Update for the Shield Campaign of Dawn Dziuba: 10/22/23

Many of the positive developments in Dawn’s Shield campaign (described below) are due to the targeted efforts of Yulia Mikhailova, an academic ally, and Andrea Barnes, a psychiatric survivor and long time MFI supporter. Yulia and Andrea are providing leadership to this important Shield campaign because of their deep concern for human rights in the mental health system.

Dawn’s Shield campaign is important because it intersects many areas, including abusive guardianships, forced psychiatry, political abuse of psychiatry, institutionalization/incarceration. and the lack of due process for individuals labeled with ‘mental illness’.

Dawn wants to thank the many Shield members who took action in response to previous alerts. It is making a difference!

To date, 89 actions, in writing, were documented by MFI staff. The number of actions is probably much higher. Some of you took actions we don’t track such as by making phone calls, sending hard copy letters, filing complaints using online web forms, etc.

It is important to keep up the pressure!  Shield members, and extraordinary volunteers are important to the success of every Shield campaign. Your actions and your voices are important!

If you are familar with Dawn’s story, and you want to skip the updates, you can take today’s recommended action right away by scrolling down to ‘ACTION.”

If you are unfamilar with Dawn Dziuba’s story, you can scroll down and read the brief recap in the previous update dated 10/2/23 below or you can visit our website and read a detailed history as well as all past Shield alerts issued by MFI on Dawn’s behalf, in chronological order HERE starting in July, 2023.

---

UPDATES 10/22/2023

The Missouri Protection and Advocacy for People with Mental Illness (PAIMI) reportedly received numerous complaints and is “looking into Dawn’s case”.

United States Representative Cori Bush’s staff has started to show interest into Dawn’s case.

Dawn continues to receive forced, monthly injections of Abilify, a powerful ‘anti-psychotic’ drug. This is a violation of her rights and is not being challenged by her unwanted, court-appointed guardian, Sean Rapp. You can read more about the drug ‘Abilify’ by scrolling down beneath ‘ACTION’ and reading the recap.

---

Pressure from state and federal agencies stemming from your actions resulted in Dawn being assigned to a new public defender named William Cattlet.

Dawn’s attorney filed a motion to terminate her guardianship. You can read the Notice of the Hearing (with the link to the virtual hearing) HERE and an affidavit in support of the termination of guardianship filed by Yulia HERE.

Yulia arranged for Dawn to have an independent psychiatric evaluation by Dr. Gail Tasch MD. She also organized a fundraiser to help Dawn pay for Dr. Tasch’s fee! If you wish to contribute to the fund, click HERE. Please help us reach the goal of $1,500!

A new hearing with an expert witness is not necessarily a slam dunk, however.

Even if an individual has good counsel and presents compelling evidence for their competency, a cozy relationship between judges, in-house psychiatrists, and mental health hospital administrators, creates an uphill battle.

These hearings are often held at the hospital itself. Increasingly, they are held virtually. The judges tend to be on a first-name basis with the people at the hospital who enjoy ‘home court’ advantage. Dawn’s case, in particular, seems to exhibit more than the usual conflicts of interest. Efforts to support Dawn are being hampered by an extraordinary amount of secrecy.

Unfortunately, we do not know all of the evidence used to establish Dawn’s incompetency in the first place. See a LETTER from Representative Unsicker to the Missouri Department of Mental Health alerting them to irregularities in Dawn’s case and the need for greater transparency.

Evidence that is hidden from public view can help us support Dawn’s rights. If you would like to help MFI retrieve public records hidden from the public, scroll down for more information on ways you can help!

---

Andrea Barnes met with a staff member of US Representative Cori Bush on Oct. 18 in St. Louis. We will keep you apprised of the outcome of that meeting. Today’s call to action (see below) is timed to support Andrea’s effort to convince Rep. Bush to use her considerable influence as a Congresswoman to help Dawn. Rep. Bush has a strong record of going out of her way to deliver excellent services to her constituents. Dawn is a constituent of Rep. Bush!

Rep. Bush is an African-American person with lived experience of being homeless. She is a former mental health nurse and a fierce supporter of human rights. Recently, Rep. Bush held a town hall meeting on the topic of mental health. Andrea has experience working with Rep. Bush in relation to reforms called for by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police in 2014.

Please convince Rep. Bush that forced psychiatry is a form of state-sponsored violence!

ACTION

Write or Call U.S. Representative Cori Bush

Protest the forced drugging and indefinite institutionalization of Dawn Dziuba

(scroll down for talking points and example letters)

Contact information for Rep. Cori Bush

Washington D.C. Office

Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2406
Fax: (202) 226-3717

St. Louis Office

1100 locust street
St. Louis, MO 63101
Phone: (314) 955-9980

Write to Rep. Bush (Email)

https://bush.house.gov/contact/email-me

---

MFI has confirmed that Dawn is receiving postal mail (thank you Loretta Wilson and other Shield members for using certified mail and confirming that letters and cards are getting delivered!)

Andrea made an in-person visit to St. Louis Forensic Treatment Center where Dawn is locked up and staff were unwilling to deliver the care package that Andrea had carefully put together. This is unfortunate because the care package contained Dawn’s favorite, nutritious protein snacks. Dawn is concerned about gaining weight since she has been confined to her room since July and she is only offered high carb, highly processed food served up by the hospital.

Even though we may not be able to send care packages, sending letters and cards of encouragement to Dawn via postal mail is a good way to help her keep her spirits up since she continues to be deprived of visitors, phone calls, and the option of leaving the ward.

Those of you who have been subjected to solitary confinement, prison time, 72-hour holds, even years on a ‘back ward’, know how incredibly difficult it can be for a person to remain hopeful. Dawn is very grateful for your understanding and support.  If you have not written to Dawn and would like to do so, you can scroll down to obtain the information you need to send her a letter or card.

---

Several individuals have reached out to MFI staff asking if we have access to the court transcripts related to the hearing in which Dawn was declared incompetent. Many of you think you could help more if you had access to this information.

Some of the case numbers related to Dawn Dziuba appear on this public website Case.net but as Representative Unsicker pointed out in a letter dated August 1, 2023 to the Missouri Department of Human Services HERE, some of Dawn’s records are glaringly absent from public view.

If you are a good writer or you have have experience searching for public records (or if you wish to develop experience in either area) please consider helping MFI follow up with one of the following actions:

• Rep. Unsicker suggested in this email HERE that MFI should file a complaint with the United States Inspector General HHS-OIG.

• Legislative Asst to Rep Boggs (Uriel) suggests using the Missouri Sunshine Act HERE

• Maggie Donahue, Esq recommended we file an Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  HERE

Unfortunately, MFI does not currently have the resources to file a complaint with OIG as suggested by Rep Unsicker. Nor do we have the resources to search for public records using government websites such as the Missouri Sunshine Act or the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

We are seeking experienced volunteers (or individuals who wiling to learn new skills) who are willing to pursue one or more of these avenues. If you are interested, please let us know by sending us a message at office@mindfreedom.org and the best time to reach you.

MFI will support volunteers who pursue research on Dawn’s behalf. In return, we will document your work and provide letters of support which can look great on your employment resume. We will also help raise funds as needed, for any government fees associated with public record searches.

As Dawn and her attorney prepare for her upcoming, potentially life-changing hearing on November 16, we want to hear from you, especially those of you with lived experience of guardianships or involuntary commitment hearings. Please share your stories and join the discussion. Post your comments and stories involving involuntary commitment or guardianship on our website  HERE. To leave comments, scroll down to the very bottom of Dawn’s Shield alert.

Please share this Shield alert with your friends and family members. If you are not signed up to receive Shield alerts, you can notify us at office@mindfreedom. org by writing in the subject heading ‘Add me to Shield List’.

You can enroll in MFI’s Shield program on our website or read more about Shield, including past campaign successes HERE

Next month, we will be launching a human rights campaign to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

If you or someone you know has been helped by MindFreedom International’s work to expose psychiatric abuse and promote human rights in the mental health system, please send us a written testimonial that we can use for our campaign.

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba: 10/2/23

Latest news

Thank you once again to everyone who has been keeping in touch with Dawn and/or advocating on her behalf by contacting individuals involved in her case. She greatly appreciates your support!

It is still imperative that we keep up the pressure because staff at St. Louis Forensic Treatment Center South are continuing to forcibly drug Dawn by injecting her with Abilify. She is experiencing adverse effects from these injections such as akasthisia, irritability, tingling sensations, difficulty concentrating, and a significantly slower metabolism. Her next injection is scheduled for October 9th.

Fortunately, Dawn has a new attorney named William Catlett who is filing a motion to either terminate or change her guardian. This process requires Dawn to present evidence of her competency at a hearing, which, in turn, requires an independent evaluation by a forensic psychiatrist.

Dawn would love to hear from you all via snail mail since the Forensic Treatment Center is still restricting her phone usage (she has repeatedly observed one of the nurses hanging up on people when they try to call her) and prohibiting her from having visitors or accessing a computer, so please send letters of support to her at the following address:

Dawn Dziuba
Forensic Treatment Center South
5300 Arsenal St., Ward F
St. Louis, MO 63139 USA

Recap of Dawn’s story

Dawn has been forcibly held at St. Louis Forensic Treatment Center since 2014. She was transferred there from a jail, where she had awaited a trial for what appear to be trumped-up charges. Due to the government’s lack of transparency, we do not have all of the facts yet, but it seems she is suffering retaliation for whistleblowing: she accused Washington University in St. Louis of research misconduct and misappropriation of funds, and a university administrator told her that if she continued her accusations, “I will get you arrested.”

Although Dawn did not take the administrator’s threat seriously, she was indeed soon arrested for allegedly making terrorist threats to the university, which she denies to this day. Declaring her incompetent and transferring her to a psychiatric facility may have been Washington University’s way of preventing a trial that would likely have resulted in Dawn’s acquittal and an exposure of the university’s misconduct.

Prior to being forcibly drugged, Dawn showed no signs of psychosis in her interactions with MFI or with her family and friends, who have never noticed any behavior in her that could indicate mental health problems. In fact, while on the phone with MFI, Dawn articulately discussed ways of helping other patients advocate against their involuntary drugging and indefinite institutionalization (click here to listen to a recording of that conversation).

Clearly, Dawn’s treatment at FTC is not even remotely therapeutic or conducive to her well-being. FTC is only harming her and chemically restraining her with a dangerous drug as punishment for asserting her and others’ rights—and potentially for attempting to call attention to academic corruption.

The many issues with neuroleptics like Abilify and psych drug injections

Abilify, marketed as an antipsychotic, belongs to a class of drugs known as neuroleptics. Neuroleptics are powerful tranquilizers that have existed for over six decades. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anti-psychotic medications are now the largest-selling class of drugs in the US.

Many experts believe anti-psychotics are over-prescribed and their risks often outweigh their benefits. Antipsychotics are known to cause severe side effects including metabolic disorders, movement disorders, cognitive impairment, and brain shrinkage. Abilify’s side effects include confusion and impulse control disorders, with overdoses leading to aggressive behavior.

The drug manufacturers of Abilify recently lost their patent for their lucrative drug and used corrupt scientific trials to create artificial demand for a substitute: patented Abilify injections which are now billable to Medicaid. A summary of the explosive rise in the use of Abilify depot injections and the economic forces behind this trend can be found in an article by Mad In America titled “The Once and Future Abilify: Depot Injections for Everyone?“

Survivors of forced injections have compared the procedure to rape. Depot injections, also known as time-release injections, are particularly harrowing because once they are in a person’s bloodstream, that person cannot quickly withdraw from the drug even if they are experiencing an adverse reaction.

Why is the aforementioned new injection so popular in the US? How many people are being forcibly subjected to this costly new drug at the expense of taxpayers? How many more traumatic experiences, harmful side effects, and deaths from neuroleptics have to take place before we re-evaluate the psychiatric practice of drugging millions of people for life?

Call to action

(1) Sign and share MFI’s petition for a formal investigation of the abuse of Dawn and others like her at Forensic Treatment Center South. Signing is quick and easy; all you have to do is fill out a form by entering your name, email address, country, and state or province. MFI will present this petition to the state of Missouri once it has enough signatures. Our current goal is 1,000.

(2) Call Dawn’s court-appointed limited guardian, Sean Rapp, at 314-622-4989 to demand that he respect her autonomy and restore her right to make her own medical decisions. He is the public administrator of the city of St. Louis but has done nothing to end Dawn’s inhumane psychiatric treatment despite her and our efforts to bring it to his attention, which suggests that he may be complicit in this injustice and raises questions of potential corruption. (For your reference when making phone calls, Dawn’s last name, Dziuba, is pronounced “duh-zoo-bah.”)

(3) We encourage those of you who have interacted directly with Dawn to provide her new attorney with a letter vouching for her competency. This will help him file a motion to terminate or change her guardian. You can email him at william@catlett.biz or call him at either 314-631-7200 or 314-579-3262. His mailing address is as follows:

William A. Catlett, LLC
11878 Gravois Road
St. Louis, MO 63127-1800

(4) Contact Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services (P&A) by emailing them at app.unit@mo-pa.org or calling them at 1-800-735-2966 to demand an investigation of Forensic Treatment Center South and Dawn’s case.

(5) Fill out this online contact form or call 314-622-4941 to demand that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore investigate Dawn’s case.

Correspondence tips

Please use respectful, non-violent language and CC our office at office@mindfreedom.org. We also recommend CCing Dawn’s treatment team using the contact info below to remind them that we are holding them accountable for their abuse of her.

• Rachel Linneman (counselor and program director): 314-877-5971 | rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist): 314-877-0522 | amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist): 314-877-6495 | sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Christian Fox (nurse practitioner): 314-877-5728 | alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic (psychologist): 314-877-5725 | murisa.begic-gusic.psyd@protonmail.com
• Sean Rapp (limited guardian): 314-622-4989 | sean@rapplawllc.com

Important talking points:

• Dawn’s 9 years of being locked up has cost Missouri taxpayers over 1 million dollars. If even a portion of her decades-long incarceration is being billed to Medicaid, this may constitute Medicaid fraud and requires a specialized investigation.
• Dawn has a law degree and practiced as an attorney before her arrest, but she was not allowed represent herself and was instead appointed a public attorney.
• In retaliation for filing a complaint against a staff member, her phone use is being restricted, she is not allowed to have visitors or access legal resources at her local library, and she is being drugged against her will.

Example letters:

• Letter from MFI
• Letter from Representative Unsicker

 

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba: 9/11/23

Latest news

It has now been two months since Dawn lost all of her privileges in retaliation for exercising her rights. This means that she has been confined to her hospital ward, she is not allowed to use the phone, exercise outside, have visitors, view her legal documents, or visit the library. Most concerning is that she is now being forcibly drugged with a powerful anti-psychotic called Abilify.

Dawn is very grateful to those of you who responded by writing letters and sending her books and other care items. Here is her mailing address again:

Dawn Dziuba

c/o Forensic Treatment Center South

5300 Arsenal Street Ward F

St. Louis, MO 63139 USA

For years, Dawn has been unable to make her own medical decisions because a judge subjected Dawn to a limited guardianship, which had the effect of taking away her bodily autonomy. Essentially, being under a guardianship has taken away her right to legally oppose her forced drugging.

Remember when Britney Spears was forced to use birth control against her will because she was under guardianship for seven years? The lack of bodily autonomy that people under guardianship are forced to endure should be a cause for alarm for all civil rights advocates.

Dawn’s court-appointed guardian, Sean Rapp, is the public administrator of St. Louis. Not only did he fail to halt the removal of all of Dawn’s privileges, he seems to be colluding with staff at the Forensic Treatment Center to forcibly drug Dawn.

Dawn has a new attorney named William Catlett who is filing a motion to terminate or change her guardian. As a part of the process, Dawn must present evidence of her competency at a hearing. This, in turn, requires that she seek an independent evaluation by a forensic psychiatrist. Yulia Mikhailova, the unofficial coordinator of Dawn’s Shield campaign, has been working closely with William Catlett to help her locate a suitable evaluator.

Call to action

Dawn’s new attorney also needs letters of support from individuals who know her, including those of you who have been corresponding with and/or talking to Dawn over the phone. If you would like to write a letter of support for Dawn attesting to her competency, please contact:

William A. Catlett, L.L.C.
11878 Gravois Road
St. Louis MO 63127-1800
(314) 631-7200
(314) 579-3262 (facsimile)
william@catlett.biz

 

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba: 8/21/23

Latest news

Your action on Dawn’s behalf resulted in an initiative for mental health legislative reform in the state of Missouri, as two state representatives are now investigating her case! (Click here to read Rep. Unsicker’s letter to the Department of Mental Health.) Representative Boggs’s legislative assistant wrote to MFI, “This has been an eye opener as to the potential for this system to be abused and we are looking at legislative reforms in Missouri for DMH” (the Department of Mental Health).

Dawn thanks all who took action on her behalf. She asks for your continued help because she is going on her second month of being denied contact with the outside world (no phone calls, visitors, trips to the library, etc.) in retaliation for submitting a complaint against a staff member, something she is legally entitled to do.

Facility staff have not only revoked Dawn’s privileges, but have been coercing her into “voluntarily” taking an oral anti-psychotic called Abilify for over one month in order to avoid a forced depot injection of the same drug. Last week, however, we learned that the situation has escalated: Dawn was subjected to an Abilify injection.

Call to action

1.) Contact the Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services (P&A) by emailing them at app.unit@mo-pa.org or calling them at 1-800-735-2966 to demand an investigation of the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis and the unjust treatment of patient Dawn Dziuba. Please be respectful and non-violent in tone, and CC MFI’s office at office@mindfreedom.org along with the members of Dawn’s treatment team:

• Rachel Linneman (licensed professional counselor and program director): 314-877-5971 / rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist): 314-877-0522 / amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist): 314-877-6495 / sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Christian Fox (nurse practitioner): 314-877-5728 /  alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic (psychologist): 314-877-5725 / murisa.begic-gusic.psyd@protonmail.com
• Sean Rapp (limited guardian): 314-622-4989  / sean@rapplawllc.com

2.) Fill out this online contact form or call 314-622-4941 to demand that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore investigate Dawn’s forced drugging and indefinite institutionalization.

Example letters

• Letter from MFI
• Letter from Representative Unsicker

Talking points

• Dawn is a resident of Missouri and a patient in the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis.
• She has been locked up since 2014.
• Her 10 years of being locked up has cost Missouri taxpayers over 1 million dollars. If even a portion of her decades-long incarceration is being billed to Medicaid, this may constitute Medicaid fraud and requires a specialized investigation.
• She has a law degree and practiced as an attorney before her arrest, but she was not allowed represent herself, and was appointed a public attorney.
• The psychiatrist involved in the incompetency and guardianship hearing worked for Washington University in St. Louis, which this constitutes a serious conflict of interest. Dawn petitioned that her father be appointed her guardian, but the public attorney made a motion on Dawn’s behalf to appoint a public guardian, acting against the expressed wish of her client.
• Dawn’s legal documents were confiscated from her room by staff.
• Her phone use is restricted and she is not allowed to have visitors.
• Her ability to file a motion to terminate/change her guardianship (her right to due process) is being denied because all of her communication with the outside world has been terminated.
• She is restricted to the ward and subjected to forced drugging in retaliation for filing a complaint against a staff member.

 

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba: 8/14/2023

Latest news

Dawn thanks those of you who already took action on her behalf. She asks for your continued help because tomorrow she is scheduled to be injected by force.

Dawn is going on her second month of being denied contact with the outside world (no phone, visitors, trips to the library, etc.) in retaliation for submitting a complaint against a staff member, something she is legally entitled to do.

Staff at the forensic hospital felt threatened by Dawn’s efforts to advocate for herself and others, perhaps because she is an attorney with several graduate degrees. They are coercing her into “voluntarily” taking an oral anti-psychotic called Abilify to avoid a forced depot injection of the same drug.

Call to action

1.) Contact the Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services (P&A) by emailing them at app.unit@mo-pa.org or calling them at 1-800-735-2966 to demand an investigation of the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis and the unjust treatment of patient Dawn Dziuba. Please be respectful and non-violent in tone, and CC MFI’s office at office@mindfreedom.org along with the members of Dawn’s treatment team:

• Rachel Linneman (licensed professional counselor and program director): 314-877-5971 / rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist): 314-877-0522 / amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist): 314-877-6495 / sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Christian Fox (nurse practitioner): 314-877-5728 /  alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic (psychologist): 314-877-5725 / murisa.begic-gusic.psyd@protonmail.com
• Sean Rapp (limited guardian): 314-622-4989  / sean@rapplawllc.com

2.) Fill out this online contact form or call 314-622-4941 to demand that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore investigate Dawn’s forced drugging and indefinite institutionalization.

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba 8/3/2023

Latest news

Thank you, everyone, for writing eloquent letters on Dawn’s behalf to lawmakers in Missouri, and for sending Dawn books to make up for the fact that she is being denied access to her local library. Your letters made a difference!

Because of your actions, Representative Sarah Unsicker asked the Missouri Department of Mental Health to launch an investigation not only of the human rights violations of Dawn Dziuba, but also of the practice of subjecting patients in Missouri to psychiatric drugging by force. Rep. Unsicker’s letter was CC’d to the Missouri Attorney General (the focus of today’s call to action below). Rep. Unsicker, an attorney herself, pointed out irregularities in the legal process by which Dawn was subjected into guardianship/conservatorship, essentially making her a non-person with no rights. Click here to read Rep. Unsicker’s letter.

Several other lawmakers including Representative Boggs have also expressed an interest in Dawn’s situation. We will keep you posted on what, if anything, they find.

Your letters produced excellent results! People power pays off! Thank you!

But we must continue to keep up the pressure. Dawn is going on her second week of being restricted to the ward. Those of who with lived experience of being in a restricted hospital know how tedious and crazy-making this experience can be. It is one step removed from solitary confinement. Being deprived of access to fresh air (outdoors), visitors, phone, the library, etc. it is torturous. Please continue to act and demand an investigation of Dawn’s treatment and call for her to be discharged!

Housekeeping update

Please do not email molegislature@networkagainstpsychiatricassault.org anymore. This email address was shut down by the owner after it started attracting bots and spam (e.g. ads for things like Viagra).

Moreover, do not be alarmed if you have already emailed this address and received a message saying that your email was blocked, as this is simply an anti-spam measure unrelated to Dawn’s campaign.

Call to action

Please call the Missouri State Attorney General at 573-751-3321.

Alternatively, please click here to file a complaint on Dawn’s behalf via the website of the Missouri Attorney General’s office. Scroll down to the form at the bottom of that page. You will be asked to provide your name, phone number or email, a title, and an organization. You can use either your preferred job title or “human rights advocate,” “civil rights activist,” etc. You can identify your organization as MindFreedom International, PsychRights, etc.

In your phone call or in the comments section of the online complaint form, state in your own words why what is happening to Dawn is wrong. Remember, if you or someone you love have been locked up, subjected to forced drugging, and/or denied due process, you have expertise and you are fully qualified to file a complaint.

Talking points:

• Dawn is a resident of Missouri and a patient in the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis.
• She has been locked up since 2014.
• Her 10 years of being locked up has cost Missouri taxpayers over 1 million dollars. If even a portion of her decades-long incarceration is being billed to Medicaid, this may constitute Medicaid fraud and requires a specialized investigation.
• She has a law degree and several graduate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.
• She has been denied due process by being subjected to a guardianship against her will. According to Dawn’s father, the individual who performed the psychological evaluation alleging Dawn to be incompetent at her guardianship hearing works for Washington University in St. Louis. If this is confirmed, this constitutes a serious conflict of interest.
• Her legal documents were confiscated from her room by staff.
• Her phone use is restricted and she is not allowed to have visitors.
• Her ability to file a motion to terminate/change her guardianship (her right to due process) is being denied because all of her communication with the outside world has been terminated.
• She is restricted to the ward and subjected to forced drugging in retaliation for filing a complaint against a staff member.

A note on Dawn’s history

Many of you have understandably asked us why Dawn is locked up to begin with.

Dawn was charged with a crime about 10 years ago (Washington University vs. Dawn Dziuba), a crime for which she was never convicted. She is alleged to have trespassed and made threats against her former colleagues at the Washington University in St. Louis. In turn, Dawn alleges that her former colleagues misappropriated millions of dollar of federal funds.

We don’t know all of the facts in this complex case, and the legal evidence that would normally be accessible to the public via court transcripts are notably absent, making it hard to validate information for either party.

However, MFI is certain of one thing: it is morally wrong to lock people up indefinitely on vague charges and subject them to forced psychiatric drugging as therapy. Punishing people under the guise of therapy is wrong. How is Dawn’s treatment therapeutic? How is this consistent with the Olmstead Decision, which guarantees all individuals the right to live in the least restrictive setting in their community?

 

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba 7/27/2023

Dawn wants to convey her gratitude for the many Shield members who have taken action on her behalf. She asks for your help keeping up the pressure.

Please write to Missouri lawmakers by using the following email address: molegislature@networkagainstpsychiatricassault.org.

Sending a message to this email address will send a message to every single legislator in Missouri.

Write to Missouri lawmakers and demand an immediate investigation of the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis, Missouri and more specifically, of the unjust treatment of patient Dawn Dziuba.

Click here for a sample letter.

Demand Missouri lawmakers take immediate action to stop the psychiatric abuse of Dawn Dziuba. Let them know that she has not been convicted of a crime, yet she has been detained there since 2014, a staggering waste of taxpayers money (A conservative estimate is that her detainment has cost the Missouri taxpayer about one million dollars)

Dawn is being subjected to coerced psychiatric drugging, the removal of her phone privileges/visiting privileges, and is she is being restricted to the ward in direct retaliation for exercising her legal right to file a complaint against a staff member.

You can complain to every single lawmaker in the Missouri State Legislature by sending an email to

molegislature@networkagainstpsychiatricassault.org

Be sure to cc the members of Dawn’s treatment team listed below to remind them that we are holding them accountable for their unjust and treatment of Dawn.

As always, keep the tone of your letter respectful and non-violent. Comments on our website have been activated. Feel free to post your letter and/or email below.

Send a copy of your letter to Dawn’s treatment team:

• Rachel Linneman (licensed professional counselor and program director): 314-877-5971 / rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist): 314-877-0522 / amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist): 314-877-6495 / sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Christian Fox (nurse practitioner): 314-877-5728 /  alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic (psychologist): 314-877-5725 / murisa.begic-gusic.psyd@protonmail.com
• Sean Rapp (limited guardian): 314-622-4989  / sean@rapplawllc.com

---

Shield Update for Dawn Dziuba 7/24/2023

If you are reading this for the first time, please scroll down and read the original Shield alert dated 7/13/2023.

For those of you who already took action, Dawn conveys her gratitude!

Unfortunately, Dawn lost her phone privileges since the release of her first Shield alert on 7/13/2023. The loss of her phone privileges is the latest retaliation against Dawn for exercising her right to protect herself and others from unwanted, ineffective, or harmful treatment. Nevertheless Dawn was able to convey a brief message to a Shield volunteer before the staff ripped the phone from her hands….

When a supporter asked Dawn, “would you be willing to promise staff members that you will withdraw all complaints and cease to file complaints in return for your freedom or in return for your right to decline medication?” Dawn replied unequivocably, “no.” Dawn refuses to sign anything as a condition of her release and she refuses to withdraw complaints.

The rationale of staff in their latest violation of Dawn’s rights is that “Dawn uses too much phone time.” Consider the following:

• What is the existing time limit for phone calls? Is this policy applied equally to everyone?
• On what grounds can patients have their phone privileges removed by staff?
• Is there a patient advocate who can investigate this matter and find out the answer to these questions?

Call to action

Demand that staff members restore Dawn’s phone and library privileges!

1.) Write to Dawn’s limited guardian, Sean Rapp. Why is he not doing anything to protect Dawn from being forcibly drugged? Why isn’t he responsive to the needs of his ward?

2.) Continue to write to the other members of Dawn’s treatment team to demand the restoration of her phone and library privileges.

• Rachel Linneman (licensed professional counselor and program director): 314-877-5971 / rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist): 314-877-0522 / amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist): 314-877-6495 / sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Christian Fox (nurse practitioner): 314-877-5728 /  alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic (psychologist): 314-877-5725 / murisa.begic-gusic.psyd@protonmail.com
• Sean Rapp (limited guardian): 314-622-4989  / sean@rapplawllc.com

3.) Contact Dawn by writing letters to offer encouragement, support, and solidarity. She would also appreciate high protein snacks such as nuts. Her address is as follows:

Dawn Dziuba

c/o Forensic Treatment Center – South

5300 Arsenal Street Ward F

St. Louis, MO 63139 USA

Note: Certified mail requires extra money but ensures that there is documentation that staff received your letter or package. Also, Dawn reports that she has plenty of stationary and postage stamps but she could use books and high-protein snacks.

 

---

Shield Alert for Dawn Dziuba: 7/13/2023

Dawn Dziuba is currently a patient at the Forensic Treatment Center South in St. Louis, Missouri.

She has been locked up since 2014. You can listen to a recording of Dawn activating her Shield by clicking on the recording above.

Dawn is an enrolled Shield member and has attended several meetings hosted by MFI. Since she does not have regular access to a computer; her participation in several past Judi’s Room was facilitated by an MFI staff member calling Dawn on the public ward phone whereupon she could ‘listen in’. For years, MFI staff have been disturbed by the level of restrictions Dawn is subjected to.

Despite filing multiple complaints (such as this one) and despite the support of her pastor and family members, Dawn has been unable to win her own freedom. Undaunted, she has advocated for other patients, documented human rights violations she witnessed, even organizing other patients for a possible class action lawsuit under Olmstead.

Up to this time, Dawn exhibited a considerable amount of diplomacy to to avoid forced, psychiatric drugging and maintain what few privileges she enjoys. For example, Dawn has been able to make regular trips to the library, where she studies disability law and psychiatric rights. This week, these rights were stripped away, and she is no longer able to leave the ward. Additionally, after being compliant for years and years she is being threatened with a forced injection of Abilify, a powerful anti-psychotic on the grounds that she is ‘incompetent’ to make her own medical decisions.

If you spoke to Dawn over the phone, you would know that Dawn is anything but incompetent. Listen to this recording HERE of her discussing her ‘treatment’ and why she is asking for your help.

This ‘treatment’ is in direct retaliation for several recent complaints that Dawn filed in relation to human rights violations that she witnessed.

This alert is urgent. Please support Dawn by writing or calling every member of her ‘treatment’ team to denounce the forced drugging of Dawn Dziuba. Here is the list of treatment team members and their job titles and contact information. It is vital that other Shield members take action today, if possible. Dawn is facing imminent threat to her person and we need everyone to take action as soon as possible!

Call to action

1.) Contact the mental health professionals on Dawn’s treatment team and demand that they cease and desist from threatening to forcibly inject Dawn with a powerful anti-psychotic drug called Abilify.

Demand that Dawn be allowed to:

• Make her own medical decisions, including the decision to reject an injection of a powerful ‘antipsychotic’ drug.
• Change or terminate her guardian to a qualified individual who will honor her autonomy.
• Leave the ward in order to visit the library.
• Enjoy unrestricted access to a computer and use of email account.
• Live independently in the community.

Treatment team members to contact:

• Rachel Linneman Licenced Professional Counselor and Program Director 314-877-5971 rachel.linneman@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Amy Taylor Medical Director (psychiatrist) 314-877-0522 amy.taylor@dmh.mo.gov
• Dr. Sadashiv Parwatikar MD (psychiatrist) 314-877-6495 sadashiv.parwatikar@dmh.mo.gov
• Nurse Practitioner Christian Fox, 314-877-5728  alexander.fox@dmh.mo.gov
• Murisa Begic-Gusic Psychologist 314-877-5725 (email not available yet)
• Sean Rapp limited guardian 314-622-4989 (email not available yet)

2.) Please call Dawn to offer solidarity, encouragement, and peer support at 314-877-5757.

3.) Please share this alert on social media or email it to friends and family!