MEDIA
Tony Tsitos, Virginia Psychiatrist, busted for child porn
Tony Tsitos Florida Times-Union St. Augustine man charged in child-porn case is well-known Virginia psychiatrist Tony Tsitos gained notoriety treating 'Three Faces of Eve' patient By Emily Bloch February 5, 2021 -- Excerpt The St. Augustine man charged Thursday with 15 counts of possession of child pornography is a well-known psychiatrist associated with treating the woman who inspired the Oscar-winning film "The Three Faces of Eve," records show. Tony Anastasios Tsitos, who practiced adult and child psychiatry for more than 50 years in Virginia, was arrested after police said they found thousands of sexual images of children — including some [...]
Absüssamed Köse, resigns from Psych Department
Abdussamed Kose [aka Absüssamed Köse aka Absussamed Kose aka Abdussamed K.] Abdussamed Kose - psychiatrist Bianet ARRESTED IN US FOR ‘SOLICITATION OF A MINOR’ Marmara University’s Head of Psychology Department resigns İstanbul - BIA News Desk January 16, 2021 -- Excerpt As reported by Evrim Kepenek from bianet, “arrested for online solicitation of a minor in the US, the man became a head of department in Turkey.” The Head of Psychology Department of Marmara University has resigned from office. After it was understood that Assoc. Prof. Abdüssamed K., [aka Absüssamed Köse] the Head of Psychology Department [...]
Abdussamed K. – head of Turkish psychology department
Abdussamed K. Abdussamed Kose - psychiatrist Bianet Arrested for ‘solicitation of minor’ in US, man is now a department head in Turkey Having served time in prison and with his physician-in-training permit temporarily suspended in Texas for “online solicitation of a minor”, psychiatrist Abdussamed K. is now the head of the psychology department at a university in İstanbul. By Evrim Kepenek İstanbul - BIA News Desk January 15, 2021 Assoc. Prof. Abdussamed K. is reportedly the head of the Psychology Department of Marmara University in İstanbul despite being arrested for "online solicitation of a minor" in the [...]
University Psychology department head arrested
University Psychology department head Abdussamed Kose [aka Absüssamed Köse] Abdussamed Kose - psychiatrist Duvar English Marmara University Psychology department head arrested for soliciting minor in 2015 January 15 2021 -- Excerpt Absüssamed Köse, a department head at Istanbul's Marmara University is listed on a sex offender registry in the United States for trying to solicit sex from a minor in the state of Texas, news portal Bianet reported on Jan. 15. Köse was working as a physician in Houston at the time of his arrest in April 2015, local media reported, and was arrested as a result [...]
Michael Robertson, Anchorage Psychiatrist, Sentenced
Michael Robertson Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Alaska FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 6, 2021 Anchorage Doctor Sentenced For Prescribing Medically Unnecessary Opioids In Health Care Fraud Scheme Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason sentenced Michael Don Robertson, 68, a former Anchorage psychiatrist, to 12 months home confinement and 5 years of probation for conspiracy to commit controlled substance fraud and one count of health care fraud. Robertson knowingly and intentionally distributed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. [...]
David Lelio, Charlotte Psychiatrist, Sentenced to Prison
David Lelio Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Virginia FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, December 18, 2020 Charlotte Doctor Sentenced to Prison Time for Conspiring to Distribute Prescription Opioids ABINGDON, Va.- A Charlotte, North Carolina-based doctor and his wife were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Abingdon on charges they conspired to illegally distribute prescription opioids in the Western District of Virginia and then made a false statement about the conduct, Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announced. David Francis Lelio, 57, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison. Nadja Siiri Kujanson-Lelio, 51, was sentenced [...]
Muhammad Cheema, Perinton psychiatrist, sentenced to prison
Muhammad Cheema Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Perinton psychiatrist sentenced to 18 months in prison for health care fraud By Will Cleveland December 10, 2020 -- Excerpt A Perinton psychiatrist convicted of health care fraud and making false statements about health care matters was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Wednesday. Dr. Muhammad Cheema, 47, who operated Upstate Psychiatry at 115 Sully's Trail, pleaded guilty in June. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to pay $813,495.48 in restitution to the health care benefit programs he defrauded. Between 2013 and 2017, Cheema submitted 5,000 false claims [...]
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 [...]
Memphis psychiatrist sentenced to four years in prison
Memphis psychiatrist Commercial Appeal Memphis psychiatrist arrested as part of federal opioid crackdown sentenced to 4 years in prison By Corinne S Kennedy October 30, 2020 --Excerpt A Memphis psychiatrist was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of supervised release for unlawfully distributing opioids. Richard Farmer, 83, was found guilty earlier this year for three counts of distribution of controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee D. Michael Dunavant's office announced the sentencing Friday and Dunavant called opioid abuse "an insidious epidemic [...]
Christopher Warner, Army Psychiatrist, under Investigation
Christopher Warner Stars and Stripes Commander at Lewis-McChord base hospital is suspended, under investigation By Rose L. Thayer October 8, 2020 -- Excerpt AUSTIN, Texas — Col. Christopher H. Warner was suspended from his duties as commander of Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., after less than three months on the job, base officials confirmed Thursday. Warner’s suspension went into effect Oct. 2 and was triggered by “an investigation that is unrelated to Madigan or its personnel,” said Lt. Col. Neil Penttila, spokesman for I Corps, which oversees the base. Army Criminal Investigation Command is leading [...]
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, [...]
Arvind Singh, Summerside psychiatrist, fined
Arvind Singh SaltWire Network Summerside psychiatrist fined more than $215,000 for tax evasion August 13, 2020 -- Excerpt A Summerside psychiatrist who evaded paying more than $215,000 in taxes over a period of three years has to pay what he owes and then some after he was sentenced this week. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said Arvind Singh was sentenced on Aug. 11 in provincial court in Summerside after previously pleading guilty to two counts of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act. In total, Singh evaded $215,539 in taxes and was ordered to repay that amount along with $215,539 [...]
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 [...]
Prakash Bhatia, San Diego Psychiatrist, Pays to Resolve Overprescribing Investigation
Prakash Bhatia PRESS RELEASE San Diego Psychiatrist Pays $145,000 to Resolve Opioid Overprescribing Investigation Thursday, April 30, 2020 For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California SAN DIEGO – San Diego area psychiatrist Prakash Bhatia, M.D., has paid $145,000 to resolve allegations that he overprescribed opioids. Dr. Bhatia previously owned and operated Progressive Health and Wellness in El Cajon, California, practicing pain medicine. The settlement stems from an investigation that the Drug Enforcement Administration initiated into whether Dr. Bhatia improperly prescribed opioids to his patients at Progressive Health and Wellness (PHW) in violation of the civil provisions of [...]
Muhammad Arshad, Harvey Psychiatrist, Sentenced
Muhammad Arshad Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Harvey Psychiatrist Sentenced In Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Soliciting and Receiving Kickback Payments for Medically Unnecessary Home Health Referrals NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that MUHAMMAD ARSHAD, age 64, a resident of Harvey, Louisiana, was sentenced on February 20, 2020 by U.S. District Judge Barry W. Ashe to three years’ probation, which includes 250 hours of community service, in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition, ARSHAD was [...]
Psychiatrist Richard Farmer guilty of distributing painkillers
Psychiatrist Richard Farmer Washington Post A psychiatrist was found guilty of distributing 1,200 painkillers after opioid task force bust By Kim Bellware February 24, 2020 -- Excerpt A Tennessee psychiatrist who prescribed more than 1,200 pills to three sisters in three years was found guilty in federal court Friday of distributing powerful opioid painkillers without a “legitimate medical purpose,” according to a statement from the Justice Department. The verdict against Richard Farmer, 83, marks the first conviction for a federal task force formed in 2018 to crack down on illegal opioid prescriptions in the Appalachian region amid the federal government’s [...]
Psych Richard Farmer, Memphis, Found Guilty of unlawfully distributing opioids
Psych Richard Farmer Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs For Immediate Release February 21, 2020 West Tennessee Psychiatrist Found Guilty of Unlawfully Distributing Opioids A federal jury found a west Tennessee doctor guilty today for unlawfully distributing opioids to purported patients and to others who were never his patients. The defendant was charged in an April 2019 indictment as part of the first Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force Takedown, and this was the first trial guilty verdict for the ARPO Strike Force. Following an eight-day trial, Richard Farmer, M.D., 83, of Memphis, Tennessee, a licensed psychiatrist, was [...]
Spiro Kassis, psychiatrist, Plymouth Township, sentenced
Spiro Kassis PRESS RELEASE Montgomery County “Pill Mill” Doctor Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Illegal Opioid Distribution Wednesday, February 19, 2020 For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Dr. Spiro Y. Kassis, 66, of Plymouth Township, PA was sentenced to 48 months’ incarceration, two years’ supervised release and a $25,000 fine by United States District Judge Gene E. K. Pratter after pleading guilty to 14 counts of distributing controlled substances outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Separately, in [...]
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 [...]
Noel Sardar, UK psychiatrist, “stalked patients”
South Wales Argus Noel Sardar sexually stalked two of his patients By Michael Jones January 15, 2020 -- Excerpt Psychiatrist Dr Noel Sardar, 45, made "sexually-motivated" advances to the two female patients in his care. Picture: Wales News Service A MARRIED doctor stalked and made "sexually-motivated" advances to two female patients in his car after checking confidential medical records. A court heard that dad-of-two Noel Sardar, from Newport, pretended to be working on night call to gain access to one woman's home - and bought the other alcohol to get her drunk. But one woman contacted the police [...]
Padmini Nagaraj, New Orleans Psychiatrist, sentenced for fraud
Padmini Nagaraj Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 2020 Kenner Psychiatrist Sentenced In Scheme to Defraud Medicare by Soliciting and Receiving Kickback Payments for Medically Unnecessary Home Health Referrals NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that PADMINI NAGARAJ, age 62, a resident of Kenner, Louisiana was sentenced on January 9, 2020 by U.S. District Judge Barry W. Ashe to four years’ probation, which includes 250 hours of community service, in connection with her guilty plea to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition, NAGARAJ was fined $10,000 [...]
Alexander Neumeister, Psychiatrist, Research Misconduct
Neumeister Medscape Psychiatrist Engaged in Research Misconduct, Says Gov't Watchdog By Ellie Kincaid and Ivan Oransky, MD December 30, 2019 -- Excerpt A former New York University School of Medicine, Langone Medical Center psychiatry researcher faked clinical data for research with federally funded grants worth millions of dollars, according to the US Office of Research Integrity (ORI). In studies of anorexia, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Alexander Neumeister, MD, "misrepresented the characteristics of the subjects entered in the research" using tactics such as "combining data from multiple subjects to represent single subjects to justify financial payments" and "changing and/or [...]
Marc Spelar, Milton psychiatrist, sentenced
Marc Spelar Herald Dispatch Milton doctor gets 3 months in illicit prescription scheme By Courtney Hessler December 13, 2019 Updated January 19, 2020 -- Excerpt HUNTINGTON — A former Milton psychiatrist has been sentenced to three months in prison and will be given the opportunity to continue to address his substance use disorder after admitting to writing illicit opioid prescriptions for his own gain. Marc Spelar, 37, previously pleaded guilty in the Southern District of West Virginia to one count of illegal drug distributions related to an April 2017 prescription written for Dextroamphetamine, a scheduled II drug. Spelar was [...]