their positions as called care providers and/or public employees. Bottom line. 

paoloreed@gmail.com

Will Humble, Director, Arizona  Department of Health Services. RERUN.

The following data clarifies the fact that I was doing everything possible as a patient at The Arizona State Hospital to shed light upon the grossly substandard conditions and medical-mental health care practices that occur there, as applicable (as well) to the role of state level representatives who have been 100% complicit in furthering these issues. My efforts initially began via the applicable rules of ASH itself- but that failed to make any difference- followed by my attempts to file good faith grievance reports to the ADHS/BHS Office of Grievances and Appeals- wherein staff members engaged in failing to abide by applicable codes of legal procedure in the context- and finally by directing formal letters of concern to the one man in the state system with the full authority to address all elements of these issues, as they played out. Below, see one of the letters that I did forward to ADHS Director Will Humble while I was still hospitalized at ASH, well before this blog was created:

Wherein, my good faith attempt(s) to fully report clinical and administrative patient abuse at The Arizona State Hospital compel me to directly communicate with the highest link in the state's health care systems' entire food chain. (April, 2012) 

       Will Humble has been at the helm of the Arizona Department Health Services (ADHS) since January 2010, give or take, and I goes you might say that he inherited one hell of a pregnant cow in terms of issues flowing from ADHS affiliate agency, Behavioral Health Services (BHS), and The Arizona State Hospital (ASH). As director of ADHS, Will Humble is the ultimate authority within the state's entire health care system, meaning that each and every ASH and ADHS/BHS staff person that I have thus far identified by name in terms of my experiences at ASH and in relation to my good faith, dutiful reporting of clinical and administrative patient abuse effectively works for him.
       I decided to send the below letter to Will Humble exactly one day before I submitted my February 09, 2012, request for investigation of substandard mental health care conditions to the ADHS Office of Grievances and Appeals (OGA), because it was clear to me by that time that the staff at OGA had willfully engaged in systematic mishandling of more than one my grievance reports, and I sincerely felt that Will Humble deserved the opportunity to be made aware of my concerns before they spin entirely beyond the authoritative capacity of his office. I sent him this letter (below) in good faith, in order to both bring him up to speed in this context, as well as to hopefully gain his participation in the whole process. My professional background and related experiences in conflict resolution have taught me the intrinsic value of open communication with just about anybody willing to listen, presuming they may have a stake in the conflict at issue, and clearly, Will Humble's role as the director of ADHS entire operation belies the fact that he has a stake in my ongoing advocacy on behalf of myself and my peers at ASH.             
        As the letter (below) reveals, I took the time to clarify the full breadth of my evolving concerns as they stood at that time (early February, 2012), and while I am not in a position to verify whether or not Will Humble took any action in response to the letter, I do suspect that he may have done something in terms of communicating with ADHS OGA about these matters.

--------- (PJ Reed)

Arizona State Hospital

2500 E. Van Buren St.

Phoenix, AZ 85008

Wil Humble, Director

Arizona Dept. of Health Services

150 N. 18th Ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85007

February 08, 2012

Dr. Mr. Humble:
      I cannot apologize for feeling the need to again attempt a direct communication with your office. But I realize that you are a very busy man, and that your responsibilities extend for behind my simple needs. I am also thus compelled to at least express for sincere regret of the fact that the predicament I am working tooth and nail to address has again led me to your door. Any time whatsoever that you can afford me is appreciated, ten fold./ With all the due respect that I can muster, I am going to share my avowed belief that there are critically serious problems in the state of affairs that I am working to address. These problems are endemic. They extend to all tangible forms of patient rights and related protections, as per established law and public policy. I have learned in no ucertaion terms that anytime an individual (such as myself)) who may need to choose to call upon himself in terms of participiatingin his own treatment to the fullest capacity possible will only run into brick walls, should he attempt to speak up for himself in the face of chronic wrongdoing. I attest to this, and my statements are truthful to the best of my knowledge. I approach you purely form a standpoint go f good faith intent./

       In considering how I can best apply myself to something I can something I can only describe as an escalation of utter reject in direct defiance of my expressed concerns (some of which I have been embroiled in for 6-8 months), I have determined that what I am experiencing amounts to nothing less than a broken system. I am specifically talking about ADHS/BHS, in the sense of the term, "system".    
      More specifically, I am deeply concerned in this context about the ADHS/BHS Office of Grievances and Appeals (OGA), as it functions in relation to The Arizona State Hospital (ASH).  In keeping of the requirements of the law, as spelled out in the Arizona Administrative Code, Rule 921 Article 4, I began requesting that the ASH ombudsperson, as well as OGA, initiate an investigation into problems that arise under the language of Rule 921 Article 403b at least five months ago, when it become overwhelmingly clear to me that the entire process, as laid out in all applicable provisions of policy and procedure, is being ignored abused or not otherwise applied in accordance what the details afforded therein.

     I am interested in remedial action rather than conflict. I am not dedicated to this as matter of personal gain, but i do see it as being ablslutlely requisite in term of the very real needs, rights, and protection of all persons so affected (as I am). I do not intend or have any desire to file suit (although I know I can). I am solely dedicated to doing all I can to see that these issues be resolved to the fullest degree possible, in accordance with the specifaccly available  standeards, and as spelled out in all/any applicable treatises relating tot he issues at hand, because it si the right thing to do. /

      In closing, I have no idea if you are in a position as such to read my correspondence. I am doing what I can. Writing you this letter is an expression of civic duty. If, in fact, you do receive and read this, please take a moment, as well, to review the attached documents. I will direct the original grievance to your attention, as well, in the next few days. 

Thank you. Sincerely, --------- (PJ Reed)