USP Psychiatry cancels debate over president's mental disorder and doctors see oversight - 08/05/2021

The University of the South Pacific School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry has canceled an online meeting on Thursday (5), between 10:30 and 12:00, that will discuss the impeachment of a chief for mental disorders.

The decision sparked a revolt from students and doctors in the department who interpreted the act as censorship. The department head denies this.

Three USP psychiatrists will participate in the event: Lais Pereira Silva, speaker, and debaters Gustavo Bonini Castellana and Daniel Martins Barros.

Silva will present a historical review on the topic of mental health for presidents. The three were not informed of the reasons for the cancellation.

to me Leaf Learning from USP psychiatrists, the department chair would have been pressured to cancel the meeting because the discussion could lead to President Jair Bolsonaro’s mental health (without party).

The rationale is that the act could generate an ethical process in Crimsp (the Regional Council of Medicine in the state of São Paulo) because it prohibits doctors from discussing patients’ cases publicly.

In a WhatsApp group of 65 doctors hired from the USP Institute of Psychiatry, the majority considered the cancellation decision absurd.

Psychiatrists say this meeting has been going on for years, has always been open, dealt with general issues and never discussed patients’ clinical cases. This time, they claim, it will be no different.

This isn’t the first time this discussion of the president’s mental health has surfaced. In March this year, the forensic psychiatrist Guido Palumba addressed the topic in an article published in Leaf.

But at the time, Palumba was criticized by fellow psychiatrists who saw the doctor’s notes as detrimental to patients with mental disorders.

In the group of physicians from the University of the South Pacific, the possibility of issuing a statement against cancellation was also discussed, but there was no consensus.

a Leaf He sought the University of the South Pacific Department of Psychiatry, but the press office reported that coordinators would not be available to speak with the report and sent the following message:

The cancellation of the general assembly on Thursday, 5/5/2021 AD, came with an exclusive decision by the head of the Psychiatry Department at FMUSP without any external influence. The agenda will be maintained and rescheduled for a future date.”