“Sexual misconduct is particularly damaging to the reputation of psychiatry because the damages to patients which result are mental and emotional in nature. If psychiatry loses the confidence of society, its ability to pursue its mission will be damaged.”
American Psychiatric Association
Approved by the Board of Trustees
March 1993
Ottawa Citizen
PSYCHIATRISTS MORE LIKELY TO MISBEHAVE; STUDY; SEXUAL MISCONDUCT A PARTICULAR PROBLEM
December 8, 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 specialty.
The Associated Press
PSYCHIATRISTS RARELY TURN IN COLLEAGUES FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
April 7, 1987
Two-thirds of psychiatrists say they have treated patients who were sexually involved with other therapists, but they report colleagues for unethical sexual behavior in less than 10 percent of the cases, according to a national survey.
The Tennessean
PSYCHIATRISTS LOSE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT MALPRACTICE INSURANCE
February 25, 1985
Beginning May 1, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) will no longer cover sexual misconduct, or so-called “undue familiarity,” in its malpractice insurance. Millions of dollars have been paid to settle complaints and lawsuits stemming from sexual misconduct, the largest award being $4.66 million, awarded in 1981.
The Seattle Times
PATIENT ABUSE — MANY THERAPISTS SEEM UNWILLING TO POLICE THEIR OWN PROFESSION
April 11, 1993
Newsweek magazine reported that “65 percent of psychiatrists said they had treated patients who had been sexually involved with previous therapists,” but only 8 percent reported the incidents to authorities.
One woman, Barbara Noel, wrote a book (“You Must Be Dreaming”) about her nightmare of psychiatric sexual abuse. She revealed that the American Psychiatric Association tried to protect her psychiatrist from unfavorable publicity.
Furthermore, Noel’s abuser, Jules Masserman, was not just any psychiatrist, but a past president of the American Psychiatric Association and an honorary life president of the World Association for Social Psychiatry.
The Burlington Free Press
VERMONT PSYCHIATRISTS DISCIPLINED AT HIGHER RATE
May 26, 2002
A Burlington Free Press analysis has found that 39 percent of the doctors disciplined by state regulators in the past five years have been psychiatrists. Fewer than 11 percent of Vermont’s doctors practice psychiatry.
Further, nearly all the charges involved doctors’ sexual misconduct or abuse of alcohol and drugs.
Ashok Bharucha, State College psychiatrist, sentenced
Ashok Bharucha Ashok Bharchua (Centre County Prison) Centre Daily State College psychiatrist pleads guilty after sexual misconduct allegations By Bret Pallotto September 20, 2021 -- Excerpt A State College psychiatrist accused of sexual misconduct with a patient was sentenced Monday to two years of probation. Ashok Bharucha, 54, pleaded guilty Monday to one misdemeanor count of simple assault. One felony count of sexual assault and two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault were dropped. Bharucha was accused of performing unwanted oral sex on a patient during a June 2020 appointment at his downtown State College office, borough police [...]
Abner Pasatiempo, Guam Government psychiatrist, arrested in Alaska
Abner Pasatiempo Pacific Daily News Former GovGuam psychiatrist arrested in Alaska By Steve Limtiaco September 1, 2021 -- Excerpt Dr. Abner Pasatiempo, a former Guam government psychiatrist wanted in connection with official misconduct and harassment, was arrested last week in Alaska, according to the Office of the Attorney General. After his arrest on a Guam warrant, Pasatiempo was released on a $2,000 bail bond and ordered not to leave Alaska, according to the attorney general’s office. The Superior Court of Alaska set a Sept. 30 status hearing for the case. The attorney general’s office in February filed a criminal complaint [...]
Andrew Nadell, Bay area psychiatrist, accused of raping 13-year-old
Andrew Nadell San Francisco Chronicle Former patient accuses Bay Area psychiatrist of raping her at age 13, state medical board alleges By Annie Vainshtein July 24, 2021 -- Excerpt The Medical Board of California has accused a Burlingame psychiatrist of sexual misconduct, exploitation and abuse after investigating allegations that he raped a 13-year-old patient and forced her to perform other sexual acts in 2009. William Prasifka, executive director of the medical board, detailed the allegations in a document filed with the board on July 7, in an effort to revoke or suspend the medical license of Dr. Andrew Thomas [...]
Emilio González Fernández, Spanish psychiatrist, convicted
Emilio González Fernández The European Times Spanish psychiatrist convicted of sexual abuse expelled by medical association Originally written by Xurxo Melchor, for La Voz de Galicia, in Spanish. June 4, 2021 -- Excerpt: The organisation’s board of directors stresses that Emilio González Fernández’s behaviour is not in line with the ethical and deontological values of the profession. The board of directors of the Official College of Doctors of A Coruña has unanimously approved the expulsion from the institution of the psychiatrist from Santiago convicted of sexual abuse of a patient. Emilio González Fernández is thus provisionally removed from the profession [...]
Pritpaul Singh, NJ Psychiatrist, License Revoked
Pritpaul Singh NJ.com 3 doctors lose their licenses for sexual misconduct toward patients, says N.J. attorney general By Karin Price Mueller April 28, 2021 -- Excerpt ... The third revocation was the license of psychiatrist Dr. Pritpaul Singh, 71, “for his alleged involvement in sexual activity with a female patient, violation of the standards for prescribing controlled dangerous substances (CDS), failure to utilize the Prescription Monitoring Program, and failure to monitor patient compliance with treatment,” the state said. Singh was never criminally charged and phone numbers linked to him were out of service. The revocations follow reforms announced by the [...]
Manoj Bhargava, Fredericton psychiatrist, suspended
Manoj Bhargava CBC Fredericton psychiatrist suspended by College of Physicians and Surgeons By Lauren Bird November 17, 2020 -- Excerpt A Fredericton psychiatrist was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons on Tuesday after the college received several complaints about him that alleged misconduct toward patients. Dr. Manoj Bhargava works at Fredericton Addiction and Mental Health, which is part of Horizon Health, and part time at the Student Health Centre at the University of New Brunswick. Alison Larade began seeing Bhargava as a first-year student at St. Thomas University. "It definitely was very traumatizing," she said Tuesday... Larade [...]
Gavin Meany, Minn psychiatrist – imprisoned for sexual assault
Gavin Meany Star Tribune 7½-year sentence for Twin Cities psychiatrist who repeatedly sexually assaulted patient Gavin P. Meany will serve the first five years in prison and the balance on supervised release. By Paul Walsh September 10, 2020 -- Excerpt Gavin P. Meany, 39, was sentenced Wednesday in Dakota County District Court after pleading guilty in January to four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Upon sentencing by Judge Jerome Abrams, Meany was taken into custody and will serve the first five years of his term in prison and then be under court supervision for life. Dakota County prosecutors had [...]
Queensland Psychiatrist offers own husband to patient for sex therapy
Queensland Psychiatrist Courier Mail Wacky sex therapy Shrink's hubby slept with patient By Kay Dibben August 15, 2020 -- Excerpt A PSYCHIATRIST who treated a female patient with sexual anxiety by getting her to have sex with her own husband — while she watched — has been fined $25,000. The doctor and her husband also had sex in front of the patient during the highly unconventional "sex therapy", a tribunal heard. The patient had previously lived with the psychiatrist and her husband as an au pair, and the two women later became friends. But it was during a therapeutic relationship, [...]
Memphis Psychiatrist Richard Farmer Must Surrender License
Memphis Psychiatrist Richard Farmer Legal Reader Pharmacist Who Stole Opioids Must Surrender License By Sara E. Teller July 2, 2020 -- Excerpt ... In February of this year, Memphis psychiatrist, 83-year-old licensed psychiatrist Richard Farmer, was also found guilty of unlawfully distributing opioids. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found Farmer guilty of “three counts of distribution of controlled substances outside of the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.” Farmer was charged in April 2019 after reportedly giving opioids to three sisters who he had “ongoing sexual contact” with while prescribing the opioids. Farmer is accused [...]
Psychiatrist Robert Fink, Seattle & New Zealand
Psychiatrist Robert Fink NZME Second American psychiatrist who worked in NZ was accused of sex with US patient By Natalie Akoorie June 6, 2020 A second American psychiatrist allowed to work in New Zealand had been accused of having sex with a former patient in the United States, the Weekend Herald can reveal. Dr Robert Ivan Fink began working for the Waikato District Health Board in August 2015, one month after fake psychiatrist Mohamed Siddiqui was arrested for using forged documents to work at Waikato Hospital. Fink's employment as a locum in adult mental health services came 18 months after [...]
Clarence White, Syracuse Psychiatrist – license revoked for sex with patient
Clarence White Syracuse.com Syracuse psychiatrist accused of having sex with patient loses medical license By James T. Mulder January 14, 2020 -- Excerpt SYRACUSE, NY – The state has revoked the medical license of a Syracuse psychiatrist accused of having sex with a patient. Dr. Clarence White, 44, was working at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca in 2017 when he entered into an inappropriate relationship with a female patient he was treating, according to the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct. He asked the patient for her phone number, socialized with her, started a sexual relationship and gave her [...]
Pikeville Psychiatrist – medical license restricted
Pikeville psychiatrist Lexington Herald Leader Pikeville psychiatrist accused of showing patient nude pictures of men he’s had sex with By Mike Stunson August 5, 2019 --Excerpt A Pikeville psychiatrist has been accused of showing a patient nude photos of men during a session earlier this year. As a result, the medical license for Jason Stamper has been restricted by the state’s Board of Medical Licensure for an indefinite period of time. Stamper practices at the Mountain Comprehensive Care Center in Pikeville. The mother of the patient, a permanently disabled adult, filed a grievance to the board in May that Stamper [...]
James Ryan, Psychiatrist – sexual misconduct with patients
James Ryan East Valley Tribune EV psychiatrist runs afoul of 2 medical boards By Jordan Houston June 18, 2019 -- Excerpt The way the medical boards of California and Arizona saw it before suspending him this month, East Valley psychiatrist Dr. James Matthew Crowley Ryan had other things in mind when three different women came to him for psychiatric care. Investigators for the California Attorney General’s office said: When one woman told the Gilbert resident, then practicing in the San Diego area, that she had had an extramarital affair, he “told her that she should have more affairs” – then [...]
Richard Farmer, Psychiatrist, East Memphis, wrote prescriptions “in exchange for sexual favors or companionship”
Richard Farmer Commercial Appeal Here are the Memphis medical professionals indicted in federal opioid crackdown By Micaela Watts April 18, 2019 -- Excerpt Farmer is a psychiatrist with a practice in East Memphis, and is accused of prescribing hydrocodone and aprazolam, or Xanax, to female patients in exchange for sexual favors or their companionship. He is also accused of keeping inadequate patient records, prescribing addictive substances to patients before meeting them and not requiring a drug screen for some patients before prescribing the sometimes deadly combination of hydrocodone and alprazolam... WVLT Prosecutors: West Tennessee doctor trades pills for sexual favors [...]
D. Eugene Redmond Jr., Connecticut Psychiatrist – banned from the Yale campus after claims of sexual misconduct
D. Eugene Redmond Jr. New Haven Register Yale hires investigator after claims of sexual misconduct against former professor By Ed Stannard January 28, 2019 -- Excerpt NEW HAVEN — Yale University President Peter Salovey has hired a former U.S. attorney to investigate sexual misconduct complaints against a former psychiatry professor at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. D. Eugene Redmond Jr. retired in July 2018 while disciplinary proceedings were being brought, based on a student intern’s complaint, according to a Yale news release. A second student filed a complaint this month. The two students were interns at the St. [...]
Leon Fajerman, California psychiatrist, gets house arrest for sexual abuse
Leon Fajerman NBC San Diego South Bay Psychiatrist Guilty of Sexual Assault Avoids Jail Time By NBC 7 Staff January 18, 2019 -- Excerpt A South Bay psychiatrist who admitted to sexually abusing six female patients avoided a jail sentence Friday, shocking and angering his victims. Leon Fajerman at first denied allegations he sexually assaulted the women during counseling sessions, but later pleaded guilty in October to felony sexual contact with a patient and misdemeanor sexual battery. There were eight victims in all involved in incidents between October 2016 and July 2017. Letters to Judge Frank Devaney written by Fajerman's [...]
Douglas Rank, Kentucky psychiatrist, sentenced for stabbing
The Cincinnati Enquirer Psychiatrist sentenced for stabbing December 21, 2010 By Jim Hannah -- Excerpt Psychiatrist Douglas Rank COVINGTON, Ky. - A psychiatrist was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for using a sword to stab a patient he had sex with and plied with narcotics. Dr. Douglas Rank was sentenced after pleading guilty in October to first-degree assault. Rank, 52, will not be eligible for parole until he serves 85 percent of his sentence. The charge was punishable by 10 years to 20 years in prison. Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders had recommended 15 years... [...]
Anthony Wolf, Psychiatrist, Ann Arbor – sex with patient
Anthony Wolf The Detroit News State suspends Ann Arbor psychiatrist's license By Charles E. Ramirez November 12, 2018 -- Excerpt An Ann Arbor psychiatrist's medical license has been suspended for at least six months after he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a patient, according to documents filed with the state. Anthony John Wolf has also been fined $20,000 by the state's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The state's Board of Medicine issued its order to suspend Wolf's license on Oct. 12, according to documents recently released by the licensing department... The psychiatrist allegedly began a sexual affair with [...]
John Katzenberg, Townsend Psychiatrist, License revoked
John Katzenberg Lowell Sun Well-known Townsend doctor’s license revoked September 12, 2018, Updated: July 11, 2019. By Scott Shurtleff -- Excerpt TOWNSEND — A well-known physician with a long-standing downtown practice has had his state medical license revoked, in part for having a romantic relationship with a patient, according to a press release from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. The decision to revoke Dr. John P. Katzenberg’s medical license was announced recently following a disciplinary decision by the board on Aug. 9. According to a final report of action, the Internal Medicine doctor “engaged in a romantic relationship [...]
Psychiatrist Leon Fajerman, San Diego, surrenders license
Psychiatrist Leon Fajerman nbcsandiego.com South Bay Doctor Accused of Abuse Surrenders Medical License By NBC 7 Investigates May 16, 2018 -- Excerpt A South Bay psychiatrist accused of sexually abusing female patients has surrendered his medical license. According to documents released by the California Medical Board, Dr. Leon Fajerman fondled, kissed, or sexually abused eight women in his Chula Vista offices. Last year, an administrative judge suspended Fajerman's license after the first credible complaint was filed. After NBC 7 Investigates reported that decision, more women came forward claiming abuse...
Jo Erik Brøyn, Norway Psychiatrist, sentenced
Jo Erik Brøyn The Sunday Guardian A case exposing the double standards of Norway’s CPS By Nibedita Saha May 12, 2018 -- Excerpt One of Norway’s top child-protection policy experts, Jo Erik Brøyn, was sentenced to prison under the country’s child pornography laws. His arrest further discredits Norway’s Child Protection Services. A child psychiatrist and top child protection expert, 56-year-old Jo Erik Brøyn, who in 2010 became the single father to two Indian surrogate babies, has been sentenced to nearly two years’ jail under Norway’s child pornography laws. Brøyn was found guilty of possessing and sharing an enormous quantity of [...]
James Yelton-Rossello, Florida psychiatrist, alleged to have molested jailed psychiatric patients
James Yelton-Rossello Daily Mail Doctors all over the US are keeping their licenses to practice medicine despite rampant sexual misconduct against patients, shocking investigation reveals By Associated Press April 14, 2018 -- Excerpt The lenience of penalties for sexually abusive doctors sometimes a source of frustration even for members of the medical board who administer the discipline, according to Jason Rosenberg, a former chairman of the Florida medical board. 'This is incredibly inappropriate,' Rosenberg said during one 2013 meeting when Florida's medical board allowed James Yelton-Rossello, a psychiatrist alleged to have molested jailed psychiatric patients, to keep his license. The [...]
Thomas Radecki, Pennsylvania psychiatrist, not too old for prison
Thomas Radecki PennLive Psychiatrist convicted in drugs-for-sex scheme isn't too old for prison, Pa. court says February 22, 2018 By Matt Miller -- Excerpt A Pennsylvania psychiatrist who traded pills to 13 female drug addicts for sex in a bid to build a "commune" could be fated to die in prison. The odds of that happening to 72-year-old Thomas Radecki increased this week when a state Superior Court panel refused to overturn his 11- to 22-year jail term. In an opinion by Judge Victor P. Stabile, the state court rejected Radecki's argument that his sentence [...]
Julian Kent, Aussie Psychiatrist, banned for life
Julian Kent The Advertiser BEAST ON THE COUCH November 18, 2017 By Nigel Hunt -- Excerpt An Adelaide psychiatrist who sexually abused three of his vulnerable patients has been banned for life, after a lengthy investigation by police and the state's medical board. Dr Julian Kent, right, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct over the shocking abuse, which happened over a 12-year period and inflicted further psychological damage to his victims. In one of the worst cases of misconduct uncovered in the profession in Adelaide, the SA Health Practitioners Tribunal permanently disqualified Dr Kent from applying for registration after hearing [...]
Marshall Hubsher, Sands Point Pychiatrist – sentenced
Psychiatrist Marshall Hubsher Marshall Hubsher Long Island Business News Former psychiatrist sentenced in attempted jury tampering, burglary case By Adina Genn August 9, 2017 -- Excerpt A former psychiatrist has been sentenced in a case involving attempted jury tampering and burglary, authorities said Wednesday. Marshall Hubsher of Sands Point was sentenced to one to three years after he pleaded guilty in July to third-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree attempted tampering with a juror, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas... While Hubsher was on trial in a separate case in 2016, he entered private jury [...]