Something is cutting off the right side of nyt posts > On Mar 27, 2021, at 2:22 PM, Louis Proyect <l...@panix.com> wrote: > > > A Yale Psychiatrist’s Tweet About Dershowitz, Her Dismissal, and a Lawsuit > The psychiatrist, Bandy X. Lee, said she was let go after the lawyer Alan M. > Dershowitz complained to the university. Yale said she violated ethics rules > against diagnosing public figures, her lawsuit claims. > > > > > > > > > Alan Dershowitz said a Yale psychiatrist’s tweet about him was > “unprofessional, irresponsible and unacademic” and complained to the school > about it.Credit...Richard Drew/Associated Press > > By Mihir Zaveri > NYT, March 26, 2021 > In July 2019, Alan M. Dershowitz, the lawyer who defended President Donald J. > Trump during Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial, said in an interview that > he had a “perfect sex life” with his wife. > > Mr. Dershowitz’s phrasing — in response to questions about his connections to > the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — drew headlines at the time. The > comments also prompted Bandy X. Lee, then a psychiatrist at Yale University > who had questioned Mr. Trump’s mental fitness and his influence over his > supporters, to assess Mr. Dershowitz’s behavior. > > In January 2020, she compared Mr. Dershowitz’s wording with Mr. Trump’s own > prominent use of the word “perfect,” suggesting in a tweet that it could > reflect a “shared psychosis” through which Mr. Dershowitz had taken on what > she said was Mr. Trump’s “grandiosity and delusional-level impunity.” > > Days later, Mr. Dershowitz complained in an email to Yale, saying that Dr. > Lee had violated ethics rules by offering a public diagnosis without > examining him. Shortly after, Dr. Lee says, the head of Yale’s psychiatry > department warned her about her behavior. > ADVERTISEMENT > Continue reading the main story > Dr. Lee eventually lost her position at the school. > > In a lawsuit filed this week, Dr. Lee, 50, said she was not reinstated last > year to her appointment as a professor in the psychiatry department — for the > first time since 2003 — and Mr. Dershowitz’s complaint was part of the reason > why. > > She contended that the tweet was not a formal diagnosis, and that Yale’s move > violated her First Amendment rights and impinged on her academic freedom. > > “My goal currently is to ensure that professionals and intellectuals are not > silenced,” Dr. Lee said in an interview. > Editors’ Picks > > > Take a Journey Through 125 Years of Book Review History > > > The Black Nerds Redefining the Culture > > > 30 Years After Anita Hill, We Should All Know What Sexual Harassment Is > > Continue reading the main story > > Image > Dr. Bandy X. Lee, whose appointment was not renewed by Yale, said she had > “tried to fulfill my societal duty, which is to call out signs of danger, and > signs of unfitness.”Credit...Nir Arieli > But to Mr. Dershowitz and others, Dr. Lee’s comments displayed a dangerous > intermingling of medical opinions with politics. He said he had not > communicated with Yale about Dr. Lee since his initial email to the > university. > ADVERTISEMENT > Continue reading the main story > “The idea that you can diagnose me, without ever having even met me, is > unprofessional, irresponsible and unacademic,” he said. > > The case touches on an intense debate over free speech and decades-old > guidelines that govern what psychiatrists like Dr. Lee should be allowed to > say in public. > > Mr. Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School who graduated from > Yale Law School in 1962, is a longtime criminal defense lawyer known for > representing high-profile clients like Mr. Epstein, O.J. Simpson and Mike > Tyson. He joined Mr. Trump’s defense team to make constitutional arguments > against impeachment. His most recent book, “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack > on Free Speech and Due Process,” was published last year. > > Yale did not answer several questions about Dr. Lee and her lawsuit. But in a > statement, a spokeswoman for the university, Karen Peart, said Dr. Lee was a > “voluntary faculty member” in the medical school and received a faculty > affiliation in exchange for up to four hours of teaching per week. Voluntary > faculty are not tenured professors. > > “Her request for reappointment was considered in accordance with Yale’s > policies and practices,” Ms. Peart said. “Yale does not consider the > political opinions of faculty members when making appointment decisions.” > > In the 1970s, the American Psychiatric Association adopted a rule saying it > was unethical for psychiatrists to issue a professional opinion about a > public figure’s condition “unless he or she has conducted an examination and > has been granted proper authorization for such a statement.” > ADVERTISEMENT > Continue reading the main story > It was called the Goldwater Rule because it was inspired by a survey of > psychiatrists who had weighed in on Barry Goldwater’s fitness for office when > he was the Republican candidate for president in 1964. Mr. Goldwater > successfully sued the magazine that published the survey. > > Image > > “Yale does not consider the political opinions of faculty members when making > appointment decisions,’’ a Yale spokeswoman said in response to questions > about Dr. Lee’s lawsuit.Credit...Michelle Mcloughlin/Reuters > Jeffrey Lieberman, a Columbia University professor who chairs the psychiatry > department, said Dr. Lee’s comments about Mr. Dershowitz were “problematic > for the profession, because it means the profession is using terms too > loosely and too glibly.” > > SIGN UP FOR THE NEW YORK TODAY NEWSLETTER: Each morning, get the latest on > New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. > Sign Up > “It’s just kind of using a word, a term, that has a clinical meaning and also > conveys or connotes a certain level of severity of mental disturbance in a > way that’s really inappropriate,” he said. > > Others have questioned the relevance of the Goldwater rule. Jonathan Moreno, > a bioethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he had not > heard of anyone being disciplined by the American Psychiatric Association for > violating the rule, even though people repeatedly broke it. > > He also said professionals in other medical fields routinely comment in the > press about the health of public figures. > > During Mr. Trump’s campaign and presidency, his sometimes rambling and > incendiary statements led many psychiatrists to publicly suggest that he > exhibited a range of personality problems, such as a lack of empathy and > “malignant narcissism.” > > A representative for Mr. Trump did not respond to a request for comment. > > Dr. Lee said she had studied gang leaders and other violent offenders in > prison for more than 20 years and noticed similarities between them and what > she said was Mr. Trump’s “violent psychology.” > ADVERTISEMENT > Continue reading the main story > She said she was initially reluctant to speak out publicly, instead raising > her concerns privately to members of Congress from both parties. But they > told her that mental health professionals needed to educate the public, so > she and other psychiatrists began speaking to the news media. > > In March 2017, amid a continuing conversation about Mr. Trump’s fitness for > office, the association’s president issued a statement reaffirming its > commitment to the Goldwater Rule. > > In January 2018, the association released another statement saying that > “armchair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the > misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical.” > > Dr. Lee, who said she was not a member of the association, agreed that she > could not diagnose anyone without access to their full medical records. But > she said she had never made formal diagnoses of Mr. Trump or Mr. Dershowitz > and that the association’s position was akin to a “gag order.” > > “I have never diagnosed the former president,” she said. “But I have tried to > fulfill my societal duty, which is to call out signs of danger, and signs of > unfitness. These are of interest to public heath, not to Donald Trump’s > personal health, but to the public health.” > > The association declined to comment on Dr. Lee’s case. The group would not > say whether anyone had been disciplined for breaking the rule, saying > violations by a member could result in an ethics investigation and possible > punishment, but that those investigations were confidential. > > Yale had requested in 2017 that Dr. Lee make clear that her opinions about > Mr. Trump were not endorsed by the university, according to the lawsuit. But > she said she continued to speak out, including about the danger of “shared > psychosis.” > ADVERTISEMENT > Continue reading the main story > Days after Mr. Dershowitz wrote to the school in January 2020, John Krystal, > chairman of Yale’s psychiatry department, sent an email to Dr. Lee, saying > that the university would be “compelled” to terminate her teaching role at > Yale if she did not change her behavior, according to the lawsuit. > > “You are putting me in a position where I have to ask, ‘Is this the sort of > person that I can trust to teach medical students, residents, and forensic > psychiatry fellows?’” Dr. Krystal wrote in the email, according to the > lawsuit. > > He soon met with Dr. Lee and said she had breached psychiatric ethics by > “diagnosing” Mr. Dershowitz, according to her lawsuit. It’s not clear what > other hearings or investigations Yale may have conducted. In May, Yale told > Dr. Lee that it was terminating her relationship with the university, > according to the lawsuit. > > A September letter from Dr. Krystal to Dr. Lee excerpted in the lawsuit > indicates that she was let go after a committee determined that her public > statements called into question her “clinical judgment and professionalism” > to teach trainees. The letter states that her “diagnostic impressions” of Mr. > Trump and other public figures played a role in the school’s decisions. > > “You did not make these statements as a layperson offering a political > judgment; you made them explicitly in your professional capacity as a > psychiatrist and on the basis of your psychiatric knowledge and judgment,” > Dr. Krystal wrote, according to the lawsuit. “For that reason, the committee > decided it was appropriate to consider how these statements reflected your > ability to teach trainees.” > > The letter then says, “We recognize that without formal teaching > responsibilities your appointment could not be reinstated.” >
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