MEDIA
Psych Handed Five-Year Sentence
Calgary Herald Calgary psychiatrist handed five-year sentence By Daryl Slade January 31, 2013 Once a prominent forensic psychiatrist tasked with interviewing and writing reports on offenders in custody, Dr. Aubrey Levin is now a convicted sex offender, facing a lengthy prison term. Levin, 74, who was convicted by a jury on Monday of sexually abusing three of his patients, was sentenced on Thursday to five years. “Dr. Levin, your actions in sexually assaulting (RB, GP and WG), constitute horrible violations of the trust that these the patients put in you as their psychiatrist,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley [...]
Sentencing for Psych Today
CBC News Ex-psychiatrist's rabbi calls prison term 'death sentence' Aubrey Levin sexually assaulted 3 male patients in Calgary Jan 30, 2013 Former psychiatrist Aubrey Levin refused to speak to reporters following sentencing arguments Wednesday. (Meghan Grant/CBC) Sentencing arguments concluded late Wednesday afternoon for Aubrey Levin, the former psychiatrist found guilty this week of sexually assaulting three of his male patients. Levin refused to answer any questions asked by reporters outside of the courtroom. The judge will sentence Levin on Thursday at 11 a.m. MT. Levin, 74, who had served in the past as a court-appointed psychiatrist, was originally [...]
Psychiatrist caught video-taping patient without her knowledge
Blackburn News Psychiatrist Case Back in Court January 8th, 2013 Psychiatrist - Stanley Dobrowolski The case of a London psychiatrist accused of video-taping a patient without her knowledge returns to court today. Stanley Dobrowolski’s lawyer will appear to receive evidence from the Crown. The 64-year-old psychiatrist is charged with one count of voyeurism and one count of sexual assault. In November, Dobrowolski was released on bail under very strict instructions not to contact the alleged victim nor or any of his former patients and not to write any prescriptions.
Psych License Revoked – Sex with Patient – Blames Brain Injury
TheDay.com New London, CT State fines East Lyme doctor for lapses in care By Kate Farrish, Conn. Health I-Team Writer 12/20/2012 Excerpt: In other business Tuesday, the board revoked the Connecticut medical license of Dr. Michael Anthony of Shrewsbury, Mass., a psychiatrist who also had an office in Putnam, CT. It took the action based on findings in Massachusetts that Anthony had violated patient confidentiality and had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female patient. Massachusetts officials revoked his license in 2011 after concluding he had acted unprofessionally in treating the woman. Anthony had argued that his judgment was impaired [...]
Victim of Psych Fights Back
Calgary Herald Witness denies trying to extort psychiatrist By Jason Van Rassel January 8, 2013 Psychiatrist Aubrey Levin Repeated outbursts on the stand earned a contempt-of-court citation for the Crown's main witness against a former Calgary forensic psychiatrist accused of molesting several male patients. The witness, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, became angry when defence lawyer Chris Archer suggested the man secretly recorded Dr. Aubrey Levin fondling his genitals during appointments in an attempt to extort money from him. "You think I liked that?" the man said, adding he did it to prevent Levin from victimizing [...]
Shocking Numbers – CA Psych’s Pay
California State Psychiatrist Paid Twice as much as the President News10.net Calif. state psychiatrists' see salary increase with bidding war By Jonathan Mumm Dec 13, 2012 Gov. Jerry Brown may be the state's top official, but his salary as governor is over four times less than what one particular state psychiatrist made last year. While the median salary for state psychiatrists across the country was $195,000, here in California 93 made more than $300,000 and another 15 made over $400,000. However, one psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammad Safi, made over $822,000. Safi is currently on administrative leave, his case under investigation. Department [...]
Psychiatrist paid patient $42,200 to keep secret about affair
New Zealand Herald Psychiatrist denies affair with patient By Abby Gillies Dec 15, 2012 A married psychiatrist accused of a sexual relationship spanning countries and almost a year has been found in breach of professional and legal standards. When the affair came to light, the doctor allegedly paid his 24-year-old patient $42,200 to try to keep it secret from authorities. In a recently released report, the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) found the psychiatrist, referred to only as Dr C, entered an ongoing intimate relationship with the patient, Ms A, a woman who suffered from fear of separation, difficulty connecting [...]
Psychiatrists: “Dark Day for Psychiatry”
The Guardian Anger as French psychiatrist found guilty of manslaughter because patient killed By Angelique Chrisafis 19 December 2012 French psychiatrists' unions have reacted angrily after a doctor was found guilty of manslaughter because her patient hacked an elderly man to death. In the first case of its kind in France, Daniele Canarelli, 58, a psychiatrist based at the Edouard-Toulouse hospital in Marseille, was sentenced to one year's suspended prison sentence as judges said she had committed the "grave error" of failing to recognise the public danger posed by Joel Gaillard, her patient of four years. French psychiatrist Daniele [...]
Psychiatrist Arrested for Declaring Woman Kookie
Times of India Psychiatrist held for certifying woman mentally ill Nov 24, 2012 A psychiatrist, who allegedly issued a false certificate declaring a healthy woman as mentally challenged, was arrested by Vanasthalipuram police on Friday. Cyberabad police said, A Shekhar Reddy, a private practitioner, was approached by advocate B Sriramulu for a certificate declaring his wife B Manjula mentally unsound. "On the request of Sriramulu, Shekhar issued a false certificate and a few prescriptions which declared that Nirmala was mentally unsound. Actually she is mentally and physically sound. During investigation, it was found that Sriramulu hatched this plan to [...]
Psych Busted by Spy Camera
Calgary Herald Key witness to testify as Dr. Levin sex trial resumes Thursday By Daryl Slade November 14, 2012 The sex assault trial of former prominent forensic psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin, which has been plagued by numerous delays over the past six weeks, is expected to be back on track on Thursday. The jury, which has heard just a few days of evidence since the trial before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley began in early October, should hear first from the original complainant, R.B., when it returns. When R.B. testified briefly a month ago, the two videos he [...]
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 [...]
40% Of High-Prescribing Docs Get Pharma Perks
Psychiatrist Velandy Manohar Connecticut Health I-Team by Lisa Chedekel Jul 28, 2012 In 2010 and 2011, Dr. Irene Abramovich of West Hartford was the state’s top prescriber of Invega, an antipsychotic medication marketed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. She also was in the top five prescribers of Zyprexa, an antipsychotic marketed by Eli Lilly, in 2008 and 2009. Drug company reports show Janssen paid Abramovich $11,900 in speaking fees and travel expenses in 2010. Eli Lilly paid her $26,000 as a speaker in 2009, and more than $47,000 for speaking and travel in 2010. Similarly, in 2010 and 2011, Dr. [...]
Fat Cat Miami Chief Psych
Feeds at Taxpayer Trough
Feeds at Taxpayer Trough
Charles NemeroffUniversity of Miami medical school psychiatry chair Pharmalot NIH Insists Latest Nemeroff Grant Is Kosher By Ed Silverman August 13th, 2012 Three months ago, US Senator Chuck Grassley demanded that the National Institutes of Health justify a recent decision to award a multi-million-dollar research grant to Charles Nemeroff, the University of Miami medical school psychiatry chair, who has been at the center of a far-reaching probe into conflicts of interest involving academic researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. The grant is for research into post-traumatic stress disorder. As we reported previously, the grant was made three years after the [...]
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TERMINATES ALL FLORIDA PSYCHIATRISTS
PSYCHSEARCH.NET BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TERMINATES ALL FLORIDA PSYCHIATRISTS - One Year Later By Ken Kramer August 15, 2012 Psychiatrists are among the lowest-paid of all physicians because, unlike other doctors, they do not bill by the procedure and are reimbursed by time, this according to Bill Gallagher, of Gainesville, Florida who promotes himself as a "human rights advocate". So, it was especially hard for Florida psychiatrists when in August of last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBS) terminated the contracts of all psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health professionals in the State of Florida. BCBS simply cancelled the [...]
Boy Grows Breasts – Settles Lawsuit with Psych Drug Maker on First Day of Trial
Bloomberg J&J Settles Risperdal Lawsuit on Opening Day of Trial By Jef Feeley and Margaret Cronin Fisk Sep 10, 2012 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) settled a lawsuit on the first day of a trial over claims its antipsychotic drug Risperdal caused a male plaintiff to grow breast tissue, one of his lawyers told a state judge in Philadelphia. The lawsuit by Aron Banks, 21, was the first to go to trial on claims that Risperdal caused boys to grow breasts. Another trial on the same claim is set to begin Sept. 20 in Philadelphia. The terms of the settlement are [...]
Doctors’ prescriptions raise suspicions of Medicaid fraud
Star Tribune By JEREMY OLSON February 29, 2012 Minnesota officials are reporting a handful of doctors to the state medical board for potential disciplinary action because of the amount of addictive painkillers and potent psychotropic drugs they have prescribed. In a Feb. 13 letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Department of Human Services said it has reported two doctors for excessive prescriptions and was "in the process of reporting others." The letter was an update to Grassley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been investigating whether doctors are bilking the Medicaid system by writing too [...]