MEDIA
Psychs Lament Passing of TeenScreen
Psychiatrist David ShafferTeenScreen Creator Globe Gazette Officials lament program loss to screen for teen depression December 1, 2012 By Deb Nicklay MASON CITY — Local educators and mental health professionals say they are concerned that Teen Screen, a program that helped identify more than 400 North Iowa students grappling with issues of depression and suicide, will soon end. Columbia University, which developed the screening tool, will no longer allow use of the program after Dec. 14. It has been used in North Iowa since 2006, and conducted under the auspices of United Way of North Central Iowa. On Nov. [...]
Psychiatrist talks real estate during session
Mercury News Marin County psychiatrist disciplined over alleged real-estate talks with patient By Gary Klien, Marin Independent Journal December 3, 2012 MARIN COUNTY -- A Kentfield psychiatrist was reprimanded by state regulators on allegations he used a patient's therapy sessions to talk about the real estate business, the state medical board said. Dr. Stephen Merritt Raffle was "grossly negligent" and committed "multiple boundary violations" by discussing his business experience and referring the patient to real estate lawyers and lenders, according to a filing by Linda Whitney, executive director of the board. The board also alleged that Raffle failed to create [...]
Psych Fined $325,000 – Gives Up Practice
Nashville Public Radio: Psychiatrist Accused of TennCare Fraud to Pay Fine, Give Up Practice by Bradley George Monday, December 03rd, 2012 A Madison psychiatrist will give up his practice and pay a six-figure fine, after allegations that he over-billed TennCare by nearly a million dollars. The state Attorney General says AKM Fakhruddin saw about 150 TennCare patients. Most of the appointments were to make an adjustment to medication, lasting just a few minutes. Prosecutors say Fakhruddin would bill the state for full psychotherapy sessions. These kind of appointments usually last about an hour, but Fakhruddin sometimes claimed to see as [...]
Proof – Psychiatrists are an Unethical Bunch
National Post Psychiatrists four times as likely as other Canadian doctors to be disciplined for sexual misconduct: study Tom Blackwell Dec 6, 2012 Psychiatrists are twice as likely as other Canadian doctors to face professional discipline generally and almost four times as apt to be sanctioned for sexual misconduct, concludes a new study that underscores long-held concerns about the speciality. Experts blame the problem in part on psychiatrists’ unusually close and long relationships with their patients, compared to surgeons and some other specialists who often have relatively brief contact with the people they treat. Past research has suggested many of [...]
Will he get the slammer?
Luckily, one patient got one of the sexual assaults on his spy cam. Calgary Herald Complainant in Levin trial stands by his allegations of sexual assault By Daryl Slade December 10, 2012 The original sex assault complainant against former forensic psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin became agitated and frustrated under an intense cross-examination on Monday. But he never wavered from his allegations that he was molested on the majority of at least 30 occasions between 2002 and 2010 while on court-ordered visits to the psychiatrist. On one occasion, when pressed about the alleged incidents in March 2010, R.B. told lawyer Chris [...]
Victim of psychiatrist’s testicle-zap therapy says pain excruciating
Lake Alice Mental Health Hospital www.nzherald.co.nz By Martin Johnston May 24, 2012 Zapping a teenage boy on the testicles with an electric shock machine because he was considered naughty was an act far outside normal practice, a medical academic told police. "In summary, Dr [Selwyn] Leeks' treatments appeared to depart significantly from the standards of the day," wrote Dr Garry Walter, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Sydney. "This was in the areas of his direct clinical care - including his method of use of electrical treatments, and his dubious reasons for some of [...]
Sex with Patient
Telegraph Herald Iowa psychiatrist Sergio Paradiso gives up medical license over sex with patient - Ex-university psychiatrist gives up medical license By Associated Press November 21, 2012 State board accepts a settlement with Paradiso, who was accused of having sex with a patient. A former psychiatrist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has agreed to surrender his medical license to settle a complaint that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female patient, state regulators said Tuesday. The Iowa Board of Medicine released its settlement agreement with Sergio Paradiso, 49, who was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct [...]
Weston psychiatrist Mark Willner gets 10 years in federal prison
Sun Sentinel Weston doctor imprisoned for healthcare fraud in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale By Paula McMahon October 1, 2012 A Weston psychiatrist was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $51.9 million in restitution Monday for his role in what prosecutors called "one of the largest and most brazen health care fraud conspiracies in recent memory." Dr. Mark Willner, who practiced in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud earlier this year. He has been locked up at the Federal Detention Center in Miami since the [...]
NY Psychiatrist comes up from behind employees and…
The Daily Gazette Schenectady/Albany Psychiatrist accused of touching staffers June 12, 2012 By Justin Mason Police arrested a psychiatrist on misdemeanor sexual abuse charges for allegedly rubbing up against two employees at his Colonie office on separate occasions in May. Kevin W. George, 52, of East Schodack was charged with two counts of third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of forcible touching. He was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and released on his own recognizance Friday. Lt. Robert Winn said both of the women were clerical employees at Psychopharmacology Consultants Of Albany. He said the women both reported that George [...]
Michael Bengala, Florida Psychiatrist, Charged by Feds in Drug Case
Drug Enforcement Administration June 27, 2012 Contact: Mia Ro, PIO Miami Division Federal Investigation Takes Down New Breed of Pill Mills in Florida --Seven Doctors, Seven Clinic Owners, Including Firemen, Charged in Operation Pill Street Blues-- Psychiatrist Michael Bengala VERO BEACH, FL – Seven doctors and seven clinic owners, which included two firemen were charged on state racketeering violations spanning across Florida. This morning’s operation dubbed “Operation Pill Street Blues” was announced by Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division; Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River [...]