CCHR Calling for Whistleblowers Following a Rise in Mental Health Fraud Reports

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Watchdog organization receives numerous reports, through its investigations and otherwise, of alleged abuse or fraud committed within mental health facilities.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) of Florida, a non-profit watchdog that investigates and exposes abuse in the mental health industry, is asking for whistleblowers to come forward on fraud in Florida. As a result of an increase in the number of families contacting CCHR and alleging that their child was improperly detained under the Florida mental health law and that their insurance was billed, CCHR is asking for individuals to come forward and report any healthcare fraud or psychiatric abuse.


The mental health law, commonly known as the Baker Act, allows for individuals of all ages, including children between the ages of 2-5, to be taken into custody for an involuntary psychiatric examination at a facility designated by the state.


As a mental health watchdog organization, CCHR receives numerous reports, through its investigations and otherwise, of alleged abuse or fraud committed within mental health facilities, including psychiatric and behavioral facilities serving minors resulting in hundreds of complaints being filed with state agencies.


Claims of verbal coercion or threatening language being used by facility staff implying that a child would be further detained if the parent did not sign insurance forms have been reported.


“Parents are being misled into thinking that they have no rights when their child has been Baker Acted,” stated Diane Stein, President CCHR Florida. “They are also being asked to apply for Medicaid when their child is being held and this appears to be creating a situation that is ripe with fraud.”


As a result, CCHR is asking for anyone employed in the mental health profession, families of people who have suffered abuse in a psychiatric facility or any staff or former staff of such facilities with knowledge of healthcare fraud or psychiatric abuse to please contact CCHR with full particulars and any documentary evidence at 727-442-8820 or online at www.cchrflorida.org.


About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health,’” he wrote in March 1969.

Release ID: 88941573