In a delayed announcement, one of the remaining forensic psychiatrists from the Madigan PTSD Clinic imbroglio has decided to throw in the towel.
Dr. Juliana Ellis-Billingsley handed out a press release Feb. 23- “I find that I can no longer work in a system that requires me to sacrifice my professional and moral principles to political expediency. She went on to say her abiding belief that “all the investigations are a charade as the outcome has been predetermined.”
We knew heads would roll, but we never suspected that there might be a mass exodus to prevent the stench of disrepute from attaching to promising careers. I wonder where Juliana will alight?
Madigan in 2010 diagnosed 1,418 patients with PTSD, acute stress disorder and anxiety disorder – three common behavioral-health conditions that can be related to combat. Of the three, only PTSD is singled out for a guaranteed disability rating and accompanying pension. Over the past two years, the hospital diagnosed 1,699 soldiers with PTSD. Uh-oh. 2010 = 1418 soldiers. 2010 +2011= 1699 soldiers. ergo 1699-1418 = 281 2011 soldiers. That’s pretty tricky math. List one year. add two together and move on to the next “fact”.
The reviews at Walter Reed are done with service members face-to-face. It’s not clear if Madigan’s forensic psychiatrists always met soldiers in personal interviews. Gen. Horoho told a House subcommittee that the Madigan team sometimes made decisions “administratively” based on case files.Madigan sources said those cases were rare and tended to happen when clinicians from the Department of Veterans Affairs reached different conclusions from active-duty Army doctors. That can happen because retiring soldiers might begin the process of registering for VA benefits before they leave the service.
Some Madigan doctors apparently were skeptical of the VA diagnoses, which were sometimes conducted by private contractors with less experience working with the military, according to one memo.
In some cases, Madigan psychiatrists found candidates for medical retirements who lied about deployments or who posted information on social media web sites that contradicted what they told clinicians.
Madigan forensic psychiatrists were expected to carry out personality tests to determine whether a patient was misleading a clinician. They were to interview patients and ensure that commanders had verified the soldier’s deployment history, according to a summaries of their standards.
Forensic psychologist Steve Rubenzer in 2006 published a study in which he wrote that front-line clinicians often do not suspect that their patients have financial motives for seeking PTSD diagnoses. Whoa there, Dick Tracy. They also may be so scrambled they can’t put their underwear on facing forward. Anxiety disorder provokes that.
“Clinicians may not know that a patient has (motivation to mislead a psychiatrist for financial gain), often do not suspect the possibility of malingering, and typically lack the training or tools to assess malingering even if they suspect it. Not surprisingly, they rarely find it.” Rubenzer wrote six years ago in a passage cited by a Madigan doctor.
Read more here. This is absolutely fascinating.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/03/03/2051290/madigan-psychiatrists-who-made.html
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
I was a patient of Ellis-Billingsley back in January – February, 1995, having been hospitalized for a suicide attempt while under “investigation” for a supposed act of misconduct.
I refuse to address her as Doctor in this statement because I know she is something less than an ethical doctor. The first day in Madigan (5-North) she came into my room and grabbed my rank located on my collar and shook it while stating your General is going to bust you in rank. I thought “OMG”, is this the type of care I am going to receive? I was already paranoid enough, not sure who to trust, and just generally scared. I felt terrified by Ellis-Billingsley. Who could I complain to about her conduct? The MEDCOM IG? Who would believe a psychiatric patient in a closed room with a “stellar” doctor assaulting a patient? She put misinformation into my psychiatric records that has never been substantiated by any other doctor or mental health professional.
In the meantime, the DOD-IG was conducting a review of an IG complaint which was later substantiated that a BG and several of his colonel cronies had engaged in ethical misconduct. They were stupid enough to put certain informtion in writing and as an NCO, I felt obligated to report it. Of course, the BG and his cronies were never punished in any way for their ethical misconduct, which in my opinion was pretty serious. I
Now, so many years later to see she has resigned is great news for the military community.
She now has the shoe on the other foot and sees that “all the investigations are a charade as the outcome has been predetermined.” If she had one ounce of personal self-worth, she would have stayed and fought the battle. Instead of continuing to milk the system, thank goodness she ran and cried like a little baby.
Luckily, I finished my military career, but ended up rated as totally and permanently disabled by the VA. Her lack of soldier care, lack of concern for my mental health, and her unbelievable misconduct by physically grabbing my uniform and shaking me remains with me to this day. How she ever reached the rank of LTC is beyond me, although I have my ideas.
It is sad to see so many years later she is (was) impacting the lives of soldiers. I can only wish my fellow soldiers the very best and to let you know the experiences I had under her care. Yes, I think the “system” is definitely flawed and only takes your personal resolve, persistance, and patience to obtain the desired outcome.
Good riddance Ellis-Billingsley for all that you did to me and other mental health soldiers.
It’s not clear to me–from the article–if Dr. Juliana was good at unmasking liars or being told to limit PTSD DXs. One problem with PTSD is that when people are stressed or nervous, their memories suffer. Or they blurt out things to their shrink (judge and jury). Yet even non-PTSD persons, blurt out things that are incorrect. We’ve been hearing a lot of GOP candidates recently stumbling in this way.
In the case of combat vets, something that proves to be not factual, could actually be blurred memories rather than an intentional deception. That’s why the unit chronologies are important.
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But talk about liars, the governmental deception around HCV and jet injections (which were developed by the US Army) continues to astound me. The DOD banned them but doesn’t have to release any related research about that decision under the FOA. Universities need research funds from the military so don’t expect them to bite the hand that feeds them. In the
U. S., only the FDA, which regulates medical devices, is timidly poking around the issue. There is so much fear surrounding this issue that even scientists are mute. I’d like to know why.
Kiedove: The reason is financial, what else? They fought the fact that there was a serious issue with the pretty colored clouds over Nam for how many years before finally fessing up? Same thing applies here. Deny all involvement or that it can and did happen and it will all fit neatly under the rug till most of us have taps blowing over us. There is so much wrong with what is happening in this country right now that it becomes too much for others to comprehend. Unless you are living with the HCV of course.
Thanks for your comment. Financial yes, but the fear must run deeper than paying afflicted veterans’ claims. Could criminal actions be lodged against the device manufacturers after all these years? I don’t think so. Did the mechanical engineer designers of these instruments know much about biology and infectious diseases? I believe that the DOD was clueless about the blood borne pathogen cross-contamination when they were using jet injectors to deliver millions of vaccinations. I don’t believe that they knew the risks since HCV wasn’t even named then. But these questions should be put to them in a public forum like the senate. When exactly did they learn of the risks? Upon what facts did they base their decision to discontinue the widespread vaccination practice?
Why are today’s physicians and scientists–our supposedly unbiased evidence-based truth-tellers, silent? I’m most disappointed–no disgusted–with the CDC and FDA scientists who won’t discuss medical devices openly other than beginning to support the one and only one campaign.
The very fact that they knew that there might be something amiss the first go round but then the lunk heads began using them again? You are correct in that there was no name given at the time but it was developing quite rapidly and thus was classified as “other”. These are, if I am not mistaken, the same instruments used to vaccinate cattle. The government was fully aware of the high probability that blood borne pathogens both existed as well as transmission routs. I find it troubling that they continue to fight so hard only to fail the Vets once again. Time to stand up power brokers and take it like a true man for those who continue to give each and every day.