Newspapers Express Dismay
At Ruling that David Tarloff
Was Not a Dangerous Person.
M.D. Says He Is OK For Trial
By Henry J. Stern
February 22, 2008
On February 12, David Tarloff murdered Dr. Kathryn Faughey. The sensational case has been widely publicized. Tarloff, a schizophrenic, had a long psychiatric history. His family did whatever they could to get him committed to a mental institution, but he was always found not to be dangerous and released.
There have been articles, columns and editorials written about the case in New York City's dailies. We have picked the ones we found most interesting or most relevant, for you to link to if you care to.
The first was published in Monday's Times. In a detailed account, Cara Buckley and Al Baker wrote about Tarloff's search for his mother, which became violent, BEFORE MURDER, TROUBLED QUEST TO FIND MOTHER.
In Tuesday's News, columnist Michael Daly wrote THEY OUGHTA BE CONFINED "David Tarloff should have been consigned to a nuthouse long before he picked up a meat cleaver. But psychos such as Tarloff are not consigned to nuthouses these days unless they do something like hack to death a profoundly decent psychotherapist." We linked to both articles Tuesday; we do so again in case you want to read them over the weekend.
On Feb 20, another Times story, B1; B4, detailed the family's determined efforts over the years to get help for their son and brother. By Eric Konigsberg and Ann Farmer, B1, B4, FATHER TELLS OF SLAYING SUSPECT'S LONG ORDEAL WITH MENTAL ILLNESS. We found this story to be riveting. These were middle-class people who did everything they could and got nowhere. This is our first link to it.
There were two strong editorials Thursday on the outrageous case: News, p28, ELIOT, MIKE; YOU MUST ACT. Their first paragraph states the facts and comes to a conclusion:
"Psychologist Kathryn Faughey was hacked to death by a psychopath who had passed through New York's mental health system like water in a sieve. Will such madness never end? It must. Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg must act now."
The News has already shown its concern with this subject. On October 8, 2007, less than five months ago, they ran an editorial, STOP THE INSANITY ON THE STREETS. "The horrific stabbing of 67-year-old Susan Barron on Second Ave. was but the latest incident in which a mentally disturbed person exploded into violence in the city. The carnage must end."
The editorial recounts eight separate incidents in the last few years where emotionally disturbed people have killed, injured or threatened others. They say there are many more cases which have not been reported or published. "Every year, the NYPD responds to thousands of other calls for help dealing with emotionally disturbed people. Those pass under the radar, but each one is fraught with peril.
"Go back further, and the bloodshed and mayhem continue apace. Look to the future, and you will see more of the same unless Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Gov. Spitzer and state and city mental health leaders come to grips with the obviously large cracks that enable people with dangerous mental illness to victimize themselves and others."
"How thorough was Dr. Reddy Bezwada? Of all the unanswered questions in last week's tragic slaying of upper East Side therapist Kathryn Faughey, that may well be the most pressing. Bezwada, a psychiatrist at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens, examined schizophrenic alleged killer David Tarloff on February 11 - eleven days before the murder."
The Post suggests that "Queens DA Richard Brown, in whose jurisdiction the larger part of the bizarre chain of events transpired...would do well to empanel a speacial grand jury to explore all aspects of the Tarloff case -- and issue a full report with legislative recommendations if needed. And he should do it soon -- before tragedy strikes again."
In today's Times, columnist Cyde Haberman gently ridicules State Senator Eric Adams' proposal to forbid psychiatrists to rent offices on the first floor of apartment buildings, on the ground that their presence puts tenants at risk. If you haven't seen the column, link to it. You can find the hard copy on B1, headlined, KNEE-JERK CALLS TO ACTS FOLLOW A BRUTAL CRIME.
So far, we have not had many reasonable suggestions about what to do about the problem of released mental patients who commit crimes when they go off the meds which keep them tranquil. We offered a few ideas Tuesday, and expand on them today.
1. There should be a central computerized registry of discharged patients, available to the examining doctor when a former patient is brought in for examination. Does this violate the patient's privacy rights. No more than looking up the rap sheet, fingerprints or DNA of a person accused of a crime. There comes a time when society's rights have to be taken into account as well. In our view, that time has long passed. One aspect of the problem is that these matters are left to mental health professionals, many of them empathize with the patients, who are the people with whom they deal.
2. When a person is brought in for psychiatric examination, he/she should be physically examined as well. We do not know whether this was done in the Tarloff case, but the patient's blood should be tested for medications or their absence.
3. People released from mental hospitals should keep regular weekly appointments with testers, who will check their blood levels. If they do not keep their appointments, they should be returned to the hospital promptly. If they disappear, warrants should be issued for their arrest, and police officers sent out to find them. When they are found, they should go through the criminal justice system, rather than simply being returned and then cut loose again.
4. Judges and district attorneys should be educated as to the potential danger posed by violent mental patients. If Judge Barry Kron received no information indicating that Tarloff was a danger, he cannot be faulted for releasing the man.
5. Where a judge or a doctor makes a finding that someone is not dangerous, he/she should write a memorandum explaining how that decision was reached. The authorities should keep score on how many times such rulings turn out to be erroneous.
6. When Kendra's Law is invoked, the state or city police should track down the suspect, or report in writing why he cannot be found. This work is too important to be left to employees who ring the bell and leave when the patient does not answer.
7. Whenever the police are called in an EDP (emotionally disturbed person) situation, the mental health record of the person causing the disturbance should be available on a computer. This will help the police know what to do, and it may save the patient from being shot.
The secrecy surrounding mental health, the result of old prejudices, stands as an impediment to the appropriate care and treatment of patients. It is also a risk to the larger community which may be put at risk by unsuitably discharged patients. It is common that people are discharged when they are well, and then relapse, just as drug addicts and alcoholics do.
An administration that properly declares war on trans fats should show equal concern for citizens murdered on the streets, in their offices or homes, or pushed off subway platforms by psychotics who were unwisely discharged and then unsupervised. The courts should co-operate in this effort. It may be more politically correct to go after purveyors of strudel than doctors and hospitals who serve humanity, but the people who govern us. A knife stops a beating heart even more quickly than a globule of fat.
Again, we ask for suggestions. This should be an important governmental initiative. Who has the courage to take it on?
#450 2.22.2008 1328wds
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