(4-24-17) Pennsylvania Republican Representative Tim Murphy said in a press released late today that he was “stunned” by President Trump’s decision to nominate Dr. Ellie McCance-Katz, to be the first Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Murphy, who was the driving force behind the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act that created the new mental health and drug czar position, criticized Dr. McCance-Katz in his release because she worked for two years at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) during the Obama administration as the agency’s chief medical officer.
The old regime at SAMHSA was incapable and unwilling to work with me and my colleagues in Congress to deliver the transformative changes needed at the agency and throughout the federal government to serve families in crisis. Therefore I am stunned the President put forth a nominee who served in a key post at SAMHSA under the previous Administration when the agency was actively opposing the transformative changes in H.R. 3717, the original version of my Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. In fact, the previous Administration and SAMHSA actively opposed the creation of an Assistant Secretary, as well as opposing my changes to HIPAA, expanding access to inpatient crisis psychiatric hospital beds, strengthening commitment standards and a host of other reforms.
“Dr. McCance-Katz served as Chief Medical Officer at the very time SAMHSA was under investigation for multiple failed practices and wasteful spending. She was the key medical leader when the agency actively lobbied against any change or accountability, including when the Energy & Commerce Committee, indeed the entire Congress, was aiming to fix our nation’s broken mental health system by passing the most transformational mental health reforms in a half century. And while she was serving at SAMHSA, there were questionable hiring practices, no accountability for federal grants, an anti-medical approach to serious mental illness and substance abuse treatment and most importantly, the continued upward rise of suicide and substance abuse deaths.
The White House announced Dr. McCance-Katz’s selection late Friday after seriously considering two other finalists for the job. They included Miami Dade Judge Steve Leifman, who Murphy reportedly strongly opposed because he was not a psychiatrist, and Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist who reportedly was Murphy’s favored choice for the position but was passed over without explanation. Last week, the Wall Street Journal confirmed a blog that I posted last month that named Dr. Welner as Murphy’s first choice.
Rep. Murphy’s criticism of Dr. McCance-Katz ignored criticism that she levied against SAMHSA after she resigned. In a blistering essay published in the Psychiatric Times, Dr. McCance-Katz wrote that SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, which administers federal mental health programs, ignored serious mental illnesses and evidenced based practices in favor of feel-good recovery programs that were politically popular but did little to help persons diagnosed with debilitating disorders. She claimed that SAMHSA was openly hostile toward the use of psychiatric medicine, didn’t focus on helping the seriously mentally ill, and questioned whether bipolar disorder and schizophrenia were even real, arguing that psychosis is just a “different way of thinking for someone experiencing stress.”
In his press release criticizing her, Rep. Murphy didn’t mention Dr. McCance-Katz’s complaints about the agency, even though his release echoed much the same criticism that she had made in her article. He wrote:
“We must end the era of silly, feel-good, anti-scientific, redundant and wasteful actions at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and across all federal programs. The anti-medical approach to mental illness and addiction over the past decade has too often made the care for those with serious mental illness considerably worse.
“Having not been scrutinized by Congress for more than a decade, SAMHSA lacked mission-focus, deviated from congressional intent and spent taxpayer dollars on programs that at best are of dubious quality and effectiveness, and at worst, prevented care from being delivered to the most vulnerable patient population.
Supporters of Dr. McCance-Katz said they were caught completely off-guard by the severity of Murphy’s criticism given that Dr. McCance-Katz shared many of his views.
Dr. McCance-Katz currently serves as the chief medical officer for the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals in Rhode Island. Like all White House nominees, she must be confirmed by the Senate. She will appear before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. She does not require approval by the House, which means that Rep. Murphy, will have to express his opposition to her to senators who value his opinion or testify himself against her. The chair of the Senate committee is Lamar Alexander (R-Tn.) and the ranking member is Patty Murray (D-Wa.)
Wall Street Journal Reporter Michelle Hackman confirmed in her story that Rep. Murphy preferred Dr. Welner.
“Dr. Murphy sought out Dr. Welner, one of the nation’s foremost authorities in crisis psychiatry, to lend his expertise throughout the oversight process during the multiyear investigation into our nation’s broken mental-health system, as well during the development of the groundbreaking Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, signed into law last year,” said Carly Atchison, a spokeswoman for Rep. Murphy. “Dr. Welner has been and remains an unqualified supporter of President Donald Trump and his agenda to help families in psychiatric and addiction crisis.”
The congressman became interested in Dr. Welner’s work following the Newtown shooting, when the psychiatrist appeared on CNN and elsewhere to discuss the shooter’s motives. Mr. Murphy then enlisted Dr. Welner in helping to draft the mental-health legislation.
The American Psychiatric Association initially supported Judge Leifman and then backed the other two contenders, including Dr. Welner, but he was not widely supported by several mental health organizations because of his history of working for prosecutors who used his testimony to convince jurors that defendants’s mental disorders were not a factor in crimes they committed.
Earlier today, the APA announced its strong support for Dr. McCance-Katz:
“Dr. McCance-Katz possesses a unique blend of academic and public sector experiences squarely focused on mental health and substance use disorders, having served in SAMHSA in the past,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A.
“As an accomplished physician,” said APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., “she will bring a wealth of knowledge in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of substance use disorders which currently challenges the United States. APA strongly supports her appointment.”
The Senate version of Murphy’s House bill was introduced by Sens. Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) who won sufficient support from Sen. Alexander to get a compromised version of the Senate and House bills attached to the 21st Century Cures Act that was passed during the last days of the Obama administration.
Here is Murphy’s press release:
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Murphy Responds to President’s Nomination for Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use For Immediate Release: April 24, 2017 WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18), author of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, which created the position of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), released the following statement in response to the White House nomination announcement: “We must end the era of silly, feel-good, anti-scientific, redundant and wasteful actions at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and across all federal programs. The anti-medical approach to mental illness and addiction over the past decade has too often made the care for those with serious mental illness considerably worse. “Having not been scrutinized by Congress for more than a decade, SAMHSA lacked mission-focus, deviated from congressional intent and spent taxpayer dollars on programs that at best are of dubious quality and effectiveness, and at worst, prevented care from being delivered to the most vulnerable patient population. “After an intensive investigation bringing to light the many leadership failures across the federal government, but particularly at SAMHSA, I drafted strong legislation to fix the broken mental health system. One of the most critical reforms was restructuring the agency, focusing on evidence-based models of care and establishing an Assistant Secretary within HHS to put an end to what the Government Accountability Office termed a lack of leadership. “The old regime at SAMHSA was incapable and unwilling to work with me and my colleagues in Congress to deliver the transformative changes needed at the agency and throughout the federal government to serve families in crisis. Therefore I am stunned the President put forth a nominee who served in a key post at SAMHSA under the previous Administration when the agency was actively opposing the transformative changes in H.R. 3717, the original version of my Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. In fact, the previous Administration and SAMHSA actively opposed the creation of an Assistant Secretary, as well as opposing my changes to HIPAA, expanding access to inpatient crisis psychiatric hospital beds, strengthening commitment standards and a host of other reforms. “Dr. McCance-Katz served as Chief Medical Officer at the very time SAMHSA was under investigation for multiple failed practices and wasteful spending. She was the key medical leader when the agency actively lobbied against any change or accountability, including when the Energy & Commerce Committee, indeed the entire Congress, was aiming to fix our nation’s broken mental health system by passing the most transformational mental health reforms in a half century. And while she was serving at SAMHSA, there were questionable hiring practices, no accountability for federal grants, an anti-medical approach to serious mental illness and substance abuse treatment and most importantly, the continued upward rise of suicide and substance abuse deaths. “The Assistant Secretary position was created to bring accountability, effectiveness and coordination to the federal government’s 112 mental health programs and develop a national strategy for increasing the mental health workforce, help patients and families access care, treatment for serious mental illness and so much more. We must have someone reliably and resolutely committed in word and deed for these critical changes to our nation’s dilapidated and deadly mental health and substance abuse care. The lives of millions of Americans depend on it. And I will be satisfied with nothing less.” The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, first introduced in 2013, was signed into law last December as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. Click here for more information. For full findings from the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Investigation of Federal Programs Addressing Severe Mental Illness, click here. |
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