The Associated Press State & Local Wire

October 11, 2004, Monday, BC cycle

State debates whether to prosecute doctors’ old misconduct cases

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 299 words

DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

The state is looking into several psychiatrist misconduct cases, years after the doctors were disciplined by the state but never referred for criminal prosecution.
Under Florida law, state boards or departments are required to report cases of criminal misconduct to prosecutors. In at least two of the cases in question, the psychiatrists’ practices were restricted by the state, but prosecution was not considered.
A unit in the Department of Health is trying to determine whether any other cases before 2002 were not properly forwarded to prosecutors, said Amy Jones, director of the Medical Quality Assurance Division of the state Health Department.
Two cases involve psychiatrists in northeastern Florida who were sanctioned by the state with fines and practice restrictions after they had sex with patients. But Jacksonville-based State Attorney Harry Shorstein said he would be unlikely to prosecute those cases because the activities were consensual.
“Just doing something that’s prohibited by the profession is better dealt with by the profession. Administrative action is more appropriate, and it was taken in these cases,” he told The Florida Times-Union, in Jacksonville.
Clearwater resident Ken Kramer is one of the forces driving the state’s recent interest in such cases. A member of the Church of Scientology, which generally opposes the practice of psychiatry, Kramer said he wanted more scrutiny of the profession.
He said his research turned up about 75 cases statewide that were not properly considered for prosecution, but the state has only forwarded about six to prosecutors.
Victims may not know it’s a crime, or they may be too embarrassed to come forward, Kramer said.