Why did bad things happen in FMC Butner prison?

Why did bad things happen in FMC Butner prison?

ALEN J SALERIAN MD

October 6, 2014

    On September 22, 2014 only two days before my discharge I was raped in prison partly because of my actions.  To acknowledge this fact is a simple truth. The rest is more complex.

     On May 28, 2014  I was admitted  to FMC Butner, a federal psychiatric facility for forensic evaluation and treatment .   On March 3, 2011 my  Washington DC office and  Bethesda home in  Maryland were  raided by DEA. The agents confiscated three cars and my business account. Sometime later I was forced to bankruptcy.

     My trial to face charges of drug trafficking   in Abington Virginia was to begin on February 10, 2014 .  Surprisingly the court ordered me to complete a forensic  psychiatric evaluation at FMC Butner . I protested .  I was most anxious  to clear my name and honor .

        The court knew that I was not a security risk. I was neither a threat to myself nor to anyone. This meant my involuntary hospitalization was in violation of the JCAHO standards for forensic  evaluation in a hospital setting .  My psychiatrist Michael Gross M.D. pychiatrist informed the court that  hospitalization would be harmful.

    On May 27, 2014 my good friend Prof. Jim Fetzer and myself held a press conference at the National Press Club to register our concerns about the war on drugs and its negative impact on doctors and patients. Prof. Fetzer moderated  the discussion .Five physician victims (Dr Alexander Deluca ,Dr. Silviu Ziscuvici . Dr. William Hurwitz , Dr. John Mirczak, Dr.Alen J Salerian) in person or through recorded testimony presented their victimization by the criminalization of medicine. Members of  APA(Dr. Roger Peele ,Dr. Elliott Sorel), ACLU(attorney Mullhouser), Washington psychiatric Society Ethics Board (Dr. Kathryn May) were invited but did not attend. All my lawyers had prior commitments and didn't   attend. 

                    …………………………………………………………………………………..

   On May 28, 2014 my lawyer Glen Donath drove me to  FMC Butner ,North Carolina. He was supportive and kind. We embraced warmly. I thanked him. Then, a guard said”welcome to Butner you are our prisoner now”.

      My life  at FMC Butner did not start easy. From the very beginning I felt unsafe.

      It was not simply one single thing but rather the total impact of numerous tiny occurrences that did unnerve me. The first bad omen was a verbal assault by a naked man waving a bottle of shampoo at me. He had jumped out of the shower yelling “you mother f….. n….stop  stinking the bathroom”. The following day I was unlucky again. During a 9O minute lockdown my new cellmate described how he could murder me in three seconds and eliminate the forensic  evidence before anyone would arrive. I survived by maintaining my cool. Soon he was taken away to the SHU.  Other unpleasant occurrences would follow.  A few days later in the morning a fellow inmate was sexually assaulted in the recreational area.  The same afternoon I would witness a correctional officer slamming a young Marine against the wall. Marine Jackson had just been transported from active duty in  Iraq . 

       The overall structure of this psychiatric ward seemed dangerous. This was idiotic  planning, by mixing violent or psychotic  criminals with innocent  pretrial  evaluees. . Why to lock up two people in a small cell for long hours when one can harm the other?

    The  polluted air with constant cockophony of mother f….., ass h…, f….. n  .... did also unnerve me . It is as if the entire prison vocabulary  consisted of gutter English.  

      The correctional officers( C0) seemed to be in charge in day-to-day decisions. Not doctors, not nurses not even the warden seem to have much control over what happened to patients. The medical care was pathetic. I  suffered from inflamed hemorrhoids and received no treatment for five days . I kept thinking , all I need is an over-the-counter remedy .  At FMC Butner  things were slow.

     It seemed that there was a consistent disregard of any written rule : The COs  proudly declared  that they were the law.” Who cares about the handbook” they proclaimed. When fire alarms rang in the middle of the night I felt nervous  . I questioned a nurse.  Ms B  said “ just don't take these drills seriously. Run , when you see me running” . I  asked her whether she would remember me during an actual fire. I also asked ,” who has the key for 50 of us?”.  There was a single key. The guard had it, not the nurse.

              ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

    After my first week my survival instincts took over. I decided to assert myself.

     I quickly made many enemies among staff. To defend myself against   bullies  I tried to  project and image of toughness , a doctor of  Armenian heritage and Sicilian spirit.   In retrospect some of my actions would plant the seeds for my future problems .  I was kind . I gave away countless   coffees, soups ,Pepsi-Colas and a few other things yet  at the same time I declared myself “ a proud Redskin and a genuine n….. “ .  

    My first month  I had developed many  friendships  .  A few  goodhearted large men became my protectors . Two of them Anthony and Eric were special. They were handicapped by cognitive challenges .  They trusted me and I cherished my role as a delicensed prison physician and their big brother .

       I taught English, appropriate  social conduct - not touching  genitals ,no foul language  and  poetry . Sometime in July 2014  a wonderful nurse , Ms. Beasley and myself started  a poetry club on 2G .

      It was something special to see how talent and energy gave birth  to  creativity . The people and their work were extraordinary .  Unedited , raw and touching. The success of the poetry club prompted me to be more active by offering tips about mental health and  law. Things happened fast and naturally. People began gathering  in my cell. Or I would be invited to small dinner parties. Everything in life is imagination and perception. This is true for parties and dinners as well. We all imagined we were enjoying beer ,steak and french fries. The reality did not matter. The solidarity among victims, hope of freedom was our common bond . My circle grew immensely. Most of the credit belonged to several unusually sharp minds - Victor, Paul, W, Leon,J, Cuban - who transformed our darkness and despair to enlightened confidence. The food was a convenient excuse  to learn from each other. To discover major truths about how so many of us faced  similar ,  and often invisible obstacles  that would possibly sentence us to slow decay. Neither the truth nor the law mattered. We were prisoners. We were guilty.  If we were not guilty it meant we were delusional and incompetent.

   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       I did slowly learn a few things about the direct impact of the criminalization of medicine in America. I met a few  Dr.victims  of the war on drugs . From  the personal stories it seemed that  many people fell victims to  immoral prosecution by our government. It seemed that any prosecutor felt troubled by lack of evidence to justify a  trial  a   familiar exit strategy emerged .  The victim would be legally bullied  to accept insanity . Thi strategy has been proven  95 % successful.  The high success rate itself should be statistically suspicious . (remember the Communist  elections) .

       What could be  the most perfect place to diagnose a doctor with delusional disorder? A suitable psychiatric facility with government psychologists determining  mental competence.  At FMC Butner  my  psychologist was authorized to  recommend  involuntary administration of antipsychotic medications.  My observations  about  the objectivity and scientific validity of the medical and forensic findings  could bring retaliation :  Longer imprisonment and more suffering . Silence and admission of guilt  would end misery  .

    A doctor I met on 1E sounded regretful that  he had been coerced  to admit guilt for  a crime he did not commit.  He was broke and in poor health.

      Paul Kelly M.D. became a friend  . A retired Air Force colonel retired  with 25 years of service to our country. He had spent another 25 years in private practice delivering babies. He had delivered some 5000 of them. Now as part of the end game of life  he was going through a psychiatric evaluation at FMC Butner.

  ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    By early July the  word went around that I had clout in Washington DC . Many assigned me “super powers’. Some wrongly thought I was the most intelligent person in prison.  I did enjoy the rumors . I did not believe them and I was concerned. I discussed  my special status with my psychiatrist who suggested I set firm limits and to maintain a low profile.

      Exercise played an important role in my survival. By the end of July my daily push-ups  reached 1000. I could also run 1 mile under nine minutes. My pulse rate had dropped to low 50s. Physically I was fit yet I felt chronically exhausted and dysphoric. I did not feel right. I slept poorly. I felt trapped. The more trapped I felt the more I exercised.

    My running helped my popularity . I suppose  my aging body stood out among  many robust athletic men  . Add on my Washingtonian roots  soon I would hear chants of” Go Redskins”.

   And one morning when  someone yelled you f…… Mexican after I made  my prostate happy by watering grass under a tree shouting “I am a proud Mexican “ chased this tall skinny guy for some 50 yards , he took refuge among his groupies. My friend Israel, a Mexican - American  who witnessed this not very funny  event said” we were lucky” .

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Observations from   FMC Butner

July 27, 2014

      I lost faith in the system. I was promised a minimum security prison. This place is hell. I was told I was coming to a suitable psychiatric facility. This place is hell because public bathrooms have no soap or toilet paper  and prison guards are authorized to do behavioral treatment . I was told I would have decent doctors. The doctors seem to be so well described by Dr. Robert Lifton in his classic “the Nazi• doctors”. Dr. Cochran says this place is JCAHO  accredited. Dr. Herbel denies the accreditation. The hospital walls are covered with displays of JACHO accreditation . Patient beds  are bunk beds with no protective railIing to prevent falls. There is an epidemic of Tardive Dyskinesia, numorous man-made seizures. Both doctors find nothing wrong with slave labor of mentally retarded.

     This is a psychiatric hospital but there is zero psychological help or psychotherapy. Patients are seen once a month by their doctors. The rest of the time they are just   sub humans packed tightly in cells behind locked doors. Nothing seems to trouble the doctors about the barbaric treatment of our fellow men

I have contempt for some of the doctors. My pain is about their passive support of inhumanity. For my opinions I may get punished and forever labeled as delusional and treated with antipsychotics  to melt my brain first before they destroy me.

August 1, 2014

      What if we could convince  Sen. Barbara Mikulski to visit this dungeon? What if JCAHO , APA, ACLU join her for a historical fact-finding mission?

     We have the basic support through  poetry club, Ms. Beasley, possibly Dr. Herbel and the Godiwa Kings. I will tell Victor, Leon, Jamaica. This could be fun. There are people from outsider would help.

Aftereffects Of My Senator Is Coming

October 7, 2014

     August 29 arrived without Sen. Mikulski. There was anguish and lots of anger. The anger was directed at me. The Godiwa Kings and  The Poetry club did receive   special punishment: The SHU.

    In early September I felt the gradual escalation of anger. Among the prisoners the verdict was out . I was the bad guy. A self serving  bigshot who fooled everyone. Worst , I was a snitch. Frantically I reached out to anyone to protect myself. I received no help. Then my circle of friends urged me to do something risky which was to trust the system. I delayed my decision for about a week, then agreed to be taken under  protective custody.

       I temporarily felt safe on to 2E . I lived with the most insane people and wore an orange jumpsuit of 2E. It was difficult to be deprived of  fresh air or exercise.I continued doing push-ups.  Fatigue was a problem . Dr. Nogo surprised me .  He  suggested a consultation with a urologist rule out prostate  cancer because of anemia, blood in my urine and a recent jump in PSA .” An appointment could be arranged for November”, he added.

      48 hours before my discharge I was bullied by two inmates to perform oral sex.  I kept this secret. Several days after my discharge, I shared  my  pain with  Dr. Michael Gross, psychiatrist and Dr Engle my urologist. They both expressed compassion and concern of what they  diagnosed as rape . On October 7, 2014 I also personally informed Ms. Gina Gonsalves -US pretrial services officer, in Greenbelt Maryland of my unpleasant experiences in prison. I told her I would like to put my suffering behind me and I'm not interested in pursuing legal action against FMC Butner.