Rep. Murphy blasts Trump's pick for mental health post
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteApr 25, 2017
In an unusual break with
"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" the congressman's mental-health reform bill, which ultimately passed, he wrote in a statement Monday. "The old regime at SAMHSA was incapable and unwilling to work with me and my colleagues in
Pittsburgher Michael Welner is rumored to have been in contention for the nomination.
Besides creating the new assistant secretary position, the law expands
SAMHSA fought the legislation when
"She was the key medical leader when the agency actively lobbied against any change or accountability including when the
Last year she criticized SAMHSA in a commentary for the Psychiatric Times. In it, she said SAMHSA is failing to address the needs of the most vulnerable and that some agency employees considers psychosis to be a different way of thinking rather than a mental disorder. She said the agency should make treating the seriously mentally ill a priority over other programs, including creating hotlines for the suicidal, programs to teach about the warning signs of mental illness and integrated care programs that bring aspects of primary care to mental health service programs.
She wrote that she left SAMHSA in 2015 because the agency "refused to support evidence-based psychiatric treatment of mental disorders" and because her psychiatric perspective -- including assessment, diagnosis and treatment with psychotropic medication and psychosocial intervention -- was "a poor fit for the agency."
He pointed to a congressional investigation showing that during her tenure, SAMHSA had questionable hiring practices, a lack of accountability for grants and an anti-medical approach to treatment.
He proposed the assistant secretary position to improve accountability, coordinate 112 mental health programs across government, develop a strategy to increase the mental health workforce, and improve access to care.
"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,"
Mental health advocate JD Jaffe said
"This is a great appointment," said
"SAMHSA needs to be headed by a change agent, someone who in their heart wants to help the seriously mentally ill and is tough enough to force the agency to change," he said. "This is a great choice by
He pushed back against
"Blaming her for the failure of SAMHSA is like blaming Murphy for the failure of
Besides leading the Rhode Island
She has a medical degree from the
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