USA TODAY

May 16, 1994, Monday, FINAL EDITION

Calif. therapists lose false-memory suit

BYLINE: Paul Leavitt; Sandra Sanchez

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A

LENGTH: 1054 words

A Napa, Calif., jury verdict awarding $ 500,000 against two therapists accused of planting a false sexual abuse memory in a patient could have a chilling effect on therapists and lead to similar lawsuits, experts said Sunday.
The jury Friday found psychiatrist Richard Rose and counselor Marche Isabella negligent in treating the adult daughter of former winery executive Gary Ramona.
It’s one of the first verdicts where a non-patient won damages for treatment of someone else.
Ramona, 50, said his wife divorced him and he was fired after his daughter, Holly Ramona, 23, said she recalled in therapy that as a child he had raped her.
“It’s a very frightening decision,” said University of Illinois sociologist Pauline Bart. She said therapists may be afraid to disclose suspected abuse and “then we will be back where we were 25 years ago.”
Pamela Freyd of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation lauded the jury’s finding and agreed it’s an important decision. She said 13,000 callers have reported similar instances of false-memory accusations. —