I’ve never had to hire a
lawyer, so this is new territory.
Last
year, when my “mentally ill” brother was arrested in Tulsa, I created a
notebook when I started calling attorneys. After almost a year of getting
leads, recommendations, searching the www, and now into my second notebook (the
first one got full!), we’ve yet to secure an attorney that can help my brother.
We’ve spoken to the best and the most
expensive private attorneys, Legal Aid, Oklahoma Disability Law Center (*), etc. Currently hot ‘n heavy chasing the ACLU, because law firms that know
anything about mental health in Oklahoma tell us we need the ACLU. So, we are hoping they’ll take a look
at Jeff’s case, as we are circling the wagons, trying to get their attention.
It’s a compelling case, with evidence - and not just from the 111 days he was held in
solitary confinement in David L. Moss Tulsa County Jail last year (prior to
being deemed incompetent and taken
to Oklahoma Forensic Center (OFC) in Vinita. (*)
(Vinita…that’s another blog for another day.) Horrendous solitude – without even
being allowed a book to read, because somehow books can be dangerous (?!) and
rarely seeing the light of day. More on that in a later blog. (*)
Jeff
is 48 yrs old. He’s been in
Oklahoma’s Mental Health “system” for 29 years, and has only gotten worse and
more expensive over the years, to put it bluntly. In a state that’s fiscally broke,
you’d think someone would want to do a cost-benefit analysis, take the records
(medical, fiscal, psychiatric, housing, the list goes on) and HELP the STATE of
OKLAHOMA. But no.
To date, there are ZERO lawyers that
want to take this on. In a
state that’s #2 per capita mentally ill population in the USA, and #49 in
funding for mentally ill people, i.e., Oklahoma is THE WORST state for someone
like Jeff, and there are so many other "Jeffs." One would think a lot could be
learned from a family that’s doing the research, and has a room full of
records.
In
the 18 months prior to my brother’s arrest, he was force hospitalized eleven
times, to the tune of $288,000, which NO ONE CAN PAY. He got exponentially worse during
each hospitalization and each forced-injection. Our
mom is Jeff's Social Security Rep-Payee. She gets all his bills, so $288K
is no exaggeration. Compound that by 29 years, and millions of dollars are
wasted on ONE PERSON. Jeff.
Oklahoma
needs to understand that forced drugging has caused Jeff’s decline. It has not “fixed” him, ever. It
has made him worse.
Oklahoma
needs to understand that there are better options for these most chronic “mental”
cases (*) that other states and countries are doing, and all we’d have to do is
model them. (*) A blog for
another day.
Oklahoma
needs to understand and LISTEN to a mother that has communicated in every way possible
for almost three decades – and has kept copies of all these communiqués – of
possible reasons why the neuroleptic drugs have made her son worse, yet she has
been ignored. She has had
to educate his treatment team about these drugs causing dependence. They didn’t believe her, but she was
ready with handouts. (*) The doctors didn’t even know. Because these RX cause dependence, if the drugs are not incrementally and slowly titrated down, or
if the drugs are changed abruptly (which the facilities do ALL THE TIME) there
is a severe detox and danger of permanent damage and exacerbated symptoms. The sudden detox causes a rebound
withdrawal that can result in worsened psychosis than what they were “treating.”
Oklahoma
and this whole country needs to fundamentally understand that if “treatment’
is foremost forced-drugging, and if said “treatment” does more damage, then it
is not humane and that TREATMENT NEEDS TO BE REDEFINED. (*) This is
the crux of the issue. Mental illness has risen with the advent of new
anti-psychotic and SSRI drugs. It has not gotten better, quite the
opposite. (*) Think about that.
So
yes, the system has played a huge role in causing the criminalization and
lifelong decline of my brother, and subsequently the destruction of our
mother’s life. Jeff is not
a criminal!
Back
to the point…focus, Jackie. :)
There
are a handful of great attorneys across Oklahoma that are willing to take the
criminal case for $25K-$35K PRE-TRIAL. Jeff’s criminal case, alone, would
end up in the six figure range, if it went to trial, and Jeff always requests a
jury trial. That’s his
right, and I don’t blame him one bit. The problem is, this fixes nothing. Even if we could afford that, the fact
that Jeff’s issues get worse with “treatment” as it has been, and the fact that
this has happened dozens of times - him being arrested during a delusion and
sentenced to jail or prison, so it could very well happen again, after a criminal
case is won. That would be money wasted. There’s been enough money wasted. We are trying to be wise. That’s why we need the ACLU, or a
great civil attorney that knows Tulsa, and wins cases and practices on the
federal level. We want to
CHANGE THE SYSTEM. The
system is broken. The
community mental health approach is an abject failure. We need hospitals again, but a new
kind. (*) (Again, a blog for later.) And
there are NO attorneys in Oklahoma that want to champion this issue. That’s what it will take. A firm (or several firms) that want to
actually DO SOMETHING to help improve things across the board. Improve the system. That’s the only wise way to go about
helping Jeff and so many others. Because,
if he doesn’t reach “competency” while at OFC (meaning, correctly answer their
seven questions to be able to assist in his defense) – if that doesn’t happen within 2 years of being sent to Vinita, his criminal charges will be dropped. That’s a blessing, and another reason
hiring a criminal lawyer would be a waste of money. The only way to stop this runaway
train is charging full steam ahead with a civil case against the pharmaceutical
industry (NAMI is 75% funded by Big Pharma…wrong on so many levels!), against
American Psychiatric Association, and against the state of Oklahoma.
Thankfully, the Attorney General and the Cherokee Nation are already filing
cases against pharmaceutical companies regarding the opioid epidemic. If
they win, this will help us win, as it would set a precedent. (*)
Don’t
get me wrong, this family isn’t here to hurt or punish anyone. (That sentence leaves a bad taste in
my mouth, because that’s how they’ve treated Jeff for over half his life.) (*) No. We are desperately trying to
help...everyone. And if
going after the big guns with all our records/proofs and world-renowned experts
we’ve gotten to know, is what we have to do, then so be it. It will help in the end.
Jeff’s
life is an opportunity. (*) Not unlike the tobacco case helped expose the
truths of how dangerous tobacco is. In
hindsight, we all know those truths to be self-evident now, right? Hm. Even worse when drugs are being forced
into someone’s brain and they’re contra-indicated for diabetes (Jeff is Type II
diabetic…yet another blog for another day), and not only that, he may very well
have a medical condition that presents as psychotic behavior. (*) The
problem is, if someone is suffering with one of about 100 medical conditions
that manifest in psychiatric symptoms, giving that person neuroleptic drugs CAN
CAUSE psychosis. A light needs to be shined on this issue, and a
"first onset psychotic break medical workup" needs to be mandated, to
rule out misdiagnoses. (*)
So
you see? There is much to
take in. There is cause and there is effect. A life story we will be
telling,…whether it’s in a court of law, or in a blog, or on social media, or
in the making of a movie (more to come on that). (*)
Jeff
needs a great civil attorney. But
so far, Oklahoma is failing in that regard, as well. This family is here to stop the
madness, and save Oklahoma millions of dollars, save countless mental patients
possibly being misdiagnosed and over drugged and criminalized, in a state that
is broke and has a massive over-incarceration problem.
Complicated,
yes. Necessary, YES. We are on it.
And
we are still taking lawyer leads….
[(*) = stories to be told
later.]
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