Author Archives: jwboyd
Why MDs Who Need Psychiatric Care Often are Told to Go to Kansas (Spoiler Alert: It’s About Money!)
Why are physicians referred to Kansas for psychological assessments, even when excellent facilities exist in their home states? Read here from Psychology Today to find out!
Investigative Journalism Story about Physician Health Programs (PHPs)
PHPs are rife with conflicts of interest. They often operate with very little scrutiny or oversight, and the only folks who complain about their practices are often physicians who’ve been referred to them (because most don’t know how they operate, … Continue reading
We Ought to Legalize ALL Drugs and Authorize/Mandate Treatment for Abusers
Not sure if I posted this when it came out, but throwing folks in jail for drug use ITSELF ought to be a crime. They need and deserve our help and treatment.
Blaming Others: What’s Really Behind the Talk about the Wall
Kudos to Amina Rahimi, a first year Harvard Medical Student. She and I co-authored this piece on immigration in Psychology Today. As the subtitle states: “Our greatest threat is not immigrants. It is ourselves.” Interesting that some of the early … Continue reading
Letter in the Globe about Drug Testing for Marijuana in the Workplace Entitled “No place for overreach in marijuana crackdowns in the workplace”
Michael Alpert and I published this letter about individuals who have been fired for testing positive for marijuana in states where its use is legal, even though there have been no concerns raised about their ability to practice safely or … Continue reading
Physician Health Program Outcome Data Should Be Viewed with Caution–Letter in the Judges’ Journal by Nicholas Lawson and myself
Georgetown law student Nicholas Lawson and I published Lawson Boyd Judges Journal Letter on PHP Outcomes 2018 in the Judges’ Journal last month. We make the case in this letter that we have previously made about how PHP outcome data need … Continue reading
Important New Paper–Systematic Abuse and Misuse of Psychiatry in Physicians’ Health Programs Discussed in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons
Physicians Heath Programs (PHPs) are part of the medical regulatory-therapeutic complex intended to protect the public from impaired physicians. Initially, they were supposed to provide a benevolent means to treat physicians with substance use disorders and return them to the … Continue reading
Yet Again . . .
Another mass murder in the only country where this is a routine occurrence. Why does it continue to happen? It is not because the US has more mentally ill individuals than other countries. It is because we have more guns. … Continue reading
Doctors Who Use Weed Off-Duty Are Getting Their Licenses Suspended Even in states where cannabis is legal
Awesome piece at Vice news by Ankita Rao here. It is appalling that any entity would refer a physician to a state physician health program for an evaluation–that can cost $6000, and that’s before physicians are told to stay for 30 … Continue reading
Survey Finds Widespread ‘Moral Distress’ Among Veterinarians
Lisa Moses, Monica Malowney and I published this study last Monday. It was covered by the Globe and by WBUR and NPR.