cover image Mental Health, Inc.: How Corruption, Lax Oversight, and Failed Reforms Endanger Our Most Vulnerable Citizens

Mental Health, Inc.: How Corruption, Lax Oversight, and Failed Reforms Endanger Our Most Vulnerable Citizens

Art Levine. Overlook, $30 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4683-0837-2

Levine, an investigative journalist, reveals how the nexus of power formed by the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA, Medicare, and Medicaid works against patients’ best interests. His overall complaint is the improper use of antipsychotic medicines. For example, he writes, “over 90 percent of the estimated two million kids on Medicaid who received antipsychotics are prescribed them without the approval of the FDA”—meaning for uses other than those the FDA approved, also known as “off-label” uses. This problem is particularly pronounced at VA hospitals, he shows. Levine devotes each chapter to a different aspect of pharmaceutical abuse and corruption, which he humanizes with patients’ stories. While he describes a horrifying panoply of problems, he also portrays whistleblowers and other heroes who work to protect patients. This well-researched book reveals the scope of an entrenched problem, but it also offers hope. Levine is optimistic that balanced treatment, with appropriate dosages and uses of antipsychotics in combination with other therapies, can greatly alleviate mental illness. Reading Levine’s work might very well be the key to spurring concerned stakeholders into action. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (May)