Stefan Philip Kruszewski is an American clinical and

forensic psychiatrist Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatr ...

, active as a whistleblower in medically related cases. He is principal in the company which bears his name, Stefan P. Kruszewski, M.D. & Associates, P.C. in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

. ABC News.com: Health: Wellness. Available from ABC World News

Career

Psychiatrist

A graduate of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, Kruszewski has over 30 years of clinical and teaching experience in the field of psychiatry, with particular focus on addictionology,

neuropsychiatry Neuropsychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuropsychiatry, the mind i ...

and

neuropharmacology Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behavior. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmac ...

. Kruszewski is a

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

specialist and has worked with both

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

and

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

. He has testified as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in a range of cases involving antipsychotic medicationsWeinstein. Memorandum, Order, & Judgment. Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation. Monty Souther, Robert Cusella, Judith New, Beverly Pearson, Donna Worthington v Eli Lilly & Company. Nos. 04-MD-1596, 06-CV-1729. US District Court, Eastern District, New York. 489 F. Supp.2d 230 (2007)
),

antidepressant medications Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathisia, sexual ...

,State of New York v. Brandon W. Hampson, No. 2006NA021294, N.Y. Dist., 1st Dist., Nassau Co.; 2009 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2182 analgesic medications (including

opioid Opioids are a class of Drug, drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy plant. Opioids work on opioid receptors in the brain and other organs to produce a variety of morphine-like effects, ...

s), and a range of psychiatric illnesses. Kruszewski has been recognized as a "distinguished expert" by

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A U.S. federal judge is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Arti ...

, the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein,

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

(June 2007). He has been recognized as a psychiatric expert by the Honorable Patti B. Saris and testified in the Federal Daubert hearings in US District Court of Massachusetts (May 2009). Honorable Judge Rhonda E. Fischer has also accepted and affirmed expert testimony by Kruszewski in the Frye Hearings in District Court of the County of Nassau, New York State (Jan-May 2009).

Fraud investigator

As a fraud investigator for the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

in 2003, Kruszewski uncovered the abuse and medical mistreatment of children and the mentally ill in

residential treatment center A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a drug rehabilitation, rehab, is a live-in health care provider#Medical nursing home, health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral pr ...

s, and was eventually fired for trying to expose what he had discovered. Kruszewski brought suit for

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

claims against the

Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is a state agency in Pennsylvania tasked to provide care and support to vulnerable citizens. With a range of program offices, the department administers various services including eligibility determin ...

and in June 2007 he was awarded a settlement.Stefan P. Kruszewski v Pfizer Inc., et al. Settlement Agreement. No. 04-1420 (United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Also resulting, Kruszewski filed his first ''qui tam'' lawsuit which settled in 2009 against Southwood Psychiatric Hospital. He has been a relator in two additional successful ''qui tam'' lawsuits: the first against

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

for its drug

Bextra Valdecoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and painful menstruation and menstrual symptoms. It is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor. It was patented in 1995. V ...

which settled in October 2009, and the second against

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

for its drug

Seroquel Quetiapine ( ), sold under the brand name Seroquel among others, is an atypical antipsychotic medication used in the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, bipolar depression, and major depressive disorder. Despite being widely prescri ...

which settled in April 2010.

Whistleblower

Kruszewski is a three-time successful

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

, with settlements from suits brought against Southwood Psychiatric Hospital, Pfizer, Inc., and AstraZeneca. Kruszewski became aware of inadequate care and the exploiting of state-committed mentally ill children through overmedication and physical and

chemical restraint A chemical restraint is a form of medical restraint in which a drug is used to restrict the freedom or movement of a patient or in some cases to sedate the patient. Chemical restraint is used in emergency, acute, and psychiatric settings to perfo ...

s while working for the Department of Public Welfare, Bureau of Program Integrity for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When he refused to keep silent about his discoveries, he was fired from his position at the state. Kruszewski won settlements for both a First Amendment case against the state of Pennsylvania as well as his first ''qui tam'' lawsuit against the hospital. In the cases against pharmaceutical giants, PfizerUnited States et al. ex rel. Stefan Kruszewski v. Pfizer, Inc., Civ. No. 07-4106 (Eastern District Pennsylvania) and AstraZeneca,United States of America ex rel. Stefan Kruszewski v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Civil Action No. 06-4004 (Eastern District Pennsylvania) Kruszewski highlighted clinical science that was misrepresented by the defendants in their marketing and promotion of certain drugs. He also demonstrated problems with off-label marketing (marketing that promotes uses, patients or doses that are not approved by the

US FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

) which resulted in heightened, but often non-transparent, risk to the health of patients and exceptional costs to taxpayers and state and federal governments.

References

External links

* *NARPA. "Stefan P. Kruszewski, M.D." nline ccessed 17 Jul 2011 Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20150314071429/http://www.narpa.org/kruszewski.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruszewski, Stefan P. Living people American whistleblowers American forensic psychiatrists Harvard Medical School alumni Physicians from Queens, New York People from Old Westbury, New York Year of birth missing (living people)