Stanley R. Palombo, M.D. -- First Hand Knowledge of my Psychotic Mental State

During the year 1990 I was in weekly psychotherapy with Stanley R. Palombo, M.D. (202 362 6004), a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist in private practice.  At that time I was employed as a paralegal at the D.C. law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.  My employment was terminated on October 29, 1991 by reason of severe mental illness that rendered me not fit for employment -- or so the story goes.

I entered weekly psychotherapy at the George Washington University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry in September 1992, while I was unemployed.  My psychotherapist was a resident named Suzanne M. Pitts, M.D.  Beginning in January 1993, Dr. Pitts recommended that I take lithium for bipolar disorder.  The illness underwent a (mysterious) spontaneous remission in early 1993.

In April 1993 I applied for Social Security Disability Benefits.  In August 1993 Dr. Pitts recommended that I take antipsychotic medication to address my paranoia, although she never disclosed a diagnosis.  My relations with Dr. Pitts were difficult.

In mid-August 1993, the Social Security Administration approved my claim for benefits.  A brief time later I made an appointment to see my former treating psychiatrist, Dr. Palombo.  Dr. Palombo therefore has first-hand knowledge of my psychotic mental state as of August 1993.

August 26, 1993
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
#136
Washington, DC  20008

Stanley R., Palombo, MD
5225 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC

Scheduled Appointment on August 30, 1993

Dear Dr. Palombo:

This will confirm our scheduled appointment at 5:30 PM on Monday August 30, 1993.

I would like to discuss with you certain difficulties I am experiencing with my current treating psychiatrist, Dr. Suzanne M. Pitts, a psychiatry resident at the George Washington University Medical Center.

Also, Dr. Pitts' consideration of prescribing a neuroleptic calls into question the soundness of your therapy of me, which seemed to assume that I was non-psychotic and which did not involve the prescription or consideration of a neuroleptic despite my seeming paranoid (psychotic) thought processes.

I look forward to seeing you.  Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman

I recall that at the scheduled consult I asked Dr. Palombo why he did not recommend that I take anti-psychotic medication during my therapy with him in 1990.  He explained that I was employed at that  time, with all that implied about the severity of my illness and my ability to function.  Dr. Palombo reinforced Dr. Pitts' recommendation that I try a neuroleptic.

In February 1996 Dimitrios Georgopoulos, M.D. at GW diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia.