PsychRights: Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins Advocacy

PsychRights^®
Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights

Faith Myers & Dorrance Collins' Advocacy

Faith Myers was PsychRights' first client, which resulted in the Myers v. Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) Decision on June 30, 2006, holding Alaska's forced psychiatric drugging statute unconstitutional for not requiring the court to find the drugging to be in the patient's best interest and there are no less restrictive alternatives available. Ms. Myers and her partner, Dorrance Collins, have since then been very active advocates for patients at API on a number of important issues. One is patient's right to Gender Choice for intimate care. Faith and Dorrance have also been advocating for a fair Grievance Policy. When they made substantial progress with the API Governing Body over the grievance policy issue, API made moves to downgrade its authority. Finally, Ms. Myers and Mr. Collins have been advocating for mixing the Forensic Patients, which are those who are transferred to API for various reasons associated with the criminal justice system in with the other units.

Gender Choice

Many patients, both men and women, have been the victim of sexual abuse and having someone of the abusing sex come into the bathroom, shower, etc., can be very retraumatizing. Due almost exclusively to Mr. Collins' and Ms. Myers' advocacy, the Alaska Legislature passed SB8, mandating patient choice, in the waning hours of the 2008 Session. See, News Release. On April 19, 2008, Lisa Demer of the Anchorage Daily News wrote a story about their advocacy, Proponents overjoyed at API bill passage: Law ensures patients may choose gender of caregiver. The picture to the right is from that story.

Grievance Policies

Forensic Patients

API Governing Body

Miscellaneous/Combined