8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

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My Daily Struggles
A blog devoted to the actors and public policy issues involved in the 1998 District of Columbia Court of Appeals
decision in Freedman v. D.C. Department of Human Rights, an employment discrimination case.

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GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart

Sotsky, M.D. My Daily Struggles

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You Could Never Prove I Am
Sane
Significant Moments: I'm One of
Effective June 30, 1996 my out-patient psychiatric treatment by Those Actors Who L...
Dimitrios Georgopoulos, M.D. was terminated upon the completion of
Significant Moments: On Never
Dr. Georgopoulos' residency training program at the George Washington
Leaving Your Home
University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. GW adopted
changes requiring patients to be members of GW's insurance plan.  Dr. Akin Gump: The Job
Termination About Nothing
Georgopoulos had promised, but, in fact, did nothing to help me find
alternative psychiatric treatment. I found GW's handling of my case to A Legal Irony?
be suspect in view of my diagnosis -- paranoid schizophrenia, a The Director
debilitating psychotic disorder -- as well as the fact that information
What did Attorney General Eric
from several seemingly reliable sources indicated I could become
Holder Know and Whe...
violent, even homicidal.
A Provocative Letter to the
White House -- 1997
Was GW's handling of the termination of treatment consistent with
sound medical practice in view of all the facts of my case? Did GW's Silent Knight
cavalier handling of my termination constitute an admission that the Sounds Like the Plot of an
diagnosis "paranoid schizophrenia" was not made in good faith? Did GW's Alfred Hitchcock Movie!
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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

handling of my case indicate that it was privy to information about my The Department of Homeland
nonviolent nature that was supplied by my former employer, the law Security Needs to Inves...
firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld? Is the following memo that I email Message to Senator
wrote in May 1996 consistent with the thought process of someone Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
suffering from paranoid schizophrenia or, alternatively, consistent with 11...
my being a nonpsychotic lawyer trying to engage in a power play? email Message to Senator Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ) 1...
I did not meet with Dr. Sotsky about this memo; he never requested a
email Message to Senator David
meeting. In fact, I have never met Dr. Sotsky, who was the Psychiatry
Vitter (R-LA) 11/24/10
Department's head of out-patient care.
email Message to Senator Mary
L. Landrieu (D-LA) 1...
TO: Stuart M. Sotsky, M.D.
FROM: Gary Freedman Social Security Fraud -- The
DATE: May 21, 1996 (hand delivered 5/22/96) Straight Dope
RE: Psychotherapy Termination - Risk Assessment Issues email Message to Senator Susan
__________________________________________ Collins (R-ME) 11/2...
email Message to Senator
I am currently undergoing out-patient psychiatric treatment at the Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 11/...
George Washington University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry.
The Confession of a Desperate
My current treating psychiatrist, Dimitrios Georgopoulos, M.D., chief
Crime Victim!
psychiatry resident, has advised me that my psychiatric treatment will
email Message to Senator Al
be terminated at the end of June 1996 due to policies recently adopted
Franken (D-MN) 11/22/10
by the Medical Center relating to residency training.
Very Angry Nobel Prize Winner
This will confirm that Dr. Georgopoulos has assured me that he is Threatens President ...
engaged in efforts to locate appropriate alternative therapy for me. Serious Corruption in the
Justice Department -- De...
http://dailstrug.blogspot.com/2009/11/gw-dropped-me-like-any- President Obama: My Facebook
ordinary-patient.html Reaction to Passage o...
U.S. Secret Service: Insensitive
This memorandum is intended to apprise the Medical Center of risk
to Jewish Culture?
assessment issues relevant to a consideration of the appropriate
email Message to Senator Amy
standard of care required of the Medical Center in its disposition of my
Klobuchar (D-MN) 11/2...
case, with respect to both (1) possible future legal exposure of the
Medical Center (and individual psychiatrists associated with the Medical President Obama: Cuts to
Center ), and (2) compliance with the ethical standards of the medical Medicare Program
and psychiatric professions. Alas, Cartoon Physics Are Not
the Law in the Feder...
You may wish to review this matter with he University’s legal counsel. I Have Nothing to Hide: Can
Akin Gump, GW, and Bri...
PERTINENT RISK ASSESSMENT ISSUES:
I Have Nothing to Hide: Can
Akin Gump, GW, and Bri...
1. My current diagnosis is schizophrenia, paranoid type (295.20)
I Have Nothing to Hide: Can
(subtype unspecified). See Letter dated February 14, 1996 from Dr.
Akin Gump, GW, and Bri...
Georgopoulos to Gary Freedman. The cognitive impairment
characteristic of this disorder may significantly impair the ability of a I Have Nothing to Hide: Can
patient diagnosed with the disorder to carry out reasonable and Akin Gump, GW, and Bri...
appropriate efforts to locate psychiatric treatment on his own. See e.g. email Message to Senator
Spitzer, R. L., et al. DSM-III-R Case Book at 30 (Washington ,DC: Richard Lugar (R-IN) 11/2...
American Psychiatric Press, 1989). Law Enforcement: Victims vs.
Perpetrators

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

2. I have been called in for questioning on two occasions by the U.S. Being Very Angry at President
Secret Service with respect to concerns that I may pose a risk of harm Obama! (That's What ...
to President Clinton and Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton The most recent A Ton of People For the Secret
interrogation was on February 16, 1996. Service to Investig...
A Lot of People for the Secret
3. I continue to have fantasies about the President of the United States. Service To Investig...
See e.g. Letter to Dr. Georgooupolos, dated January 22, 1996.
Federal Law Enforcement:
Going In Circles for Deca...
4. I continue to have fantasies about designing weapons of mass
destruction. See Letter to Dr. Georgopoulos, dated May 6, 1996 U.S. Marshal Corruption
(Appendix). Why I Believe the U.S. Marshal
Service Is Corrupt
5. I have been unemployed since late October 1991. Would I Go Gay For President
Obama?
6. My last employer, the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
email Message to Senator Evan
(Akin Gump), terminated my employment, effective October 29, 1991, Bayh (D-IN) 11/19/10
upon determining, in consultation with psychiatrist, that I was mentally
D.C. Inspector General --
unstable and might commit an act of violence. The employer has
Nothing to Investigate
expressly stated in writing that its termination decision was prompted
by a concern for the safety of firm personnel: that to permit me to Akin Gump Mental Status
remain on the firm’s premises might expose the firm to possible future Determination:
Consequence...
legal liability.
November 19, 1863: A
7. My direct supervisor at Akin Gump advised her staff at the time of my Government Of the People,
termination that I might be homicidal. By ...
Did I Make Any Admissions to
8. Shortly after my job termination senior supervisors at Akin Gump the U.S. Secret Service?
secured an office suite against a homicidal assault that they feared I email Message to President
might commit. Obama -- How Can You No...
A Professional Visit from the
9. In August 1989 a co-worker at Akin Gump stated to me: “We’re all
U.S. Secret Service
afraid of you. We’re all afraid you’re going to buy a gun, bring it in, and
If You Don't Get It, You Don't
shoot everybody.”
Get It

9. The District of Columbia Corporation Counsel, the highest legal First Amendment: The Bounds
officer of the District, filed a document with the Superior Court of the of Protected Speech as...
District of Columbia on May 17, 1996, that states that the fears of senior email Message to Senator
supervisors and managers at Akin Gump concerning my potential for Russell Feingold (D-WI) 1...
violence (including murder) were genuine and not pretextual in nature. Do You Think I Can Get the U.S.
See Brief of Respondent in Opposition to Petition for Review of No Secret Service to ...
Probable Cause Determination by Department of Human Rights, filed
If You Don't Get It, You Don't
May 17, 1996 (“Brief of Respondent”). Get It
[paragraph 9 was misnumbered in the original document.]
Screaming (sometimes)!

10. The District of Columbia Corporation Counsel now maintains that I D.C. Inspector General --
am even more disturbed and potentially violent than Akin Gump could Nothing to Investigate
have possibly feared at the time of my job dismissal. See Brief of email Message to
Respondent at pp. 2-8, filed May 17, 1996. Representative Eleanor
Holmes Nor...
11. I have requested of Dr. Georgopoulos on numerous occasions, both U.S. Marshal Service --
orally and in writing, that he offer a simple statement to Akin Gump Corruption or Incompetence?

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

management that I do not pose a risk of violence. Dr. Georgopoulos has If You Don't Get It, You Don't
consistently and steadfastly refused to offer such a statement that I do Get It
not pose a risk of violence, including disposition to commit murder or Ideas of Reference,
other heinous crime. Coincidence, or Something
Else?
12. I am totally isolated socially and rely on my twice-weekly email Message to New York
psychotherapy sessions at GW as my only contact with the outside Governor Mario Cuomo
world. I have no friends. My only sibling is a sister who lives in New
Former U.S. Attorney Advised of
Jersey whom I have not seen since September 1992 and whom I have not
Allegation of Jury...
spoken with since early February 1996.
William Nussbaum, Esq. Advised
of Allegation of Ju...
13. I subjectively experience my situation as desperate. I feel entrapped
and hopeless. I have the growing feeling that I have nothing to lose. Reid Weingarten Advised of
Allegation of Jury Tamp...
14. I appear to fit the psychological profile of the severely disturbed What Does Reid Weingarten
loner, capable of acts of extreme and heinous violence. (John Hinckley, Know and When Did He
Jr., found not guilty by reason of insanity in the attempted assassination Kno...
of former President Ronald Reagan, has been diagnosed as suffering From The Archives: Autumn
from paranoid schizophrenia). Leaves
Significant Moments: This Case
15. A memorandum written by Suzanne M. Pitts, M.D., my former Has Been Screaming ...
treating psychiatrist at GW, to Stuart Sotsky, M.D. (Director of GW
If You Don't Get It, You Don't
Psychiatry Department Out-Patient Care) in April 1994 makes a strong
Get It
case for continuing my psychotherapy. Presumably, the memorandum
highlights areas of severe psychopathology in my personality, and was a District of Columbia
factor in the Medical Center’s decision to continue my treatment Government Bureaucracy: A
Nam...
beyond the completion of Dr. Pitts’ residency in late June 1994.
email Message to Israella Bash,
16. On August 19, 1993 I met with Jerry M Wiener, M.D., GW psychiatry Ph.D. -- D.C. Dept...
department chairman, in his office. Dr. Wiener stated to me that I was a email Message to Attorney
psychological cripple--that my paranoia had crippled my life. On the General Holder -- August...
evening of August 19, 1993 I spoke by telephone with my sister, and I Have Nothing to Hide: Can
communicated Dr. Wiener’s statements to her. I provided a tape Akin Gump, GW, and Bri...
recording of that telephone conversation to Dr. Georgopoulos and to the
What Did Andrew Gerst Know
Office of U.S. Attorney (Eric H. Holder, Jr.).
and When Did He Know It?
GW: The Amazing Adventures of
17. I underwent psychological testing at GW in May 1994. William
the Cavalier Stuart ...
Fabian, Ph.D. assigned the following diagnosis: Delusional (Paranoid)
Disorder. The test report states that I may not have a good psychological email Message to Senator-Elect
coping mechanism; that further psychotic decompensation is possible; Rand Paul (R-KY) 11...
and that I may have lied on the tests in order to conceal the nature and "Here, You Look Like You Need
severity of my illness. Some Chocolate!"
The National Debt of the United
18. I underwent additional psychological testing at GW on March 11, States
1996, administered by Ramin Mojtabai, M.D. The test report states that
email Message to Senator Mark
the results, though negative, are consistent with the existence of a
Warner (D-VA) 11/12/10
delusional disorder. (Results of Wisconsin Scales of Psychosis Proneness:
email Message to Senator Jim
6 nonperseverative errors).
Webb (D-VA) 11/12/10

19. I have been determined to be unemployable by the U.S. Social email Message to Senator
Security Administration, and currently receive disability benefits paid by Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
11/1...
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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

that agency. The assessing psychiatrist for the U.S. Social Security email Message to Senator Sam
Administration, Paul G. Yessler, M.D., who performed a psychiatric Brownback (R-KS) 11/1...
assessment of me in June 1993 in connection with my disability claim, is Significant Moments: I Should
a clinical professor of psychiatry ay the George Washington University Have Known There Was...
Medical Center. I do not know what communications, if any, Dr. Yessler
November 11
may have had with staff psychiatrists at GW concerning my case, or
whether any information provided to Dr. Yessler by GW staff B.M.D. Jr.
psychiatrists (including psychiatry residents) may have influenced My Psychiatrist's Supervisor
statements made by Dr. Yessler in his medical report to the U.S. Social email Message to Senator
Security Administration. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)...
Social Security Document
Issues Pertinent to Medical Management: Submission: June 1993
email Message to Senator
20. On no occasion during my psychiatric treatment at GW have I ever
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
refused to take medication in a situation in which a psychiatrist wrote
11/9/10
out a prescription, and advised me to take the medication as
Joan Nathan in Cherry Hill, New
prescribed.
Jersey!

21. In February 1993 Suzanne M. Pitts, M.D. prescribed lithium for the So, What Was Patrick's
treatment of a supposed bi-polar disorder. I duly took the medication as Connection to all This?
prescribed. As assay performed in late February 1993, the results of All These Years I Just Wanted
which are maintained in my medical records, should indicate a lithium the Answer to One Qu...
serum level consistent with my having diligently taken the medication First Amendment: Beyond the
as prescribed. I discontinued the lithium; it was later confirmed that I Bounds of Protected Sp...
did not suffer from bi-polar disorder, and that Dr. Pitts had
email Message to Senator
misprescribed the medication (Paranoid schizophrenia is a rule-out for Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 1...
bi-polar disorder. See Spitzer, R. L., et al. DSM-III-R Case Book at 30
email Message to Senator Max
(Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1989)).
Baucus (D-MT) Subcomm...

22. In August 1993 Dr. Pitts recommended that I take the anti-psychotic Akin Gump Connections
Haldol. I repeatedly stated that I was eager to take the medication if email Message to Senator Bill
she could establish a causal link between the target symptoms of the Nelson (D-FL) 11/7/1...
medication and significant interpersonal difficulties I have experienced, The Drive to Know: Living
namely, (1) a causal link between the target symptoms of Haldol and Beyond Love and Hate -- ...
the fact that I was fired from my job despite an outstanding work
If Necessary for Years; If
performance; (2) a causal link between, on the one hand, the target
Necessary, Alone
symptoms of Haldol and, on the other, the fact that I was totally socially
Never Give In!
isolated at Akin Gump but simultaneously initiated frequent social
contacts with several persons from a previous place of employment; (3) Making a Name for Myself in
a causal link between the target symptoms of Haldol and the act of Akin Conservative Circles!
Hump managers in fabricating evidence of mental disturbance, etc. Dr. The Creative Artist: Loss
Pitts consistently refused or was unable to establish such a causal link. Sensitive and Separation...
A Lawyer's Lawyer
It is noted, incidentally, that the DSM-IV recognizes the principle (with
respect to one mental disorder, dysthymia) that symptoms alone in the ►  October (75)
absence of impaired work or social functioning are not sufficient to ►  September (105)
establish a diagnosis, or, by implication, indicate the need for medical ►  August (68)
management. It is true that I am currently unemployed, but it has not
►  July (141)
been demonstrated that the remediation of the target symptoms of any
drug might have prevented my job termination, encouraged me to seek ►  June (117)
employment, or allowed me to retain employment. ►  May (176)

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

►  April (167)
In the weeks prior to my job termination, in late October 1991, I asked ►  March (101)
my then treating mental health counselor, William D. Brown, Ph.D.,
►  February (65)
whether I should be taking a tranquilizer. Dr. Brown advised me that I
did not need a tranquilizer. The American Psychological Association ►  January (119)
(APA), which reviewed Dr. Brown’s handling of my case, found that Dr.
►  2009 (305)
Brown’s nonmedical psychological management did not warrant
disciplinary action. See Letter dated September 23, 1993 from Betsy ►  2008 (106)
Ranslow (APA Director of Investigations--Ethics Office) to Gary ►  2007 (174)
Freedman: “I have now had the opportunity to carefully evaluate your
►  2005 (10)
complaint against William D. Brown of Washington, D.C. [based in part
on Dr. Brown’s failure to make a referral for medical management to ►  2004 (64)
treat a delusional disorder]. Your complaint has been evaluated ►  1971 (1)
independently by the Chair of the APA Ethics Committee and by me. On
►  1970 (1)
the basis of a review of all of the information related to this matter, we
have decided not to open this matter up for a formal ethics case and to
close it under the provision of Part V, Section 5.4 of the 1992 Rules and
Procedures.” The cited Rules prohibit a psychologist from treating a
client where the severity of the client’s illness exceeds the
psychologist’s competence. My symptomatology has remained
unchanged since late October 1988.

23. I have repeatedly stated to both Dr. Pitts and to Dr. Georgopoulos
that I am willing to take the anti-depressant Prozac, which was
recommended by a previous treating psychiatrist, Stanley R. Palombo,
M.D., in 1990. Dr. Georgopoulos and Dr. Pitts refused to prescribe Prozac
on the grounds that Prozac is contra-indicated in my case. My
symptomatology has remained unchanged since late October 1988.

24. My medical record at GW contains a recommendation that I take

anti-depressant medication. See Report of Psychological Testing,
approved by William Fabian, Ph.D., dated May 1994. Jerry M. Wiener,
M.D. has expressly refused to comment on (or modify) any portion of
the test report, including the recommendation that I be prescribed an
anti-depressant. See Letter from Jerry M. Wiener, M.D. to Gary
Freedman, dated October 4, 1994.

GARY FREEDMAN

cc: The Washington Post (tentative)

D.C. Board of Medicine (tentative)

If you were Dr. Sotsky wouldn't you have said to yourself upon reading
this disturbing memo: "I need to meet with this individual. This is
serious. Weapons of mass destruction? Murder? Paranoid Schizophrenia?
Severe social isolation? Unemployment?" That was not Dr. Sotsky's
response. This post cries out the question: "Why?"

Posted by My Daily Struggles at 11:00 AM

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

3 comments:

My Daily Struggles said...

Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Notice that I wrote about a top secret Pentagon project in the

summer of 1992, before the details of the project had been made
public.

Now that's Twilight Zone material!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

My Daily Struggles said...

Albert H. Taub, M.D. advised the D.C. Medical Board in 1999 that I
suffered from paranoid schizophrenia in response to a complaint I
filed against him:

February 22, 1999

Mr. James R. Granger, Jr.

Executive Director
Government of the District of Columbia
Board of Medicine
Dept. of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
Occupational and Professional Licensing Administration
614 H Street N.W., Room #108
Washington, D.C. 20001

Re: Mr. Gary Freedman: your letter of January 6, 1999

Dear Mr. Granger:

This is not an issue of quality of care. Appropriate medication has

been offered to Mr. Freedman who refuses to take the medicine
(an antipsychotic). He is insisting that I absolve him of any mental
illness in 1988 when he was in a struggle with his law firm. The
letter is not possible since I only have been meeting with him
since August of 1998 and can make no statement about his mental
status in 1988.

My first direct contact with Mr. Gary Freedman occurred last

summer [Friday August 7, 1998] when I became his psychiatrist
for the purpose of prescribing medication. Ms. Lisa Osborne, a
psychology intern at that time, started to see him in weekly
psychotherapy.

In view of Mr. Freedman's long record of mental illness (paranoid

schizophrenia) I recommended antipsychotic medication which he
refused. At first I saw him weekly and subsequently I have been
seeing him monthly. He has always refused medication. One week

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

he tentatively agreed to try medication, but changed his mind. At

the time he said he might try medication, if I were to sign the
letter of August 17, 1998 (revised 8/22/98) vindicating him in his
legal struggles with his former law firm which took place
approximately ten years ago.

I didn't sign his manifesto since I could make no judgments about

events that occurred ten years ago. He didn't seem surprised at
my refusal to sign and I don't believe he really expected me to
sign. However, it did give him a face saving reason to refuse
medication. He has never agreed to take medication that I
suggested. Ms. Osborne, the rest of the clinical staff, and I did
not feel he was at that time imminently homicidal or suicidal.

Subsequently, he has settled down into his usual lifestyle which

includes prolific letter writing. Please let me know if I can be of
further assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Albert H. Taub, M.D.

Faculty Member
Department of Psychiatry
Residency Training Program
St. Elizabeths/CMHS

[Docket no. 99-198]

Saturday, November 27, 2010

My Daily Struggles said...

George Washington University Medical Center
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

February 14, 1996

Dear Mr. Freedman,

This letter is being written per your request to know your

diagnoses.

In my opinion my working diagnosis has been: Schizophrenia,

Paranoid Type (295.30).

Sincerely,

[signed]

Dimitrios Georgopoulos, M.D.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

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8/5/23, 11:22 AM My Daily Struggles: GW: The Amazing Adventures of the Cavalier Stuart Sotsky, M.D.

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