My main concern is that McClendon has diagnosed me with PTSD, Major Depression, Alcohol Dependence, and Paranoid symptoms yet Nurse Carroll refuses to acknowledge, indeed, she has expressly denied, that anything traumatic happened to me at my last place of employment and fails to see that the symptoms and disorders diagnosed by McClendon are all consistent with a traumatic employment experience, namely, workplace mobbing.
My McClendon chart indicates that I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, PTSD, paranoia and alcohol abuse (during the period 1994-1996). All of these disorders or symptoms are characteristic consequences of workplace mobbing.
Victims of workplace mobbing frequently
suffer from: adjustment disorders, somatic symptoms (e.g., headaches or
irritable bowel syndrome), psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression. In mobbing targets with PTSD, Heinz Leymann notes that the "mental effects
were fully comparable with PTSD from war or prison camp experiences.
Some patients may develop alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders.
Family relationships routinely suffer. Some targets may even develop
brief psychotic episodes, generally with paranoid symptoms. Leymann
estimated that 15% of suicides in Sweden could be directly attributed to
workplace mobbing.
Maybe I am being petty and hypersensitive, but I am concerned about Nurse Carroll's gross lack of sensitivity and lack of knowledge both as to the specific psychological consequences of workplace mobbing and the specific facts of my workplace experience. If I were a female rape victim and McClendon diagnosed me with PTSD, how would you feel about Nurse Carrol saying, "Sure, you have PTSD. We recognize that. But I don't see any evidence that you were raped. You must have had some pre-existing problems that caused this man to react to you the way he did." Such a reaction by a mental health provider would be offensive, indeed, outrageous, and certainly anti-therapeutic.
Gary Freedman
Washington, DC
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Hobb <dhobb@mcclendoncenter.org>
To: Gary Freedman <garfreed@aim.com>
Sent: Thu, Sep 19, 2013 8:41 am
Subject: Re: complaint against Nurse Sara F. Carroll
From: Dennis Hobb <dhobb@mcclendoncenter.org>
To: Gary Freedman <garfreed@aim.com>
Sent: Thu, Sep 19, 2013 8:41 am
Subject: Re: complaint against Nurse Sara F. Carroll
Mr. Freedman, I understand from Natalie that you are already seeing
a therapist at 35 K Street. If your issue for seeing a therapist has
been addressed already, I'm not sure what else I can help you with.
Please let me know, though, if I can help in some other way.
Dennis Hobb
On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Gary Freedman <garfreed@aim.com> wrote:
thank you.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Hobb <dhobb@mcclendoncenter.org>
To: 'Gary Freedman' <garfreed@aim.com>
Cc: nnichols <nnichols@mcclendoncenter.org>; mburt <mburt@mcclendoncenter.org>
Sent: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 4:20 pm
Subject: RE: complaint against Nurse Sara F. Carroll
Mr. Freedman,Regardless of your instituting a complaint, we will attempt to meet your request for therapy. Natalie will be checking to see that a request for therapy has been made, and we’ll evaluate where you might be on our waiting list.Dennis Hobb
2 comments:
Mr. Freedman,
At the McClendon Center we take allegations of Medicare/Medicaid fraud and abuse very seriously.
Actual fraud would have been committed if Nurse Carroll had billed for services that she didn't provide. I have no reason to believe that she did not see you on the days for which she billed, so I believe no fraud was committed.
Abuse can encompass a range of issues. It can vary from claiming too much (or too little) time with the patient, or it can be committed if you did not have a valid treating diagnosis. Your file contains the following diagnoses: Delusional Disorder (297.1), Major Depression Recurrent Severe Without Psychotic Features (296.33), Alcohol Dependence in Sustained Remission (303.90), and PTSD (309.81), and Schizoid Personality Disorder (301.20). These diagnoses were made by Aimee Calderone-Burgess, who is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social worker, and therefore qualified to diagnose mental health conditions in the District of Columbia. As you have valid DSM diagnoses and are being
appropriately treated by an Advance Practice Registered Nurse, I believe your allegations of Medicare/Medicaid fraud are unfounded.
However, it is your prerogative to contact an appropriate agency such as the Office of Health Care Ombudsman to register your concerns. You have my assurance that we will cooperate fully in any investigation conducted by any oversight agency at which you register a complaint.
Dennis Hobb
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Freedman
To: dhobb
Sent: Thu, Sep 19, 2013 10:20 am
Subject: Re: complaint against Nurse Sara F. Carroll
Mr. Hobb:
Actually, I am satisfied with the diagnoses that have been assigned. I see no need to revisit the issue of diagnosis. I just hope that Nurse Carroll can be a little more sensitive to my experiences and refrain from commenting on facts about which she has no knowledge, specifically, my employment problems. If Nurse Carroll would like to know more about my employment problems, I would be happy to discuss them with her. Though there is no need for that.
Also, I did not state that "workplace mobbing" was a diagnostic category. If anything, under the nomenclature, it would be considered an AXIS IV stressor -- like the crime of rape. I recognize that a therapist cannot treat or change a client's past experience; she can only treat the resulting symptoms or disorders, such as PTSD.
Just for the record, here are some sites that contain information pertinent to my employment problems. I do not request that you or Nurse Carroll read this material (it is quite voluminous), but I want to alert you to the fact that it is available to be reviewed.
1. Here are all the pleadings that were filed in litigation concerning my job termination in 1991 by the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. The pleadings are mine and those of my employer, so you can see both sides of the story:
http://dailstrug.blogspot.com/2011/03/freedman-v-dc-dept-human-rights-docket.html
2. The following document describes the hostile work environment to which I was subjected for the 3 1/2 years of my employment (from March 1988 to late October 1991). I believe the pattern of subtle behaviors by firm personnel are consistent with "workplace mobbing."
http://dailstrug.blogspot.com/2010/10/akin-gump-hostile-work-environment.html
Gary Freedman
202 362 7064
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Hobb
To: Gary Freedman
Sent: Thu, Sep 19, 2013 9:48 am
Subject: Re: complaint against Nurse Sara F. Carroll
Mr. Freedman,
That all makes sense now. Though I don't think 'workplace mobbing' is an actual diagnostic category, I can see how such a series of incidents could lead to PTSD. (Please keep in mind that I am not licensed to diagnose in the District.)
Here is what I am proposing as a solution. We have a brand new clinical director starting on October 7th. Her name is Athena Gavaris. She has no history with our Center and thus none with you. What I'd like to propose is that she spend some time interviewing you for the purposes of re-diagnosing you (perhaps deleting some diagnoses, and maybe even adding others...I don't know). Is this something that would interest you?
Her second week here, the week of the 14th, is something I think we could look at.
Please let me know if this works for you.
Dennis Hobb
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