MEDIA
Yolande Lucire, New South Wales Psychiatrist, banned
Yolande Lucire The Sydney Morning Herald Psychiatrist banned from treating patients By Kim Arlington and Bellinda Kontominas August 28, 2010 ''JULIA'' is detained indefinitely in a hospital psychiatric unit after stabbing her father and teenaged sister to death while in the grip of psychosis in 2007. Her psychiatrist, Yolande Lucire, was yesterday banned from treating any more patients after the NSW Medical Tribunal found there were serious shortcomings in the way she managed the 25-year-old's illness. Under conditions imposed by the Medical Board to protect the public, Dr Lucire has not been permitted to treat patients since December 2008. Yesterday [...]
Leonard Friedman, Mass. Psychiatrist, arrested
Leonard Friedman Boston Globe Middleton psychiatrist arrested By Julie Balise July 14, 2010 -- Excerpt A Middleton psychiatrist was arrested yesterday morning and charged with writing prescriptions for cash payments. Leonard Friedman, 73, was held on $50,000 bail and faces 14 counts of issuing prescriptions for Class B and Class C substances, according to a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office. The crimes are punishable by up to 10 years in prison for Class B substances or five years for Class C substances. “A doctor who trades addictive drugs for cash makes a mockery of the [...]
Psychiatrist Sohail Punjwani Warned by FDA
Psychiatrist Sohail Punjwani The Miami Herald FDA warns psychiatrist who treated dead foster child By Carol Marbin Miller March 16, 2010 -- Excerpt A South Florida psychiatrist who was treating a 7-year-old foster child before the boy committed suicide last year has received a warning from federal drug regulators who say he failed ``to protect the rights, safety and welfare'' of children enrolled in clinical drug trials. In a strongly worded letter dated Feb. 4, regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Dr. Sohail Punjwani over-medicated children who were enrolled in clinical trials for undisclosed drugs. One [...]
Igor Magier, Chesapeake psychiatrist, license revoked
Igor Magier The Virginian Pilot State board strips psychiatrist of license after series of run-ins By Elizabeth Simpson March 03, 2010 -- Excerpt A Chesapeake psychiatrist who was first investigated for improperly prescribing drugs more than two decades ago has lost his medical license. The Virginia Board of Medicine's decision last week to revoke the license of Igor Magier, who once had a practice on Cedar Lakes Drive, was unusual. In 2009, the board took this action against only three of the 31,200 medical doctors licensed in the state. Magier was first put on probation by the board [...]
James Edgar, South Tampa psychiatrist, arrested
James Edgar Tampa Bay Times DOCTOR ACCUSED OF PULLING A GUN The Tampa psychiatrist got a shotgun after arguing with a pool cleaner, officials say. By Robbyn Mitchell September 11, 2009 -- Excerpt A South Tampa psychiatrist told police he was only trying to get a pool service man off his property when he went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a shotgun in June, say police reports. Dr. James Roy Edgar, 64, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon Thursday after the State Attorney's Office issued a warrant... Edgar told police he [...]
Leo D’Souza, Cincinnati child psychiatrist, loses license
The Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio) Psychiatrist loses medical license May 16, 2008 By Dan Horn --- Excerpt A Cincinnati child psychiatrist who is facing sex crime charges lost his medical license this week. The Ohio Medical Board permanently revoked the license of Leo D'Souza after reviewing a 50-page report on the accusations that several former patients made against him. A Hamilton County grand jury indicted D'Souza in February on four charges of gross sexual imposition and one charge of sexual imposition. The charges involve four patients, now ages 14 to 21, who accuse the doctor of molesting them. The indictment does [...]
Eric Schwietering, Wisconsin Psychiatrist, sentenced
Eric Schwietering Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin) Psychiatrist charged again; He's accused of sex assault involving adolescent patient October 31, 2007 By David Doege -- Excerpt Waukesha - A psychiatrist serving four years of probation for having a large collection of child pornography in his downtown Milwaukee apartment was charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting an adolescent patient in a Brookfield counseling center where he formerly practiced. Eric B. Schwietering was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court with sexual assault of a child under 16, a felony, in a criminal complaint that says the assault occurred between September 2005 and November [...]
Larry Anderson, Penticton psychiatrist, More Jail
Larry Anderson Castanet Psychiatrist Gets More Time November 22, 2006 -- Excerpt A former Penticton psychiatrist has been given an additional jail sentence. Larry Anderson is currently serving an 18-month sentence on charges of sexual and indecent assault against former female patients between the late 70's and 90's. On Tuesday, he plead guilty in Penticton provincial court to assaulting his wife at their home near Princeton in 2005. The assault took place while Anderson was out on bail awaiting sentencing on sexual and indecent assault charges...
Sheldon Zigelbaum, Mass. Psychiatrist, five women testified against him
Sheldon Zigelbaum Boston Magazine Head Games May 15, 2006 By Gretchen Voss -- Excerpt An alarming number of Massachusetts psychiatrists have gotten caught again and again having sex with some of this society's most vulnerable people: their own patients... Dr. Sheldon Zigelbaum lost his license in 1992 after five women testified before the medical board that he engaged in a variety of sexual acts with them in his office, hotel rooms, his car, and, in one case, a hot tub. Some said he shared marijuana, and one woman said he did cocaine with her. Zigelbaum denied having sex [...]
George Frimpong, Ghana Psychiatrist, convicted
George Frimpong GhanaWeb Psychiatrist fined for arson August 26, 2005 -- Excerpt George Frimpong, a Ghanaian psychiatrist based in London was on Friday fined two million cedis by a circuit court in Kumasi for setting a house on fire. Frimpong, who was convicted on his own plea of guilty... She said sometime in 2004, neighbours saw signs of smoke coming out of Madam Ofori's house but managed to put it under control. Madam Ofori made a report to the police but before the suspects could be traced Frimpong had gone back to London, the prosecutor said. Chief Inspector Oseiwaah [...]
Jean Eric Gassy, Aussie Psychiatrist, Sentenced for Murder
Jean Eric Gassy The Australian 'Cool, calculated' psychiatrist killer gets life By Jeremy Roberts October 29, 2004 -- Excerpt A FORMER psychiatrist has been sentenced to at least 34 years behind bars for the execution of mental health boss Margaret Tobin after a judge yesterday ruled he was "profoundly dangerous" and should probably die in prison. In handing Jean Eric Gassy, 48, the second-longest non-parole period for a single murder in South Australian history, the judge described the murder as a "cool, calculated and clever crime". Gassy, 48, shot Tobin four times in the back as she stepped from [...]
Justin Psaila, Nanuet psychiatrist, Charged
Justin Psaila The Journal News (Westchester County, NY) Doctor charged in $1 million insurance fraud case By Nancy Cacioppo September 10, 2004 -- Excerpt A Nanuet psychiatrist has been accused of defrauding government insurers of more than $1 million by billing for services never rendered, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced yesterday. Dr. Justin Psaila, who has a private practice in his home, was arraigned Wednesday before Rockland County Court Judge Kenneth Resnick on a 23-count indictment. Psaila was charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, one count of first-degree scheme to defraud and 20 counts of first-degree offering [...]
Param Shukla, Brookline Psychiatrist, sentenced in sex assault
Param Shukla The Boston Herald Psychiatrist sentenced in sex assault January 15, 2004 By Marie Szaniszlo -- Excerpt A psychiatrist was sentenced to two years' probation yesterday for sexually assaulting a girl he had treated at Children's Hospital three years ago, prosecutors said. Param Shukla, 38, of Brookline pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. During a 2000 therapy session, Shukla offered to take the 13-year-old victim for a walk and touched her buttocks for several seconds when she bent [...]
Bennett Braun, Chicago Psychiatrist, license suspended
Bennett Braun Chicago Tribune CONTROVERSIAL PSYCHIATRIST SUSPENDED; RECOVERED MEMORY CASE SPURS STATE MOVE By Lisa Donovan October 8, 1999 -- Excerpt State officials have suspended the medical license of Chicago psychiatrist Bennett Braun, considered a leader in the controversial field of recovered memory and multiple personality therapy. Starting Thursday, Braun is prohibited from practicing for two years. After the suspension, he faces a minimum 5-year probation period that precludes him from treating patients diagnosed with multiple personality disorder or dissociative identity disorder. The Department of Professional Regulation's disciplinary action comes a year after the state agency filed a nine-count complaint [...]
Allan Umar-Khitab, Cambridge Psychiatrist, Suspended
Allan Umar-Khitab Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada) HOSPITAL SUSPENDS PSYCHIATRIST FOLLOWING SEX CHARGES By Prithi Yelaja and Liz Monteiro July 28, 1999 -- Excerpt A prominent local psychiatrist charged with 11 counts of sexual offences against boys has been suspended from Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Dr. Allan Umar-Khitab, who was commonly known as Allan Khitab, had been practising in Cambridge since June 1989. He was the only full-time psychiatrist on staff at the hospital's mental health clinic. Khitab's arrest leaves hundreds, and possibly thousands, of patients in the lurch and hospital officials scrambling to find help. Reached at his home in [...]
Ramesh Vemuri, Crystal Lake psychiatrist, accused of molesting patient
Ramesh Vemuri Chicago Tribune SERVING OF COMPLAINT UPHELD IN MOLESTATION CASE July 17, 1998 -- Excerpt A former Crystal Lake psychiatrist accused of molesting a female patient was properly served with a civil complaint and must answer the charges, even though he has moved to India, a McHenry County judge ruled Thursday. Judge James C. Franz ruled that Dr. Ramesh B. Vemuri still had a legal residence at 7606 Crystal Spring Rd., Crystal Lake, when the complaint was left for him in March. Vemuri had left the country two months before. Attorneys for Vemuri had argued that the complaint had [...]
Nestor Garcia, Florida Psychiatrist, Sentenced to Prison
Nestor Garcia The Tampa Tribune Psychiatrist sentenced to prison April 8, 1998 By Keith Morelli -- Excerpt A judge sentences a psychiatrist to prison for billing Medicare and Medicaid for services he never performed. A psychiatrist convicted of submitting bills of more than $ 4.5 million to Medicare and Medicaid between 1994 and 1995 was sentenced Tuesday to 6+ years in federal prison. Nestor A. Garcia was found guilty at a December health care fraud trial. Garcia was ordered to repay nearly $ 1.7 million to federal health care programs. Garcia, 43, also was ordered to serve three years [...]
William Cone, 73-year-old Psychiatrist, gets 133 year sentence
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) PSYCHIATRIST GETS 133-YEAR TERM FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF TWO PATIENTS By The Associated Press February 12, 1998 -- Excerpt LEXINGTON, MO. - A psychiatrist who said "moral insanity" caused him to sexually abuse two patients was sentenced to 133 years in prison. Dr. William Cone was convicted in December of 19 counts of sexual assault. Circuit Court Judge Robert Ravenhill sentenced Cone on Tuesday to seven years on each count. Cone, 73, apologized to the victims and said he hoped that his case would help keep others from being victimized by "other impaired [...]
James Taylor, Psychiatrist, Pennsylvania, sentenced
James Taylor The Morning Call DOCTOR JAILED FOR BEATING * JAMES TAYLOR ATTACKED ANOTHER PSYCHIATRIST WITH A CROWBAR; TERM 6-12 YEARS. By MIKE FRASSINELLI and The Morning Call September 05, 1997 -- Excerpt Completing his plunge from prominent psychiatrist to jailed felon, Dr. James Taylor was sentenced Thursday to six to 12 years in state prison for bludgeoning a female psychiatrist with a clawed crowbar last autumn. Monroe County Judge Jerome Cheslock sentenced Taylor to an additional six months to a year in prison for intimidating witnesses in a separate tax-fraud case, bringing his total jail term to 6-1/2-13 years. [...]
Mark Green – Brookline psychiatrist, suspended
Mark Green The Boston Globe Board pulls license of psychiatrist over sex, drug allegations Brookline doctor may be mentally ill By Dolores Kong June 28, 1995 -- Excerpt The state medical board has suspended the license of a Brookline psychiatrist for allegedly having sex with a patient and incorrectly prescribing medications to patients and himself. The board also says Dr. Mark D. Green may be suffering a mental illness that led him to have a bizarre run-in with police... In April, Green called police to his home to report a housebreak, but no evidence of forced entry was found. Instead, [...]
Joseph Leggett, Casper Psychiatrist, sentenced
Joseph Leggett Casper Star-Tribune Leggett sentenced to probation for sex crimes By Deirdre Stoelzle August 2, 1994 -- Excerpt CASPER — Convicted in April of two counts of second-degree sexual assault, former Casper psychiatrist Joseph Leggett was sentenced to five years of supervised probation Monday in 7th District Court. Legett committed the sexual assaults while working in Casper between 1982 and 1986. In a plea agreement promising no jail time, Leggett pleaded no contest to two counts involving use of his position of authority as a doctor to force his patients to submit to sexual acts. One former patient [...]
Dennis Lardent, Barstow psychiatrist, arrested
Dennis Lardent Barstow Dispatch Doctor held on sex, drug misuse charges By Irwin M. Goldberg Dispatch Staff Writer February 24, 1994 BARSTOW – Police arrested a Barstow psychiatrist Wednesday on suspicion of drugging a patient and sexually exploiting her. Dennis Robert L’Ardent, 47, was arrested at his motel room at the Good Nite Inn, 2551 Commerce Parkway, at about 5:15 a.m. after family members of the victim called police, said Officer Mark Franey of the Barstow Police Department. The acts allegedly took placed in L’Ardent’s office at 900 E. Main St. and in room 237 of the motel, Franey said. [...]
William Gray, Virginia Psychiatrist, License Revoked
William Gray Roanoke Times BOARD REVOKES GRAY'S MEDICAL LICENSE November 13, 1993 The regulatory board overseeing Virginia's health professions said yesterday it had revoked the medical license of a Roanoke psychiatrist who had sex with his patients. William G. Gray "unethically exploited the physician-patient relationship by engaging in sexual activities" with four young male patients, the Virginia Board of Medicine said. The board also determined that Gray had violated medical ethics and standards of care by giving the patients housing, food, money, transportation and other gifts in exchange for sexual favors. Gray offered to surrender his license to practice medicine [...]
Vincent Festa, NY psychiatrist, charged with sodomizing
Psychiatrist Vincent Festa Vincent Festa Newsday (New York) Psychiatrist Charged July 27, 1993 A Ronkonkoma man who is a school psychiatrist at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park has been arrested and charged with sodomizing and sexually abusing teenage boys at his home, Suffolk police reported. Vincent Festa, 64, of 170 Foster Ave., was charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sexual abuse in connection with complaints involving three Ronkonkoma-area boys. Festa was arrested Sunday by Fourth Squad detectives and was arraigned yesterday in First District Court, Central [...]
C. Donald Williams, Yakima Psychiatrist, disciplined
C. Donald Williams The Seattle Times PSYCHIATRIST HASSLED FOR PAST MISTAKES? -- INVESTIGATION REACTIVATED AFTER WOMAN INQUIRES ABOUT SEXUAL-CONTACT COMPLAINT By Peter Lewis June 22, 1993 A Yakima psychiatrist, disciplined five years ago for inappropriate sexual contact with women patients, alleges the state Medical Disciplinary Board has bowed to political pressure and is hounding him for the same conduct for which he's already been punished. Lawyers for Dr. C. Donald Williams, who are asking a federal judge to halt what they claim is harassment of the doctor, say the board acted to take his license after U.S. Rep. Jay [...]