MEDIA

Lawrence Cronin, Arizona psychiatrist, Ordered to surrender his license, engaged in sexual relationship with patient – overmedicated her with “hypnotic agents”

Lawrence Cronin, Arizona psychiatrist Psychiatrist Lawrence Cronin, previously at 7333 E TANQUE VERDE RD, TUCSON, AZ 85715-3475 BEFORE THE ARIZONA MEDICAL BOARD Lawrence Cronin, M.D. ("Respondent'), elects to permanently waive any right to a hearing and appeal with respect to this Order for Surrender of License; admits the jurisdiction of the Arizona Medical Board ("Board"); and consents to the entry of this Order by the Board. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Board is the duly constituted authority for the regulation and control of the practice of allopathic medicine in the State of Arizona. 2. Respondent is the holder [...]

Shrink Aubrey Levin Sued for $1.4-million by man who alleges he was molested

Calgary Sun Disgraced Calgary psychiatrist Aubrey Levin facing new abuse allegations By Kevin Martin July 24, 2015 Psychiatrist Aubrey Levin Sued for $1.4-million New allegations against disgraced former court psychiatrist Aubrey Levin have emerged. In a $1.4-million lawsuit filed this week, a Calgary man alleges he was molested by the doctor from 1998 to 2002. But in a statement of claim obtained Friday by the Sun, the plaintiff says he was referred by court order for a forensic assessment. The man, whom the Sun is not naming because of the sexual nature of the allegations, said he had to [...]

Gregg Gorton, Veterans Affairs psychiatrist, tells Veteran to “off yourself” in Facebook post

The Washington Times VA psychiatrist tells Facebook user to ‘off yourself’ By Jacqueline Klimas July 28, 2015 Excerpt -- A Veterans Affairs psychiatrist allegedly told an online user to “off yourself” over a stance on gun control in a Facebook comment thread, according to an image shared online. A photo posted to Imgur on Monday night shows one user expressing a pro-gun stance in a Facebook comment thread. “I am all for gun control,” the user wrote. “If there is a gun in the room, I want to be in control of it.” Gregg Gorton, whose Facebook profile identifies [...]

Shubu Ghosh, Alaska Child Psychiatrist Gets the Slammer in $605k medicaid fraud case

KTUU Anchorage child psychiatrist to serve 3.5 years for $605k medicaid fraud By Mallory Peebles July 29, 2015 An Anchorage child psychiatrist was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for medicaid fraud for more than half a million dollars. Dr. Shubhranjan "Shubu" Ghosh was pinpointed as the mastermind behind a white collar crime that stole around $605,000 from the state of Alaska. Judge Phillip Volland sentenced Ghosh to seven years in prison with half the time suspended. In addition to the three and a half years of jail time, Ghosh is required to pay back $605,000 in restitution. "Dr. [...]

Ashwini Sabnis, Connecticut psychiatrist, targeted by Attorney General for Fraud Scheme

Connecticut Post Fairfield psychiatrist charged with fraud By Ken Dixon June 18, 2015 Psychiatrist Ashwini Sabnis, Brighter Concept, Inc., 2000 Post Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824 HARTFORD - A Fairfield psychiatrist is the target of a lawsuit alleging a long-running fraud scheme to file phony claims with the state Department of Social Services. Attorney General George Jepsen announced Thursday morning that Dr. Ashwini Sabnis and her husband Saurav “Sam” Mohanty, co-owners of Brighter Concept, Inc., 2000 Post Road in Fairfield, filed false claims under the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program. Jepsen said he is seeking triple damages under the state’s False [...]

Mark Simko, Clearwater Morton Plant Psychiatrist, kicks patient out of office for breast feeding

ABC Action News St. Petersburg mother Nichole Moore says a doctor kicked her out of his office for nursing her baby By Jacqueline Ingles Jun 15, 2015 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A St. Petersburg mom says she was kicked out of a doctor’s office for nursing her 8-month-old baby during an appointment. "He said, 'I couldn't give him my full attention,'" recalled Nichole Moore. Moore told ABC Action News she waited two months to see Dr. Mark Simko, a psychiatrist, on June 11. Struggling with her infant, Moore wanted to see if she could be suffering from postpartum depression. According [...]

Koock E. Jung, NY psychiatrist, licensed for 50 years, suspended for “gross incompetence” and “moral unfitness”

Post Star Local psychiatrist's medical license suspended By Don Lehman June 23, 2015 Psychiatrist Koock E Jung Office, 597 Bay Rd, Queensbury, NY 12804 QUEENSBURY A Queensbury psychiatrist had his medical license suspended for 6 months last week after the state Department of Health brought a disciplinary case against him for allegations of “gross incompetence” and “moral unfitness.” Dr. Koock E. Jung, who operates Psychotherapy Center on Bay Road in Queensbury, will also spend 3 years on probation after the suspension is lifted, according to the Department of Health. The suspension takes effect June 29. The Department of Health [...]

Koock Jung, Psychiatrist – breaks down when confronted by reporter over harassment and abuse

News10.com Local psychiatrist accused of harassment, abuse By Lindsay Nielsen June 24, 2015 QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A North Country psychiatrist will have his license suspended for six months amid accusations of harassment, abuse and intimidation. A Queensbury psychiatrist has been accused of gross incompetence and moral unfitness. Dr. Koock Jung denies any wrongdoing but added that he can’t successfully defend himself from all the allegations. Some of his former patients claimed Dr. Jung asked them for hugs, told them they were beautiful, rubbed their legs, and touched them in a sexual nature. But Dr. Jung said it’s not true. [...]

Waldo Ellison, Virginia Beach Psychiatrist, settles $2 million lawsuit by parents of man who committed suicide after being prescribed escalating doses of Adderall. Ellison retired November 1, the day his license was suspended by the Virginia Board of Medicine

Virginian Pilot Lawsuit against former Va. Beach psychiatrist resolved out of court By Elizabeth Simpson The Virginian-Pilot July 6, 2015 Psychiatrist Waldo Ellison A lawsuit against a former Virginia Beach psychiatrist that was set to begin next week has been resolved out of court, according to a lawyer who represents the parents of Richard Fee, a Virginia Beach man who committed suicide in November 2011 after being prescribed escalating doses of Adderall. Robert Moreland, who represents Kathy and Rick Fee of Virginia Beach, said the resolution with former psychiatrist Waldo Ellison contains a clause to not reveal the terms [...]

Dancing “better than a psychiatrist”

Leader Dancing 'better than a psychiatrist' says shire folk group By Jim Gainsford July 5, 2015 Good for the spirits — and body: Sutherland Shire Folk Dance Group members Kaye Laurendet and Lorraine Crane (centre, foreground) with (from left) Fiona Clark, Bert Laurendet, Paul Clark, Judith Connolly and Joan Gillies (right). Picture: Chris Lane SUTHERLAND Shire Folk Dance Group members believe they are proof dancing is good for you — mentally and physically. The folk dancers, who celebrated the 40th anniversary of their group on June 13, have been the subject of a university study and two ABC [...]

Michael Kessler, Penn. psychiatrist, hauled off to prison for child sex crimes

Pocono Record UNLAWFUL CONTACT WITH MINOR Cresco ex-psychiatrist caught 'grooming' boy on Facebook sentenced By Andrew Scott July 11, 2015 Psychiatrist Michael Kessler was sentenced to state prison for trying to lure a 13-year-old boy to meet him for sex A Monroe County mother's protective vigilance in monitoring her son's Facebook account is what likely spared him from being victimized by someone she and her family had known and trusted. "You messed with the wrong mother's child," she told former psychiatrist Michael Kessler, 45, of Cresco, in court Friday, shortly before Kessler was sentenced to 1½ to five [...]

Gregg Hunter, Louisiana psychiatrist, wants license back after being suspended for rudeness, sexual misconduct and poor bedside manner

Louisiana Record Psychiatrist seeks reinstatement of license in suit against medical board June 8, 2015 By Local Labs News Service Practice address for Gregg Spaulding Hunter A doctor is suing a state medical board regarding a 2014 matter. Gregg Spaulding Hunter, a psychiatrist licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana, filed a lawsuit against The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on May 29, citing civil rights violation. The suit states that the defendant issued a suspension of the plaintiff’s license on May 30, 2014, based on an alleged [...]

Ong Ming Tan, Aussie psychiatrist, “highly devious”, jailed for inappropriately touching a group of young patients suffering from serious mental illnesses

Sydney Morning Herald Former patient of psychiatrist Ong Ming Tan tells of 'betrayal' By Paul Bibby July 12, 2015 Psychiatrist Ong Ming Tan One of seven women suing a North Shore medical clinic after they were indecently assaulted by its psychiatrist has described as "cruel" and "devastating" the facility's refusal to accept liability for what happened within its walls. Sixteen months after Ong Ming Tan was jailed for inappropriately touching a group of young patients suffering from serious mental illnesses, one victim has told Fairfax Media that the Greenwich based Northside clinic knew what was happening but failed to [...]

Avijit Mitra, psychiatrist at Connecticut Valley Psych Hospital, improperly prescribed drugs to himself, his wife and others

New Haven Register Hamden psychiatrist must hire monitor; Stamford psychiatrist fined By Kate Farrish May 19, 2015 Avijit Mitra "practices" at Connecticut Valley Psych Hospital The state Medical Examining Board placed the medical license of a Hamden psychiatrist on probation for a year Tuesday and ordered him to hire a psychiatrist to supervise his practice. The psychiatrist, Dr. Avijit Mitra, who has an office in Woodbridge, has already paid $55,000 in state and federal fines for improperly prescribing controlled substances to himself, his wife and others, state records show. At its meeting in Hartford Tuesday, the board also fined [...]

Lisa Perdue, Texas psychiatrist resigns from Terrell State Psych Hospital, after confronted with disciplinary action for taking $615,525 from drug company – Forbidden by state health code

Texas Tribune Terrell State Psychiatrists Resign After Accusations by Ryan McCrimmon April 17, 2015 Psychiatrist Lisa Perdue Terrell State Psych Hospital Two psychiatrists at Terrell State Hospital resigned this week after being told they would face disciplinary action for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a pharmaceutical company to promote the drug Seroquel, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. According to agency documents, Dr. Anthony Claxton, the hospital's clinical director, and Dr. Lisa Perdue, a psychiatrist, received large amounts of money from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to promote the company’s drugs to other doctors [...]

Gerardo Navarro Rodriguez, Puerto Rican Child Psychiatrist, Gets 15 years in Prison – transporting a minor for prostitution

Google translation: PrimeraHora.com Psychiatrist sentenced for abusing a minor Por Francisco Rodríguez-Burns May 7, 2015 Psychiatrist Gerardo Navarro Rodriguez Psychiatrist Gerardo Navarro Rodriguez was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison on the charge of transporting a minor for prostitution and criminal sexual conduct. Federal Judge Jay García Gregory issued the sentence, as suggested by a plea agreement for the accused, whose practice is focused on care for children and adolescents. "It's very difficult to stand here and look at the person who hurt me so deeply. Really do not know how there are people who abuse [...]

British psychiatrist Colin Brewer (revoked license) hired to sign off on suicides at Switzerland “suicide clinic”, which is facing a major criminal probe

Daily Mail Banned British doctor who approves Dignitas suicides secretly recorded advising how patients can 'pop their clogs' even when they are not terminally ill By Lucy Osborne and Katherine Faulkner and Paul Bentley May 29 2015 British psychiatrist Colin Brewer Dignitas is sending people who want to die to a banned British doctor for approval they need for an assisted suicide, the Mail can reveal. The clinic is telling patients to get a report from a controversial psychiatrist struck off nine years ago for serious misconduct. They say that Colin Brewer – who has helped at least 12 [...]

Muhammad Choudhry, psychiatrist, routinely billed for 20 hours per day, Ohio permanently revoked his license. Now Illinois is investigating him for providing group therapy sessions to more than 100 Medicaid patients every other day in 2010 and 2011

Reuters Banned from Medicare, still billing Medicaid By M.B. Pell and Kristina Cooke April 29, 2015 Psychiatrist Muhammad Choudhry NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO – A doctor who took kickbacks from a Pennsylvania hospice involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud. An Ohio psychiatrist who billed for treating no-show patients. A Georgia optometrist who claimed he conducted 177 eye exams in one day. Their transgressions vary. What these doctors have in common is that each was paid by a state Medicaid health insurance program after being kicked out of another state’s Medicaid system or the federal Medicare program. That’s not supposed to happen. [...]

Stephen Olson, Minnesota psychiatrist, Violated Patient Safety Procedures during drug trials

Minnesota Public Radio News Review finds U of M psychiatry researcher violated patient safety procedures By Alex Friedrich May 15, 2015 Psychiatrist Stephen Olson An outside review commissioned by the University of Minnesota has found a university psychiatry researcher made three safety procedure violations during a 2007 study — two of them serious. The report by FTI Consulting, released Friday, says Dr. Stephen Olson failed to give a research subject important information about a drug he was taking. Olson and his team also inappropriately prepped the patient for the study before he agreed to participate. But the FTI Consulting [...]

Andrew Leggett, Psychiatrist Down Under, “Patient Pressured Him Into Sex”; Medical Board wanted him suspended but Judge worried about maintaining public confidence in psychiatrists

The Courier-Mail Psychiatrist claims patient pressured him into having sex By Vanda Carson May 19, 2015 Psychiatrist Andrew Leggett A VETERAN psychiatrist given a slap on the wrist for having sex with a depressed former patient says she propositioned him for sex during therapy. Andrew Alfred George Leggett, who currently works in a private practice in South Brisbane, said his patient transferred her “erotic feelings” to him. Dr Leggett today appeared before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal where he admitted he was wrong to have sex with the woman who was suffering from chronic depression. Dr Leggett has [...]

William Rader, Malibu psychiatrist, license revoked 20 years ago. Now, Rader continues to sell unproven stem cell treatments “His dishonesty permeates every aspect of his business and practices”

LA Times Doctor with revoked license continues to sell unproven stem cell treatments By Alan Zarembo May 16, 2015 Courtesy of KABC, Los Angeles (July 30, 2010) Last fall, two decades after Malibu psychiatrist William Rader began selling unproven stem cell treatments to desperate patients with incurable conditions, California authorities permanently revoked his medical license for negligence, false or misleading advertising and professional misconduct. "His dishonesty permeates every aspect of his business and practices," the medical board wrote in a scathing 39-page decision. Today, Rader has a new title: "chief scientist" rather than "chief medical officer." But his California company [...]

Anna Binder, Conn. Psychiatrist, disciplined for using hospital letterhead to create fake medical reports

Binder is also licensed in the State of Florida. These two addresses are listed for her: KROME DETENTION CENTER CLINIC OF INNOVATIVE MINDS, P.A., 2627 NE 203RD STREET, SUITE 214, AVENTURA, FL Psychiatrist Anna Binder, Connecticut Discipline Records Hartford Courant Two Psychiatrists Disciplined By Medical Examining Board By Kate Farrish HARTFORD — ---BEGIN EXCERPT In the first case, Dr. Anna Binder must also complete course work in professional ethics and patients' rights under a consent order that she signed on March 31. The Department of Public Health began an investigation of Binder in October 2014 when Stamford [...]

Curtis Steele, Canadian Psychiatrist, 82, Charged with Child Porn, Took Photos of Young Girls

CBC News Former Halifax psychiatrist Curtis Steele facing child porn charges Steele had licence revoked after he was accused of exploiting 14-year-old girl under his care May 8, 2015 Psychiatrist Curtis Steele A former psychiatrist who practised in Halifax and taught at Dalhousie University has been charged with a child pornography offence. Dr. Curtis Steele, 82, is charged with printing and publishing child pornography. The alleged offence took place 11 years ago, between January and December 2004. He is expected to answer to the charges on June 16. In the meantime, Steele has been ordered to stay away from [...]

Maykel Luna, Psychiatrist – Performs Shock Treatment at Morton Plant Hospital

PsychSearch.net Yeah, They Still Do Shock Treatment By Ken Kramer May 12, 2015 Note: Saturday, May 16, 2015, is the international day of protest against shock treatment. There will be demonstrations protesting shock treatment in many cities around the world. Morton Plant Shock Treatment Psychiatrist Maykel Luna-Concepcion A couple of years ago PsychSearch received an encouraging tip that shock treatment was no longer used at Morton Plant hospital in Clearwater, Florida, where we are located. But we were dispirited when we heard from Elizabeth Hardy, Morton Plant's spokesperson. Her e-mail was short: "Electroconvulsive Therapy is offered at Morton [...]