Aug272023
Front PageA photo of a long-haired, light-skinned individual. Photos of flowers are airbrushed into the image.

Update: February 16th, 2025

1 Positive developments

Since our last update we are pleased to report that And (pronouns it/its) has been transferred out of the dangerous forensic ward to Lemuel Shattuck Hospital where it has reported almost no harassment from patients in a 7 month period! Thank you MindFreedom Volunteers for your help in advocating for this!

And was also pleased to report it won’t be sent to a shelter and will only be discharged to a group home in a catchment area of its choosing. And also reports working well with most members of its medical team.
2. Remaining Human Rights Violations

Unfortunately, And was placed into the care of a Nurse Manager, Pauline Onyechefule who has, in the past and currently, according to And’s own words, “targeted me due to my challenging the clinical appropriateness of her verbal commands and also for advocating for myself and other patients.” 

 

And recently questioned staff’s treatment regarding an older, wheel-chair bound gentleman, the same patient mentioned in the incident below. A nurse supervisor substantiated And’s concerns and corrected staff. This may be what has lead to Pauline continuing to target And in what seems to be an escalatory manner.

Please note: MindFreedom is not contending the appropriateness of asking a patient to be at arms-length from another patient for medical reasons. MindFreedom is concerned that the suddenness and manner of Pauline’s actions may indicate they were done in retaliation, in a targeted manner, and not in a trauma-informed way, especially when considering:

*And’s previous doctor had okayed And writing letters for this patient and witnessed And doing so for approximately 5 months.

*Staff members had been witnessing And writing letters for this patient, closer than arms length, for approximately 7 months.

 

*Pauline herself claims there have been complaints concerning And’s behavior regarding this patient but has not brought it to the attention of its medical team in 7 months.

 

*Pauline could not or would not describe the complaints in And’s most recent team meeting.

   

*It does not appear to be an explicit directive or protocol for patients to have to be at arms length from other patients, including those on direct observation for medical reasons.

*There does not appear to have been a sudden change in the patient’s medical status that would necessitate an extremely abrupt verbal order for And to stay at arms length.

Here are And’s own words regarding the incident:

“The Nurse Manager has regularly taken action to intimidate me and other patients. 

Last week I complained to a Nurse Supervisor about the actions of a staff member towards an older patient. The Nurse Supervisor agreed and with me which seem to infuriate staff.

A few days later I was helping this same older patient, whom I consider a friend, write a letter, something I have done almost everyday for 7 months, when suddenly I was commanded by the Nurse Manager to stay at arms length away from my friend. The only explanation given was simply “for safety”. The incident left me and angry and intensely humiliated.

They then moved this older wheelchair-bound friend against his will into the hallway. I followed and stayed at arms length. I was met with hostility. A Nurse Supervisor put her body between me and the patient and yet INSISTED I was not at arms length and said repeatedly “YOU HAVE TO MOVE. YOU ARE NOT AT ARMS LENGTH”. How is it even have been possible that I could not have been at arms length with a staff member between me and my friend?

Then I moved in front of my friend, well beyond arms length, and tried to engage with this nurse who just raised her voice and, again, said repeatedly “YOU HAVE TO MOVE.” So I chose to stay silent and waited for a trusted staff member to arrive. The entire time I remained calm.

Then the Nurse Manger called a code on me (it is announced over the hospital intercom that there is a “code grey” or a “behavioral emergency”)!  Dozens of people came to the floor, including campus police officers, all the while getting closer to me while putting on gloves in case they have to restrain me! I was TERRIFIED. My heart was racing. I had the same emotional reaction as if I was about to be assaulted or raped! All of this because I refused to obey what seemed an unethical verbal command and chose not to engage with staff, a right I have according to DMH policy.

During and following the incident I was plagued by increased anxiety, flashbacks and suicidal ideations and nightmares. Yesterday I began to realize I was going to harm myself so I asked to be medicated and put on direct observation. I have worked so hard on my mental wellness and I am working towards discharge. I feel so dehumanized, unseen, unheard, shocked, angry and scared and derailed.

 

The next day we had a Team Meeting and my doctor, assured me that I had done nothing wrong. That the actions taken were about the other patient and not me. However, the Nurse Manager assured me that I had indeed done something wrong but offered no examples! Now I am wary of engaging with other patients. I was already feeling lonely and isolated. Now it’s feels at times like more than I can bear.

This is not a world I want to live in! A world in which people are punished for standing up for each other, for trying to help each other. A world in which people have to feel like their stepping on eggshells just to interact with their friends. Please help encourage DMH to resolve this! I have fought SO hard for the little bit of stability I have please take a moment to write an email or two to help protect me.”

A MindFreedom volunteer was present at And’s Team Meeting and can confirm that Dr. Donnelly indicated And “did nothing wrong” and that they were just taking measures to protect the patient but Pauline indicated that And was having problematic behaviors related to this patient, “For 7 months there have been complaints” but could not or would not provide examples.

Call to Action

Please consider sending an email, including all of the following supportive staff members, expressing your gratitude for their continue advocacy and care for And and encourage them to continue to do so. You can send one email to the all following recipients at once:

Dr. Keven Donnelly-Boylen (Psychiatrist) kevin.donnelly-boylen@mass.gov
Dr Jasmine Telemaque (Psychologist) jasmine.m.telemaque@mass.gov

Carrie Crocker (Social Worker) julian.crocker@mass.gov

Ross Anson (Occupational Therapist) ross.anson2@mass.gov

Zobeida Medero (Peer Specialist Supervisor) zobeida.medero@mass.gov
Brittany Blythe (Case Manager) bblythe@baycove.org

Please send and email to Pauline with your concerns regarding her treatment of And. Ask that she following DMH policies and takes trauma informed approach to And’s care. Feel feel free to include your own relevant experiences. Please remain respectful. 

Pauline Onyechefule (Nurse Manager) pauline.onyechefule@mass.gov

Please send an email to the Director of Human Rights for DMH expressing your desire for her to intervene in this situation and CC the Human Rights Officer of Lemuel Shattuck.

Startese Sims (Director of Human Rights) startese.sims01@mass.gov
Herbert Bond (Human Rights Officer) herbert.bond@mass.gov

 

Update: March 21st, 2024

 

Latest News

 

1. Positive developments

In response to a series of emails addressed to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) and their Adult Clinical Community Services (ACCS), in which And Steiner (pronouns: it/its) and its many advocates expressed concern about DMH’s plans to forcibly and prematurely discharge And to a group home, ACCS staff member Brittany Blythe issued a statement via email on January 23rd that And will not in fact be forced into a group home. Instead, according to her email, ACCS will adhere to their standard protocol by honoring And’s right to choose when and where it will be discharged.

Thank you to everyone who urged DMH and ACCS to clarify their plans and respect And’s rights as a patient, including Boston City Councilor Tania Anderson and Massachusetts State House Representative John Moran. This positive turn of events has given And a much-needed opportunity to focus more on cultivating its wellbeing (to the extent that it is possible given its circumstances) without living in constant fear of being forced into an environment that would be even more poorly equipped to meet its needs than its current one.

 

2. Remaining human rights violations faced by And

And continues to suffer harassment and assault from other patients in a short-term acute forensic unit at Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center (DSCFMHC) in Boston even though And has no criminal record and is not under any criminal investigation. And was relocated to this hostile ward by force from Lemuel Shattuck Hospital (LSH) one year ago after it called public attention to the possibility that neglect by LSH staff had played a role in the suicide of fellow transgender patient Jean Busch. This violent so-called transfer was described as “definitely illegal” by a representative of the Massachusetts Disability Law Center (DLC) during a phone call with And.

Since our last update in November 2023, And has suffered three more physical assaults from other patients and still reports being verbally abused on a daily basis. Much of this abuse is directly related to And’s sexual orientation and gender identity; it is regularly subjected to slurs and death threats such as: “Infidel!” “Faggot!” “Behead it!” “Kill it!” “You’re not a man, you’re an it!” “You should kill yourself!”  This continuously re-traumatizes And and has worsened its thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

Despite And’s continued efforts to report its abuse and suicidality to appropriate parties, including Dr. Amam Saleh, the Medical Director of DMH’s Office of Inpatient Management (OIM) and the personnel responsible for transferring And to DSCFMHC, DMH has repeatedly failed to offer adequate intervention in the following ways.

Firstly, DMH shows no indication of having made any progress with its formal investigation of And’s case. MFI witnessed Philip Beattie, a representative of DMH’s Office of Investigations (OOI), promising to launch such an investigation during a virtual meeting with And and its advocates on January 8th—two months ago.

Secondly, DMH still does not acknowledge And’s suicidality nor the threats to its physical and mental wellbeing that it faces at DSCFMHC. During a virtual meeting on February 14th, MFI observed Abigail Smith (And’s social worker) and Dr. Marco Caicedo (And’s psychiatrist) stating that they were addressing And’s suicidality by offering it a “safe environment,” to quote them verbatim. However, their claims are objectively inaccurate, as demonstrated by the following table which quantifies the vast difference in quality between the respective environments of the two different hospitals in Boston where And has recently stayed.

 

Lemuel Shattuck

Hospital

 Solomon Carter Fuller

Mental Health Center
Duration of stay 2 years 1 year
Number of times assaulted 0 11
Number of suicide attempts 0 3
Duration of suicidality None for over 6 months 1 year

 

And has presented the above table to its treatment team on multiple occasions, and yet Dr. Caicedo commented during the aforementioned meeting that he was not sure whether there could possibly be a safer place for And than the forensic ward where it is right now, even though DMH staff member Kristen Toepfer admitted in the same meeting that it is impossible for the facility to guarantee the prevention of future assaults by patients against And due to the unpredictable nature of the patients at this ward.

It is also worth noting that over the past two years And has regularly requested the assistance of DMH Commissioner Brooke Doyle, who personally signed DMH’s LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Policy into effect in December 2020. According to this document, “it is the policy of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to provide an environment for all individuals that is supportive, safe, and discrimination-free,” including those “who identify as, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ).” However, Commissioner Doyle has not once responded to And’s concerns about its safety nor taken any evident action to prevent it from being subjected to further abuse, raising questions about the ability of DMH personnel to adhere to their own policies.

All this time, And’s request to DMH has simply been to be transferred to a hospital unit that focuses on less acute, longer-term care so that it can stabilize before being discharged to a group home.

But even the Massachusetts Disability Law Center (DLC), whose services are supposed to include Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI), likewise has yet to take any significant action on And’s behalf despite corresponding with it for the last two years and acknowledging that And’s forced transfer to DSCFMHC was in violation of the law.

In the words of And itself in an email to DLC: “Do you only take action once patients have died? That seems to be the case for Haywood Earl, Jean Busch, and CaSonya King,” three people who died tragic, preventable deaths in the past six years as a result of being subjected to various forms of patient neglect at DMH facilities. Notably, these patients all belonged to marginalized demographics: Haywood Earl and CaSonya King were Black, and Jean Busch was transgender like And is.

New Call to Action

1. Please demand justice for And by emailing its treatment team, the lawmakers of its state, the council members of its city, and various media outlets via the following list of addresses that you can simply copy and paste (the last one listed, shieldalert@simplelists.com, is a reflector address that will deliver your message to hundreds of critical contacts including the media):

marco.l.caicedo@mass.gov, amam.saleh@mass.gov, brooke.doyle@mass.gov, jon_donenberg@warren.senate.gov, sarah_groh@house.gov, nick.collins@masenate.gov, mark_bayer@markey.senate.gov, beth_pearson@warren.senate.gov, john.moran@mahouse.gov, tiffany.chu@boston.gov, tania.anderson@boston.gov, michelle.dubois@mahouse.gov, gabrielle.viator@mass.gov, office@mindfreedom.org, shieldalert@simplelists.com

2. Please email the Massachusetts Disability Law Center at intake@ma-dlc.org to urge them to help And take legal action against DMH and facilitate And’s transfer to a safer environment.

3. Please click here to file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on And’s behalf.

4. Please click here to file a second complaint with the AGO to demand an investigation of the case of Jean Busch. You can simply provide a link to And’s petition at change.org/justiceforjean, which explains Jean’s case in more detail, and write a sentence or two stating that it has come to your attention that Lemuel Shattuck Hospital may bear some responsibility for her death and it is critical for AGO to investigate this.

5. Please consider reaching out to And at rainbowsandhuman@proton.me with words of support. It would love to hear from you!

Recommended Talking Points to Include in Your Emails

1. After reporting the suspicious death of fellow transgender patient Jean Busch, And Steiner, a voluntary patient at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital under no criminal investigation, was forcibly transferred to Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center (DSCFMHC), which serves acute forensic patients almost exclusively. Massachusetts Disability Law Center (DLC) called this transfer “clearly illegal.”

2. And then started an online petition calling for a formal investigation of Jean’s death.

3. MindFreedom International was alerted to And’s situation and issued a Shield Alert on its behalf.

4. State Representative John Moran and Boston City Councilor Tania Anderson can corroborate And’s story. They have both been working with it since September 2023.

5. And has been forced to endure constant physical and verbal abuse at DSCFMHC and remains at a highly elevated risk of self-harm and assault. You can use the chart below (it is a downloadable image) to illustrate the danger And faces.

6. We suggest using the following subject line for your emails: “Life-threatening abuse of transgender DMH patient And Steiner.” Thank you!

 

 

Update: November 15th, 2023

Latest News

And’s situation has improved thanks to the advocacy of individuals like you! Staff at Solomon Carter Fuller (SCF) Mental Health Center restored And’s access to its electronic devices and have made no further attempts at retaliating against And for its self-advocacy by revoking its privileges in this way. And is likely also no longer under the imminent threat of being discharged to a state-run shelter against its will, which constitutes another victory due to the tendency of shelters to be highly unsafe for transgender people like And.

However, And still needs your help, as it continues to be detained against its will in a forensic ward at SCF even though it has never been accused nor convicted of any crime. Prior to being relocated to this ward, And had filed complaints about it and other patients being subjected to abuse, assault, and transgender discrimination at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. This transfer is therefore unwarranted and only serves to punish And simply for exercising its right to speak out against the injustice that it has experienced and witnessed as a patient.

Being forced to live in the prison-like conditions of a forensic ward alongside aggressive and transphobic patients who have both verbally and physically assaulted And on several occasions is devastating to And’s well-being. Understandably, And reports not feeling stable enough to be immediately released into a non-clinical setting at this time, so it wishes to pursue appropriate mental health care at a different non-forensic hospital before ultimately being discharged into a group home, as is its right.

In the table below, And has quantified the vast difference in quality between the respective environments of the two different hospitals in Boston where it has recently stayed. These numbers speak for themselves.

Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center
  • 2-year stay
  • 0 assaults
  • 0 suicide attempts
  • 0 suicidality (for 6+ months)
  • 6-month stay
  • 8 assaults
  • 3 suicide attempts
  • 6 months suicidality

For more details about And’s current situation and goals for the future, please scroll down to the third section of this update (directly below the call to action) to read a letter from And in which it addresses MFI’s members and supporters in its own words.

New Call to Action

1. Please call Dr. Amam Saleh (SCF’s Chief Medical Officer of Inpatient Management) at 508-616-2237 and Brooke Doyle (Massachusetts Department of Mental Health’s Commissioner) at 617-626-8000 or 617-626-8123. Ask them to relocate And to a different hospital that provides long-term care in a non-forensic setting so that it can adequately stabilize before being discharged.

2. Please voice your concern about And’s situation to Massachusetts legislators Ayanna Pressley, Elizabeth Warren, and Ed Markey by clicking each of their names to access their respective online contact forms. Even just a brief paragraph would suffice. We recommend including And’s full name in the subject line of your message, and mentioning that Representative John Moran and City Councilor Tania Anderson can corroborate And’s story because they have both been working with it since September 2023.

3. Please consider saying hi to And face-to-face via Zoom next Tuesday evening! MFI will be hosting an informal meet-and-greet session in order to give And and its fellow MFI members an opportunity to chat and network with each other (see And’s message below for more information). The details of this event are as follows:

Those of you who would like to attend are welcome but not required to RSVP by emailing office@mindfreedom.org and rainbowsandhuman@proton.me. Thank you!

 

A Personal Message From And

Hi MFI activists and advocates,

I thought it might be meaningful for some of the words for my Shield Alert Update to come directly from me, from my heart, my mind and my body.

Thank you so much to those who took the time and energy to advocate for me by writing letters and making phone calls. It’s really touching to have so many people, strangers most of you, advocate on my behalf.

Your efforts have not been futile. We have made some serious progress on various fronts. I was being threatened, after years of careful discharge planning, to be discharged “as soon as a bed is available” to a shelter run by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH). I would have been been forced to wander the streets of Boston for much of the day, surrounded by drugs and crime and constantly under the threat of assault from transphobic individuals as well as facing an elevated risk of suicide and re-institutionalization.

Now DMH is saying that they will not interfere with the normal discharge-planning process, which includes careful group-home placement at a location that I feel will be safe for me!

Also it seems that the MA legislature was not aware that few long-term DMH patients who need gender-affirming healthcare (GAH) do not have access. There seems to be a push to resolve this. This will be lifesaving/life-changing for many DMH transgender and non-binary patients. This may prove to be a BIG deal in the gender non-conforming community of MA.

I received some emails from people that, respectfully, thought I was being defeatist in presuming some of the horrific outcomes I predicted in past writings. Personally I don’t resonate with this label. I think realism is a powerful tool; that it’s vital for creating a foundation from which to build community and change.

In the vein of being very much so a realist-but-not-a-defeatist I have been working hard on both self-care and creating community.

I meditate, journal, and read almost everyday. I pay out-of-pocket to see a psychotherapist. I plan drag shows and dance with wild abandon to African dance workout videos. Dance is my first and deepest love. Butoh dance is my favorite and I plan to study it professionally.

I connect with family and friends regularly and I have dreams for my future. Oh do I have dreams! I’ll share one with you:

I want to start a non-profit that is also an organic farm/respite for minorities that grows medicinal herbs and offers them at sliding scale prices to the public.

One of my dreams was recently realized! After years of planning and 6 months of hard collaborative work I co-founded an LGBT+ ASCA meeting. I have always wanted to create a space safe for LGBT+ people who want to work on processing their childhood abuse and we now have one!! If you or anyone you know has experienced childhood abuse and needs a LGBT+ safe space in which to heal, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us: lgbtascamonday@proton.me.

However, despite these wins I still remain in a state-sponsored, life-threatening, abusive, psychiatric situation. After I publicly raised concerns over abuse I was experience and allegations that Lemuel Shattuck Hospital may bear some responsibility for the death of Jean Busch, a transgender woman, DMH retaliated against me by forcing me, under restraints, illegally, into one of the most acute forensic units they run where I have been assaulted 8 times. I continue to face prison-like conditions, elevated risk of brutal assaults by patients, and an ever increasing risk of self-harm and suicide.

While it may seem counterintuitive, and while I HATE being in hospitals, it is very evident to me that I need to be transferred to a long-term, less acute hospital setting, allowed to stabilize and then discharged to a group home in order to maximize my chances of successfully building a life worth living outside of these walls (and NOT returning).

Please consider advocating on my behalf to get me transferred to a long-term hospital setting as soon as possible. Despite committing no crimes I have endured 7 months of prison-like conditions. I’m at the limit of what I can handle.

I’ve made some solid friendships with people that have come forward to advocate for me from MFI but some people have told me/indicated that my claims seem hard to believe or hard to relate to, so MFI suggested a “meet-and-greet.”

I would love to meet you! I would love to meet the people who have advocated, are advocating, or are considering advocating for me. And I feel like this may prove to be an excellent opportunity to motivate those of us dedicated to ensuring that all psychiatric survivors are treated with dignity and respect to connect and build community as well!

I’ve also been told that this will be an opportunity to help those in the psychiatric survivor community, and our advocates, to better understand challenges surrounding the transgender community and the strategies to help resolve these issues. It can be complex, even for us.

It would be my honor to meet you “in-person” (Zoom) on Tuesday, November 21st at 8:30 PM EST.

Until then and in solidarity,

And Steiner (it/its)

A Note From MFI

MFI would like to remind its members and supporters that our organization has been striving to fulfill three core goals since its inception, one of which is to support the self-determination of psychiatric survivors and mental health care consumers, as stated on our website. Self-determination means the freedom to live as one chooses, or to act or decide without consulting others. In other words, MFI has always advocated for and will continue to advocate for the right of individuals to choose and pursue their own definitions and means of mental wellness, including the acts of voluntarily seeking psychiatric care and/or gender-affirming health care.

MFI would also like to emphasize that our organization stands in solidarity with LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people, who face stigma and discrimination that make them especially susceptible to both mental health crises as well as abuse by practitioners of mental health care. We encourage those among our members and supporters who may be unfamiliar with the significant intersection between LGBTQ+ rights and human rights in mental health care to consider learning more about this subject, and to join us in advocating for our fellow human beings in the LGBTQ+ community.

Accordingly, for the purpose of education, we have compiled the following list of links to some introductory resources on transgender and non-binary topics that are relevant to And’s case in particular.

 

Update: September 21st, 2023

Latest News

And’s life is still in danger as SCF continues to retaliate against it for its activism.

Instead of heeding the reasonable concerns about And’s safety that so many of you have been voicing to Solomon Carter Fuller Hospital (SCF) via email, SCF staff confiscated And’s electronics today and refuse to return them until And declares it is no longer suicidal.

Notably, such a declaration would allow SCF to discharge And to a DMH shelter. Otherwise it would have to be discharged to a group home with 24/7 staff support as per standard procedure.

This is therefore a blatant attempt to forcibly relocate And to a dangerous environment unsuited for its needs as a transgender patient with acute suicidality, and continues to draw disturbing parallels with Jean Busch’s case.

MFI is truly grateful for everyone’s continued advocacy on And’s behalf. However, the situation unfortunately remains critical since And’s two suicide attempts 11 days ago were triggered by a similar confiscation of its electronics, which deprives it of resources crucial to its wellbeing including music and its online network of support.

Urgent Call to Action

1. Please contact Solomon Carter Fuller Hospital and demand that its staff:

  • Immediately return And’s electronic devices and desist from arbitrarily confiscating them again.
  • Immediately cancel their plan to discharge And to a DMH shelter and desist from making such plans in the future.
  • Transfer And back to Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, Floor 9 South. No other locations, for safety reasons.
  • Allow And to work with Brittany Blythe from ACCS in planning its discharge without interference from the DMH.
  • Honor And’s legal right to get a service dog and have it in the hospital.

2. Please contact Massachusetts lawmakers and demand that the state set up an independent body to investigate all complaints filed by And and Jean.

Talking Points

  • ACCS, the case management company that plans discharges for DMH hospitals, says that And needs to be discharged to a group home with 24/7 staff in order to be safe.
  • And had two suicide attempts requiring medical attention in the past 10 days.
  • And is currently reporting sucidality with a plan and is under direct observation.
  • DMH shelters are known to be plagued by drugs and crime.
  • DMH shelters are especially dangerous for transgender patients, who experience disproportionately high rates of emotional and physical abuse due to discrimination. Many trans people like Jean have committed suicide in these shelters in the past.
  • Despite never having been accused nor convicted of any crime, And is currently in a forensic unit at SCF that does not handle non-criminal cases.

Contact List

Phone numbers to call

  • Dr. Amam Saleh (Chief Medical Officer of Inpatient Management at SCF): 508-616-2237
  • Dr. James Cooney (Chief Officer of SCF): 617-626-8796
  • Dr. Marco Caicedo (Medical Director of SCF): 617-626-8736
  • Representative John Moran (MA Lawmaker): 617-722-2460
  • Representative Samantha Montano (MA Lawmaker): 617-722-2460

Email addresses to use

Please include the following in your emails:

 

Update: September 20th, 2023

Latest News

And’s life is currently in danger! Please take action ASAP!

Today Dr. Marco Caicedo informed And in an impromptu meeting that it is going to be discharged to a shelter run by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) as soon as a bed is available. A charge nurse later said that this will happen as early as tomorrow morning (Thursday, September 21st EST).

This decision contradicts previous careful planning with Adult Community Clinical Services (ACCS) to discharge And to a staffed group home, which has always been the standard procedure until now. It also mirrors Lemuel Shattuck Hopsital’s discharge of fellow transgender patient Jean Busch to a DMH shelter, where she tragically committed suicide shortly afterward due to its unsafe and unaccommodating living conditions.

And itself is already acutely and actively suicidal, having made two major suicide attempts only 10 days ago at the time of writing, but this clearly does not matter to SCF staff based on their plan to relocate And against its will to a place where it will be subjected to further discrimination, harassment, and assault.

Fortunately, State Representative John Moran and City Councilor Tania Anderson have recently taken action by communicating directly with And and advocating directly to DMH.

However, due to the urgent nature of SCF’s new plan for And, we still need as many people as possible to make phone calls and/or send emails on And’s behalf in order to keep it out of immediate danger. Please act now!

 

Update: September 14th, 2023

And has thankfully regained access to its electronic devices and would love to hear from you via email! Please reach out to it with words of support at matransgenderrights@proton.me.

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) has said that they won’t discharge And anywhere but a group home, and the group homes are controlled by Adult Community Clinical Services (ACCS) and And’s case worker Brittany Blythe. However, this claim should be met with wariness because the DMH is not legally obligated to honor what they say, and they have broken their word and laws regarding And’s care before.

State Representative John Moran and City Councilor Tania Anderson are currently working closely with And and DMH, and are committed to helping.

 

Update: September 11th, 2023

It was a grim week for Shield member And Steiner, who is still at Solomon Carter Fuller Hospital (SCF) enduring prison-like conditions after attempting suicide twice, both times needing emergency medical attention and the second time requiring sutures over its left wrist.

According to And, the emotional distress of losing its electronic devices on Thursday (the main way that And can connect with outside supporters and listen to its favorite soothing music) as well as access to its notebook (containing all of the phone numbers for its contacts) was the event that triggered the suicide attempts.

Some may ask why the SCF staff confiscated And’s electronic devices. According to And, staff alleged that it had identified a fellow patient in an electronic message that had been widely circulated. While not denying the allegation, And questions why it was not simply given a verbal reprimand as is the case when other patients break a rule.

After returning from the ER, And was later walking around in the open section of the ward, speaking with another patient when a doctor ordered And to go back into its room and used the threat of restraints if it did not comply with the seclusion order. And was calm at the time and had not shown any self-harming behavior for several hours both in the ER and at the ward before the doctor ordered seclusion. It told the doctor that putting it into seclusion after all the trauma it had recently experiencing would cause it to experience flooding (a rapid and persistent reliving of traumatic events) and likely harm itself again.

Regardless, And was violently thrown back into its room upon trying to leave, then impulsively pulled out its sutures and was restrained. And was in severe pain from the restraint and recent medical trauma, so it requested “something stronger than an NSAID” from its doctor. In response, the doctor offered And an NSAID that was already on its medication list with no explanation, nor did he at any time check in with And about its pain levels before or after the restraint.

This incident exposes the punitive nature of SCF’s “treatment” for an attempted suicide survivor, which amounts to forcing a person who had just committed suicidal acts to sit in a small room and stare at its blank walls for 24 hours while enduring emotional distress and physical pain.

Since And cannot reach out to others via email, it welcomes calls, cards, and letters of support, which you can send to the address below:

And Steiner

8-East Solomon Carter Fuller Hospital

65 E. Newton St.

Boston, MA 02118

Note: SCF has claimed that an unidentified individual threatened their staff with violence over the phone. We urge all Shield members to refrain from using threats or violent language when contacting staff. As a reminder, our mission statement reads:

“In the spirit of mutual cooperation, MindFreedom leads a nonviolent revolution of freedom, equality, truth, and human rights that unites people affected by the mental health system, with movements for justice everywhere.”

 

Update: August 30th, 2023

And was denied treatment multiple times for a growth in its wrist that the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (MDMH) has known about for over two years. This type of neglect is similar to the neglect that led to the death of Haywood Earl.

 

Shield Alert for And Steiner: August 27th, 2023

And (pronouns: it/its) is a transgender human rights activist who is facing life-threatening retaliation as a result of calling attention to its own abuses and the abuses of other trans patients in hospitals run by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH).

In 2020 And went to a private hospital, St. Elizabeth’s, in Brighton, Massachusetts following a string of serious suicide attempts. At St. Elizabeth’s, And had two more suicide attempts, and was voluntarily transferred to Lemuel Shattuck Hospital (LSH), Floor 9 South, a DMH-run unit.

At this time, And came out as transgender and began filing complaints about what it saw and experienced. For instance, fellow trans patient Jean Busch (pronouns: she/her) was also experiencing abuse and filing complaints, thereby becoming a legal liability for her providers and LSH. Instead of dealing with the issues that Jean was bringing to their attention, they coerced her into being discharged into unsafe living conditions in which she committed suicide shortly afterward.

When And found out about Jean’s mistreatment and resulting suicide, it created an online petition campaign called Justice for Jean and soon afterward began to experience severe, life-threatening abuse and discrimination. Director Amy Lisser started to target it and transferred it to Floor 10 North, the most acute floor.

And wrote:

“I knew I could lose my sanity, my freedom, even my life. I was so terrified and humiliated and infuriated! I thought about suicide frequently. I think the only reason I made it through was because I finally came out as transgender. And to think this is happening in plain sight to so many transgender patients! So, I chose to fight back! I started writing complaints for every instance of abuse and discrimination I experienced.

I have some choice words for the people that treat me and other transgender patients like this but I will say this much: this has to stop! I am going to fight these atrocities, and I hope you will help me in standing up to protect my life and other transgender patients’ lives. EVERY patient’s life matters!”

Dr. Amam Saleh, the Medical Director of DMH, retaliated against And by forcibly transferring it under restraints to Solomon Carter Fuller Hospital (SCF), a short-term forensic facility unit which never handles non-criminal cases like And’s.

And has been at SCF for 5 months. Since being transferred, And has been assaulted, with injuries, by 6 other patients and has had another suicide attempt. (By comparison, And had no suicide attempts at Lemuel Shattuck and was not assaulted once.)

After And filed 5 complaints at SCF, doctors responded by denying And basic vital medical care including arbitrarily canceling a surgical appointment for a mass growing on its wrist.

Then the doctors issued And a HINN-12 Form, which is essentially a notice to a hospital patient that their hospital is telling Medicare they no longer require medical care at that location anymore. And may be discharged to a “transitional shelter,” which would be highly unsafe—this too is retaliation, similar to how Jean Busch was treated before her death.

At Solomon Carter Fuller, And is being attacked by other patients and denied essential medical care by staff. And talks about the link between this abuse and high suicide rates, saying:

“It’s terrifying to live with. If I remember my numbers correctly, trans individuals are 18 times more likely than the average person to attempt suicide. That number goes up 70% if they’ve been assaulted recently.”

And is still experiencing acute suicidality, but knows what it needs to re-stabilize. Having comprehensive gender-affirming healthcare and access to a therapy dog are both protected under MA law and would both help And immensely. Although Massachusetts passed laws making it a trans “haven” state, the mental health system routinely denies trans patients the gender-affirming care they need.

And says for now it would be safer to transfer back to Lemuel Shattuck, 9 South. And told us:

“The trans community has warned me about every other hospital, and I already know I can stabilize there. More than anything I want to be living independently in the community. However, it is a process to get there.”

And says it’s planning with case worker Brittany Blythe to ultimately find a safe housing placement to discharge to, and needs to be sure it won’t be thrown out into the shelter system before that happens.