Dan Markingson

Dan Markingson was the son of Mary Weiss and was raised in Minnesota. He moved out, graduated from the University of Michigan, and lived in Los Angeles after graduation. When his mother visited him in the summer of 2003, she noticed alarming changes in his behavior and thought he was mentally ill. In the fall of 2003, Mary Weiss admitted him to Fairview University Medical Center.

 

His physician Dr. Olson prescribed Dan with an antipsychotic medication risperidone and requested a judge to legally hold him in a hospital to be treated. Two additional clinicians examined and noted that he has extremely disordered thinking. Dr. Olson then requested the court to grant a stay of commitment, which meant Dan wouldn't be in involuntary confinement if he followed a treatment plan. However, Dr. Olson never mentioned the treatment plan.

 

Dr. Olson forced Dan into an AstraZeneca-sponsored CAFÉ study without an advocate and made him sign an informed consent document without his mother present. The CAFÉ study was for patients that underwent their first episode of psychosis. The study was yearlong, and it compared three antipsychotic drugs. Dr. Olson received $15,000 for every patient that completed the study.

 

His mother, Mary, has protested against his son being in the CAFÉ study since his enrollment. For the next five months, Mary tried to remove him from the study; however, he was contractually bound to stay for the full length of the study.

References: 

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Elliott, Carl. “Institutional Pathology and the Death of Dan Markingson.” Accountability in Research, vol. 24, no. 2, 2017, pp. 65–79, https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2016.1246969.

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Friedrich, Alex. “U's Handling of Drug Study Suicide Earns 'F' from Peers.” MPR News, MPR News, 23 April 2015, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/04/23/university-of-minnesota-markingson-case.

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Minnesota State Legislature - Office of the Legislative Auditor. 19 Mar. 2015, https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/sreview/markingson.pdf.

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Olson, Jeremy, and Paul Tosto. “Dan Markingson Had Delusions. His Mother Feared That the Worst Would Happen. Then It Did.” Twin Cities, Twin Cities, 17 May 2008, https://www.twincities.com/2008/05/17/dan-markingson-had-delusions-his-mother-feared-that-the-worst-would-happen-then-it-did/.