A new documentary from the
investigative team at I News source
is set to premiere this weekend.
It tells the story of a Navy seals
desperate journey to reclaim sanity
after undergoing an experimental brain
treatment and in during a psychotic break.
It's been two years in the making.
Inewsource investigative reporter Jill
Castellano joins us now with more details.
Thanks for joining us.
This documentary follows a former Navy SEAL.
Gets experimental brain treatments
from a UC San Diego doctor.
Tell us what happens next.
Yes, that's right. In fact,
the veteran received over 200 of
these experimental brain treatments
by a doctor at UC San Diego and he
started to develop manic symptoms,
but his doctor continued to treat him anyway.
Eventually, the veteran John Surmont
had a full psychotic break in mid 2017,
even though he had no history of psychosis
and it was a very difficult journey.
For him he became delusional.
He thought he was on a secret mission,
some kind of military operation.
He started wandering the streets
of Los Angeles for several days,
breaking into cars and homes.
And you have to remember,
this is a Navy SEAL.
He's trained to kill.
So this is a very dangerous situation
for himself and for the public.
And you can see a little bit
more about his story.
We have a clip to share with you.
A preview of the documentary.
When my ex-wife would interact,
she did say there's a noticeable difference
between the John that left and went to
Afghanistan and the John that's back.
I think I was really just irritable.
I didn't sleep well,
that's kind of how it began.
There were times where I
would just start crying,
like for no reason,
just literally sit here and
just burst into tears.
We've been thinking about you
thinking about how to help you,
and we've come to find out about
this experimental brain treatment.
That's where it all started to unravel.
Chill the Doctor Who did this
treatment has made some big claims
about the technology and calls
himself a pioneer in the field.
What did you at Inewsource
find out about him?
Yes, it's an interesting story,
so through the course of the investigation,
my colleague and I interviewed
Doctor Kevin Murphy who conducted
these treatments for over 13 hours
and he provided over 400 pages of
documentation was very cooperative.
Dr Murphy is under the impression
that he's been wrongfully accused.
That his treatments work and then
ultimately there are people out to get
him who are jealous of his success.
But over the course of the investigation
we were able to uncover that his claims
about the effectiveness of his treatment
are actually entirely unfounded.
We spoke with a number of experts in
his field and medical ethics experts
and they were concerned that some
of his statements were unethical
and that they prey on people who
are desperate and looking for some
help with very serious illnesses.
This is startling stuff.
And it's really upsetting to see it
play out on someone like a Navy SEAL
who served his country so faithfully.
This I News source report was
originally published early last year.
Have to ask, has anything
changed since that time?
Yes, there's been a number of developments.
The doctor is no longer
working at UC San Diego.
In fact, in August of 2020 the UC
San Diego system released a report
they had done their own internal
investigation and found that the doctor
had been misusing a $10 million.
Research fund to help benefit
his private businesses.
As a part of his experimental
brain treatments,
they are no longer working with
him and they're actually suing the
doctor for fraud and other charges.
And now, Doctor Kevin Murphy
has counter sued the university
for wrongful termination,
so that is still playing out
in San Diego Court.
John Castellano with inewsource.org.
This is a big important topic.
We're going to direct our viewers
to where they can watch more.
Thank you for your time
today to preview this.
The premiere of rewired?
Is this coming Sunday,
November 21st from 6:00 to 8:30 PM on
the hanger of the USS Midway Museum.
The event is free and you can
attend in person or live stream
the film to register or to donate.
You can go to
inewssource.org/rewired Dash documentary.