Child molestation case against child psychologist Kenneth McPherson is moving out of limbo

From the Augusta Chronicle (See the link for a photo)

Psychologist Kenneth McPherson, 58, was named in two indictments that accuse him of committing acts of child molestation in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011. McPherson has pleaded not guilty in Richmond County Superior Court.

Since 2011, the criminal cases have been placed on trial calendars but later postponed. In January, Assistant District Attorney Rex Myers and attorney Kirk Gilliard presented an order to Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet to put McPherson’s cases on the dead docket because the prosecutor could not find several necessary witnesses.

Although the order was signed and dated Jan. 12, it wasn’t filed with the clerk’s office until Wednesday, when a motion requesting the cases be removed from the dead docket was also filed. According to the motion filed by Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine, the witnesses have been located and interviewed.

Although McPherson wasn’t indicted until 2011, parents of some of his patients warned authorities that something was wrong in 2005. The mothers of two boys reported inappropriate sexual behavior that the children said they learned at McPherson’s office. But one of the boys was unable to communicate with a forensic child interviewer, and the second child’s statement was not thought to be strong enough to file charges.

In early 2011, however, more specific allegations were brought forward and sheriff investigators obtained search warrants for McPherson’s Central Avenue office. Investigators reported finding sexually explicit materials and a photograph of a child dressed only in underwear that had been taken in the office.

McPherson was indicted June 7, 2011, on seven counts of child molestation and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. Overstreet, who is assigned to preside over the case, granted McPherson’s release on a $200,000 bond Aug. 16, 2011.

McPherson was licensed in 1990 in Georgia to practice psychology. His license expired Dec. 31, 2012, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Monroeville psychiatrist charged with billing Medicaid while license suspended

As reported by eTrib Live

A Monroeville psychiatrist accused of Medicaid fraud, theft and delivery of controlled substances had lost his license through Pennsylvania and Ohio suspensions.

The state attorney general's office on Thursday charged Jopindar P. Harika, 61, with more than 100 counts of Medicaid fraud, attempted Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, tampering with public records, delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful prescribing.

“I'm confident that once he has his day in court, we will be able to prevail in these charges,” said Jan Ira Medoff, Harika's attorney. “These are just allegations.”

Harika told a grand jury he was aware his license was suspended for 32 days in 2012 because of unpaid child support in Allegheny County when he is alleged to have seen 565 patients and written prescriptions for at least 453 patients at three mental health agencies in Philadelphia and Berks County.

According to the grand jury presentment, “Harika gave a variety of excuses as to why he continued to practice medicine when he knew that his license was suspended.”

Many of the clients that Harika reported seeing were not billed to Medicaid, but according to the presentment, Harika did bill $59,000 to Medicaid through three agencies: Multicultural Wellness Center in Philadelphia and Reading Behavioral Health Services and Child and Family Support Services in Reading.

The agencies paid him $73,380 in salary.

Administrators from the three facilities said they fired Harika at varying points in 2013.

Multicultural returned $135,000 in fraudulent billing based upon Harika's suspended medical license.

“A doctor's mission should be to provide the best treatment possible for patients, not exploit them to make money,” Attorney General Kathleen Kane said.

Harika is free on $25,000 bond.

According to a report from the State Medical Board of Ohio, Harika's problems began with a 1997 theft charge to which he pleaded guilty. The report stated that Harika billed Somerset State Hospital and Pennsylvania for medical services he did not provide. In 1999, he was sentenced to four years of probation, ordered to pay $84,609 in restitution to Pennsylvania and provide free treatment to mental health patients during the first two years or his probation.

Ohio suspended Harika's license to practice for at least two years; the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine suspended his license for two months, fined him $700 and put him on probation.

Forty Individuals Arrested and Indicted for Social Security Fraud. Psychiatrist at the center of the illegal scheme

As reported in this Department of Justice Press Release. More information and details at the link

On Jan. 12 and 13, 2015, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned 39 separate indictments charging one doctor, Luis Escabi-Pérez, and 39 other individuals for fraud in the application process for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability insurance benefits in Puerto Rico, announced U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez for the District of Puerto Rico.

[...]

Escabi-Pérez, a psychiatrist, submitted psychiatric medical reports to the SSA in support of applications for disability insurance benefits submitted by his patients. Escabi-Pérez charged a fee for the medical visits, typically in the amount of $100. In addition, the defendant typically charged a fee in the amount of $500 for the preparation and submittal of a psychiatric medical report to the SSA. He would at times also charge additional fees of up to $5,000 to backdate medical records in order to create the appearance of a longer history of medical treatment.

For example, on Jan. 15, 2014, Escabi-Pérez submitted a medical report to the SSA suggesting that a patient, who was generally in good health and was not suffering from any physical or mental disabling conditions, was in fact suffering from disabling psychiatric conditions, and that the first medical visit of this patient to him was in April 2013, when in truth this patient’s first visit was in November 2013.

The patient initially received $11,242 as a retroactive payment calculated from the date of entitlement through the approval date. Thereafter, the patient received monthly disability insurance benefit payments of approximately $1,536. The total amount of benefits paid to the patient from the date of entitlement through the date of this indictment is approximately $27,096. Escabi-Pérez is also facing one charge of wire fraud. As part of the manner and means of the conspiracy, the doctor faxed the psychiatric report to the SSA supporting the existence of the alleged psychiatric conditions suffered by the patient, in spite of the fact that these psychiatric conditions were contrived.

Five indictments charge five individuals along with Escabi-Pérez of conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, theft of government property, concealment of failure to disclose an event to SSA and false statement in determining rights for disability. These defendants, aiding and abetting each other, knowingly and willfully embezzled, stole and converted to their own use the social security disability insurance benefit payments to which the defendants knew that they were not entitled.

Another five defendants filed SSA applications during 2011, which indicated the defendants were unable to work due to “back problems, cervical conditions, pain, carpal tunnel, arms numbed, legs numbed, depression,” among others. These defendants are charged with theft of government property because they embezzled, stole and converted to their own use, or the use of others, social security disability insurance benefit payments to which they knew they were not entitled. These defendants are also charged with false statement in determining rights for disability because they lied in the disability report (Form SSA-3368). The defendants stated that they stopped working because of their conditions, although the defendants knew that they stopped working because of a release agreement signed with pharmaceutical companies.

[...]

The defendants who illegally received the benefits are Wilma Bolet, Juana Concepción-Santana, Miriam Cosme-García, Yesenia De Jesús, Ramona García, María García-Reyes, Pedro Laureano-Vázquez, Juan López-Rivera, Elizabeth Maldonado-Laureano, Fernando Marrero-Padilla, Ernie Martell-Orta, Ángel Montes-Orria, Lourdes Reyes-Medina, Candi, Rojas-Molina, Ángel Román-Santana, Miguel Santana-Ríos, José Valle-Oliveras, Edna Vargas-Valdés, Agustín Vázquez-Izquierdo, Orlando Pérez-Juarbe, Jorge Fraguada-Romero, Elsie Boneta-Román, Julio César Álamo-Casiano, Manuel Rivera-Santos, Francisco Declet, Luis Reyes-Serrano, Ismael Alicea-Berdecía, Rosa Espinosa-González, Johany Díaz-Oquendo, Ángel Rivera-Adorno, Myrna Ruiz-Rosso, William Feliciano, Edwin Figueroa, Ana Morales-de Jesús, Rosa Pagán-Ramos, Alberto Sostre-Cintrón, Constancia Vega-García, Raúl Domínguez and Ana Ruiz-Rivera.

“This case is the result of the continued efforts of the SSA and the FBI. Since August 2013, when 75 individuals were indicted for similar charges, including the current charges, we have filed a total of 115 indictments,” said U.S. Attorney Rodríguez-Vélez. “This is a great example of ongoing efforts by the Government to deter fraud against the social security programs. The Department of Justice is committed to investigate and prosecute those who engage in fraudulent schemes. Hopefully this round of arrests will discourage more people from getting involved in these types of schemes, because the investigation continues.”

[...]

“This fraud conspiracy scheme involving unscrupulous medical professionals and SSA disability claimants has been exposed and those involved are being brought to justice. It was only after the analysis of medical source documentation in SSA files that SSA OIG (Office of Inspector General) was able to identify the fraudulent pattern,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Edward J. Ryan of the SSA OIG’sOffice of Investigations. “This intensive and complex investigative work with the FBI and PRPD (Puerto Rico Police Department) consisted of numerous surveillances and other investigative activities that I cannot detail. This intelligence was also shared with the Health and Human Services OIG for their files. The evidence was provided to the U.S. Attorney’s Office which culminated in the additional arrests this morning. OIG will continue to work with our partners to protect the integrity of the Social Security Trust Fund.” “This is another social security disability benefits fraud case where shameless individuals illegally obtained the benefits provided by the federal government,” said Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the FBI’s San Juan Division. “This is not a victimless crime, but rather an outrageous, despicable and reprehensible act that deprives those who truly need assistance. Combating social security disability benefits fraud will continue to be a priority for the FBI in Puerto Rico.” The case was investigated by the SSA-OIG with the collaboration of the FBI and the PRPD. The case was indicted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney María Domínguez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa D. Bonano-Rodríguez for the District of Puerto Rico.

Former Veterans Affairs Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud

As seen in this press Release from the US Department of Justice

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Former Veterans Affairs Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud

Dr. Mikhail L. Presman, a licensed psychiatrist employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), pleaded guilty today to health care fraud for falsely billing Medicare for home medical treatment to Medicare beneficiaries and agreed to forfeit more than $1.2 million in illegal profits.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch of the Eastern District of New York, and Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

According to court documents, from Jan. 1, 2006, through May 10, 2013, Presman submitted approximately $4 million in Medicare claims for home treatment of Medicare beneficiaries notwithstanding his full-time, salaried position as a psychiatrist at the VA hospital in Brooklyn. Contrary to his representations, Presman did not provide any treatment to a substantial number of the beneficiaries he claimed to have treated. For example, Presman submitted claims to Medicare for home medical visits at locations within New York City even though he was physically located in China at the time of these purported home visits. Additionally, Presman submitted claims to Medicare for 55 home medical visits to beneficiaries who were hospitalized on the date of the purported visits.

Presman is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser of the Eastern District of New York on Feb. 13, 2014, and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, with assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Bryan D. Fields of the Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia E. Notopoulos of the Eastern District of New York.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to:

http://www.stopmedicarefraud.gov

The Perils of Industrial Mental Health: Documents were forged, and falsified,

From the Philidelphia Inquirer

The social workers who were supposed to watch over 14-year-old Danieal Kelly didn't do much of anything while she slowly died of starvation and neglect.

But they got very busy after she died, according to a grand-jury report.

The call came Aug. 4, 2006. She'd been found dead, looking like a victim of a concentration camp, with rotting bedsores and weighing 42 pounds.

That afternoon, workers for MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc. scrambled to forge documents to make it look as though they had been visiting the girl and her family, as they were being paid to do by the city's Department of Human Services.

In the months before the girl's horrific death, the workers for MultiEthnic were not the only ones who failed to do their jobs - or to try to cover their tracks afterward - according to the grand-jury report.

"The fate of a sweet and promising child depended on the willingness of a number of particular adults to do the bare minimum of what they were supposed to do," the report says.

". . . Had just one of them performed their duty or done their job, Danieal would be alive today."

The DHS caseworker assigned to the family, Dana Poindexter, ignored warnings that the girl was at grave risk, the report alleges, and later lied to the grand jury to make it appear he had been doing his job.

Months after her death, a homicide detective found the case file - at the bottom of a box filled with food wrappers and dusty unopened letters, some of which were four years old.

Poindexter testified he didn't know that Kelly was entitled to go to school, or that it was against the law for a parent not to provide necessary care. "He must have been asleep during his training," one expert told the grand jury.

Pressed to provide a summary of the case a year before her death, Poindexter wrote an account that the grand jury called "pathetic," "self-serving," and "almost certainly false."

Poindexter, who had been suspended three times for poor performance, testified that he prepared many documents and put them in the Kelly case file.

"The grand jury has no doubt that he never prepared these documents," the report said. He is charged with perjury, along with endangering the welfare of children.

Reached by phone, Poindexter, 51, declined to comment. He was suspended again by DHS yesterday.

Another DHS worker, who did not bother to enter the girl's room during her last visit, backdated her report, the grand-jury report said.

And a supervisor admitted she falsified case records to make it seem that DHS had investigated old neglect reports involving the Kelly family and found them "unsubstantiated." Called to testify, she told grand jurors that was common practice at DHS; she said it was a bureaucratic procedure that helped hasten services to families.

That supervisor, Martha Poller, is still with DHS and recently was given a new job: project manager for a team that will examine child-fatality cases. During a news conference yesterday, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said she was incredulous that Poller had been entrusted with that new duty.

Poller did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment.She was not charged.

The 258-page report brims with outrage and fierce criticism of the people involved in Kelly's case - not just of the nine people who were charged, but also the people who ran DHS, the investigators who responded to the death, and even a Public Health Department official who tried to squelch her employees from talking about the case.

The findings in the report echoed, in part, the findings of a DHS review panel that found deep problems at DHS and suggested sweeping reforms.

"What I can tell you is: The internal accountability was weak, and the demand for external accountability from providers was equally weak," said Carol Spigner, the head of the panel.

"When that happens, there are a lot of risks in the system."

The grand-jury report found that the management failures began years ago, before Danieal Kelly even arrived in Philadelphia.

DHS workers complained that MultiEthnic was not visiting families as required and was falsifying records to cover it up.

An investigator for DHS found that the fraud charges were likely true. But the agency wasn't fired. Cheryl Ransom-Garner, who later became DHS director, summoned Mickal Kamuvaka and the other directors of the agency and "read them the riot act," the report said.

Later, a DHS evaluation lauded MultiEthnic for its "energetic" performance, calling it "remarkable." When called before the grand jury, Ransom-Garner said she didn't remember hearing any complaints about the agency - a response the grand jury called "incredible."

Ransom-Garner did not return calls seeking comment. Kamuvaka could not be reached for comment.

These missed chances to check up on MultiEthnic would be repeated again and again, the report found.

The agency's caseworker assigned to the Kelly family, Julius Murray, allegedly visited the home only a few times, and the investigation found no evidence he ever met the child.

In previous cases, Murray and other caseworkers allegedly would have families sign batches of blank forms, attesting to visits that never happened. Murray is charged with doing the same thing in the Kelly case.

The fraud was no aberration - "it was MultiEthnic's modus operandi," the report said.

After the girl's death, the grand jury found, the cover-up kicked into high gear.

A secretary, Vanessa Jackson, was told to come in on her day off on orders from Kamuvaka, "Dr. K." The problem: DHS was coming over for the Kelly family file at 4 p.m., and "Dr. K didn't have much of a file."

She was put to work fabricating notes for home visits that never happened, while another employee sat forging quarterly reports.

"I don't want them to test the notes for the ink to see if they had been written earlier," Jackson quoted Kamuvaka as saying.

They kept a courier from DHS waiting for 20 minutes while they assembled the file.

Like Poindexter, the next DHS worker to get the case, Laura Sommerer, didn't find anything wrong with MultiEthnic's performance. She visited the home June 29 and allegedly saw nothing amiss. She later said she didn't try to speak to the girl.

After the girl died, Sommerer's boss asked her for her report on the June visit; she gave it a day or two later.

But after investigators analyzed her computer, Sommerer admitted she didn't write the report until after the girl died. The grand jury called that "an obvious attempt to cover up her negligence."

During the investigation, the top official in the Health Department also tried to squelch information about the case, the grand jury said.

The doctor who performed the autopsy, Edwin Lieberman, said he was told to keep quiet about the case by Carmen Paris, then the department's acting commissioner.

Edward McCann, who heads the homicide unit for the District Attorney's Office, said that Paris told him it was a miscommunication.

Donald Schwarz, deputy mayor for health, said Paris was suspended pending a hearing today.

In October 2006, after The Inquirer published reports on deaths of other children under DHS supervision, Ransom-Garner at first prepared a counteroffensive - an opinion piece attacking the paper's findings.

She admitted that she didn't bother telling Mayor John F. Street much about the Kelly case "because it wasn't in the press."

But then someone showed Street the photographs of Danieal Kelly. The next morning, on Oct. 20, she was called into the office of Managing Director Pedro Ramos.

"This is the case that is going to take the mayor down," Ransom-Garner quoted him as saying.

There would be no opinion column. Instead, Street fired Ransom-Garner and her top deputy.

Karadzic’s alter ego

More on the prospects for mad psychiatrist Radovan Karadzic.

The July 30 extradition of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to the Netherlands, following his July 21 arrest, put an end to many years of efforts to bring one of the world’s most wanted fugitives to justice. After 12 years on the loose, Karadzic will face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, committed during the 1992/95 war in Bosnia, before the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

Many people remain shocked that the one time president of Republika Srpska, allegedly responsible for carrying out massive ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war, was living a normal life in Belgrade, just like any ordinary citizen. Those more familiar with his numerous transformations, however, were not as surprised.

A graduate psychiatrist, poet and politician, Karadzic was captured spending his days practising alternative medicine, giving lectures, contributing to a health magazine and even running his very own website. Pretty bold, many would say, but, on second thought, these proved to be quite successful tactics because media reported a number of people who have known and been in touch with “Dr Dragan Dabic” are utterly stupefied after finding out who he really was.

[...]

In spite of being officially married to psychiatrist Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, with whom he has two children, Sasa and Sonja, Karadzic was reported to have a girlfriend, Mila, during the time he spent as Dr Dabic. She often accompanied him to his lectures and was introduced, by Karadzic, as his associate, media reports claim.

Zoran Pavlovic, the software engineer who worked on Dabic’s website, told the AP Karadzic had a framed photograph of four boys in his two-room apartment in the suburb of New Belgrade, who he claimed to be his grandsons living in the US. Karadzic said he had lived in New York, where he had earned his diploma. “He told me he travelled often to America and I had no reason to disbelieve him,” the software expert told the AP.

Karadzic did not miss out on social life either, as reports say he frequently visited the Madhouse bar in his neighbourhood. There, he enjoyed drinking red wine and listening to the traditional gusle, which he occasionally got to play himself. On its walls, the small pub had pictures of him and his one time close associate Ratko Mladic, the chief of staff of the Bosnian Serb army during the Bosnian war and the next top wanted fugitive on the list of The Hague tribunal.

As the days of healer Dabic are now over, Karadzic has removed the long beard and hair hiding his face. He has also announced he would defend himself at the tribunal. However, how could any defense rebut the charges, as the war in Bosnia saw the worst atrocities in Europe since the end of World War Two?

The Bizarre Case of Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog, Harvard psychiatrist

A flash back to the bizarre case of Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog, Harvard psychiatrist, taken from a report in the NY Times on September 18th, 1992.

Psychiatrist in Sex Abuse Case Offers Her License

Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog, the Harvard psychiatrist who has been accused of sexually abusing one of her patients and contributing to his suicide, offered to resign her medical license today.

The offer was made four days before the state Board of Registration in Medicine was scheduled to present evidence against Dr. Bean-Bayog that could have led to the loss of her license.

After meeting tonight, members of the medical board announced that they would forward the letter and accompanying documents to the administrative judge in charge of the case for a decision on whether to go forward with the hearing on Monday, as scheduled.

But Jack Fabiano, the lawyer hired by the board to present the evidence against Dr. Bean-Bayog, called the resignation attempt "invalid" and said, "I view this as a highly improper attempt to circumvent normal trial procedures."

A member of the medical board, Paul Gitlin, said there were complications with Dr. Bean-Bayog's letter proposing her resignation, which would be permanent and would prevent her from practicing medicine anywhere in the nation. In most states, however, the loss of her medical license would not prevent Dr. Bean-Bayong from practicing as a therapist.

Continues to Declare Innocence

In her letter, Dr. Bean-Bayog continued to declare her innocence and denounced the board and the way it has treated her. Dr. Bean-Bayog said the hearing would be a "media circus" staged for "purely political purposes."

Dr. Bean-Bayog, who is 48 years old, said she wished to resign rather than endure "any further pandering to the public appetite for preposterous, salacious scandal." She specifically denounced both the state Secretary of Consumer Affairs, Gloria Larson, who has jurisdiction over the medical board, and Mr. Fabiano.

"I am not resigning because I fear the potential outcome of this hearing process," she wrote. "It is the process itself, which has already taken a heavy toll on me and my family, and not any potential verdict, that I find daunting."

Confession Unacceptable

In the last few weeks Dr. Bean-Bayog had been negotiating with the board for a settlement, but in her letter she said the board's offer to suspend her license was unacceptable because, she wrote, "It required me to confess to conduct I did not commit."

The medical board had prepared a strong case against her, people familiar with the case said, and it would have introduced evidence questioning her therapy methods and suggesting that she had become sexually involved with her patient, Paul Lozano, a Harvard Medical School student. Mr. Lozano, who began therapy with Dr. Bean-Bayog in 1986, killed himself with a large overdose of cocaine in April 1991 after she had stopped treating him.

Mr. Lozano's family has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Bean-Bayog charging her with malpractice and wrongful death. Andrew Meyer, the Lozano family's lawyer, said that Dr. Bean-Bayog's resignation would tend to help the family's case. Allegations Attract Notoriety

The case has attracted enormous national attention because of the sexual allegations and because of 3,000 pages of medical records introduced by Mr. Meyer that include sexual fantasies written by Dr. Bean-Bayog. At least two books and two television movies are in the works, and some of the hearing was to have been televised on Court TV. Officials of the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals, an independent state agency that is conducting the hearing, said they had received so many requests for press credentials that they had decided to move the proceeding to the State House auditorium, with a seating capacity of 600.

Dr. Bean-Bayog and some of her friends in the psychiatric community have said she is being unfairly singled out because she is a woman. They have argued that neither the press nor the medical board would have pursued the case so vigorously if she were a man.

Another psychiatrist, Dr. William Barry Gault, who also treated Mr. Lozano, first reported possible abuse by Dr. Bean-Bayog in late 1990. But it was not until last March, after Mr. Meyer filed 3,000 pages of evidence with the court and after the press subsequently began reporting about the case, that the medical board began its inquiry.

Sexual Fantasies Documented

Mr. Meyer's evidence included sadomasochistic sexual fantasies handwritten by Dr. Bean-Bayog, allegedly about Mr. Lozano, and flashcards she gave him.

One of the cards said: "Run over these cards every day until you know them all by heart and are starting to believe them." Another said, "I'm your mom and I love you and you love me very, very much. Say that 10 times." Still another said, "I'm going to miss so many things about you, the closeness and the need and the phenomenal sex."

Dr. Bean-Bayog has argued that these are examples of an accepted therapeutic technique called transference, in which the patient is asked to imagine the therapist as his mother.

Therapists often take patients back to their childhood to discover the source of troubling emotions. But Dr. Howard Zonana, a professor of psychiatry at Yale Medical School, said: "It is one thing if you do this in a role-playing session. It's another thing if someone's reality is getting confused. Most doctors would not actually say they are the mom."

The most serious allegations against Dr. Bean-Bayog, and those that would provide the board with its clearest cause to strip her of her license, are very hard to prove: that she sexually abused Mr. Lozano and that she contributed to his death. Dr. Bean-Bayog has denied any sexual involvement with Mr. Lozano.

Nevertheless, the board appeared ready to try to prove these accusations. Its expanded list of charges, filed in June, includes one that she "improperly conducted and utilized psychotherapy sessions." According to people familiar with the case, the board will use this to introduce testimony from several other psychiatrists who treated Mr. Lozano that he had told them she slept with him and masturbated in front of him during therapy sessions.

'Somewhat Unconventional'

On the issue of suicide, the board's charges contend that "Dr. Bean-Bayog's failure to conform to the standards of accepted medical practice caused harm to Paul Lozano." The board is expected to call expert witness on that subject.

A second difficulty is that while the medical board has charged Dr. Bean-Bayog with failing "to conform to the standards of accepted medical practice," there is widespread disagreement among therapists about the boundaries of proper psychotherapy. In one of her few public statements, Dr. Bean-Bayog acknowledged that her treatment was "somewhat unconventional," but she asserted that this was necessary because Mr. Lozano was an especially troubled patient.

Psychiatrist indicted on two counts of statutory rape

From the Crossville Chronicle

A Cookeville psychiatrist who had an office in Crossville has been indicted by the Cumberland County Grand Jury on two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department.

Dr. Chip Hayward Fountain, 44, was indicted by the grand jury on May 6 after "a thorough investigation" by the Department of Children's Services, District Attorney General's Office and the sheriff's department. Fountain surrendered to authorities at the Justice Center on May 27.

A press release states that Fountain, who in addition to Cookeville and Crossville, had an office in Livingston, is accused of "being sexually involved with a former juvenile female patient."

Bond was set at $15,000 and Fountain is scheduled to appear for arraignment in Cumberland County Criminal Court on June 2, according to Investigator Jeff Slayton's release.

Fountain graduated from Texas Tech University Health Service Center School for Medicine in the late 1990s.

Board Revokes License for Child Psychologist

In a followup to a long and ongoing case, we have this news item:

The State of Ohio has revoked the medical license of local child psychologist. Doctor Leo D'Souza was indicted by a Hamilton County Grand Jury in February on charges of gross sexual imposition and sexual imposition involving his young patients.

Court documents state the psychiatrist repeatedly fondled one boy in at least six office visits. In another case he is accused of examining an eight-year-old for a sexually transmitted disease. The alleged incidents happened at D'Souza's offices in Milford and Westwood.

The Ohio Medical Board examiner found that Doctor D'Souza failed to conform to minimal standard of care.

See also these earlier stories on this case

• Closed Hearings in Psychiatrist Child Molestation Case
• More Information on Psychiatrist under investigation
• Another man sues psychiatrist over sexual molestation

Psychiatrist Faces Sex Charges

A Report from Channel 12 in Cincinatti, Ohio

A local psychiatrist faces allegations he had improper sexual relations with underage patients.

A Hamilton County Grand Jury today indicted Leo Dsouza on four counts of gross sexual imposition. Prosecutors say all four victims were minors. The alleged incidents happened between 2001 and October of 2005.

Dsouza is the subject of two civil lawsuits, both filed in 2006. Each claims he inappropriately touched minor male patients under his care. One patient was 12 years old at the time... that case is set to go to trial in March. In the other lawsuit, Dsouza is accused of ordering an 8 year old boy to undress so he could be examined for sexually transmitted diseases. That lawsuit is set to go the trial in April.

Here are links to our earlier reports on this psychiatrist.

• More Information on Psychiatrist under investigation
• Another man sues psychiatrist over sexual molestation

Psychiatrist faces sex assault trial

Yet another child sex case involving a psychiatrist, this time from Wisconsin. As seen in the Journal Sentinel.

A psychiatrist already serving four years of probation for possession of child pornography was ordered to stand trial Friday on a sexual assault charge after a 14-year-old boy tearfully testified that the doctor molested him during a counseling session in 2006.

At a preliminary hearing to determine whether the case against Eric B. Schwietering of Milwaukee should proceed to trial, the boy testified that Schwietering questioned him during a counseling session about his sexual habits and asked him to disrobe July 10, 2006.

When he declined, the boy said, Schwietering forced him down on a couch, partially disrobed him and touched him indecently.

Schwietering, 41, was charged in October with sexual assault of a child younger than 16, a felony.

According to testimony Friday and a criminal complaint, the assault occurred when Schwietering was associated with Cornerstone Counseling, 16535 W. Blue Mound Road, Brookfield. Schwietering no longer practices at the center.

After the assault, the boy testified, Schwietering told him not to tell anyone about what had occurred and said he would hurt him if he did.

The complaint says the matter came to light in the fall when the boy, now living at a residential school in Keokuk, Iowa, told his mother in e-mail that he had been assaulted by Schwietering, who specialized in treating children and adolescents.

Schwietering's attorney, Paul Bucher, sought to have the case dismissed, telling Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Martin Binn that the boy's testimony and statements to authorities were not credible.

But Binn rejected the argument and ordered Schwietering to return to court Feb. 6.

In May, Schwietering was placed on four years of probation in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on two felony counts of possession of child pornography.

Psychologist Accused of Rape Faces More Charges

Via KEYT 3 TV

The Santa Barbara County psychologist accused of sexually assaulting his patients appeared in court to face new charges today [Monday].

Fernando Cordero faces two additional charges, one for felony sexually battery and another for felony dissuading from cooperating with the third victim, Jane Doe victim.
Santa Barbara Sheriff's Detectives say there are now four possible victims linked to Dr. Cordero. The latest came into Sheriff's recently and Cordero was taken into custody just last Friday.

Cordero appeared in court last month, with his wife, to plead not guilty to seven felony counts involving one patient and a misdemeanor count for another.

Victims claim Cordero coerced them into a sexual relationship while they were patients at the County Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Services Facility in Santa Maria. Bail has been increased from $100,000 to $250,000.

The Death of Rebecca Riley: a Case of Psychiatry Gone Mad.

For those who have never heard of the Rebecca Riley case, except through the 60 Minutes report, here is a list of our stories covering the story:

• 60 Minutes Report: Who Killed Rebecca Riley?
• 60 Minutes on Rebecca Riley and Bipolar Prescriptions
• Symposium: Freud's legacy – does medication = healing?
• Is It Time To Sue Doctors Who Prescribe Drugs Off-Label ?(Part I )
• Misguided standards of care
• Bipolar madness?
• Backlash against psychiatric diagnoses of bipolar disorder in children
• Red flag on pediatric psychopharmacology
• 4-Year-Old's Fatal Overdose Raises Questions About Psychiatric Prescriptions For Kids
• Activists take on Eli Lilly over off-label sale of Zyprexa
• Defense blames Rebecca’s Riley death on her Psychiatrist; Calls prosecution’s likely argument a ‘sick theory’
• Pediatric Bipolar. Yeah. Right.
• Girl's death puts doctor at center of controversy
• At the center of the Storm, Psychiatrist Kayoko Kifuji (MD)
• Death puts focus on medication
• In Depth Reports on the Death of Rebecca Riley
• Public Health Commitee plans prescription medication oversight hearing
• Timeline: Rebecca Riley Murder Case
• Psychiatrist denies wrong doing in death of 4 year old girl
• COPS: MOM AND DAD KILLED GIRL, 4; Hull pair charged with giving daughter deliberate overdose of prescription pills

We also recommend the detailed coverage in this local newspaper, the Patriot Ledger

Queens psychiatrist denies lying to save his driver's license. He killed three people in an auto accident.

From the New York Daily News

The Queens psychiatrist who killed three members of a Bronx family after suffering an epileptic seizure behind the wheel of his minivan denied yesterday that he lied about his condition to keep his driver's license.

Alexander Juwah, 44, of St. Albans, pleaded not guilty in Queens Criminal Court to making false statements to the Department of Motor Vehicles on a license-renewal form he filed before the Nov. 4, 2006, crash.

Juwah kept his hands clasped behind his back during the brief hearing, dressed in a crisp, green-plaid button-down shirt and jeans. He remained silent throughout the proceedings.

"This is just a sad case," his lawyer, Richard Leff, said after the arraignment, adding that his client did not intend to mislead anyone. "The issue was whether or not there was intentionally a false misstatement on the license renewal."

In November 2003, Juwah checked the DMV form's "no" box to indicate he did not have any medical condition that would have caused him to lose consciousness while driving, prosecutors said.

Around 10 a.m. the day of the crash, Juwah blacked out at the wheel of his Ford Windstar, which rear-ended a Mitsubishi Eclipse and rammed three two other cars before going airborne.

The van landed atop a Dodge Neon, killing the three people inside — Jesse Rutledge, 80; his son Jesse Jr., 47, and Jesse Jr.'s girlfriend, Zetteleen Smith, 24. Juwah was not charged in the deaths. His two young sons were also hurt.

Juwah was aware of his condition — and its dangers — after being involved in a prior car accident as a result of his seizure condition, Assistant District Attorney Kristin Fraser told Queens Criminal Court Judge Steven Paynter.

"As a medical practitioner and as a person suffering a seizure disorder, the defendant should have known better than to try and hide his medical condition," District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement yesterday. Juwah told police he had taken his medicine the day of the accident.

Brown added that truthfully reporting the seizures "may have prevented three innocent people from losing their lives."

Juwah was released on $1,500 bail yesterday. He is due back in court Aug. 22 and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Delaware Psychiatric Center staffers indicted in abuse, rape cases

From the News Journal (Also see this report)

Two former attendants at the Delaware Psychiatric Center were indicted Monday for multiple felonies, including rape, assault and patient abuse, stemming from two separate incidents that occurred at the trouble-plagued state hospital during the past two years.

Former attendant Woods Etherington Jr., 45, of Hockessin, was indicted on three counts of rape and six counts of patient abuse. According to documents filed with Delaware's Justice of the Peace Court, Etherington raped a patient three times in April 2006, in a toilet and a staff break room.

This isn't the first time Etherington has been accused of abusing a patient. In August 2000, he was arrested on charges of offensive touching and patient abuse, and pleaded guilty in 2001 to the offensive touching charge. The charges of patient abuse were dropped.

After those charges were settled, Etherington was brought back to work at DPC with the help of his union, whose president is Gregory Boston, himself a convicted felon. DPC administrators would not say why Etherington was allowed to return to work.

"We have no comment on employment decisions others made during a previous administration, nor on the length of time between our reporting of the substantiation of the allegation and today's decision to prosecute the individual," Jay Lynch, spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Services, said in a statement to The News Journal.

Lynch said Etherington was removed from direct patient care and suspended without pay in April 2006 following an internal investigation. A month later, he resigned from DPC.

The second attendant indicted Monday, Anthony R. Liggians Jr., 32, of Wilmington, faces two felonies: second-degree assault and one count of patient abuse.

The indictment stems from a July 2 incident involving Preston Hudson, a 44-year-old patient at the state hospital. According to documents filed with the court, Liggians punched Hudson in the face, after which he fell onto a bed in the admissions unit. Hudson's jaw was broken in three places, on both sides of his face.

"Anthony Liggians no longer works at DPC," Lynch said. "Woods Etherington has not been at DPC for over 15 months."

The News Journal was unable to locate Etherington or Liggians for this story.

Felons on staff

Last month, when the state hospital's troubles were documented by The News Journal, state House Majority Leader Richard C. Cathcart, R-Middletown, organized an investigative committee that will meet for the first time later this month to examine patient safety and operations at the center.

Among the new developments are statements by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health administrators that no official "affiliation" exists between their institutions and the residency program at DPC, despite a letter from Health and Social Services Secretary Vincent P. Meconi touting the affiliations to Delaware lawmakers and the public.

Meconi's letter was sent three weeks before The News Journal exposed the felony drug conviction of Adam Scioli, a psychiatric resident hired by the state hospital in early July.

Boston's felony record stretches to the 1970s, when he was convicted of shooting two men in the face with a shotgun. Boston has not been convicted of a crime in Delaware since 1993, six years before DPC Director Susan Watson Robinson said he was "grandfathered" into employment despite his prior criminal history.

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment for this story. In an interview last month, Minner said she did not believe DPC needed to be investigated.

Since that interview, a half-dozen federal and Delaware probes of the state hospital have been launched, focusing on patient abuse, staff intimidation and the hiring of felons to work with mentally ill patients. Reports of abuse, mistreatment and neglect increased at the hospital from 35 in 2001 to 119 last year.

"The vast majority of DPC employees do a good job providing patient care," Lynch said. "When one does not, it is deeply distressing and we take swift action to remove or correct that employee."

Rape charges

According to documents filed with the court, Delaware State Police Cpl. Michael Willey went to DPC on April 12, 2006, to investigate a complaint of a staff member having sex with a 23-year-old female patient. Willey interviewed the victim, who said she had "consensual sex" with Etherington on two days in April. Both incidents occurred between 9:30 and 10 p.m.

The next day, a state police investigator interviewed the victim's mother, who said her daughter was "not capable of making rational decisions" and unable to consent to sex.

According to court documents, Etherington admitted to investigators that he had been "making out" with the victim, and that the victim performed oral sex on him. Investigators interviewed the victim's psychiatrist, who told them the she was "severely mentally ill, suffering from schizophrenia and a personality disorder, and in his opinion was incapable of consenting to sexual conduct."

Investigators interviewed Etherington's co-workers in the Kent 2 unit of the New Castle-area state hospital. Court documents state that Etherington was warned that the victim was "sexually preoccupied, and staff should not be alone with her." Etherington, in another interview with police, said he knew the victim's history and that "she did not fully comprehend what she was doing at the time of the incident."

A broken jaw

When Preston Hudson told his sister he was attacked by two attendants, she called 911.

At first, DPC officials denied Hudson's claim, saying he tripped and hit his chin on a bed frame. "Mr. Hudson was having an episode, running around the room and tripped on the edge of the mat," Lynch said during initial interviews about the incident. "As he went down, his jaw or chin hit the bed."

After The News Journal reported the incident, Lynch said two employees "were removed from direct patient care."

DPC re-examined the case after the state police opened a criminal investigation. According to documents filed with the court, state police interviewed several staffers, including Liggians, to determine how Hudson, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, was injured.

The troopers found an internal "Incident Report" regarding Hudson's injuries, signed by Liggians and another staffer. The DPC report classified the incident as a "Slip/Fall-Witnessed." The report stated that Hudson "tripped over the mat and hit his face on the iron bed post."

Liggians was interviewed several times and gave several versions of the night's events.

A female DPC employee told investigators she "witnessed Liggians punch Hudson in the face." She stated that at the time, Hudson was "drugged up, medicated, and not very stable on his feet," and that he was not acting in a "menacing fashion or in a manner which would require that level of force."

Hudson's sister, Doris Scott, welcomed news of the criminal indictment. "It means that justice has been served, and that you can't treat a human being like that," Scott said Monday. "No one wants to be treated like that. They want to feel safe in a hospital."

Two days after the assault, doctors wired Hudson's jaw together, and he was returned to the state mental hospital. He hasn't eaten solid food for more than a month.

Hudson's family will meet with his treatment team today. They hope he will be released from the state hospital.

"Delaware citizens living with severe and persistent mental illness must have protection from those who wish to do them harm," said Rita Marocco, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Delaware. " 'To do no harm' represents the most basic of expectations NAMI-DE families demand of professional caretakers," Marocco said. "Not only does it appear that the DPC administration failed to achieve this basic need for Mr. Hudson, but it seems likely that the administration of DPC took steps to cover up the assault on Mr. Hudson."

Online pharmacy charged with racketeering, fraud

Eighteen people who helped sell more than $126 million worth of prescription drugs over the Internet to people without doctor exams have been charged with federal racketeering.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a 313-count indictment marks the first time organized-crime statutes designed to combat drug cartels and mafia rings have been used to charge anyone with selling prescription drugs over the Internet.

The indictment says Costa Rica-based AffPower took more than one million orders for legal pharmaceuticals including diet pills, birth control pills, Prozac and Viagra between August 2004 and June 2006. A network of affiliated Web sites are alleged to have received a cut of fees in return for each order forwarded to AffPower.

The indictment names doctors and pharmacies along with AffPower executives and recruiters.

The indictment further states that doctors, who were paid $3 for each order reviewed, approved hundreds or even thousands of orders a day.

The indictment, unsealed in federal court in San Diego today, names three doctors licensed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Massachusetts and pharmacists in Colorado and Florida.

One third of male psychiatrists will be disciplined for sexual misconduct sometime in their careers.

I have been playing with numbers, and I come up with something interesting that deserves to be a well publicized factoid.

To begin

1) I estimate that about 1% of the population of practicing psychiatrists are disciplined for sexual misconduct each year. This varies by country and state, and needs to be verified on this basis. The one data point I have on this is for Western Australia for one year where the population is rather small, and the enforcement is rather light. This matches up with other numbers I have seen elsewhere. It is a simple matter of how many psychiatrists, and how many disciplinary actions in a particular year. As I said, the numbers I have seen are consistent with about 1% per year, although, as we shall see, this is alarmingly high. Normal numbers should be less than 1/10th of 1% per annum.

2) The major question is what are the odds for an individual psychiatrist over the duration of a typical career of 30 years.

Interesting Question, no?

The odds are not just a straight 30%, based on 1% per year.

Take, for example, dice rolling.

If I roll a common six sided die six times, what are the combined odds for rolling a 1 for any one of those six times? The odds are NOT 100%

Odds For Rolling a 1 = 1/6

Odds For Rolling a 1 twice =1/6 x 1/6

etc.

Odds For Not Rolling a 1 = 5/6 = 83.33%

Odds For Nor Rolling a 1 twice = 5/6 x 5/6 = 69.44%

Odds For Nor Rolling a 1 three times = 5/6 x 5/6 x 5/6 = 57.87%

Etc.

This for not rolling a 1 in any of those multiple sets of rolls, for that entire set.

A similar thing happens with the shrinks

We calculate the odds for not getting caught by multiplying the appropriate percentage for the appropriate number of years.

Then we flip it around to get the odds of getting caught.

Odds for shrinks not getting caught per year = 99.0 percent

for 5 years = 0.99 x 0.99 x 0.99 x 0.99 x 0.99 = 0.95099
= 5% chance of getting caught

for 10 years = 0.90438
= 10% chance of getting caught

for 20 years = 0.817907
= 18% chance of getting caught

for 30 years = 0.739700
= 24% chance of getting caught

for 40 years = 0.668971
= 33% chance of getting caught

So the conclusion is that for for an average 30 year career as a psychiatrist, any psychiatrist has about a one chance in four of getting caught and disciplined for sexual misconduct.

We can also mention that since the vast majority of psychiatric sexual offenders are men, that the odds for male psychiatrists getting caught over their career is about 50%. Abuse by female psychiatrists is not impossible, but it is quite rare.

Thus we get to the factoid that one half of male psychiatrists will be disciplined for sexual misconduct sometime in their careers.

But since the numbers are shaky we'll say it's one third. Let's be generous, shall we?

This will vary by the actual rate of disciplinary actions in each state and region, but you get the general idea. If the rate we start with is "2% of psychiatrist are disciplined yearly", then the 30 year rate is 45% for all psychiatrists, possibly 75 to 85% for all male psychiatrists. The numbers are quite sensitive to the number of shrinks actually caught. (naturally) The numbers actually doing bad things, who are not caught, would naturally be higher.

So we need to get actual numbers for major areas of the USA, Britain, and elsewhere, to firm this up. But these are the methods I used.

Normal numbers and rates should be less than 1/10th of 1%, yielding a 1% to 5% rate of criminal behavior over the length of an average career.

Therapist abuses female patient for sex, money, and more.

As seen in The Sun Online and This is London

A Doctor was yesterday accused of taking advantage of a patient with multiple personalities — by using her different alter-egos for sex, cleaning and money.

When the woman confronted psychologist Peter Blaeker he allegedly told her: “I can’t comment. I have a duty of confidentiality with your other personalities.”

Cops said Monika Mirte, 44, was assigned to Blaeker after she was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.

She was in control of herself much of the time, but when other personalities — with names such as Kathrin, Finja and Leonie — took over she could not recall what they did.

Ms Mirte, of Cologne, Germany, eventually went to cops after claiming her inner selves were tense and upset.

She told them Blaeker, 43, “used Kathrin for sex and Finja to do the shopping and pay for it, while Leonie gave him money for a holiday to Majorca.”

He also allegedly used another personality to do his cleaning. Detectives said he may be charged with sexual abuse and could get five years’ jail.

Psychologist Dr Christian Ludke said yesterday the case was “unique but possible”.

He added: “If you know a person has multiple personalities, you can deal with the personality you want by calling that person by name until they take control.

“You can then replace them with another personality by calling the next personality by name.”

Ms Mirte’s lawyer, Christine Andrae, said “numerous leads” indicated Blaeker “made use of my client’s weakness”.

Psychiatrist Indicted For Fraud In Paxil Trials - Faces a Maximum Prison Sentence of 445 years, and 10 Million Dollar Fine

From WDSU in Louisiana

Dr. Maria Carmen Palazzo has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 55 counts of health care fraud and false documentation in connection with a clinical trial of Paxil in children and adolescents.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the indictment alleges that during approximately a five-year period, the 55-year-old Palazzo defrauded Medicare in connection with services she claimed to have rendered to patients in a Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program at Touro Infirmary.

The indictment also charges that Palazzo defrauded Medicare by submitting fraudulent invoices to Touro for consulting and medical director services. The indictment said because of that Medicare paid Palazzo over $653,000 she was not entitled to receive.

Palazzo, who specializes in psychiatry, is also charged with offenses relating to clinical trials involving Paxil.

According to the indictment, Palazzo, as a clinical investigator for SmithKline Beecham doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, fraudulently failed to maintain and prepare records required by the FDA for evaluation the drug's safety and effectiveness in children and adolescents.

If convicted, Letten said Palazzo faces a maximum term of 445 years, and a fine of $10.15 million.

See also the US Attorney office for future press releases

Accused Child Psychiatrist May Face More Molestation Charges

From KESQ

The San Mateo County psychiatrist accused of molesting his young patients is due back in court this morning (9:00). William Ayres is expected to enter a plea after being charged with 18 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior involving five boys who were under his care.

Prosecutors say the 75-year-old Ayres took advantage of his position as a psychiatrist to molest numerous patients during his career. They expect to file more charges against him.

During his 40-year career Ayres had established a reputation as one of the area's most prominent psychiatrists.

He served as president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1993 to 1995, where he received accolades from what county officials termed "tireless effort to improve the lives of children."

See also this link for more details