Doctor seeks to win back license Apparent deal reached between social worker, city in sex abuse case

Doctor seeks to win back license

By LINDA ASHTON, Associated Press writer

YAKIMA -- The psychologist labeled the "pied piper of Prozac" for his advocacy of the antidepressant drug goes to court this week in an effort to win back his state license to practice. James Goodwin of Wenatchee will seek a stay to allow him to continue to work as a clinical psychologist pending his appeal of the state's revocation of his license. The state Health Department's Examining Board of Psychology in June revoked his license for 10 years for unprofessional conduct, citing his failure to comply with a 1996 disciplinary order that his practice be supervised by a third party. "This is my opportunity to get my license back," Goodwin said Friday. "My practice has dropped off. I'm suffering financially, obviously." The hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday in Chelan County Superior Court before Judge John E. Bridges. The state opposes the requested stay. In a response, Delia Anderson, an assistant attorney general for the state, wrote that if a stay were granted, Goodwin would be able to work unsupervised while the appeal is decided. "This could create an unreasonable risk of harm to the public," she said. Goodwin has been known since the early 1990s as a "Dr. Feelgood," just one of the nicknames he embraces, for his enthusiastic support for the use of antidepressants such as Prozac and Paxil, along with cognitive, or talk, therapy for the treatment of depression. He gave a number of national interviews on the subject, and Wenatchee found itself dubbed "Happy Valley," a place filled with smiling folks relieved of depression thanks to Prozac. Goodwin acknowledges his own treated depressive illness and has irked several members of the state licensing board with his repeated suggestions that they, too, are in need of such treatment. "My premise has always been there is something wrong with the perception of a great number of people (involved in the case) -- irritable, angry people," Goodwin said. He contends that his methods of treatment are the future of psychology, and that he is being persecuted by an establishment that doesn't understand his practice. "They're an anathema to modern treatment -- old-time psychologists who don't understand depressive disorders," he said. Anderson also noted that at board hearings Goodwin has argued that the representatives of the board and the Health Department misperceived or distorted his case "because they were suffering from inadequately treated depression. The board rejected this contention because Dr. Goodwin failed to prove certain premises of his argument and because his reasoning is logically flawed." Before his license was revoked, Goodwin sent the board a photocopy of his left hand with the middle finger extended. Goodwin contends the gesture was not obscene, but part of a packet of materials explaining some of his work. The middle finger is used as a physical illustration of self, and other fingers represent self's relationship to the rest of the world, Goodwin said. Goodwin had been practicing in Wenatchee for four years when the licensing board in 1993 accused him of breaching patient confidentiality, diagnosing patients without adequate evaluation, pressuring patients into taking Prozac and retaliating against a psychologist who protested his treatment methods. In 1995, the board lodged administrative charges of mental impairment against Goodwin, alleging he had a psychological disorder that should bar him from practicing. The board eventually dismissed the charge of mental impairment. The allegations of negligence, incompetence and practicing in an area of psychology for which he was not trained were settled by agreement in 1996. The settlement acknowledged the effectiveness of Goodwin's methods in some cases, but it also required him to make procedural changes in his practice, including the appointment of an adviser to consult on patient diagnoses for up to three years. But Goodwin never entered into the adviser agreement, and the board said he failed to specify his reasons. He was charged with unprofessional conduct in 1998, and his license revoked after several days of hearings last spring.