Candidates for President-Elect: Spencer Eth, M.D.

I am thrilled and honored to be nominated as a candidate for president-elect, and I would love your support in this election. Please read about my background, my view of APA and our field, and my action plan as your president. In turn I invite you to tell me your ideas by e-mail ([email protected]).

I attended college at NYU, medical school at UCLA, and graduate school at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. I trained in psychiatry in New York City and in child psychiatry in Los Angeles. I worked as a child psychiatrist at LA County-USC Medical Center, then as a general psychiatrist at the West LA VA and UCLA. Now I am professor and vice chair of psychiatry at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan and NY Medical College. I live in New Jersey, where my wife works as a psychiatric nurse, and we have three children, one each in law school, college, and high school.

I am grateful to APA for enriching my professional life. I have participated in numerous activities at the district branch and national levels. At the Southern California Psychiatric Society, I served as Ethics Committee chair and president. I was a member of the APA Commission on Judicial Action, the Council on Psychiatry and Law, the Work Group on the Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD, the Ethics Appeals Board, and the Scientific Program Committee for the Institute on Psychiatric Services. I recently completed a three-year term as chair of the APA Ethics Committee and now am chair of the Committee on Commercial Support. In addition, I have received the APA/AAPL Manfred Guttmacher Award, the Bruno Lima Award, and a Special Presidential Commendation for national leadership in child trauma after 9/11/01.

APA is a high-quality organization that reflects our values and ideals, as well as the dedication of our members and staff. But APA does not exist in a vacuum—psychiatrists are affected by powerful forces that shape health care. APA must act firmly to protect our profession and our patients. For example, last year's scandal over allegations of physician participation in unlawful interrogation at the Guantanamo detention camp called us to action. As chair of the Ethics Committee, I helped rapidly develop a new annotation to our Principles of Medical Ethics, clearly stating that psychiatrists shall not participate in torture.

Another area of controversy is the pharmaceutical industry. Public fear of bias in the reports of drug studies erodes the trust of patients and tarnishes the reputation of colleagues. It is hard to miss the influence of drug companies at our annual meetings. APA must now confront the problem of drug company dependence. As your president, I would limit the unwelcome influence of the pharmaceutical industry. We must stop the branding of residents—no psychiatrist should be compelled to wear the name of a drug company in order to accept an APA fellowship. We must set and abide by higher standards for disclosures of conflicts of interest. It is time to control such conflicts in our meetings, journals, and components.

APA supports universal access to quality mental health care. Our profession needs and deserves reasonable increases in reimbursement for services. APA has also campaigned to lessen the burden of the stigma of mental illness. This work should continue in partnership with our natural allies, such as NAMI. We must hold the line on dues while expanding member benefits, so that we can attract and retain more psychiatrists in APA. APA can do more to help district branches represent our profession.

I welcome the chance to serve you. Together we will succeed in facing the challenges and realizing the opportunities that confront us. We will uphold our ethical principles and strengthen our organization. We will protect our profession and our patients. Please vote in this election for Spencer Eth for president-elect.