Forced Electroshock Halted For Kathleen Garrett

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www.MindFreedom.org DENDRITE -- August 23, 2000
COPY & POST to appropriate places on & off Internet:
ALERT: human rights & "mental health system."
A free project of Support Coalition International.
http://www.MindFreedom.org email:

FORCED ELECTROSHOCK *HALTED* FOR KATHLEEN GARRETT

HOSPITAL SPOKESPERSON SAYS DUE TO A "DENDRITE" ALERT ISSUED LAST NIGHT, THEY WERE "DELUGED" BY PUBLIC OUTRAGE OVER INVOLUNTARY ELECTROSHOCK

LITERALLY OVERNIGHT -- IN 16 HOURS -- THE HOSPITAL THAT WAS FORCIBLY ELECTROSHOCKING KATHLEEN GARRETT SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED THEY ARE DISCHARGING HER

THE 66-YEAR-OLD MOM IS SPARED THE PLANNED "TEN TO TWELVE MORE ELECTROSHOCKS"

CAMPAIGN ORGANIZER JULI LAWRENCE THANKS PUBLIC FOR SUPPORT: "I'M MOVED TO TEARS OF AWE."

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI -- After a hospital that has
been forcibly electroshocking a 66-year-old mom was
"deluged" with public comments, they suddenly
reversed themselves. The hospital announced today
they are discharging Kathleen Garrett tomorrow.

Earlier this week, DesPeres Hospital had
administered two electroshocks to Kathleen Garrett
against her will. The hospital had planned ten to
twelve more forced electroshocks, but she will
apparently be spared. Kathleen's son, Steve, said
his mom is "very happy to hear she is going home."

The organizer of the campaign to save Kathleen
Garrett was Juli Lawrence of the group "ect.org,"
one of 88 Sponsoring Groups in Support Coaltion
International. Juli said that, "I'm moved to tears
of awe. I'm so humbled by the outpouring and the
concern of everyone. Mere words cannot express the
emotion I feel. The best I can do is say thank you
so very much, and Steve -- her son -- thanks you."

DesPeres Hospital spokesperson John Shelton told
DENDRITE today that the hospital was "deluged"
overnight by public comment opposing the
electroshock. Shelton attributed the flood to the
DENDRITE Internet alert sent out yesterday evening
by Support Coalition International. Sixteen hours
after the alert was issued, the hospital told
Kathleen Garrett's son they were stopping the forced
electroshock and discharging her at 2 pm tomorrow.
When asked why, the hospital gave Steve no explanation.

Juli received copies of many of the public comments
where were sent to Michele Meyer, the CEO DesPeres
Hospital. "I cannot even begin to count how many
there were in my e-mailbox. And I'm reading every
last one!"

This corporate chain has a history of abuse and neglect.
Tenet Health Care owns DesPeres Hospital. Under its
former name, National Medical Enterprises, Tenet was
convicted in the largest case of fraud, bribery and
conspiracy, in U.S history, on June 28, 1994,
largely because of psychiatric human rights
violations. In addition to the record $379.mil. fine
they are enjoined from owning or operating
psychiatric or rehab. hospitals. This does not
enjoin them from owning general hospitals that
provide psych. services, such as DesPeres Hospital.
You can thank Juli Lawrence for her work, and find
out more about electroshock by contacting her
organization via her website, http://www.ect.org or
by e-mail at Juli@ect.org.

"Kathleen Garrett and her son had lost in a court of
law. But this family won in the court of public
opinion," said Ted Chabasinksi, a survivor of forced
electroshock at the age of six, who is now an
attorney and is president of the Support Coalition
International board of directors. "This is all about
strength in numbers."

advertisement

To find out more about Support Coalition, and to
join, you can request a free sample copy of the
award-winning paper newsjournal, _Dendron_. The
summer issue has 64 pages of news about campaigns to
win human rights in psychiatry, including resisting
electroshock. For a sample, e-mail your postal
mailing address to office@mindfreedom.org. The theme
of the next issue is "Youth Resistance to Psychiatric
Oppression," with a deadline for material of
September 30. You can now join Support Coalition on
the web, via a secure web server at
http://www.MindFreedom.org. For details, see below.

SAMPLE MESSAGE:

To: Michele Meyer
Copy:

"Stop forced electroshock in DesPeres Hospital! Stop
the forced electroshock of Kathleen Garrett! Even
her son and caretaker is against this forced
electroshock! I request an immediate response."

Optional: Include your name, address, phone, e-mail.

ADDITIONAL ACTIONS *** ADDITIONAL ACTIONS

Media contacts:

Television:
KMOV (CBS) Channel 4
Phone: 314-444-6333
Fax: 314-621-4775
email (newstip): news_suggest_no@kmov.com

KSDK (NBC) Channel 5
Phone: 314-444-5125
Fax: 314-444-5164
email: newstips@ksdk.com

KPLR (WB) Channel 11
Phone: 314-367-7216
Email: 11news@kplr.com

KTVI (Fox) Channel 2
Email: ktvinews@fox.com

KDNL (ABC) Channel 30
Phone: (314) 436-3030

Print media:

The Post Dispatch_ reporters:

Social Justice Reporter: Ron Harris
314-340-8382
e-mail: rharris@postnet.com

Health Reporter: Adam Goodman
314-340-8204
e-mail: agoodman@postnet.com

ALL OF THE ABOVE:

If you can help e-mail all the above contacts,
just copy and paste this whole list:

michele.meyer@tenethealth.com, Juli@ect.org,
news_suggest_no@kmov.com, newstips@ksdk.com,
11news@kplr.com, ktvinews@fox.com,
rharris@postnet.com, agoodman@postnet.com

[This news release provided by "ect.org," one of 88
Sponsor Groups in Support Coalition.]

www.MindFreedom.org DENRITE ALERT BROUGHT TO YOU
FREE BY SUPPORT COALITION INTERNATIONAL.
DENDRITE is a one-way *occasional* e-mail
list, so you do *not* get too much e-mail this way.

**BRANCH LIKE A DENDRITE** Copy & forward this alert
to appropriate places on & off the Internet, just as
your brain uses tree-like dendrites to network
billions of neurons.

Support Coalition International is an independent
non-profit federation of 88 groups in 13 countries
united to win human rights and alternatives in the
"mental health system." SCI is open to the public,
and led by psychiatric survivors. SCI receives no
funding from the psychiatric drug industry, the
"mental health system" or the government.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Just getting this DENDRITE e-mail does *not*
necessarily mean you are already an SCI member. Ask
if you're not sure you are a current member. DENDRITE
is a free public e-mail alert list. _Dendron News_
is Support Coalition's paper newsjournal for members.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The theme of the next issue of _Dendron_ is: Youth
Resistance to Psychiatric Oppression. September 30,
2000 is the deadline. Articles, resource listings,
news, letters encouraged.

You can now join, donate and renew with Support Coalition
International by VISA/MasterCard via a "secure" web server:
http://www.MindFreedom.org.

To contact or join Support Coalition International:
Phone 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time (541) 345-9106.
Or fax anytime to (541) 345-3737. Or write to:
Support Coalition; PO Box 11284; Eugene, OR 97440 USA.
Or e-mail: office@MindFreedom.org.
Donations are tax deductible.

You can get DENDRITE e-mail human rights alerts *free*:

To get free DENDRITE alerts, simply e-mail to:

with these two words only in body of message:
subscribe dendrite

To unsubscribe from DENDRITE, e-mail to:

with these two words only in body of message:
unsubscribe dendrite

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