David Minkoff’s Scientology quackery: the psychiatrist expert’s assessment

David Minkoff, the notorious Scientologist doctor who lost his license for a year after the death of Lisa McPherson, was added last week as a defendant in a new Scientology death, the 2022 suicide of Whitney Mills.

Last week we brought you the allegations against Minkoff in the lawsuit, as well as the devastating report by a physician explaining how Minkoff’s quackery led him to misdiagnose Mills and deepen her misery.

But what Whitney was really suffering from were the debilitating effects of a mental health crisis, which as an OT 8 Scientologist would have been especially confusing for her — OT 8s aren’t supposed to have that problem. Minkoff’s failure to get her proper care only deepened her despair, leading her to end her life, these experts are saying.

We think it’s important to get the findings of psychiatrist Bill D. Geis also in this public forum so we can get your thoughts on them. Here in full are his medical findings.

AFFIDAVIT OF BILL D. GEIS, Ph.D.

1. I am the Director of Behavioral Health Research at the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine (Psychiatry), where I am also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. I have trained over 10,000 clinicians in Enhanced Suicide Care/Mental Health Interventions. I was previously the Clinical Division Director of the American Association of Suicidology. I am also a Certified Psychological Autopsy Investigator (Suicide) by the American Association of Suicidology. I am licensed to practice psychology in the State of Missouri. I am also authorized by the PSYPACT Commission to practice psychology in 42 states. The Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) is an interstate agreement facilitating the practice of telepsychology and the temporary in-person practice of psychology across state boundaries.

[Factual background of the case the same as in the affidavit of Dr. Richard Berg, MD.]

MEDICAL OPINION

9. Based upon my review of the records, and based upon my training, education and experience, it is my professional opinion, within a reasonable degree of probability, that Dr. David Minkoff, M.D. and the nursing staff including but not limited to, Sue Morgan, APRN, of LifeWorks Wellness Center, deviated from the prevailing professional standard of care in thein treatment of Whitney Mills between January and May 2022, by failing to refer her to a psychiatrist or psychologist for a mental health treatment and evaluation, failing to conduct an appropriate workup to arrive at a differential diagnosis, and failing to prescribe appropriately for her psychosis.

10. The Joint Commission, the most prominent accrediting body for health care quality and safety in the United States, establishes guidelines for health care entities, such as hospitals, emergency centers, group practices and other health care entities. The Joint Commission has established quality standards for mental health integration into health care settings and, especially in recent years, specific recommendations for the prevention of suicide. These national healthcare-based suicide prevention standards (elements of performance) include:

a. ensuring a safe healthcare environment, b. using validated suicide screening tools, c. moving to validated assessment methods when indicated, d. implementing safety planning and linkage to mental health services when indicated.

Dr. Minkoff's clinic, LifeWorks Wellness Center, chose not to pursue Joint Commission Accreditation. Further, they chose not to align themselves with Joint Commission mental health standards. Nevertheless, Joint Commission standards are often considered the touchstone for the standard of care.

11. Whitney Mills was treated by Dr. Minkoff in a doctor-patient relationship. General suicide prevention, mental health and health care ethics dictate that this doctor-patient relationship creates duties to:

a. diagnose and treat the patient, b. meet the standards of care for physicians, c. act to protect the patient if self-harm or suicide risk is indicated, d. switch to alternative treatment or refer the patient to alternative services if the current treatment is not working and distress and illness are significant, and e. not abandon the patient in the context of severe medical or mental health illness, without linking the patient directly to alternative care.

12. A review of Dr. Minkoff's records indicates that insufficient attention was paid to even the most elemental suicide prevention measures — assessing and documenting the presence of explicit suicide risk factors (ideation, plan, intention, means, hopelessness, etc.), along with failing to create a viable safety plan, failing to provide adequate interventions to quell unbearable pain and mental torment over months of time, failing to implement adequate escalated levels of care for Whitney Mills when treatments were repeatedly unsuccessful, especially as she repeatedly solicited Dr. Minkoff to respond to her sustained mental anguish, hopelessness and emerging fatalistic perspective about any form of remedy.

13. A review of Dr. Minkoff's records further indicates that the signs and symptoms of an acute mental health crisis were also minimized and inadequately addressed over a several month period. Key risk factors of an acute mental health crisis include:

a. immediate stresses that create a mental burden, b. relationship and interpersonal difficulties, c. symptoms of hyperarousal, and d. negative thoughts patterns.

These key acute mental health risk factors were evident in the deceased, according to medical records, over a sustained period without apparent concern for their potential to lead to impulsive, desperate action:

e. significant immediate stressors (misdiagnosed cancerous cyst, financial problems, significant mental torment, anxiety, depression, and multiple health anxieties), f. interpersonal problems (grief and sadness from misdiagnosed cancerous cyst and sustained periods of interpersonal withdrawal and the inability to leave her home), g. hyperarousal(verbalized mental torment and headaches, agitation, restlessness, ongoing physical pain, intermittent and severely reduced sleep, ruminative worry, and anxiety), and h. suicide-related negative thoughts (hopelessness, statements that she was suffering and going to die, feeling unworthy and unloved, feeling like a failure, and having the mental state of unbearable pain).

14. Although arrangements were made for Church of Scientology caretakers to provide round-the-clock supervision of Whitney Mills, these caretakers did not have the requisite training to handle an acute mental health crisis, and this action did not represent an appropriate effort to seek an escalated level crisis care.

15. Dr. Minkoff also failed to conduct an appropriate workup which involves creating a list of suspected diseases, or differential diagnosis, that includes both common and uncommon diseases. This list helps guide the diagnosis process, and if a disease is not included, it is unlikely to be diagnosed. Among that list of potential diagnoses, it is clear that Dr. Minkoff should have included the potential that Whitney Mills was suffering from a mental health crisis, and a mental health disorder. Dr. Minkoff did not do so, and that failure to properly diagnose or obtain help for Whitney Mills' mental health problems resulted in the death of patient via suicide, which otherwise could have been prevented had she received the appropriate care.

16. Although Dr. Minkoff began giving Whitney Mills low-dose Lithium, he should have been prescribing her a higher dose, which would have been more effective at helping prevent suicide. Further, Dr. Minkoff should have prescribed Whitney Mills a mix of antidepressants, tranquilizers, and serotonin/SSR's for her ongoing state of distress and psychosis because the treatments that he was using were not working, and the standard of care required him to escalate his treatment.

17. It is my opinion, with a reasonable degree of professional certainty, that the above-described acts of malpractice, attributable to David Minkoff, M.D., by and through all of his agents, employers, employees, or apparent agents, constitute a substantial and proximate contributing cause of Whitney Mills' decision to end her life. Whitney Mills was not referred to an appropriate mental health professional, emergency center or psychiatric facility that could have intervened and given her the necessary treatment she needed for her depression, anxiety, insomnia, profound distress and hopelessness. Further, the misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease and cancerous cyst, without medical evidence, only created greater cause for concern and anxiety to the patient. Ultimately, the misdiagnosis and lack of referral to mental health services designed to address a mental health crisis substantially and proximately caused Whitney Mills to self-harm, resulting in her death by suicide.

18. It is my professional opinion that there exist reasonable grounds to support a claim of medical negligence against Dr. David Minkoff, M.D.

19. This Affidavit is submitted pursuant to the requirements of Florida Statute § 766.203.

20. I am qualified as an expert as that term is defined in Florida Statute § 766.202. I am duly and regularly engaged in the field of psychology.

21. I am by training, background, and experience a similar healthcare provider, as defined by Florida Statute § 766.102, and all applicable subparts.

22. I have devoted professional time during the five (5) years preceding the date of the occurrence that is the basis for this action to the active clinical practice of psychology and the instruction of students in an accredited health professional school.

FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT

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