The Philadelphia Inquirer
Therapist’s trial ends in dismissal; Byron Braid was accused of sexual abuse.
The allegations came too late, a judge found
By Kathleen Brady Shea
November 29, 2001

A Chester County judge this week dismissed a malpractice case against a psychiatrist who had been accused of sexually abusing a woman in his care, saying the statute of limitations had expired.

Chester County Court Judge Thomas G. Gavin ruled on Tuesday, the second day of the jury trial of Byron Braid, that the statute of limitations had expired on allegations made by former patient Sarahkate Lohmann.

Gavin said the standard for determining timeliness under Pennsylvania law hinged on whether a reasonable person would have found the actions objectionable. He said that because Lohmann indicated she had been uncomfortable with Braid early in her 15 years of treatment, which began in 1982, she should have filed her suit within two years of first feeling that discomfort. In the suit, Lohmann had accused Braid of inappropriate physical contact during their therapy sessions.

James P. Kilcoyne, Braid’s attorney, said the decision was proper.

“The plaintiff was fully equipped with the knowledge that the treatment was not appropriate,” Kilcoyne said, pointing out that Lohmann had received a second opinion from a doctor who disapproved of Braid’s practices.

Kilcoyne had argued that Lohmann, a Conshohocken resident, was “a very intelligent individual” who had worked as a critical-care nurse.

Lohmann’s attorney, David Ferleger, said his client planned to appeal. Ferleger said the suit was filed in 1999, within two years after Lohmann stopped seeing Braid.

“This decision punishes Sarahkate Lohmann for being successful in her life,” Ferleger said. “Had she fallen apart completely, people would say, ‘No wonder she didn’t come forward sooner.’ ”

Ferleger said that three similar malpractice cases against Braid were pending and that two others were dismissed this summer because the statute of limitations had expired.

Ferleger had argued that Lohmann’s instability, which included losing her mother at age 5 to leukemia and being forced into an incestuous relationship with her father, made her suicidal and dependent on Braid. Moreover, it clouded her judgment, he said.

Braid practiced orgone therapy, in which doctors touch and press patients’ bodies to heal emotional traumas. Patients are sometimes required to wear only underwear during sessions so more of their bodies are exposed.

Braid maintained offices in Warminster, Bucks County; Downingtown, Chester County; and Chadds Ford, Delaware County. His medical license was revoked by the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine on Sept. 15, 2000, according to state records. The state disciplinary board already had suspended Braid’s license after charging he recklessly injected patients with an unauthorized drug as part of a controversial treatment for mercury toxicity.

Said Ferleger of the other cases against Braid: “The common characteristic among these cases is that these women were all abused as children. Braid became their doctor while they were hospitalized. He knew of their vulnerability and took full advantage of it,” Ferleger said.

“Our only happiness is that he’s no longer able to practice,” he said.

According to Ferleger, Braid said in a recent deposition that he was living in Switzerland.