Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 9:51 PM Subject: a letter to the editors/ please forward http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=637305&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=11/8/2007 a.. The father of a 13-year-old boy killed in state care last winter demanded an overhaul of New York's mental health care system today, accusing state agencies of cover-ups and pushing for new laws. Sueing for wrongful death is the right path. For far too long mental health has not been subjected to health laws, but to the same separate but equal justice African Americans were forced to endure. Believing in your son's life, in my son's life, in everyone's son's life, that it had worth, sue. And while you are at it ask editors about their use of the term "care" above, custody it was, "care" it was decidedly not. And your own, "Speaking to reporters, Carey blasted a system he says does far too little to help those living in mental health facilities," confined there they are, living there? Your son is dead. He is by far not the first, nor will he be the last. More Ameircans have died in mental institutions than the combined total of deaths in every war we have ever fought, from the Revolutionary war to the present. a.. Consider: In the 14-year period between 1950 and 1963, more American deaths occurred in state and county mental institutions than in all of the nation's armed conflicts beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with the Persian Gulf War. Between 1965 and 1990, the total number of mental-hospital inpatient deaths exceeded the number of battle deaths in the same wars by 70 percent. Inpatient deaths topped out at 1,103,000 during this 25-year period, compared with 650,563 recorded deaths in battles. (Forgotten Dead of St. Elizabeths Magazine article by Kelly Patricia O'Meara; Insight on the News, Vol. 17, Aug. 6, 2001) "Christine Pritchard, a spokeswoman for Gov. Eliot Spitzer, had no immediate comment on Carey's allegations. She did note that staffers from the Office of Children and Family Services are specifically trained to handle hot line calls." Please define "handle." Harold A. Maio Advisory Board American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Board Member Partners in Crisis Former Consulting Editor Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal Boston University Language Consultant UPENN Collaborative on Community Integration of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities Home: 8955 Forest St Ft Myers FL 33907 [log in to unmask] 239-275-5798 Your chances of winning a lawsuit are directly related to portrayals in the media. When they reflect the indifference of the state, in even one metaphor, your chances are lessened. www.peoplewho.org