Dr William Ayres Update-Trial Postponed

From: http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_11298249
Abuse trial for former San Mateo child psychiatrist postponed again

By Michael Manekin
San Mateo County Times
Posted: 12/23/2008 05:37:00 PM PST
Updated: 12/23/2008 10:49:36 PM PST

REDWOOD CITY — The jury trial of once-prominent San Mateo child psychiatrist Dr. William Ayres on allegations that he molested seven of his preadolescent patients was delayed on Tuesday for the third time since authorities arrested him last year.
The trial of Ayres, which was previously scheduled to begin during the first week of January, is now set for May 11.
Superior Court Judge Clifford Cretan pushed back the trial date after learning that Ayres’ defense attorney Doron Weinberg will be preoccupied in January defending pop music producer Phil Spector in a murder trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The high-profile Spector trial, which is currently in recess, is scheduled to resume in January.
Weinberg, whom Ayres hired shortly after his arrest in April 2007, appeared in court Tuesday to argue a motion he had filed to postpone the trial of the former child psychiatrist.
But no arguments were presented in public. Instead, Weinberg and prosecutor Melissa McKowan came to an agreement with Judge Cretan before the hearing on Tuesday that Ayres will be tried in May.
“We have set a firm trial date, and I am confident that it will go forward,” McKowan said, adding that the judge clearly admonished Weinberg that he will not allow any more delays from the defense attorney.
Weinberg, who did not return calls for comment, filed various motions which have delayed the prosecution of Ayres since his arrest more than 18 months ago.

The jury trial was initially delayed because of the former child psychiatrist’s poor health — he was treated last year for prostate cancer — and later because of a protracted legal battle over a motion filed by his defense attorney to suppress all evidence acquired by search warrants that gave investigators access to Ayres’ patient files.
The defense motion was ultimately denied and an appeals court recently rejected an appeal. As for Ayres’ health, no further court filings regarding the former child psychiatrist’s prostate cancer have been filed since February. Weinberg’s most recent motion to delay the trial resulted from his involvement in the Spector case.
For those whom Ayres is accused of molesting and their families, the ongoing postponements have produced increasing frustration.
“It’s very devastating the way this has dragged on,” said a 41-year-old man who claims he was abused by Ayres in the 1980s and appeared in court alongside several family members of alleged victims. “That this guy is walking around doing what he wants to do, I think about it every day.”
The man added that news of an impending trial for Ayres brings little relief.
“The reality is, if (Ayres) gets locked up at some point before he’s dead, it’s really not going to help me at all,” he said of the 76-year-old psychiatrist outside of court. “(The alleged abuse) affects everyday life in a singular way and it’s sad.”
Meanwhile, others connected to the case said they were relieved that the trial of Ayres appears imminent.
Victoria Balfour, a New York-based freelance writer who has helped authorities build their case against Ayres by investigating possible molestation victims of the child psychiatrist, said outside of court that she doesn’t mind waiting another few months to see Ayres on trial.
Balfour, who said she first contacted authorities about Ayres in 2002, added that she has learned over the last six years as a victims’ advocate that criminal investigations can take a long time to develop and even longer to prosecute.
“I’m not as naive as I used to be about criminal investigations,” Balfour said. “I’m still in shock that he was finally arrested.”
Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan said after the hearing on Tuesday that she acknowledges the frustration felt by victims’ advocates like Balfour and Ayres’ alleged victims and their families.
“I admit that I feel the same way,” McKowan said. “Unfortunately, the wheels of justice turn slowly, and all we can do is the best we can.”

Miami Beach Psychiatrist Faces Racketeering Charges

From:http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/806540.html
Miami Beach psychiatrist linked to prostitution bust
A Miami Beach doctor is facing racketeering charges after he was linked to a prostitution ring run out of a West Miami-Dade house.
BY DAVID OVALLE
DOVALLE@MIAMIHERALD.COM
A Miami Beach psychiatrist has been indicted as part of a suspected brothel discovered earlier this year in a raid of a West Miami-Dade house used by a gangster who taunted cops by posting a threatening video on Youtube.com.
Indicted with seven others for racketeering in October, Dr. Evan J. Zimmer is accused of using his credit card to spend more than $10,000 on illegal trysts, some with an underage girl.
Appearing in Miami-Dade court Tuesday, Zimmer denied the charges.
”This is really a case of identity theft,” he angrily told a reporter. “This is ridiculous.”
For years, troubles have followed the doctor, who specializes in treating drug addiction and once appeared on CNN as a guest on the Nancy Grace show.
Zimmer, 57, was nearly arrested in May after failing to pay child support. In 2003, he was implicated in a Medicare fraud scheme; he cooperated with prosecutors and was never charged.
In 1985, Zimmer served probation for driving under the influence in Collier County after crashing his convertible.
Zimmer’s latest run-in began in January when gang leader Rudy Villanueva, also known as ”Bird Road Rudy,” posted an online video taunting Miami-Dade police. Waving an AK-47, he dared police to “come get some.”
He later pleaded guilty to a gun charge.
During the investigation, cops raided a rented, eight-bedroom, six-bathroom house in the 1000 block of Southwest 58th Street where Villanueva posted the video.
UPSTAIRS ROOM
In an upstairs bedroom, they found a 17-year-old girl. On the floor ”there was clothing and condoms scattered,” police said.
They also found “several computers containing pornographic material with minors.”
The girl told police Hugo O. Gonzalez, 31, was her pimp. She was “ordered to call him Daddy.”
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez, who produced fighting videos and pornography, ran an Internet prostitution company. Hookers had nicknames like Giggles, Pebbles and Diamond.
His ”rules of the house” dictated prostitutes gave him all their money and tips, according to documents prepared by prosecutors Alicia Garcia and Michael Von Zamft.
”Gonzalez in exchange would let the girls live at the house for free and would buy them things,” documents read.
Investigators say the brothel was organized, incorporated as a company called NewtotheBiz.com, complete with credit card machines.
UNDERAGE GIRL
Enter Zimmer, who prosecutors say was listed in Gonzalez’s books. The underage girl confirmed to police she had sex with Zimmer “a number of times.”
Credit card records revealed Zimmer spent more than $10,000 for sex.
Zimmer’s attorney, Simon Steckel, said: ”The charges leveled against him are going to be resolved in his favor.” He added: “He’s very well thought of by his peers.”
Gonzalez, Zimmer and the others have pleaded not guilty.
Zimmer is in bitter divorce proceedings with estranged wife, Nancy. They have one son together. In 1986, he was sentenced to six months probation for the DUI. Zimmer went into detox and later told The New Times Broward-Palm Beach that “he was the first doctor in Florida to lose his license and get it reinstated.”
In 2003, he served as the contracted doctor — his signature was vital to complete Medicare paperwork — for Oakland Park’s Community Mental Health Center.
MEDICARE
The center’s director, Bernard Graves, and three others were accused of defrauding Medicare for nearly $10 million. All were convicted.
”He actually was a relatively minor participant in the overall fraud but a necessary component,” said Robert Nicholson, the case’s former federal prosecutor, now in private practice.
Zimmer agreed to cooperate. Though listed as a witness in one trial, he never testified.

Children and Babies Given Antidepressants

4000 kids under 10 on mood drugs
Julie-Anne Davies | December 03, 2008

Article from: The Australian
UNPUBLISHED figures show that nearly 4000 children under the age of 10 were prescribed anti-depressants last financial year, including 553 children under five and 48 babies.

The commonwealth Department of Health statistics give an alarming, although most likely conservative, age-by-age breakdown of the national use of anti-depressants.

Leading pediatricians and psychiatrists can offer no reason why infants would be given the drugs.

Depression expert Gordon Parker said the numbers were “beyond comprehension” and urged the federal Government to ask doctors responsible for supplying scripts for young children to justify their actions.

Professor Parker, the executive director of the Black Dog Institute, said: “At first pass it is beyond comprehension that more than 500 Australian children – aged one to five years – have received an anti-depressant drug.

“When the particular drugs are considered, the risk of significant side effects – let alone their efficacy – is of key concern. It strikes me that there would be wisdom in having the doctors justify such prescriptions to determine whether there are any justifiable reasons for such surprising data.”

The figures are based on Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule data that covers only people who received a subsidised prescription. Most anti-depressants are sold privately.

Asked what circumstances might lead to a baby being treated with an anti-depressant drug, the spokesman for the pediatric division of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, John Wray said: “None that come to mind. The college would like to know who is prescribing these drugs to such young children and why.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Jan McLucas said the Government would be “very concerned if anti-depressant medications were being inappropriately prescribed and dispensed, particularly to children”.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration said in a statement last night that it was powerless to regulate the use of off-label medicines as it was not illegal for doctors to prescribe drugs for non-approved indications. But it said there might be medical practice and medico-legal implications associated with prescribing a medication outside its approved indications.

The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee warns doctors against prescribing any of the SSRI anti-depressant drugs to children under 18 – aside from two that are approved for obsessive compulsive disorder in children aged over six years – and points out that the drug companies themselves advise against their use for any condition.

There are numerous examples in the Health Department figures that show doctors are ignoring the warnings.

The anti-depressant drug Venlafaxine, which is marketed here as Effexor by Wyeth Australia, carries a clear statement that reads: “Do not give Effexor XR to children or adolescents under 18 years of age. The safety and effectiveness of Effexor XR in this age group have not been established.”

Despite this, 3347 children and teenagers were prescribed the drug last financial year. Eight of those were babies, 19 were aged two and three and another 15 were five years old. A spokeswoman for Wyeth said the drug was not indicated for use in children and adolescents below 18 years of age, and it had never recommended its use in this population. No anti-depressant is approved in Australia for the treatment of depression in children and adolescents.

Two SSRI anti-depressants have Therapeutic Goods Administration approval to treat children as young as six years for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; other, older-style anti-depressants can be prescribed by doctors to treat bed-wetting. But even allowing for these conditions, Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists spokesman Peter Jenkins said the figures were mysterious and worrying.

The Health Department figures were obtained by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Church of Scientology-backed lobby group opposed to anti-depressant therapy.

The most comprehensive research into SSRI anti-depressants and their use in children and adolescents in 2004 led to drug manufacturers around the world being forced to include a warning in their product information, stating the drugs could increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in children. This followed the results of an extensive analysis of clinical trial data by the US Food and Drug Administration.

According to the Health Department figures, the most commonly prescribed anti-depressant for children and adolescents aged under 18 years is Prozac, with 7833 given the drug in the past year, including 863 children aged under 10.

The Australian revealed recently that the TGA was investigating the adverse effects of SSRIs, the most widely prescribed group of anti-depressants that includes the well-known brands Prozac and Zoloft.

Conflict of Interest Rampant in Child Drug Prescriptions

From: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/06/conflict-of-interest-rampant-in-child-drug-prescriptions.aspx
Focus has been placed on alleged financial conflicts of interest of psychiatrists involved in the Children’s Medication Algorithm Project (CMAP). The CMAP protocol has been “quietly shelved” after objections were raised by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

The state of Texas is suing a pharmaceutical company that allegedly used false advertising and improper influence to get its products on the now-mandatory adult protocol, the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP).

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) stated that three Harvard experts whose research contributed to an explosion of antipsychotic drug use in children failed to report a combined $3.2 million in company consulting fees, in violation of Harvard’s rules.

Controversy about promotion of psychotropics in children is breaking out in other states also. New Jersey state assemblyman Michael Coherty wrote to the state department of health on Aug 20, asking about the policy that permitted the NJ Medicaid program to spend $73 million between 2000 and 2007 on antipsychotic drugs for children under the age of 18 although the drugs are not FDA approved for pediatric use. Lawsuits are pending in several states.

Issues include improper marketing and failure to disclose serious side effects, which prompted state programs to overpay for olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and risperidone (Risperdal).

Particularly in children, it is not just the drugs prescribed, but the diagnoses that are in question. Six million children have been diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders warranting drug treatment — 1 million with bipolar disorder, long believed to occur only in adults.
Sources:
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons November 10, 2008