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The roundtable on coercion at APA's annual meeting (Psychiatric News, August 21) was a shameful farce. There was no real debate as, except for minor differences, everyone basically agreed with one another. This was not surprising as the views of the National Alliance on Mental Illness are well known and correspond closely with those of the psychiatric establishment.
If a real discussion of this important topic was desired, Dr. Peter Breggin, M.D., of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, could have been invited. Also, patients from the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy or the National Association of Psychiatric Survivors would have made interesting panelists. At future annual meetings, APA would do well not to present these patently phony pseudo-debates.
Charles Rosenbloom, M.D.
New York, N.Y.