“Involuntary psychiatric commitment of the homeless is not a compassionate solution—it’s a costly, coercive, and dangerous policy built on a system that has failed for decades. It compounds trauma, violates civil rights, and channels billions into an industry that cannot cure, only control.” – Jan Eastgate, President CCHR International

Expanding forced psychiatric treatment revives failed 1960s policies—causing trauma, violating rights, draining public funds, and enriching a system rooted in coercion, not care.

By Jan Eastgate
President, CCHR International
August 1, 2025

Key Facts

• Coercive Psychiatry Won’t Solve Homelessness: Involuntary psychiatric commitment is being wrongly promoted as a solution to homelessness. Evidence shows it worsens outcomes, increases trauma, and diverts resources from real support.

• Involuntary Commitment Causes Harm: Nearly doubles risk of suicide, overdose, or violence post-discharge. Studies show no improved long-term outcomes—only greater relapse and trauma.

• No Cures—Only Drug-Induced Damage: Psychiatric drugs don’t cure—cause irreversible harm (e.g., tardive dyskinesia, akathisia). The Alaska Supreme Court ruled against forced drugging due to severe risks.

• Massive Cost with No Return: Up to $1.1 million/year per person for forced psychiatric detainment and “treatment”. Medicaid/Emergency Room systems also bear the cost—the homeless pay in harm, the public in dollars.

• Civil Rights Violations & Lawsuits: Involuntary commitment violates the 14th Amendment and due process. Legal payouts have resulted in $1.1 million for wrongful psychiatric detention.

• Fraud Thrives in Forced Treatment: Acadia Healthcare, a psychiatric hospital chain, and others paid millions for related unlawful detainment, false billing. Coercive systems drive up profit while harming patients

• Failed 1960s Psychiatric Policy Repackaged: Repeats old model: drugging instead of care. Fueled today’s homelessness—won’t fix it now.

Initiatives to expand psychiatric powers to involuntarily commit the homeless are not acts of care. Rather, they rehash the failed policies of the 1960s that placed vulnerable individuals on powerful, brain-disabling drugs and helped create the homeless situation we face today.

Amid rising homelessness, the common narrative—driven by the psychiatric industry—frames involuntary treatment as care, despite evidence that it fails to improve long-term outcomes. Yet, mounting research shows this approach not only fails to reduce homelessness or improve long-term outcomes—it significantly increases the risks of suicide, overdose, and violent encounters post-discharge. A July 2025 study found that individuals involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric reasons were nearly twice as likely to die by suicide or overdose, within just three months of release.[1]

Legislators seeking cost-effective, humane, and evidence-based solutions should take heed: forced psychiatric treatment has a track record of harm, high public expense, and systemic abuse.

Forced Psychiatric Treatment Fails—And Worsens Outcomes

Studies show forced hospitalization causes more harm than help:

• The above July 2025 U.S. study reported 1.2 million people are involuntarily hospitalized each year—making it as common as incarceration.

• As Pim Welle, chief data scientist in Allegheny County, noted: “Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization research “is likely the first to establish a causal link between hospitalization and harm a person experiences after they’re discharged.”[2]  

• A 2014 study of over 50,000 cases found psychiatric hospitalization raised suicide risk 44 times compared to no treatment.[3]

• A 2017 JAMA Psychiatry meta-analysis confirmed suicide risk was 100 times greater immediately after psychiatric discharge.[4]

• Harvard Public Health (2023) found that all 22 individuals who were followed post-involuntary commitment relapsed within a year; two died.[5]

Even Dr. Peter Gøtzsche, a leading medical researcher, states: “It has never been shown that forced treatment does more good than harm, and it is highly likely the opposite is true.”[6]

Drugging Without Curing—Wastes Lives and Funds

Psychiatric drugs don’t cure mental health issues, but can exacerbate them. Institutions including Mental Health America and The Mayo Clinic confirm there are no cures in psychiatry, including the drugs prescribed, nor does psychiatry know what causes any mental “disorder.” All treatment is aimed at symptom control with mind-altering substances.[7]

These drugs—particularly antipsychotics—cause serious, often irreversible harm:

• Tardive dyskinesia (TD—irreversible movement disorder), akathisia (with potential drug-induced violent behavior), metabolic syndrome, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, all of which may be fatal.[8]

• TD looks like Parkinson’s disease. More psychotropic drugs are prescribed to treat TD. Common adverse effects of one approved TD-treatment drug include: fatigue, blurred vision, trouble with balance, coordination or walking, drooling, irregular heartbeat, and restlessness, inability to sit still, need to keep moving, and trembling and shaking of the fingers or hands—the latter being similar symptoms that antipsychotics cause: akathisia.[9]

• The Alaska Supreme Court recognized psychotropics’ devastating impact and ruled against forced administration in a hospital setting.[10]

• Injected long-acting drugs forcibly administered under court order can stay in the bloodstream for weeks, robbing people of autonomy and basic rights.[11]

• According to a December 2023 article, “The Link Between Antipsychotics And Aggressive Behavior: Understanding The Potential Causes Of Violence,” “Understanding why antipsychotics can sometimes cause violence is crucial for ensuring the safety and well-being of those who rely on these drugs, as well as for developing more effective treatment strategies that minimize these risks.” High-risk side effects include agitation, hostility, and impulsivity.[12] Withdrawal effects are equally harmful.[13]

• The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists such side effects as another treatable and billable mental disorder.[14] 

• Psychiatrists use anosognosia, essentially meaning a lack of insight about one’s disease, to justify forced treatment, by claiming it is the reason why seriously mentally impaired persons refuse to take their “medication.”[15] There is no MRI or physical test to confirm it.[16] There is no recognition that people reject taking psychotropic drugs because of the debilitating side effects.

• Professor Thomas Szasz, writing about this in his book Coercion as Cure, said: “To sum up, we are told that the brain damage called ‘anosognosia’ converts a legally competent person who rejects psychiatric help into a psychiatrically disabled patient who needs coerced treatment for his own benefit.”[17] However, he states, “It is dishonest to pretend that caring coercively for the mentally ill invariably helps him, and that abstaining from such coercion is tantamount to ‘withholding treatment’ from him. Every social policy entails benefits as well as harms. Although our ideas about benefits and harms vary from time to time, all history teaches us to beware of benefactors who deprive their beneficiaries of liberty…. There is neither justification nor need for involuntary psychiatric interventions….”

With no cures, a conservative estimate according to one study is nearly 21% readmission rate over the first 30 days following discharge from psychiatric hospitalization.[18]

Sky-High Financial Burden with No Return

The U.S. already spends $280 billion annually on mental health services that routinely fail.[19]

• Inpatient stays can average just over $7,000 for about a week of treatment.[20]

• Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization ranges from $400,000–$1.1 million annually per person.[21]

• In one study of those who were evaluated for involuntary hospitalization, over 60% used an emergency room within one year after the evaluation.[22]

• A single Emergency Room visit for a homeless individual labeled with “mental illness” can cost $6,000—some cycle through hundreds of visits per year—adding up to more than $1 million per person.[23]

• According to a 2025 study, costs could be as high as $14,000 per person per year in Medicaid behavioral health spending.[24]

• 183,000 homeless people could be deemed mentally ill and committed—an estimated annual cost: $1.28 billion minimum.

And the financial damage doesn’t end at hospitalization. Public insurance already covers 60% of psychiatric hospital stays.[25]

• In 2019, Medicaid spent $6.2 billion on antipsychotics, 10% of its total prescription costs.[26]

• That year, psychotropic agents—including antipsychotics and antidepressants—were the third most expensive outpatient drug class for the program.[27]

• From 2016–2021, antipsychotic costs rose 16.7%.[28]

Once discharged, individuals can be forcibly kept on medication under Community Treatment Orders (CTS) or Assisted Outpatient Orders (AOT)[29]—with re-hospitalization if non-compliant, creating a revolving door and repeat billing opportunity.

Redirect Funding to Proven Workable Programs

A significant proportion of homeless individuals may be suffering from undiagnosed or untreated physical illnesses, which can manifest as “psychiatric disorders.” Instead of defaulting to psychiatrichospitalization, the first step must be thorough physical health screening.  And also provide housing and work.

Supportive housing costs $25,000–$36,000 per person/year.[30]

Psychiatrists hold medical degrees to diagnose medical conditions. The problem is their routine failure or unwillingness to conduct thorough medical evaluations before assigning a psychiatric label. Psychiatric admissions often proceed without comprehensive medical examinations, leading to misdiagnosis and dangerous drugging. Instead of defaulting to psychiatric hospitalization, the first step must be rigorous physical health screening.

California’s landmark 1983–84 Medical Evaluation Field Studies revealed:

• Nearly 40% of individuals admitted to a state psychiatric hospital had undiagnosed physical illnesses.

• In almost half of these cases, hospital staff failed to detect the conditions.

• 80% of the patients examined had neurological abnormalities, many likely caused or worsened by psychotropic drugs.[31]

These findings led to the Mental Health Medical Evaluation Field Manual, which stressed that mental health professionals have a professional and legal obligation to identify physical disease. The manual introduced a cost-effective medical screening algorithm—far less expensive than full exams yet capable of detecting up to 90% of physical conditions found through complete evaluations.[32]

However, it is unclear whether California still applies these standards. This proven model should be revived and implemented nationwide before expanding psychiatric powers to commit. This is because many psychiatrists do not conduct physical examinations before prescribing drugs.[33] 

Dr. Mary Ann Block, author of Just Because You Are Depressed Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, emphasizes that even the DSM itself requires medical conditions tobe ruled out first.[34] The DSM-IV-TR notes that symptoms of “Major Depressive Disorder” are often identical to symptoms of general medical conditions (e.g., weight loss with untreated diabetes or fatigue with cancer).[35] “The purpose of distinguishing general medical conditions from mental disorders is to encourage thoroughness in evaluation,” it states.[36] A differential diagnosis is needed, involving a full physical exam and lab tests, to rule out all the possible problems that might cause a set of symptoms and explain any possible side effects of the recommended treatments.[37]

The U.S. should:

• Mandate nationwide medical screening protocols modeled on California’s Medical Evaluation Field Manual.

• Require comprehensive physical evaluations prior to all psychiatric admissions.

• Redirect funding from costly psychiatric hospitalizations to supportive housing and medical screening and care.

• Hold psychiatric facilities accountable for failing to identify treatable physical conditions.

Civil Liberties at Risk—And Legal Consequences

Involuntary commitment violates constitutional and civil rights, such as:

• 14th Amendment guarantees due process and liberty.[38]

• The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) protects individuals from mistreatment in publicly operated facilities.[39]

Lawsuits have already demonstrated this:

• In Pennsylvania, a man falsely imprisoned for 7 days was awarded $1.1 million.[40]

• In another case, a woman received $65,000 for being committed without proper documentation.[41]

Fraud Grows Alongside Forced Hospitalization

Coercive policies enable systemic fraud:

• Acadia Healthcare paid $19.5 million for false Medicare/Medicaid billing tied to unnecessary detainment in psychiatric hospitals and other allegations.[42] According to the Department of Justice, Acadia detained people who did not meet legal criteria for involuntary commitment. Acadia “submitted false statements and claims”—about the mental state of these people and how much mental health care they allegedly needed. They locked people up for long periods and often just drugged them into submission while claiming comprehensive therapeutic help was being provided. It charged $2,200 a day for some patients.[43]

• An investigation of North Tampa Behavioral Health, an Acadia-owned psychiatric hospital, found that it made huge profits by exploiting patients held under Florida’s involuntary commitment law. Keeping patients one additional night can create an additional $1.4 million in annual revenue.[44]

• Another behavioral hospital company, Universal Health Services (UHS), paid $117 million to settle federal allegations of violating the Federal False Claims Act, for practices that included: Failure to properly discharge beneficiaries when they no longer needed inpatient or residential treatment and improper and excessive lengths of stay.[45]

• Three Ohio psychiatric facilities paid $10.25 million to settle claims of improper inpatient admissions.[46]

• Arkansas psychiatrist Dr. Brian Hyatt imprisoned nearly 100 patients and billed Medicaid/Medicare excessively—earning $1,367 per day, while the hospital tripled the number beds and claims soared.[47]

As Dr. Gøtzsche warns, “Forced treatment in psychiatry is a crime against humanity.”[48]

CCHR contends such policies do not protect the homeless—they endanger them physically, mentally, and legally while diverting public resources toward failed, coercive interventions.

Involuntary psychiatric commitment of the homeless is not a compassionate solution—it’s a costly, coercive, and dangerous policy built on a system that has failed for decades. It compounds trauma, violates civil rights, and channels billions into an industry that cannot cure, only control. The evidence is overwhelming: this is not health care—it is institutionalized harm. CCHR calls for investment in humane, voluntary supports like housing and non-coercive services, not the expansion of a psychiatric regime that leaves people worse off than it found them.

[1] Natalia Emanuel, et al. “A Danger to Self and Others: Health and Criminal Consequences of Involuntary Hospitalization,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 1158, July 2025, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr1158.pdf?sc_lang=en

[2] “Study: Many Allegheny County psych hospitalizations do more harm than good,” Pittsburgh Public Source, 28 July 2025, https://www.publicsource.org/mental-health-study-reveals-dangers-of-302-commitments-allegheny-county/

[3] Carsten Rygaard Hjorthøj, et al., “Risk of suicide according to level of psychiatric treatment: a nationwide nested case-control study,” Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, Sept. 2014, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24647741/

[4] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights/; Daniel Thomas Chung, “Suicide Rates After Discharge From Psychiatric Facilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” JAMA Psych., July 2017, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2629522

[5] “Patients with substance use disorders need care, not coercion: Forced treatment doesn’t work. It’s time for health leaders to invest in better alternatives,” Harvard Public Health, 18 July 2023, https://harvardpublichealth.org/policy-practice/involuntary-commitment-not-solution-to-addiction-housing-instability/

[6] Peter C. Gøtzsche, MD, “Abolishing Forced Treatment in Psychiatry is an Ethical Imperative,” Mad In America, 17 June 2016, https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/06/abolishing-forced-treatment-in-psychiatry-is-an-ethical-imperative/

[7] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/11/18/cchr-warns-of-mental-health-apps/, citing https://screening.mhanational.org/content/mental-illness-curable/?layout=actions_a; https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20374974; “Drugs to Treat Mental Illness,” WebMD, 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/medications-treat-disorders#091e9c5e80007853-4-11; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01066-2/abstract

[8] James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, “Brave New Pittsburgh: Forced Use of Psychotropic Pharmaceuticals is Coming,” Popular Rationalism, 16 May 2025, https://popularrationalism.substack.com/p/brave-new-pittsburgh-forced-use-of; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482282/

[9] https://www.cchrint.org/2021/10/11/consumers-beware-of-antipsychotics-long-term-debilitating-effects/; https://www.rxlist.com/ingrezza-side-effects-drug-center.htm#professional; https://www.drugs.com/sfx/ingrezza-side-effects.html

[10] Faith Myers vs. Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Supreme Court, 2-11021, Superior Court No. 3AN-03-00277, Opinion, No. 6021, 30 June 2006, https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ak-supreme-court/1004032.html

[11] Ellen Barry, “Under an L.A. Freeway, a Psychiatric Rescue Mission,” The New York Times, 22 Oct. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/health/los-angeles-homeless-psychiatry.html

[12] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/10/11/cchr-wants-increased-consumer-awareness-about-prescriptions-for-violence/; Alex Alikiotis “The Link Between Antipsychotics And Aggressive Behavior: Understanding The Potential Causes Of Violence,” MedShun, 24 Dec. 2023, https://medshun.com/article/why-do-antipsychotics-cause-violence

[13] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/07/11/billions-spent-on-violence-prevention-ignores-how-psychotropic-drugs-cause-hostility/; John Read, Ph.D., “The experiences of 585 people when they tried to withdraw from antipsychotic drugs,” Addictive Behaviors Reports, 15 June 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9006667/

[14] https://www.cchrint.org/2021/10/11/consumers-beware-of-antipsychotics-long-term-debilitating-effects/; Elyse M. Cornett, PhD, “Medication-Induced Tardive Dyskinesia: A Review and Update,” The Ochsner Journal, Summer 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5472076/

[15] Thomas Szasz, MD, Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry, 2007, p. 22, https://books.google.com/books?id=YqYFBbp0u2wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

[16] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/committed/201802/the-perplexing-semantics-of-anosognosia

[17] Thomas Szasz, MD, Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry,2007, p. 22

[18] Hermer L, et al., “Follow-up Psychiatric Care and Risk of Readmission in Patients with Serious Mental Illness in State Funded or Operated Facilities,” Psychiatr Q, 2022 Jun;93(2):499-511, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9046324/

[19] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/11/22/280b-invested-mental-health-worsens-cchr-demands-audit-and-accountability/; “Reducing the Economic Burden of Unmet Mental Health Needs,” The White House, 31 May 2022, https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2022/05/31/reducing-the-economic-burden-of-unmet-mental-health-needs/

[20] https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/02/billing-psychiatric-patients-involuntary-treatment-unethical/

[21] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights/; Annalisa Merelli, “NYC’s new plan to forcibly hospitalize homeless people is a waste of taxpayer money,” Quartz, 3 Dec. 2022, https://qz.com/nycs-new-plan-to-forcibly-hospitalize-homeless-people-i-1849843872

[22] Natalia Emanuel, et al. “A Danger to Self and Others: Health and Criminal Consequences of Involuntary Hospitalization,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 1158, July 2025, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr1158.pdf?sc_lang=en

[23] Ellen Barry, “Under an L.A. Freeway, a Psychiatric Rescue Mission,” The New York Times, 22 Oct. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/health/los-angeles-homeless-psychiatry.html

[24] Natalia Emanuel, et al. “A Danger to Self and Others: Health and Criminal Consequences of Involuntary Hospitalization,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 1158, July 2025, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr1158.pdf?sc_lang=en

[25] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/07/11/billions-spent-on-violence-prevention-ignores-how-psychotropic-drugs-cause-hostility/; “Involuntary Commitments: Billing Patients for Forced Psychiatric Care,” The American Journ. of Psychiatry, 1 Dec. 2020, https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20030319

[26] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/12/06/push-for-de-prescribing-as-418000-kids-aged-0-5-psychotropic-drugs/; “Descriptive Trends in Medicaid Antipsychotic Prescription Claims and Expenditures, 2016 – 2021,” The Jour. of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 10 July 2024, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11414-024-09889-0

[27] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/12/06/push-for-de-prescribing-as-418000-kids-aged-0-5-psychotropic-drugs/; “Descriptive Trends in Medicaid Antipsychotic Prescription Claims and Expenditures, 2016 – 2021,” The Jour. of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 10 July 2024, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11414-024-09889-0

[28] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/12/06/push-for-de-prescribing-as-418000-kids-aged-0-5-psychotropic-drugs/; “Descriptive Trends in Medicaid Antipsychotic Prescription Claims and Expenditures, 2016 – 2021,” The Jour. of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 10 July 2024, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11414-024-09889-0

[29] https://www.cchrint.org/2025/05/23/end-mandated-community-psychiatric-programs/

[30] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights/; Annalisa Merelli, “NYC’s new plan to forcibly hospitalize homeless people is a waste of taxpayer money,” Quartz, 3 Dec. 2022, https://qz.com/nycs-new-plan-to-forcibly-hospitalize-homeless-people-i-1849843872

[31] Lorrin M. Koran, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MEDICAL EVALUATION FIELD MANUAL, Stanford, CA, 1991, pp. 3-4, 18, 29, https://www.alternativementalhealth.com/medical-evaluation-field-manual/

[32] https://www.cchrint.org/2019/08/05/getting-it-right-about-antidepressants/; Lorrin M. Koran, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MEDICAL EVALUATION FIELD MANUAL, Standford, CA, 1991, https://www.alternativementalhealth.com/medical-evaluation-field-manual/

[33] https://www.cchrint.org/2019/08/05/getting-it-right-about-antidepressants/; Mary Ann Block, DO, Just Because You’re Depressed Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression Is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem, (The Block System, 2007), p. 16

[34] Dr. Mary Anne Block, Just Because You’re Depressed Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression,” (Block Systems Books, 2007), p.28.

[35] American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text rev. (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000), p. 351

[36] American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text rev. (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000), p. 29

[37] Dr. Mary Anne Block, Just Because You’re Depressed Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression,” (Block Systems Books, 2007), pp. viii, 9, 20, 21.

[38] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/

[39] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights; https://www.findlaw.com/healthcare/patient-rights/involuntary-commitment-patient-and-public-rights.html; https://www.findlaw.com/civilrights/other-constitutional-rights/civil-rights-of-institutionalized-persons.html  

[40] Michelle Sottiaux, “Man awarded $1.1 million in suit against hospital,” Oil City Derrick, June 17, 2003

[41] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights/; https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/130156-woman-involuntarily-committed-suffers-mental-anguish-8212-65-000-verdict-awarded

[42] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/acadia-healthcare-company-inc-pay-1985m-settle-allegations-relating-medically-unnecessary

[43] Ron Wipond, “Illegal Fraud is the Norm for Psychiatric Commitment,” PsychForce Report, 29 Jan. 2025, https://robwipond.substack.com/p/illegal-fraud-is-the-norm-for-psychiatric

[44] https://www.cchrint.org/2019/10/25/cchr-rails-against-use-of-commitment-laws-that-detain-patients-for-profit/; Neil Bedi, “You’re trapped. They’re cashing in,” Tampa Bay Times, 18 Sept. 2019, https://projects.tampabay.com/projects/2019/investigations/north-tampa-behavioral-health/

[45] “Attorney General Josh Stein Reaches $117 Million Settlement with Universal Health Services,” North Carolina Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, 13 July 2020, https://ncdoj.gov/attorney-general-josh-stein-reaches-117-million-settlement-with-universal-health-services/

[46] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/23/involuntary-commitment-forced-mental-health-treatment-violate-human-rights/; “Ohio Treatment Facilities and Corporate Parent Agree to Pay $10.25 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations of Kickbacks to Patients and Unnecessary Admissions,” U.S. Department of Justice,5 Mar. 2021, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-treatment-facilities-and-corporate-parent-agree-pay-1025-million-resolve-false-claims

[47] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/08/02/arkansas-psychiatrist-imprisoning-patients-coercion-and-fraud/; “Top Arkansas psychiatrist accused of falsely imprisoning patients and Medicaid fraud,” NBC News, 23 July 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/top-arkansas-psychiatrist-accused-falsely-imprisoning-patients-medicai-rcna93430; “Federal agents search office of Rogers psychiatrist,” 5 News, 25-26 May 2023, https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/crime/search-warrant-executed-rogers-psychiatrist-medicaid-fraud/527-9a31cf79-2669-4535-891c-668048739f51; Lee Brown, “Top Arkansas psychiatrist accused of keeping patients against their will in huge Medicaid scam: ‘Like a prison,’” New York Post, 24 July 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/07/24/psychiatrist-accused-of-keeping-patients-against-their-will/; Melissa Koenig, “Eerie moment top Arkansas psychiatrist Dr. Brian Hyatt ‘pretends to visit patients he had locked in hospital units,’” Daily Mail, 24 July 2023, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12330353/Arkansas-psychiatrist-held-patients-ran-insurance-scam.html

[48] Peter C. Gøtzsche, “Forced treatment in psychiatry is a crime against humanity,” Journal of the Academy of Public Health, 30 Jan. 2025, https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/perspectives/2025/01/forced-treatment-in-psychiatry-is-a-crime-against-humanity/