State police and the Board of Medicine have questioned Dr. Kifuji:

Some doctors object to the suggestion that Kifuji relied too heavily on medication in treatment, and point out that nearly all of today’s child psychiatrists prescribe medications to treat severely disturbed young children, after other therapies fail. And because so few psychotropic drugs are approved by the government for use by children, psychiatrists often have little choice but to utilize low doses of the drugs made for adults.

The children Kifuji sees, said Katz, have serious behavioral problems and often come from troubled families. Those who criticize her do not realize her deep desire to end the children’s suffering. But others say Kifuji was known to pursue pharmacalogical treatments more quickly than others in the field. One doctor, who knows her professionally, said she was the psychiatrist to whom you would refer patients you thought needed psychotropic medications, as opposed to more of the “talking approach” treatment.

“She was someone who was an expert in psychopharmacology,” said the doctor, who asked not to be identified because he does not want to be drawn into the controversy about her case.