Former Mental Patients Sue Houghton Mifflin

PR Newswire; 1/29/2004

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ — The Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, the national organization of persons who have received electroshock treatment, has sued publisher Houghton Mifflin and writer Daniel Smith for $20 million in punitive damages as a result of an article which first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly. The article about the controversial mental health treatment was reprinted in Houghton Mifflin’s anthology, “The Best Science and Nature Writing, 2002.”

The complaint, filed in New York State Supreme Court, states that numerous statements were factually incorrect and presented a false and libelous picture of the organization and its director, Linda Andre. Furthermore, it alleges that Smith and The Atlantic were informed that the statements were false prior to publication, but refused to correct them.

The article links CTIP, a grassroots citizens’ advocacy group, with Scientology, imputing to them the same motives, beliefs, and activities. In fact, CTIP has nothing to do with Scientology. Throughout the article, Smith repeats his theme that CTIP is a “fanatic” group not to be taken seriously.

Andre, who has headed CTIP since 1992, says: “We are hundreds of ordinary people who had the bad luck to have permanent memory loss from a treatment our doctors told us was safe. Our one and only mission is to make sure that future patients are truthfully informed about electroshock. That simple fact didn’t fit into the article Smith wanted to write, but any high school journalist knows you can’t twist the facts to fit your agenda. And any high school newspaper also prints retractions when it gets the facts wrong. The Atlantic - and now Houghton Mifflin - thought they were above that. That’s why we were forced to sue.”

Smith’s false accusation that she has been committed to a mental institution is a “textbook example” of libel. “I’ve been interviewed dozens of times, and I am very tolerant of misquotes - but there was a tape recording in this case. Smith has no defense.”

It may be an uphill battle for the unknown organization (there are no funds for an attorney) against the world-famous publisher, but the survivors of electroshock are unfazed. Over the past two decades, they’ve taken to task the Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“The truth is on our side,” says Andre.

Added: Jul 26, 2006 7:03 pm | Trackback URI |  Email This Post  | Print