Suicide Malpractice

Low Omega 3 a Risk Factor for Suicide

2011-08-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

Omega 3 research is becoming more important to mental health. Add it to the expert review checklist of unforeseen intervening causes in suicide.

From here.

"August 26, 2011 — Low levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the major omega-3 fatty acid concentrated in the brain, may increase suicide risk, new research suggests.

A retrospective case-control study of1600 United States military personnel, including 800 who had committed suicide and 800 healthy counterparts, showed that all participants had low omega-3 levels. However, the suicide risk was 62% greatest in those with the lowest levels of DHA.

Our findings add to an extensive body of research that points to a fundamental role for DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against mental health problems and suicide risk.

"Our findings add to an extensive body of research that points to a fundamental role for DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against mental health problems and suicide risks," co–principal investigator Capt. Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD, acting chief, Section on Nutritional Neurosciences at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, said in a statement.

Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln

He told Medscape Medical News that the US military "goes to great steps" to ensure they provide the best nutrition to their soldiers, especially in combat and deployment situations. However, these findings on the potential usefulness of omega-3 fatty acids for the brain should be taken into account when designing military diets in the future.

"Omega-3 is already recommended by the American Psychiatric Association as adjunctive therapy for anybody with a psychiatric disorder, especially for those with major depression," said Dr. Hibbeln.

When asked whether he would recommend omega-3 even to those without a diagnosis, Dr. Hibbeln replied, "it certainly wouldn't hurt."

"It's best not to categorize this as 'a drug,' but instead as a fundamental nutrient."

Altitude a Risk Factor for Suicide

2011-04-25T01:45:00.002-04:00

"Two recent preliminary studies that found a positive correlation between altitude and suicide relied on the average or highest state altitude, or the elevation of the state capital city, to represent the altitude of the entire state.

Positive Correlation

However, US states vary greatly in altitude, and this method severely minimizes this variation, Dr. Brenner's team points out. Because counties vary considerably less in altitude than an entire state, they reexamined the altitude-suicide link at a county level.

The investigators included all 2584 US counties in their analysis. They examined county-specific mortality data for 20 years (1979-1998) and determined altitude for each county using the US Geologic Survey.

During the study period, among 42,868,100 total deaths, there were 596,704 suicide deaths (1.4%).

There was a negative correlation between county altitude and all-cause mortality (r = −0.31; P < .001), yet a "strong positive correlation" between county altitude and suicide rate (r = 0.50; P < .001). Positive correlations were seen for both firearm-related suicides (r = 0.40; P < .001) and non–firearm-related suicides (r = 0.31; P < .001).

Prior reports of increased suicide rates in the US mountainous region have fueled speculation that the excess may be due to greater access to firearms, increased isolation, or reduced income. But even after controlling for these variables, the positive correlation between altitude and suicide still exists, they report."

Genetic Linkage Study Finds Gene Associated with Suicide

2011-04-05T00:54:00.002-04:00

Defendants should not be asked to pay for genetic abnormalities.

"A new study in patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) strongly suggests a genomewide association between attempted suicide and a region on chromosome 2 containing the ACP1 gene.

Expression of this gene, which influences a lithium-regulated pathway, is also elevated in BPD individuals who complete suicide, according to the study, which was published online March 22 in Molecular Psychiatry.

Suicide risk is greater in individuals with alcoholism, depression, or BPD. However, previous work has shown that offspring of mood-disordered and suicidal parents are at higher risk (12%) of attempting suicide than offspring of similar but nonsuicidal parents (2%).

The present genomewide association study looked for genetic associations with suicidal behavior in BPD individuals with or without a history of attempted suicide. Diagnosis of BPD was based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition Revised) or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition).

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed in 1201 BPD individuals who had attempted suicide and 1497 who had not. Initial genotyping found 2507 SNPs associated with suicide attempts at P < .001, with strongest association (P = 1.09 × 10⁻⁶) at a locus on chromosome 2 (2p25)."

Excessive Taxation a Factor in a Mayor's Suicide

2010-12-14T21:23:00.002-05:00

The stress of the hounding of lawyers seemed worse than death to this unfortunate taxpayer.

The mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Tim Davlin, was found dead Tuesday morning from what apparently was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the State-Journal Register.

Illinois State Police are investigating his death.

Police Chief Robert Williams says officers responded to a 911 call shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday at Timothy Davlin's home and found the Democratic mayor dead.

Williams declines to offer details about how Davlin died, saying the investigation is in its infancy.

Springfield Alderman Frank Kunz, who will take over mayoral duties, tells the paper he is shocked and that "it's a sad day."

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin released a statement saying he was shocked by the news of Davlin's death.

"I was stunned and saddened by the news of Mayor Tim Davlin's passing. His work with my office always reflected his dedication to our hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this tragic moment."

Mayor Davlin did not show up for a court ordered appearance Tuesday morning in a pending estate case involving his late cousin.

Records show that Mayor Davlin owes the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes and liens have been filed against his home.

The lien notice filed in the Sangamon County recorder’s office shows Davlin owes income taxes for the years 2003, 2005 and 2006.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports that the mayor blames the problem on a dispute with the IRS over taxes owed on investments he cashed in to buy the home.

Sangamon County property records show that Davlin bought the home for $237,500 in 2004.

City payroll records from earlier this year show that Davlin earns more than $119,000 a year.

Scapegoating of Suicide of Member of Lawyer Privileged Group, Homosexuals

2010-09-30T23:44:00.004-04:00

Homosexuality eliminates the single, true purpose of life, reproduction. Thus, people with it are depressed, and tend to commit suicide more often than those without it. Now, one suicides, and others are being scapegoated.

Update: NYT article . If homosexuality is supposed to be normal, and not a disorder, then it is puzzling that a person would be upset by any exposure. The defendants have not expressed any hostility toward homosexuals. There is one person who expressed an extreme form of hostility to homosexuality, the suicider. He found exposure so intolerable, he had to kill himself.

Bullying, Suicide, Punishment

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

Published: October 2, 2010

TYLER CLEMENTI may have died from exposure in cyberspace. His roommate and another student, according to police, viewed Mr. Clementi’s intimate encounter with another man on a Webcam and streamed it onto the Internet. Mr. Clementi, an 18-year-old violinist in his freshman year at Rutgers University, jumped off of the George Washington Bridge, and now the two face serious criminal charges, including invasion of privacy.

Enlarge This Image

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Tyler Clementi, Rutgers freshman

Legal Debate Swirls Over Charges in a Student’s Suicide (October 2, 2010)
Before a Suicide, Hints in Online Musings (October 1, 2010)
Private Moment Made Public, Then a Fatal Jump (September 30, 2010)

The prosecutor in the case has also said that he will investigate bringing bias charges, based on Mr. Clementi’s sexual orientation, which could raise the punishment to 10 years in prison from 5.

But the case has stirred passionate anger, and many have called for tougher charges, like manslaughter — just as outrage led to similar calls against the six students accused of bullying Phoebe Prince, a student in South Hadley, Mass., who also committed suicide earlier this year.

What should the punishment be for acts like cyberbullying and online humiliation?

That question is as difficult to answer as how to integrate our values with all the things in our lives made of bits, balancing a right to privacy with the urge to text, tweet, stream and post.

And the outcry over proper punishment is also part of the continuing debate about how to handle personal responsibility and freedom. Just how culpable is an online bully in someone’s decision to end a life?

It is not the first time cruel acts and online distribution have combined tragically. In 2008, Jessica Logan, 18, hung herself after an ex-boyfriend circulated the nude cellphone snapshots she had “sexted” to him.

Public humiliation and sexual orientation can be an especially deadly blend. In recent weeks, several students have committed suicide after instances that have been described as cyberbullying over sexual orientation, including Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old in Tehachapi, Calif., who hanged himself from a tree in his backyard last month and died after more than a week on life support.

A survey of more than 5,000 college students, faculty members and staff members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender published last month by the advocacy group Campus Pride found that nearly one in four reported harassment, almost all related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Warren J. Blumenfeld, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Iowa State University and an author of the Campus Pride study, also conducted a smaller survey of 350 nonheterosexual students between the ages of 11 and 22 and found that about half of the respondents reported being cyberbullied in the 30 days before the survey, and that more than a quarter had suicidal thoughts.

“Those students who are face-to-face bullied, and/or cyberbullied, face increased risk for depression, PTSD, and suicidal attempts and ideation,” Professor Blumenfeld said.

But punishment for people who do such a thing is still up for debate. In the Rutgers case, New Jersey prosecutors initially charged the two students, Dharum Ravi and Molly W. Wei, with two counts each of invasion of privacy for using the camera on Sept. 19. Mr. Ravi faces two additional counts for a second, unsuccessful attempt to view and transmit another image of Mr. Clementi two days later.

If Mr. Ravi’s actions constituted a bias crime, that could raise the charges from third-degree invasion of privacy to second degree, and double the possible punishment to 10 years.

Still, for all the talk of cyberbullying, the state statute regarding that particular crime seems ill suited to Mr. Clementi’s suicide.

Like most states with a cyberbullying statute, New Jersey’s focuses on primary and high school education, found in the part of the legal code devoted to education, not criminal acts. The privacy law in this case is used more often in high-tech peeping Tom cases involving hidden cameras in dressing rooms and bathrooms. State Senator Barbara Buono sponsored both pieces of legislation, and said the law had to adapt to new technologies. “No law is perfect,” she said. “No law can deter every and any instance of this kind of behavior. We’re going to try to do a better job.”

Still, the punishment must fit the crime, not the sense of outrage over it. While some have called for manslaughter charges in the Rutgers case, those are difficult to make stick. Reaching a guilty verdict would require that the suicide be viewed by a jury as foreseeable — a high hurdle in an age when most children report some degree of bullying.

Besides, finding the toughest possible charges isn’t the way the law is supposed to work, said Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University who specializes in cybercrime. “There’s an understandable wish by prosecutors to respond to the moral outrage of society,” he said, “but the important thing is for the prosecution to follow the law.”

The fact that a case of bullying ends in suicide should not bend the judgment of prosecutors, he said. Society should be concerned, he said, when it appears that the government is “prosecuting people not for what they did, but for what the victim did in response.”

Finding the right level of prosecution, then, can be a challenge. On the one hand, he said, “it’s college — everybody is playing pranks on everybody else.” On the other, “invading somebody’s privacy can inflict such great distress that invasions of privacy should be punished, and punished significantly.”

Suicider Leaves Long Note

2010-09-24T21:28:00.001-04:00

The note is here. Despairs of the evil of America as people in Cambridge do.

Another Suicider Kills Family First

2010-09-23T23:16:00.000-04:00

Here.

Altitude an Independenat Risk Factor for Suicide

2010-09-18T17:51:00.001-04:00

Add this risk factor to the expert review list. From the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Altitude, Gun Ownership, Rural Areas, and Suicide

Namkug Kim, Ph.D., Jennie B. Mickelson, B.S., Barry E. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., Charlotte A. Haws, B.S., Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd, Ph.D., and Perry F. Renshaw, M.D., Ph.D.

From the Brain Institute of the University of Utah; VISN 19 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Health Care System; and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.

Objective: The authors recently observed a correlation between state altitudeand suicide rate in the United States, which could be explainedby higher rates of gun ownership and lower population densityin the intermountain West. The present study evaluated the relationshipbetween mean county and state altitude in the United Statesand total age-adjusted suicide rates, firearm-related suiciderates, and non-firearm-related suicide rates. The authors hypothesizedthat altitude would be significantly associated with suiciderate. Method: Elevation data were calculated with an approximate spatial resolutionof 0.5 km, using zonal statistics on data sets compiled fromthe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration. Suicide and populationdensity data were obtained through the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention (CDC) WONDER database. Gun ownership data wereobtained through the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor SurveillanceSystem. Results: A significant positive correlation was observed between age-adjustedsuicide rate and county elevation (r=0.51). Firearm (r=0.41)and non-firearm suicide rates (r=0.32) were also positivelycorrelated with mean county elevation. Conclusions: When altitude, gun ownership, and population density are consideredas predictor variables for suicide rates on a state basis, altitudeappears to be a significant independent risk factor. This associationmay be related to the effects of metabolic stress associatedwith mild hypoxia in individuals with mood disorders.

Suicider Mass Murderer

2010-09-12T16:16:00.002-04:00

Now he qualifies for an involuntary commitment. Thank the lawyer for this tragedy, including the needless death of the suicider.

Husband enraged over how his wife cooked his breakfast eggs kills her and four others in Kentucky shotgun rampage

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 7:15 PM on 12th September 2010

A man facing eviction over his terrible temper became so enraged by how his wife cooked his eggs that he killed her, his stepdaughter and three neighbours with a shotgun before turning the weapon on himself.

Dressed in his pyjamas, Stanley Neace, 47, went on the killing spree in a trailer park in Jackson, eastern Kentucky. The massacre happened at around 11.30am local time.

Neighbours in the roadside trailer park said Neace stormed across the lawns of several homes and fired dozens of shots from a 12-gauge pump shotgun.

Hospital Cleared of Malpractice After Discharged Patient Commits Suicide

2010-09-03T06:41:00.003-04:00

1) Early discharge encouraged by involuntary commitment act.

2) Psychiatrist cannot held responsible for unpredictable patient behavior.

3) Patient had follow up care set up.

Hospital cleared in patient’s suicide

September 01, 2010, 01:43 AM By Michelle Durand Daily Journal Staff

San Mateo Medical Center is not responsible for a suicidal patient who killed herself after being discharged before the end of a 72-hour psychiatric hold, according to a state appellate court who upheld a previous ruling that the treating psychiatrist believed she no longer required care.

The decision filed Aug. 30 holds that Dr. Mina Bak not only discharged Katherine Farley early because of her belief the woman would not harm herself but provided her referrals to other agencies for follow-up help.

Farley was brought to the hospital at approximately 7:15 p.m. June 23, 2006 in an intoxicated state and voicing suicidal thoughts, according to court records.

The emergency room doctor admitted her to the psychiatric ward where her medical history, including past suicide attempts, depression and alcohol abuse, were assessed. The following morning, she told Bak she was still depressed but denied any specific suicidal plan and said she would never harm herself because she was “too chicken” and had a young son. Bak discharged Farley at 2:40 p.m. June 24 and, at approximately 6 p.m. June 26, she committed suicide.

The following August, Farley’s husband, Dave Monroe, and their son sued for medical malpractice, arguing the hospital staff failed to note the “seriousness of her condition and the danger she posed to herself,” did not give necessary care while she was still experiencing a psychiatric emergency and released her too early without instructions for treatment. The suit also alleged Farley was released early because of her inability to pay for medical services and economic status.

In August 2008, the trial court agreed with the hospital that it was immune from liability.

Why Do Drug Compaaies and Researchers Neglect Suicide?

2010-09-03T06:34:00.003-04:00

They are afraid of litigation. The lawsuit the lawyer claims is to prevent suicide in others prevents any advances in the prevention of suicide. Thank the lawyer for lack of progress in suicide prevention. Any jury awarding any verdict in a suicide claim must also be held responsible for this stagnation.

"

Health

The Forgotten Patients

Robert Langreth and Rebecca Ruiz, 08.26.10, 11:20 AM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated September 13, 2010

The mental health industry ignores the 35,000 people a year who commit suicide. A few researchers are trying to change that.

Cyberbullying Suicider Had Ordinary Mental Health Problems

2010-09-03T06:09:00.002-04:00

As usual, the self-dealing prosecutor compound the tragedy with their own publicity seeking agenda. These prosecutors should be prosecuted themselves. And I hope they are after the case is over.

"In January, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince killed herself after being bullied at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. Six students have been criminally charged in connection with her death; their cases go to court in September. Last month, I wrote a long article explaining why the story of Phoebe's death is more complicated than the narrative that had taken hold in the media—that Phoebe had been tortured for months by a pack of mean girls. I argued that the serious and unusual felony charges brought against the six teens represent prosecutorial overreach, given that Phoebe had mental health troubles before the bullying began, that she was caught up in conflicts that other South Hadley kids saw as "normal girl drama," and that the bullying, while wrong, was not the "relentless" three-month campaign the district attorney described."

Top Model Suicide

2010-06-22T09:55:00.002-04:00

Nick Pisa

Police are investigating the death of a top male model found dead just hours ahead of the start of Milan Men's Fashion Week.

Catwalk star Tom Nicon, 22, died instantly after falling four floors from an apartment window in the centre of the Italian fashion capital.

French model Nicon worked for Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Hugo Boss and had just returned from a Versace rehearsal before he was found dead.

'Suicide': Tom Nicon had recently split from his girlfriend, a police source said

Police in Milan said today they were treating the death as suicide and investigating suggestions he had suffered from a ''complicated affair of love.''

A police source in Milan said: 'We have spoken to the friends he was staying with and they have told us that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was depressed.''

Factory Conditions Generate Many Suicides

2010-05-27T23:52:00.002-04:00

"The massive Foxconn factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen is known for assembling famous electronic goods like Apple's iPhone and iPad. But in recent months it has gained a darker image, as a place where distraught workers regularly throw themselves to their deaths. The latest fatality came on Tuesday morning, when a 19-year-old employee died in a fall in the company's Shenzhen compound, according to the state-run Xinhua news service. He was the ninth worker this year to have died in a fall from factory buildings on Foxconn's properties in Shenzhen; two have survived suicide attempts, according to state-media reports. Another teenager, who the company revealed this month died after jumping from a company building in Hebei province in January, brings the total employee death toll from falls to 10 this year.

The string of deaths has drawn attention to the labor practices of a highly successful Fortune 500 company that has 420,000 workers on its payroll in Shenzhen alone. Two dozen activists protested outside the company's Hong Kong offices on Tuesday, calling on Foxconn to improve working conditions and raise wages. The Taiwan-owned company, which is an arm of the Hon Hai Group, has defended the treatment of its workers. "A lot of things cannot be said at this point, but we are quietly doing our job," CEO Terry Gou told a business forum on Monday. With over 900,000 employees globally in the Hon Hai Group, Gou acknowledged the difficulties of employee management. "But," he said, "we are confident we will get things under control shortly." (See portraits of Chinese workers.)"

Suicide After Investigation of Inoffensive Un-PC Remark

2010-05-17T00:05:00.003-04:00

I would like the PC snitch, the supervisor and any corporate counsel fired for causing this suicide. They must be sued afterward.

Compensation for Suicide Spreads to Great Britain

2010-05-11T06:12:00.002-04:00

The family of a psychiatric patient who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train has won £10,000 compensation from the NHS Trust on the grounds that it failed to protect her.

Carol Savage, 50, died in July 2004 after she absconded from Runwell Hospital in Essex and walked two miles to Wickford station.

Mrs Savage’s daughter, Anna, started legal proceedings, seeking a declaration and damages under the Human Rights Act, on the basis that South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust had violated her mother’s right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention.

In a landmark judgment yesterday Mr Justice Mackay, at the High Court in London, ruled in her favour and said that Miss Savage was herself a victim under the Act.

He said: “The defendant Trust ought to have known of the relevant risk and ought to have taken precautions which would substantially have increased the chances of this tragedy being avoided.”

He refused the Trust, which had fought the case all the way to the Law Lords on a preliminary argument, permission to appeal, although it can apply to the Court of Appeal directly.

Suicides Will Stop. That's an Order

2010-04-26T04:02:00.003-04:00

It's not touchy feely stuff, General. It is not losing an asset into which you have poured massive taxpayer investment. It is about getting treated for clear disorder, some of which may have been caused by military service. It is about competing with the Air Force for history's best suicide reduction program.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Thousands of soldiers, their bald eagle shoulder patches lined up row upon row across the grassy field, stood at rigid attention to hear a stern message from their commander.

Brig. Gen. Stephen Townsend addressed the 101st Airborne Division with military brusqueness: Suicides at the post had spiked after soldiers started returning home from war, and this was unacceptable.

"It's bad for soldiers, it's bad for families, bad for your units, bad for this division and our Army and our country and it's got to stop now," he insisted. "Suicides on Fort Campbell have to stop now."

It sounded like a typical, military response to a complicated and tragic situation. Authorities believe that 21 soldiers from Fort Campbell killed themselves in 2009, the same year that the Army reported 160 potential suicides, the most since 1980, when it started recording those deaths.

But Townsend's martial response is not the only one. Behind the scenes, there has been a concerted effort at Fort Campbell over the past year to change the hard-charging military mindset to show no weakness, complete the mission.

There are Army doctors like Tangeneare Singh, reaching out to soldiers struggling silently from depression, trauma-related stress and other mental illnesses. There are staffers like Daina Cole, who tracks data collected from Fort Campbell's soldiers, looking for evidence of problems.

And there are platoon sergeants like Robert Groszmann, trained to listen carefully to the soldiers under his command to detect signs of trouble. He knows that the Army must deal with the deadly issues of some of its fighting men and women, though some disdain this "touchy-feely Army stuff."

Rejected Job Applicant Commits Suicide

2010-04-25T23:49:00.002-04:00

I suppose one has to add feminism to the list of risk factors. She was bright, personable, had a boyfriend. The following likely never entered her mind.

1) Being a good wife is as important as getting a job.

2) Starting a family is far more important than getting an entry level job.

3) If no one is hiring, employ yourself, and start a business helping or pleasing people.

Indictment for Abetting Suicide in a Foreign Country

2010-04-25T18:41:00.003-04:00

Suicide is the intentional act of another. The defendant had neither power over the suiciders, nor any duty to them from a professional relationship.

And then again, the scapegoating families. These families had far more power to prevent the suicides by obtaining adequate treatment for their loved ones, than the defendant had to induce the suicide by advice on making knots.

"

Drybrough hanged himself on July 27, 2005. His sister reported going to his home and finding a suicide note, then finding him hanging from a rope tied to a ladder.

Documents say Melchert-Dinkel told investigators he advised Drybrough to use a "slip knot" and place the knot behind his left ear to compress the left and right carotid arteries. Computer evidence showed that Melchert-Dinkel also instructed Drybrough on how to hang himself from a low object.

The victim's mother, Elaine Drybrough, told a British newspaper last month that Melchert-Dinkel "appointed himself Mark's executioner. He whispered in his ear each time he logged on to the computer. Because of his medical experience, he knew exactly ... the buttons he needed to push."

Mark Kajouji, who now serves as an ambassador for Your Life Counts, a national suicide prevention program in Canada, said he can't say for sure whether his sister would still be alive if not for Melchert-Dinkel. But he wonders.

"Obviously, he pushed her to the brink," he said. "He could have been the guy who said, 'Don't do it.' But instead he decided to prey on it.""

Boxing Champ Hangs Self in Jail, Charged with Murder of Wife

2010-04-19T21:49:00.002-04:00

The accumulation of risk factors came to an end.

"CARACAS, Venezuela – Former boxing champion Edwin Valero, who had a spectacular career with 27 straight knockouts and flouted a tattoo of President Hugo Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell Monday after being arrested for stabbing his wife to death, police said.

The former lightweight champion used the sweat pants he was wearing to hang himself from a bar in the cell, said his lawyer, Milda Mora.

Valero, 28, had problems with alcohol and cocaine addiction and struggled with depression. He had previously been suspected of assaulting his wife and was charged last month with harassing her and threatening personnel at a hospital where she was treated for injuries.

Valero's 24-year-old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, was found dead in a hotel room on Sunday, and police said the fighter emerged telling hotel security he had killed her.

Valero was found hanging in his cell early Monday by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state, Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero still showed signs of life when they took him down, but they were unable to save him.

The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of Venezuela's president tattooed on his chest along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.

A man whose fists carried him from poverty in a small town to fame, Valero's all-action style soon earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser, and his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco brought his record to 27-0 — all knockouts. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite.

Valero had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, for violent incidents and problems with alcohol and drugs.

Last month, he was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Viera from speaking to the police officer and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.

A prosecutor had asked a court to keep Valero in jail, the Attorney General's Office said. But a judge instead allowed him to remain free under certain conditions including that he appear in court every 90 days, said Mora, his lawyer.

Mora told The Associated Press that after the incident Valero was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.

Valero's manager, Jose Castillo, criticized authorities for failing to act more forcefully to prevent the killing.

"I asked the authorities not to let him out. He needed a lot of help. He was very bad in the head," Castillo told reporters. "But they let him out. They were very permissive with him and because of that, we're now in the middle of this tragedy."

Mora, however, said of Valero: "He was the only one responsible."

She said that the Venezuelan government had arranged for the fighter to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba earlier this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.

The fighter had police escorts who were charged with protecting him. But last week he slipped away from those escorts, leaving his house near Merida with his wife and saying they were headed into town, Mora said.""

Slide Show of Celebrity Suicides

2010-04-09T19:53:00.001-04:00

This list has the same variety as any compilation of suicide by ordinary people.

Nancy Grace Deposed in Suicide Case. Has Bad Cold

2010-04-09T03:24:00.001-04:00

"Nancy Grace's deposition could make you sick .... if you were sitting in the same room with her.

Grace sat for her deposition in Atlanta today, in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a woman who killed herself after getting grilled by Grace.

We're told Grace had an epic cold and barely made it through the depo. Various people in the room were bringing her Vicks cough drops, Kleenex and other accoutrement.

Our sources say the depo wasn't groundbreaking ... no smoking gun."

Designer Suicide Preventable, but by Those Around Him

2010-04-04T15:30:00.001-04:00

Those around the person are in the best position to intervene, and to get the person into ordinary treatment of their condition.

"In one sense, Mr. McQueen’s suicide wasn’t a surprise. Statistically, according to mental health studies, he fitted the characteristics of those most likely to kill themselves — single, middle-aged men who are under severe stress, which bereavement would certainly cause. Suicide is also a means of escape.

Mr. Leane believes that Mr. McQueen couldn’t deal with the pain of losing his mother. “She understood him,” he said. And that wasn’t an easy matter for his father. “With East End families, there’s always an issue with tradition,” Mr. Leane explained. “Lee’s dad was a cabbie, his brothers were a builder and a cabbie, and Lee wanted to make dresses. It wasn’t on their radar. I think there was a clash with his father in the beginning, because he didn’t understand. He said, ‘Now, what you want to do if you want to sell clothes is get a stall in the market.’ Lee told me that. And when Lee got the Givenchy job, he said to his dad, ‘Now, that’s the way to sell clothes.’ Lee loved his dad and his brothers. They just didn’t understand what he was getting into.”

Mr. Leane also thinks that Ms. Blow’s death and the prospect of losing a beloved dog were also contributing factors. “When he lost Issie, it was one of the elements, really,” he said. Based on interviews with his closest friends, this seems the most plausible explanation for his suicide. “It’s not great having all those important women disappear,” Mr. Treacy said. “And his mum was very important. He was the youngest.”"

Cluster of Suicides at Disney World

2010-04-04T09:32:00.002-04:00

The exploitation of this tragedy by an union official is unfortunate. They have a model to address the problem in the Air Force program. The company also has the ability (less than the military) to force depressed or alcoholic workers into ordinary treatment. The Air Force program is history's most effective suicide prevention program. Yet it required no innovation, just the application of modern treatment methods.

Impossible that Neurontin Caused This Suicide

2010-04-02T08:47:00.003-04:00

Neurontin is a weak mood stabilizer that likely prevents suicide. The suicider took it for over a year. When medications cause paradoxical intoxication and agitation, they most often do so at the start.

This family could not face its role in the suicide. It likely sought to scapegoat a medication. I am angry that Pfizer failed to fight this claim to the end. This settlement will invite 100's of additional lawsuits instead of deterring them.

The case citation is Shearer v. Pfizer Inc., 07-cv-11428- PBS, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

Another Suicide After Bullying

2010-03-29T17:14:00.005-04:00

These charges have to be unconstitutional. The act was a suicide. The charge is bullying, a vague, meaningless word. Now, anyone who offended the suicider may face criminal charges, e.g a boyfriend breaking up, a teacher correcting an assignment, a parent yelling at the victim.

In Japan, bullying causes much teen suicide. It takes another form than here, but is very devastating to the target. It consists of shunning. That is apparently unbearable to Japaneses kids. Under this Mass crew, not saying hello to a kid may become actionable and may result in prison time.

The suicide is a voluntary, intentional act. Without it, the bullying would have resulted in school discipline, not criminal charges. The defendants are being charged because of the act of another. Even if one had told the suicider, kill yourself, it would change nothing.One is being scapegoated for the act of another, in violation of the right to a fair hearing.

On the civil side, does the school have a duty to maintain a harassment free zone for all students? The school has a duty to provide an education, not physical security services. The concept of a hostile environment is a feminist tool to intimidate males, so that they cannot even look at a female without getting fired, sort of Chinese Virgin Empress style. Any parent or lawyer bringing such claims should be driven out of town, because they are just pretextually trying to plunder the school and the taxpayer.

The proper remedy for the victim of harassment, bullying? A smart slap to the face of the offending pig. If you want a legal remedy, get a protection order against the harassers. Sue the harassers for assault or discrimination, but not the school.

Most catastrophes are multi-factorial. This suicide likely had many causes. Bullying was likely a weak one among many.

The family is likely the biggest factor in suicide. They likely had the best knowledge about her condition. They had the best opportunity to get her treated. They had the most power to supervise her. They had the most power to inflict despair on her by their expressions of negative emotions against her. They may have had the knowledge of the genetic predisposition to suicide. We do not know if she was an abuse victim.

The immature utterances of a bunch of knuckleheads pales in suicide power compared to those factors. If the prosecutor failed to have these factors evaluated, including any finding of intoxicating substances in the body, the feminist lawyer must resign her position. This is a pretextual opportunity to advance the feminist orthodoxy that males are the cause of all female problems, however compelling factors closer to home might be.

"A Massachusetts prosecutor says nine teens have been charged in the "unrelenting" bullying of a teenage girl who killed herself, and two of them have been charged with statutory rape.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel (SHY'-buhl) says 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley suffered months of nearly constant stalking and harassment in person and online. She killed herself Jan. 14.

Scheibel says school officials knew about the bullying, but none will face criminal charges."

And more.

Smoking Is an Independent Risk Factor for Suicide

2010-03-26T00:56:00.005-04:00

The feature common to smoking and to suicide is impulsivity, naturally. If that is not true, and smoking is truly an independent risk factor, one wonders if treatments for smoking, such as varenicline, reduce the suicide rate. This would contradict the extremist scapegoating of this medication.

From Medscape Medical News

Smoking May Be an Independent Risk Factor for Suicidality

Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD

March 11, 2010 (Baltimore, Maryland) — Smoking may be an independent risk factor for suicidality, new research suggests.

A longitudinal study presented here at the Anxiety Disorders Association of America 30th Annual Conference shows a strong association between smoking and suicidality in a cohort of 3021 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 24 years at baseline.

The Early Developmental Stages of Psychopathology study, a prospective, longitudinal study, showed that prior occasional, regular smoking and nicotine dependence were associated with an increased risk for the onset of suicidal ideation, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.5 to 2.7.

Prior regular smoking and nicotine dependence were also associated with the subsequent first onset of suicide attempts (ORs, 3.1-4.5). According to the investigators led by Roselind Lieb, PhD, preexisting suicidality was not associated with subsequent smoking or nicotine dependence.

"Smoking increases the risk for subsequent suicidality. We have found it is a risk factor independent of other psychopathologies or other drug use,” Dr. Lieb, professor of epidemiology and health psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland, told Medscape Psychiatry.

The study appears to confirm results from a previous 10-year, longitudinal study published in 2005 that showed that current daily smoking, but not past smoking, predicted the subsequent occurrence of suicidal thoughts or attempts independent of major depression, prior substance use, and suicidal predisposition (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:328-334).

Dose-Response Relationship

To further investigate the potential link between smoking and suicidality, Dr. Lieb and colleagues used baseline (T0), 1-year (T1), 4-year (T2), and 10-year (T3) follow-up data. Regular smoking, nicotine dependence, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts were assessed using the standardized Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Analyses were based on logistic regression controlling for age and sex and additionally for alcohol and illicit substance use disorders, as well as major depression.

Longitudinal data from 2210 subjects were available for this study. Of these subjects, 33% (at T0), 44.7% (at T2), and 50.5% (at T3) were regular smokers. The trend was similar for nicotine-dependent subjects: 16.9% (at T0), 23.5% (at T2), and 28.3% (at T3).

In terms of suicidality, 10.1% (at T0), 13.8% (at T2), and 17.4% (at T3) reported cumulative suicidal ideations, and 1.8% (at T0), 4.8% (at T2), and 5.5% (at T3) reported suicide attempts.

The analyses of the 10-year follow-up data indicate that there is a dose-response relationship between the duration of smoking and suicidality.

For example, 7% of respondents with a former nicotine dependence (before T2 and during follow-up) attempted suicide, compared with 3.4% of respondents who were never dependent (OR, 2.12; P < .05). This rate increased from 10.1% for respondents who developed a new dependence during follow-up (between T2 and T3) to 16.8% for those who were former dependent smokers and remained so during follow-up.

Inpatient Suicide

2010-03-17T00:48:00.000-04:00

Abstract

Suicides that occur while a patient is hospitalized are tragic events causing immense distress to relatives, peers, and professional caregivers. The prevalence of this infrequent occurrence is between 0.1% and 0.4% of all psychiatric admissions. This article reviews the literature to see if such events can be predicted and prevented; attempts to identify high-risk patients through demographics, diagnoses, medication treatments, and patient social situations; and examines the care-delivery environment such as length of stay and physical surroundings. This article also examines the means patients used to end their lives and when in their hospital course they did so. The authors ask if standard predictors are applicable to hospitalized patients, speculate on potential preventive measures, examine the effect on care providers, and explore what might ease the aftermath. Affective disorders or schizophrenia are most frequently associated with inpatient suicide. Most occur while patients are off the psychiatric unit. Suicides on-ward are usually accomplished by hanging; off-ward suicides are also often violent. Most patients denied suicidal ideation prior to the act. Factors associated with suicide in the general population are not consistently associated with inpatient suicides. Patient monitoring is not always effective. The first week of hospitalization and the days immediately after discharge are when patients are most vulnerable to end their lives. The authors conclude that the potential for suicide may be present from the initiation of hospitalization, but the ability to determine individuals at risk is, at best, poor.

Malignant Depression Takes Marie Osmond's Adopted Son

2010-02-28T02:30:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, depression is so deep, suicide is a logical choice. The remedies include 1) electroconvulsive treatment, 2) tranquilizers to tone down the intense distress, and the really delusional idea required to commit suicide.

Singer Marie Osmond was said to be ‘devastated and in pieces’ last night after her troubled adopted son committed suicide by jumping from the roof of his Los Angeles apartment.

Michael Blosil, 18, left a suicide note for his family saying he had decided to end his life because of the ‘torment’ of his long battle against depression and drug and alcohol abuse.

The note was also reported to contain the words: ‘I feel like I have no friends and will never fit in.’

A police source said Blosil, who had been adopted as a baby by Osmond and her ex-husband Brian, jumped off the roof of the ten-storey apartment block in central LA where he rented a £1,500-a-month flat.

Patient Murders 2 Children and Kills Self 4 Months After Release

2010-02-18T15:33:00.003-05:00

There are several problems with the plaintiff case. They wanted to be warned, even though they were not the immediate family.

1. Tarasoff Warning. That is required when a credible threat of immediate harm is made against a named individual. This is a review of the current state of that warning requirement. The Illinois has rejected this bad case law. (Tedrick v. Community Resources Center, Inc., Nos. 104861, 104876 (Ill. Sept. 24, 2009)

2. Several unforeseen intervening causes. These include the traffic stop, the batteries of strangers. The biggest is the irresponsible entrustment of the children to the care of a psychotic patient. Unless, it can be shown otherwise, the parents knew of the severity of the patient's psychosis. These failures to prevent the catastrophe break the legal chain of any causation by the doctors or hospital.

3) Garbage Science. Any expert asserting an ability to foresee the suicide 4 months in advance is asserting a supernatural power, in violation of the Establishment Clause. I would appreciate the name of the plaintiff expert, so that I may act upon him.

Enraged Murderer-Suicider Flies into IRS Building

2010-02-18T14:34:00.004-05:00

One can sympathize. But one hopes he targeted high officials who made policy decisions. These are armed federal functionaries with the humanity of Mafia loan shark collectors. It is unclear if his wife and daughter are dead, after being pulled from the flames engulfing his house. Here is his suicide note.

" A pilot furious with the Internal Revenue Service crashed his small plane into an office building in Austin, Texas, that houses federal tax employees, setting off a raging fire.

Officials are investigating whether the pilot, identified by authorities as Joseph Andrew Stack, a 53-year-old software engineer who lived in Texas, crashed the plane intentionally. Stack was confirmed dead.

An Internal Revenue Service office is located inside the building.

IRS Agent William Winnie said he was on the third floor of the building when he saw a light-colored, single engine plane coming towards the building, TheStatesman.com reported.

“It looked like it was coming right in my window,” Winnie said, according to the Web site.

Winnie said the plane veered down and smashed into the lower floors. “I didn’t lose my footing, but it was enough to knock people who were sitting to the floor.”

Stack posted a suicide note to a social media Web site, ranting against the IRS, officials confirmed.

"If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?'" the note read. "The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time."

Guard Fired After Noting but not Intervening in Youth Hanging

2010-01-17T07:43:00.001-05:00

"An Ohio youth prison guard has been fired and two others disciplined after a teen offender's attempt to hang himself in a juvenile detention cell was ignored.

A state investigative report obtained by The Associated Press says the guard saw the youth with a blanket around his neck, noted the suicide attempt on a log and walked away without intervening.

The report says two other guards who were later suspended knew the youth may have been attempting to try to kill himself but failed to check on the teen, who survived."

More Garbage Assessment of Suicide

2010-01-10T21:13:00.003-05:00

If Dr. Shawn Christopher Shea ever serves as a plaintiff expert, I would appreciate being told about it. I would intervene in the case, and seek to have a mistrial, with costs assessed to the assets of this peddler of garbage science.

"A sound suicide assessment approach or protocol is made up of 3 components:

• Gathering information related to risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs of suicide.

• Collecting information related to the patient’s suicidal ideation, planning, behaviors, desire, and intent.

• Making a clinical formulation of risk based on these 2 databases.

Practical approaches to integrating these 3 aspects of a suicide assessment have been well delineated for adults and adolescents.^1-8 Innovative systematic approaches, such as the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) approach created by David Jobes,⁹ have also been developed for integrating all 3 tasks while providing collaborative intervention, which may help lay the foundation for a more evidence-based protocol for suicide assessment. Recently, Joiner and colleagues¹⁰ have delineated a promising approach based on the interpersonal theory of suicide, which gracefully integrates all 3 components necessary for a suicide assessment."

Garbage.

Court: Prison Responsible for Suicide Two Days after Threat

2010-01-10T20:49:00.002-05:00

The court wants prison guards to have training and to report suicidal gestures and threats.

The court wants to enrich tort lawyers. About a third of the beds in prison are filled by straight mental patients. So this decision will generate a lot of lawyer fees.

The dissent should be read as a checklist of defenses for the government entity.

Irresponsible Lawsuit, Using Garbage Science

2009-12-31T01:16:00.002-05:00

I would like to know who is the plaintiff expert in this case, so that he can be held accountable for promulgating garbage science.

"Family Sues Harvard Over Son's Suicide

By Danielle J. Kolin, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Published: Friday, December 04, 2009

The family of a Harvard undergraduate who committed suicide two years ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Harvard College and two professionals at University Health Services on Wednesday.

John B. Edwards III '10 was a sophomore preparing for a medical career and training for the Boston Marathon when he committed suicide in November 2007.

The lawsuit, filed by his father, John B. Edwards II, alleges that his son sought care at UHS in June 2007 because he could not study for as long a period of time as his friends. According to the complaint, a nurse practitioner prescribed Adderall to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in addition to two antidepressants, Prozac and Wellbrutin. Edwards was also taking Accutane, a powerful anti-acne drug. Three of these four drugs have been associated with heightened suicide risk.

Lisa G. Arrowood, the attorney representing Edwards, said that drug combination is inappropriate and is associated with an increased risk of suicide."

Student Suicidal? Expel from College

2009-12-31T01:07:00.003-05:00

Thank the irresponsible and garbage science lawsuits for this catastrophic decision.

Expel Students Who Might Kill Themselves?

By Sally Satel

Imagine you are a sophomore in college. The semester has been academically overwhelming, and your girlfriend recently dumped you. One night it reaches crisis level and you go to campus mental health worried you might harm yourself. You volunteer to enter the hospital and are released a few days later feeling more hopeful.

Then your college tells you to leave school. Period. No formal evaluation of your mental health condition. No discussion with you. Just out.

According to a newly released report from the State of New Jersey called College Students in Crisis: Preventing Campus Suicides and Protecting Civil Rights, policies which allow or require removal based solely on the existence of suicidal thoughts or behavior may be increasing. They are premised on the need to remove the student from the stresses of student life and to motivate them to get the care they need.

In the wake of tragedies such as the self-immolation of a sophomore at M.I.T. in 2000 and the shooting spree at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2007, concerns among administrators took on urgency. But lawyers argue that such blanket involuntary removal policies infringe upon a student's civil rights.

Within the last few years, several high-profile law suits against George Washington University, Hunter College, and the City University of New York have been waged by students forced into withdrawal. All were found to have violated provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of mental illness.

Nancy Grace Interview Called a Factor in Suicide

2009-12-09T01:54:00.002-05:00

Attorney reviews the elements of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suicide note does not mention the Nancy Grace Show.

Emotional problems of the suicider reviewed with her attorney.

"A Harvard professor says a CNN Headline News host's relentless questioning of a Florida mother three years ago contributed to her suicide.

That's according to a filing in a wrongful death case brought by the family of Melinda Duckett. Duckett's 2-year-old son was reported missing in 2006, and CNN host Nancy Grace launched aggressive nightly coverage of the case.

The family claims that Grace's questioning and CNN's coverage decisions inflicted severe emotional distress on the young mother. Grace interviewed Duckett after speculation had begun about the mother's alleged involvement in the toddler's disappearance.

The next day, Duckett shot herself in the head."

Scapegoating Father Sues Harvard for Son's Suicide

2009-12-08T05:38:00.002-05:00

Acne is associated with an elevated risk of suicide. In looking at the collection of people committing suicide while on Accutane, it is smaller than expected from a pool of 5 million people prescribed the drug. Accutane may have a protective effect in preventing suicide by people with acne. Obviously, it is ordinary common sense. If a drug causes agitation and markedly worsened moods, stop taking it, and ask the doctor for another.

The FDA warning about suicide thoughts in young people taking anti-depressants was a false, irresponsible warning. It killed hundreds of young people by suicide by its intimidation of family doctors and pediatricians prescribing anti-depressants to this population. A plaintiff verdict in this case would have a similar effect as the warning. It would deter non-psychiatrists, and drive colleges out of the mental health clinic business. Both would be catastrophic to the mental and public health of the nation.

The suit should be dismissed on first pleading. It should be considered frivolous, and to have an improper motives, scapegoating and vengeance.

"The father of a Harvard College sophomore who killed himself in 2007 sued the school’s president and fellows for wrongful death, alleging the institution’s health service prescribed drugs known to increase suicide risk.

John B. Edwards II of Wellesley, Massachusetts, sued on behalf of the estate of his son, known as Johnny, in state court in Middlesex County on Dec. 2. A doctor and nurse employed by Harvard simultaneously prescribed skin, antidepressant and attention-deficit disorder drugs linked to suicide and other side effects, according to the complaint.

“Three of these drugs have risks associated with heightened suicidality,” the father’s lawyer alleged in the complaint. “All four drugs have significant side effects.”

Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the undergraduate school of Harvard University, whose $26-billion endowment is the world’s largest academic fund.

“The care he received at Harvard University Health Services was thorough and appropriate and he was monitored closely by its physicians and allied health specialists,” Harvard said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “Similar complaints previously have been filed with the Board of Registration in Medicine, the Board of Registration in Nursing and the Board of Registration in Pharmacy, and in all three instances the complaints were dismissed upon review.”

Avoiding Suicide Lawsuits

2009-11-06T04:42:00.004-05:00

No utterance below has any scientific validation. If he ever testifies to such for a plaintiff, I would appreciate learning about it, so that I may legally act upon him. I request that future publications quoting Resnick allow a rebuttal section to balance his garbage utterances. From Phillip J. Resnick, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of forensic psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,

"Careful documentation of suicide risk factors—including prior attempts and feelings of hopelessness—is the most important means of avoiding a malpractice suit, according to Dr Resnick. It’s not enough to state simply that a patient denies having suicidal ideas. Also take into account input from family and objective signs of patient behavior before discharging a patient from the hospital...

Inpatient Suicide
Liability risk rises when a psychiatric inpatient commits suicide. According to Dr Resnick, there are 2 major considerations in the eyes of the law when determining whether a psychiatrist has failed to protect a patient: foreseeability and precautions taken after the suicide risk is identified, such as frequent monitoring. Suicide is difficult to predict, and the law recognizes this. “However, once the psychiatrist is aware that a patient is at risk for suicide, he or she is expected to take certain reasonable precautions,” Resnick said.

Before discharging an inpatient, be sure to document objective signs of improvement, such as better appetite, better sleeping, group therapy attendance, and brighter affect. This information should be included in the clinical notes. “When I review a malpractice case involving a patient who killed himself or herself shortly after discharge, I look to see whether the doctor recorded any objective evidence of improvement,” said Resnick...

Resnick also strongly recommends involving the patient’s family. “This is crucial,” he notes, “because a patient who is saying his final goodbye before killing himself has a 60% chance of saying goodbye to his spouse but only an 18% chance of notifying his therapist.³” If a patient or a family member reports that the patient has a suicide plan, increased scrutiny is critical: 3 of 4 of these patients go on to attempt suicide.⁴ Hospitalization or increased treatment should be considered."

Nurse Got Kicks Telling Suicidal People How to Do It Properly

2009-10-17T00:19:00.003-04:00

Minn. man under investigation in 2 deaths but charges uncertain

Robb Long / AP

Minnesota investigators say William Melchert-Dinkel visited Internet suicide chat rooms and offered "expert knowledge" on how to commit suicide. He is under investigation in two cases. No charges have been filed, and legal experts say prosecution would be difficult because Melchert-Dinkel didn't physically help kill the people.

updated 3:45 p.m. PT, Fri., Oct . 16, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS - A nurse who authorities say got his kicks by visiting Internet suicide chat rooms and encouraging depressed people to kill themselves is under investigation in at least two deaths and could face criminal charges.

Investigators said William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, feigned compassion for those he chatted with, while offering step-by-step instructions on how to take their lives.

"Most important is the placement of the noose on the neck ... Knot behind the left ear and rope across the carotid is very important for instant unconsciousness and death," he allegedly wrote in one Web chat.

*****

The families are outraged and want prosecution of this Free Speech Clause protected activity. They are really seeking scapegoats for their own contributions, genetic and environmental, to the suicide of their loved one.

Guideline on Prosecution of Assistants in Assisted Suicide

2009-09-20T14:29:00.001-04:00

"Campaigners for assisted suicide have emphasised that the new guidance will not change the law but make the current position clearer.

"We are hoping that this will be a positive step and will give Debbie clarity about the kind of factors and situations which will encourage the DPP to prosecute and which will not," said a spokesperson from Dignity in Dying, which supported Purdy's case.

"We are hoping that for people in the situation of Debbie and [her husband] Omar it will be a helpful piece of prosecuting guidance. We are hopeful that it will be a positive step forward."

Scapegoating Father Prevails with Biased Jury

2009-09-05T09:21:00.003-04:00

Father wanted the apology to absolve his son of the responsibility for the suicide. Nothing will change the determination to die his son showed from childhood. If I were the gun owner, I would have countersued for the pain from having someone steal my gun and blast himself in my home. The suicider had no permission to take the gun. This verdict rewards a crime, theft.

"Following his son Brian’s suicide, Joseph Montes just wanted the boy’s stepfather to publish an apology as a warning to other people who keep guns in the house where they rear children.

While his request was clearly personal, the Baltimore scientist also viewed it as a public service that would “hit home.”

“That’s it,” Montes said last week, his face shaking. “That’s it.”

But Frank Eisler wouldn’t do it. He didn’t think the 16-year-old’s
death — from a 9mm shot to the head in the early morning of April 11, 2005 — was his fault.

So Montes sued. And after a year and a half of litigation, including a contentious three-day jury trial that ended Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, he won: $50,000 and a public assignment of blame to the man he believes could have done more to save his troubled son. "

Suicider Also a Murderer

2009-08-25T15:32:00.000-04:00

Environmentalists Sue to Block Suicide Barriers on Bridge

2009-08-04T10:46:00.002-04:00

Elsewhere, these have been shown to reduce suicide without increases by other methods. Most people who are stopped, or rescued are glad to be alive, after becoming less depressed. A documentary on bridge jumping was made, The Bridge.

False Attacks on Clinical Care Are Not Just in Psychiatry

2009-07-18T00:20:00.002-04:00

Biased ideologues promotes a hate agenda, enabled by biased politicians, and the biased left wing media. There is good moral and intellectual justification for any diabetic now requiring insulin after the intimidation of the doctor into stopping Avendia to engage in self-help against the above biased ideologues.

Lawyer Confidentiality Waived if Client Suicidal

2009-07-12T12:24:00.003-04:00

"The commentary to the Alberta rules include the following comment:

"A lawyer should, if possible, discuss with the client whether the lawyer may disclose an apparent intent to commit suicide and, if so, to whom....The circumstances supporting an implicit authorization to disclose an intended suicide will be exceptional. ..

The lawyer's personal experience, beliefs or moral views on suicide are clearly subordinate to the lawyer's ethical obligations to maintain the confidential information of their client."

I think the client suicide presents a difficult case. Life may be a paramount value, but so is client autonomy and determination of the ends of representation. Absent incompetence, I find it hard to justify disclosure. On the other hand, I have an inuitive sense that to stand by and watch the end of a human life would be more or less unbearable."

Add this to the discovery list. Did the suicider tell a lawyer about his plan? Make the lawyer a co-defendant.

Careless Assisted Suicide - A Potential Exception to the Principle of this Blog

2009-06-21T23:41:00.002-04:00

If assisted suicide is unlawful, the tort may be per se (automatic), and intentional, subject to exemplary damages.

About 4% of Patients on Anti-Depressants Will Get Agitated

2009-06-06T21:18:00.001-04:00

It should happen the first day or two. The patient should stop the medication.

Risperidone Reduces Suicidality When Added to Anti-depressants

2009-06-06T21:12:00.001-04:00

One should think of suicidality either as a delusion or as a state of agitation. Both are targets for tranquilizers.

Berkeley Gets a Taste of Its Own Left Wing Medicine from a Freak

2009-05-25T02:42:00.003-04:00

The town should have fought this to the death. Instead they caved in. The compliance program will cost it far more than the settlement. That life was worth less than zero. Not only was it unproductive, it generated massive costs in injuries to others, and disruption of ordinary life. The death resulted in a financial benefit.

Murderer Potential Suicider

2009-04-24T00:40:00.001-04:00

Not a great distance to travel. One wonders if the suspect has serious childhood behavior problems associated with conduct disorder. When such children grow up and get any form of power, the damage they do can be greatly magnified.

Suicider Kills His Family, and Now Fraud Allegations

2009-04-23T23:30:00.000-04:00

Cheap Psychiatric Care is Deadly Psychiatric Care

2009-04-11T22:31:00.001-04:00

This level of shoddiness is coming to the USA, if it is not already here.

Feds Warn Against Suicidality Over Economy

2009-03-30T21:40:00.001-04:00

Would be hilarious if not so sad.

Honor Suicides

2009-03-29T08:58:00.001-04:00

The families of some suiciders can be a problem.

Son of Sylvia Plath Commits Suicide

2009-03-22T21:53:00.002-04:00

One has to note that the mistress of his father killed herself by the same method as Sylvia Plath.

In such a heavily laden family, treatment should be early and aggressive. There is likely a separate suicide tendency. Within a group of people with severe depression, suicide runs true only in some families.

Cult vs Cult - Scientology Accused of Causing Suicide by Having Suicider Stop Anti-depressant

2009-02-24T13:07:00.002-05:00

The connection between the Church and Scientology and the inducement to stop treatment has to be established. Long term treatment is the sole way to prevent suicide.

Yet, the suicider must take responsibility for the suicide. There are many depressed people stopping medication for many reasons. Yet, the chance they commit suicide in any period of time is very small. It is in the same category of chance of picking the winning lottery number of the Powerball. That rarity makes the suicide unforeseeable.

Suicide After Prosecutorial Over-Reaching

2009-02-15T18:14:00.001-05:00

Tough call.

Another Scapegoating Family Makes Money Off Suicide of Alcoholic Son

2009-01-25T17:43:00.003-05:00

They had no credible scientific evidence what the VA hospital did caused the suicide. They were the more proximate cause of the suicide in failing to prevent it in their own basement. If they hired a plaintiff expert, I would appreciate getting the name.

Settlement of these cases encourages more to be filed.

Review of Suicide Malpractice Case in New York

2009-01-25T17:16:00.001-05:00

Hesitation to sign a safety contract is not a reason to restrict a patient, as a standard of care.

Skip Simpson Files a Licensing Complaint and Fails

2009-01-02T00:44:00.003-05:00

One wonders if Dr. Brockway has any legal recourse. He should hire an attorney to review the possibility of a lawsuit against the scapegoating complainant and the scapegoating lawyer, Skip Simpson. This family and lawyer were not satisfied with a settlement. They will not let go. One has to question why they persist. Their loved on killed himself. No one made him. He chose to do so, and was actually relentless in his desire. Is it possible, this family was a factor?

Here is a series of YouTube postings.

The licensing board found no ethical lapse for these vengeful complainants.

AZ Licensing Board Hearing I.

AZ Licensing Board Hearing II .

AZ Licensing Board Hearing III.

AZ Licensing Board Hearing IV.

It is not malpractice to fail to follow a nursing policy. It is malpractice to follow the cookbook approach proposed. Nor is it a lapse of ethics. The nursing policy has no basis in science, logic, nor policy.

If any defendant is being pursued by Skip Simpson, I would appreciate hearing from their attorney.

Novel and Stories Describe the Aftermath of a Father's Suicide

2008-11-29T21:30:00.002-05:00

Scapegoating Mother of Suicider and Overreaching Prosecutor Threaten All Internet Users

2008-11-29T06:57:00.006-05:00

This mother wants jail time for Lori Drew. She cannot accept the fact that her daughter's suicide is most likely due to genetic predisposition, and possibly due to parental behavior. The latter includes failure to monitor and restrict the computer activity of a daughter with psychopathology. The idea that a fictional character can induce a suicide is such a radical one, it requires a very high level of empirical data. The idea that a fictional character could intentionally inflict emotional distress violates the Free Speech Clause. I write a book. A reader, one of a million, acts upon its content after being totally offended. The book is immunized by the First Amendment.

The verdict did not involve the suicide. Instead, it involved a lawyer gotcha. The Terms of Service (TOS) of MySpace were violated by Lori Drew's registering a fictional character. By violating the TOS, Lori Drew committed unauthorized access to MySpace, a violation of a federal law forbidding hacking. Hacking involves figuring out passwords, and clear unauthorized invasion of a computer. It does not involve violation of a private contract, until this case.

The case is pretextual (a false use of the law), both legally and is anti-scientific. As a result, it criminalizes the breach of any TOS, which is the breach of a private contract. This violates the law of contract, as it was for the past 1000 years. The district attorney in Missouri found the act of Lori Drew reprehensible, but not illegal. Thomas O'Brien, the Department of Justice overreaching prosecutor, should be fired. He is wasting massive amounts of tax payer funds to aggrandize himself and to get in the paper, by an unlawful prosecution.

Orin Kerr intends to participate in an appeal of the verdict to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. By that courageous pro bono offer, he is defending all internet users. To use the internet, they are forced to agree to contracts of adhesion. They cannot function without the Internet, but are signing bogus, one sided contracts.

If a torts claim gets filed, I would be interested in the conduct of the family. It is far more likely to have induced the suicide, than the rantings of a fictional character. The sentence, "The world would be better off without you," is not an established cause of suicide. I would also demand a forensic evaluation of the private computers of Thomas O'Brien, the over reaching prosecutor, to see what TOS he violated.

Paxil Failure to Warn of Suicidality Case Dismissed on Statute of Limitations Grounds

2008-11-17T06:31:00.002-05:00

Naturally, if one feels worse on a drug, especially for a while, one stops it, and consults one's doctor.

Naturally, depressed people take anti-depressants. They commit suicide. It means depression causes suicide, not anti-depressants cause suicide. The data show not taking anti-depressants causes suicide, mostly because untreated depression causes suicide. I am interested in the name of the expert who signed the secret certificate of merit if any was required.

The Best Article on Deposition Preparation Ever Written

2008-11-02T22:13:00.003-05:00

Here is another article, more specific to the doctor.

Article on videotaped deposition.

Rummage in this great web site for more deposition articles.

Allergies Increase Risk of Suicide

2008-10-28T21:53:00.002-04:00

This link may explain the increase in suicide seen in the Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and in the autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (their spring).

The tort implication? Defense experts should not only search for the suicider's illegal drug use and failure to adhere to psychiatric treatment, but also failure to adhere to allergy treatments.

Cross Sue the Patient Advocate if Any

2008-10-27T00:54:00.002-04:00

The article is about irresponsible, overzealous patient advocacy to the detriment of patient and family. However, should a patient advocate have caused a patient to be set loose to commit suicide, the defendants should file a cross claim against such irresponsible conduct.

Yet Again, Scapegoat Internet for Suicide

2008-10-12T21:22:00.001-04:00

There is no evidence of any link. The people who have committed suicide had severe depression and chose to end their lives, as an intentional act.

Financial Crisis Causes a Suicide

2008-09-27T21:58:00.001-04:00

So the press says.

Scapegoating Family Gets Rich from Suicide of Son

2008-09-07T23:52:00.001-04:00

The sole consolation is that the city is San Francisco, freak city.

Model Jail Suicide Prevention Protocol at Orange County, CA

2008-09-04T07:43:00.003-04:00

The jail does psychiatric hospital evaluations. Then supervises those who admit to suicidal intent. The rate is low, but is not gone. This shows, even with total restrictions, some suicide will occur, despite the locked conditions. It does not show that the lifetime suicide rate was reduced.

Nervy, Dangerous Suicide Attempter

2008-08-27T23:18:00.001-04:00

One may set fire to one's own property. However, arson goes to the very core of trust in a fireman.

Defendant Malpractice Deposition Advice

2008-08-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

Substances in Suiciders

2008-08-14T00:46:00.001-04:00

The presence of a substance in a suicider should end the case. Getting high should not get rewarded with a money settlement.

Nice Post for the Public On Irresponsible FDA Warning on Anti-Depressants

2008-08-13T23:16:00.001-04:00

These irresponsible officials allowed themselves to be bullied by vicious Scientology sponsored ideologues. They should immediately resign, all of them.

Nancy Grace Showed Stressed Guest, She Committed Suicide

2008-08-13T14:04:00.003-04:00

The guest may or may not be innocent. If guilty, her estate should not be rewarded with a money settlement.

Nancy Grace has immunity from the First Amendment Free Speech Clause, Freedom of the Press Clause. The plaintiff was a public figure per se. Any tort claim must overcome insurmountable NY Times barriers to defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, namely proof of actual malice. Actual malice means the defendant must admit knowledge of the falsehood of any allegations.

For the past 1000 years, the suicide act broke the chain of causality between defendant conduct and the death. The suicide is an intentional act by the plaintiff. In the past decade, appellate courts have made exceptions to this view for defendants who held themselves out to have special skills (therapists), had control of the body (jailers), or had special duties to the plaintiff (psychiatrists). These special duties are bogus and anti-scientific themselves. However, let's assume they are correct. Did Nancy Grace have any special duty to the plaintiff? Did she have any power over the defendant?

Should the immature response of the plaintiff get compensated?

Suicide Compensable by Workmen's Compensation

2008-08-02T21:07:00.002-04:00

The patient suicided to end his chronic pain. In the past, it would be deemed an intentional self-injury. Now, it is the result of a work injury, and the family must be paid for the duration of the contract.

1) If you pay for things, they will increase. Unlike the opinion of the clueless experts, the reality is otherwise.

2) The family will lose its compensation motivation to keep the patient alive. They will be more likely to encourage a suicide, to get rid of the burden and to collect on the payments.

3) The ruling will set a precedent that suicide is not an intentional act. That will generate much mischief in non-compensation cases.

Suicide and the Internet Report

2008-07-28T21:49:00.001-04:00

If methods or information about methods gets disseminated, the logic is that suicide gets easier and more common.

Teacher Duty to Report Suicide Statements

2008-07-27T11:42:00.002-04:00

Limited to present remarks, not to past diary entries. Carrier v Lake Pend Oreille Sch. Dist, No. 84, 134 P.3d 655 (Idaho 2006).

Physician Suiciders Were Not Treated Enough

2008-07-27T10:14:00.001-04:00

This repeats the point of what works. Air Force style reporting and mandated treatment of the underlying disorder.

Time Trends in High School Survey of Suicidal Acts and Ideas

2008-07-22T16:59:00.002-04:00

General trend has been to decrease over the past decade.

Death Tourism

2008-07-21T23:36:00.002-04:00

Tourists go to Mexico to commit suicide on readily available pentobarbital.

Thanks for the Business, But This is a Waste of Time

2008-07-20T22:11:00.002-04:00

Young people rarely commit suicide. Every discouraged word will now require a wasteful evaluation.

It would be far more useful to provide 2 hours of training yearly to all employee supervisors, and to all staff where elderly people live. They have high rates of suicidal urges and completions.

Welcome, Marine Corps. This Worked for the Air Force 10 Years Ago

2008-07-20T21:59:00.001-04:00

Reporting and treatment of the diagnosis, are the sole effective preventive remedy.

Hostage of Terrorists Kills Himself

2008-07-20T21:48:00.003-04:00

Once one has decided to commit suicide, one is liberated. A lawsuit for the suicide, against Shiite institutions promoting kidnapping would not have validity. However a lawsuit for the kidnapping certainly seems proper.

Classic Inverse Correlation Between Violence and Suicide

2008-07-20T21:45:00.000-04:00

War decreases suicide by sending impulsive, violent people to die in battle, disproportionately. Now that violence is subsiding in Kashmir, the incidence of suicide has increased.

Suicider Copies CSI to Fake Murder

2008-07-18T20:40:00.002-04:00

He made his gun lighter, and tied it to helium filled balloons.

Indicia of Good Faith in Expert Testimony

2008-07-10T05:59:00.005-04:00

We argued that experts testifying in good faith to opposing views implied a scientific controversy. The court was not competent to resolve it. Only additional data can resolve a scientific controversy. Presumably, if the data were easy to get, one of the experts would change opinion and end the case. We argued the court should restrict itself to question within the knowledge of the jury.

Question. Are there indicia of good faith testimony and reliability?

1) Experts should have used the same facts, and had an opportunity to enumerate them to each other, as in depositions.

2) The fees should be within a third of each other. If one fee is 50% higher or more, there is a temptation to please, by testifying in bad faith. The higher fee should be reduced by the judge, to insure absence of temptation.

3) The testimony work of the expert should be below a set fraction of total income. The expert may testify under oath, without providing tax documents. I am going to arbitrarily set the maximum at 10%. If I lose that fraction, I am starting to sweat about the bills. I am open to
argument about another fraction.

4) Prior inconsistent statements. In a similar case, with the same outcome, harm, and facts, the expert testified otherwise. OK. What explains the change? In the absence of new research data, or substantive personal experience, a prior inconsistent statement is a sign of bad faith.

4a) All the records of all the similar cases treated by the expert should be subpoenaed. If the expert failed to follow his own asserted standard of due care, a mistrial should be declared. The expert should be made to pay the expenses of both sides, and of the court, as a perjurer.

5) Repeated testimony for an attorney, or for only one side. If there is a lucrative and prolonged relationship with an attorney or one side, that is a sign, the expert does not want to end his meal ticket, and will shade his opinion to please his good customers.

Other indicia welcome. If an expert fails one of these indicia, the case should end. If the judge does not want to end the case, it may be proper for the judge to instruct the jury to discount the validity of the testimony by the strength of the failing indication.

NYT Review of Suicide

2008-07-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

Nothing new.

What Should Come Before a Deposition?

2008-07-06T16:31:00.003-04:00

1) As much discovery as possible. This includes all e-discovery of the plaintiff, of the family, and of the plaintiff lawyer. If the judge has shown hostility to the defense by adverse rulings, request e-discovery of the judge. E-discovery includes all computers, cell phones, and anything electronic used by the plaintiff side. In addition to total e-discovery, all medical and psychiatric records should be obtained of the plaintiff and of the family if possible. Because relationships often cause suicide, information should be gathered about those with whom the victim had conflicts.

2) This information should be summarized or provided entirely to the prospective experts. The expert should come up with a set of questions to be asked in the deposition to assist in determining an opinion. These include additional information needed, information to clarify ambiguous situations. If the other side has taken depositions, these should be reviewed by the expert as well.