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Tag: Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic Florida Market’s Chief Medical Operations Officer Publicly Commits to MEDWATCH Awareness—A Rare Step Among U.S. Hospitals

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

April 19, 2025

Richard Rothman, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital and Chief Medical Operations Officer for the Cleveland Clinic Florida Market, made a public commitment during a well-attended community forum in Indian River County, Vero Beach, Florida, to implement MEDWATCH posters throughout the hospital. This move represents a monumental leap for human rights a significant breakthrough in the fight for informed consent and drug safety, witnessed by local residents.

The forum provided a platform for AbleChild, a nonprofit dedicated to informed consent in mental health, to directly address Dr. Rothman. AbleChild highlighted the hospital’s lack of public drug safety awareness, despite the routine use of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and called for a clear access point for patients to report adverse events directly to the FDA through MEDWATCH.

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Cleveland Clinic’s Mental Health Practices Under Fire as Court Dismisses Lawsuit

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

March 22, 2025

PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

A recent court decision has put Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital’s mental health practices in the spotlight. The Florida appeals court backed the hospital’s request to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit, but this legal victory has raised more questions than it answered about how the hospital handles mental health emergencies.

The lawsuit stemmed from a tragic incident in March 2022, when 29-year-old Zachary Anderson was fatally shot by deputies while being treated for a mental health crisis at the hospital. While the court’s decision focused on legal technicalities, it has sparked a broader debate about the hospital’s approach to psychiatric care and medication management.

One major concern that has come to light is the apparent lack of reporting to the FDA’s MEDWATCH system. This system is designed to flag dangerous drug reactions, but there’s no evidence that Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital uses it for mental health patients. This is worrying, especially considering the hospital’s large-scale psychiatric care operations. They recently took on 2,600 patients needing psychiatric medications after another clinic closed, and they often use strong treatments like electroconvulsive therapy for patients, which is inhumane and has no scientific evidence of curing anything, but scrambles the brain.

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