Portland Press Herald (Maine)

September 11, 2002 Wednesday, Final Edition

EMBATTLED PSYCHIATRIST AGREES TO HALT PRACTICE;
Dr. Charles Clemetson, who treated children, had been suspended by the state after concerns he had a substance-abuse problem.

BYLINE: JOSIE HUANG Staff Writer

SECTION: LOCAL & STATE; Pg. 2B

LENGTH: 366 words

DATELINE: AUGUSTA

A Yarmouth child psychiatrist who drew national attention for filing an unusual lawsuit against Alaska Airlines agreed on Tuesday not to practice medicine in Maine. Dr. Charles Clemetson – whom state regulators say has an undiagnosed psychiatric condition, a substance abuse problem, or both – signed a consent agreement putting him on “inactive” status.
The agreement was crafted after discussions between his legal counsel and the Maine Attorney General, and only finalized over the weekend, said one of his attorneys, John Paterson.
As part of the agreement, Clemetson, 51, must notify the board if he applies for a medical license in any other state. If he decides to apply for reinstatement to an active license in Maine, he must first undergo an inpatient substance-abuse evaluation.
In his lawsuit blaming Alaska Airlines for the January 2000 plane crash death of his brother, Clemetson had demanded an apology rather than money.
Paterson said he does not know whether Clemetson ever got the apology, but that he was recently awarded a “substantial amount of money” from the airline. He also received money from the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the airline by his parents, Paterson said.
The money will enable Clemetson to step back from his practice and re-evaluate his career plans and “his own personal psychological needs,” Paterson said.
The state medical board first put Clemetson on a year-long probation in June 2001 after learning that he had threatened to kill a teenage patient with prescription drugs and did not attend to his patients “in a timely manner.”
His license was suspended this May, after the board received reports that Clemetson had difficulty managing his office and may have had a substance-abuse problem. A board-appointed psychologist found that he had a substance-abuse problem and should not be practicing independently until it was resolved.
In deciding what to do about Clemetson, the board in July took testimony from witnesses for the Attorney General’s Office. It had planned to hear from Clemetson’s side Tuesday, but the consent agreement made that unnecessary.
Clemetson had agreed not to practice between the hearings.