Opinion ID: 1960972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dr. Filson's Testimony

Text: At the hearing, Dr. Filson testified that Beckman's condition had deteriorated quickly once assigned to the Violent Crimes Task Force. He testified that the records showed that Beckman was a high functioning person before. The depression began accelerating towards the end of 1996, and got progressively worse until August 1997, when Beckman became suicidal and first sought treatment with Dr. Baum. Dr. Filson stated that Beckman's condition had improved with various medications since he originally saw him, but that his long-term prognosis for possible remission of his major depression was fair to poor. He expressed the opinion that the prognosis for Beckman's return to work as a special agent was extremely poor, although with an aggressive psychopharmacologic regimen and therapy, he might be able to return to work in a different occupation. Further, Dr. Filson testified that as to Beckman's depressive symptoms, in 1988, there was a clearly duty-related episode,which occurred after the extended duty on the Presidential detail and the threatening incident. He noted that the patient reported a low level of depression from 1987 to 1997, but he continued to function. Dr. Filson agreed with Beckman's treating physician, Dr. Baum, that Beckman's condition destabilized with the work with the Violent Crimes Task Force. He said that Dr. Baum was of the opinion that extra-marital affairs were secondary to the work stresses, and that part of the reason that Beckman got into that type of situation was because of his already destabilized mood. In responding to the Board's questions concerning whether the affairs might be the cause, Dr. Filson responded that he had no reason to discredit Dr. Baum's opinion. In response to a Board member's question concerning Beckman's candor in disclosing the source of his problems, Dr. Filson explained that Beckman had admitted the affairs. Further, he testified that tests administered to Beckman, while not polygraphs, did give a measure of degree of distortion by the individual of what they are presenting with in the interview and in the testing. From these tests, Dr. Filson concluded that Beckman did not have patterns of faking, malingering, and grossly exaggerating his symptoms. Based on information provided and the opinion of his treating physicians, Dr. Filson testified that, in his opinion, the cause of Beckman's condition was related to the performance of his duties. He confirmed in testimony that Dr. Guedalia found that Beckman was depressed and that it was work-related, but Dr. Guedalia deferred to the agency on whether he was fit for duty. Dr. Filson opined that this should have been followed up in 1988 because without treatment, there was a great chance for recurrence. Dr. Filson testified that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, based on his evaluation of Beckman, consultation with his treating physician, and review of the records and documents, the marital episodes were secondary to the performance of duty which caused his condition. Further, Dr. Filson testified that, having reviewed new material presented to him on the morning of the hearing concerning Beckman's extra marital affairs, he saw nothing to controvert Dr. Baum's position. [5]