ISSD
Federal Government Seeks to
Criminalize Psychotherapy
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 29, 1997
Contact: Kathleen McHugh
International Society for the Study of Dissociation
4700 West Lake Ave
Glenview, Illinois 60025-1485
847-375-4718
Glenview, Illinois
ISSD has learned of a pending legal development which could have a chilling effect on the provision of health care in the United States and is unprecedented in Federal criminal law. Although proponents of the so-called "false memory syndrome" will undoubtedly embrace this development as a governmental endorsement of their point of view, the underlying issues are different and more disturbing.
Texas psychologist and former ISSD member Judith Peterson will be indicted as early as today by a Federal grand jury on charges of criminal insurance fraud, mail fraud, and other unknown charges. If she is found guilty, these charges carry a mandatory prison sentence in a Federal penitentiary.
The prosecutor's allegations against Dr. Peterson reportedly state that Dr. Peterson falsely and intentionally created and diagnosed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and intentionally implanted false memories in these patients in order to keep patients in the hospital longer, thereby providing fraudulent therapy for traumas that never occurred. Dr. Peterson will also be charged with mail fraud because she mailed bills for these allegedly fraudulent services. Since the Federal government has only interviewed retractors, their attorneys and others, and never interviewed Dr. Peterson or other positive witnesses, further charges may be pending. Dr. Peterson is not even entitled to know these charges until she is indicted. Regardless of the outcome, Dr. Peterson is now forced to mount a legal defense that will cost in the high six-figure range; malpractice insurance does not cover the costs of criminal defense.
Allegations of this kind belong in the civil domain, not in criminal court. They are malpractice and negligence complaints. In fact, the people who Dr. Peterson allegedly defrauded have already sued her; their cases were settled out of court. ISSD has not reviewed the specifics of any of these cases, but believes that they have already been dealt with through proper legal channels. The alleged victims of fraud and others filed multiple complaints with the Texas Board of Psychology; the Board has dismissed 11 complaints filed against Dr. Peterson, and has not found against her in _any_ case. Furthermore, numerous complaints have been filed against her with the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the Texas Department of Health and she has been found at no fault in every investigation. each complaint was also investigated, per jcoah guidelines, at the hospital level, and Dr. Peterson was found to be without fault.
By prosecuting Dr. Peterson on charges of this kind, the Federal government is indicating their willingness to set standards for diagnosis and treatment. By criteria not yet known to ISSD, they have decided that Dr. Peterson purposely diagnosed DID when it was not present and purposely created false memories. They have also seemingly decided that the patients' memories were not accurate.
Imagine what will happen when this scenario is generalized to other patients and other professionals. Will any patient who is unhappy with the outcome of any form of therapy be able to allege that purposeful criminal fraudulent therapy was performed and cause a therapist to be indicted? Will the government now seek to imprison doctors treating patients who allege Agent Orange exposure, Gulf War Syndrome, unknowing exposure to government radiation testing, or other events that the government has not wished to acknowledge? Will mental health providers risk jail time for treating those traumatized by combat activities that the government prefers to deny? Will a physician be subject to prison time for mistakenly diagnosing indigestion in a patient who is having a heart attack? If these things can occur, then what professionals in their right mind will want to remain as providers of health care?
ISSD urges Americans to consider what actions they may wish to take to protect the health care system from criminalization of health care delivery. For example, they may wish to contribute to a legal defense fund that has been established. Providers may also urge their professional associations to investigate the broad issues involved in these allegations so that Dr. Peterson and others do not risk financial ruin and possible prison time for treating patients.