President George W. Bush established the controversial President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April, 2002, to conduct a comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system and make recommendations based on their findings.

The New Freedom Initiative is part of the Bush administration's commitment to screen all American adults for possible mental illnesses, and every single child for emotional disturbances , thereby identifying those with suspected disabilities who could then be provided with state-of-the-art treatment, predominantly in the form of psychoactive drugs , and supports. The commission was directed to identify policies that could be implemented by Federal, State and local government agencies to promote psychiatric screening , enhance utilization of treatment interventions, and streamline delivery of medical services. Many of the staff appointed to the Commission's task force have served on the advisory boards of some of the nation’s largest drug companies.

On July 22, 2003, the President's hand picked commission returned a report recommending a nationwide screening program based on the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), which was created in 1995 while President Bush was governor of Texas, beginning as an alliance of individuals from the University of Texas, the pharmaceutical industry, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The commission reported that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed," so it recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children, because "each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviors and emotional disorders."

However, the plan by President Bush to screen all Americans for mental health problems is being opposed by a coalition of advocacy groups, including MindFreedom.org, who say the plan was cooked up by the drug industry . Through the guise of TMAP, critics contend, the drug industry has methodically influenced the decision making of elected and appointed public officials to gain access to citizens in prisons and State mental health hospitals. The person primarily responsible for bringing these issues to the public's attention is Allen Jones, a former Investigator in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General (OIG), Bureau of Special Investigations.

Jones wrote a lengthy report in which he stated that, behind the recommendations of the New Freedom Commission, was the "political/pharmaceutical alliance." It was this alliance, according to Jones, which developed the Texas project, specifically to promote the use of newer, more expensive antipsychotics and antidepressants. He further claimed this alliance was "poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of the tab."

References

• MentalHealthCommision.org: President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
• British Medical Journal - 10 July 2004
• MindFreedom - 16 August 2004
• SSRI Citizen "Unholy Alliance: George Bush Jr. And Big Pharma"

External Links

• New Freedom Commission Final Report
• Law Project for Psychiatric Rights: Allen Jones' TMAP Critique
• The Future of Freedom Foundation: Bush’s Brave New World, Sheldon Richman - October 6, 2004
• InterventionMag.com - Bush Wants To Be Your Shrink