MEDIA
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 [...]
Amina Rafi, UK psychiatrist, suspended after lying that she had cancer
Amina Rafi Daily Mail Doctor, 25, is suspended after lying that she had cancer to her bosses at Broadmoor Hospital where patients include the Yorkshire Ripper By Lara Keay December 12, 2019 -- Excerpt A junior doctor at Broadmoor Hospital who lied about having breast cancer has been banned from treating patients. Trainee psychiatrist Dr Amina Rafi, 25, told colleagues at the maximum security hospital she had the disease, was four years older than she was, and that she was a member of the Royal College of Physicians... At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, she admitted dishonest [...]
Pierre Maillou, Quebec psychiatrist, guilty
Pierre Maillou CBC Mailloux guilty: College of Physicians November 9, 2009 -- Excerpt Controversial Quebec radio host and psychiatrist Pierre (Doc) Mailloux has been found guilty of 13 charges related to his medical practice. A disciplinary committee found Mailloux guilty of misdiagnosing patients and prescribing large doses of two antipsychotic drugs. The Quebec College of Physicians ruled he made hasty diagnostic judgments which he failed to revise when patients began experiencing dangerous side-effects. The side-effects included respiratory problems, motor and vocal difficulties, anxiety, vomiting, heart palpitations and confusion... The outspoken psychiatrist had been taken to task previously for making [...]
Prabakar Rajan Thomas, Melbourne psychiatrist, sentenced
Prabakar Rajan Thomas The Guardian Psychiatrist jailed for sexual assault faces second allegation By Lisa Martin September 3, 2019 -- Excerpt A former Melbourne psychiatrist sentenced to two years in jail for sexually assaulting a female patient is facing a further investigation from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Prabakar Rajan Thomas, 69, received a 14 month non-parole jail sentence in March for abusing a patient. The county court was told he had put his hands in the victim’s bra, asked about her masturbation habits and showed her graphic pornography. Ahpra is now investigating a separate complaint from another former [...]
Pikeville Psychiatrist – medical license restricted
Pikeville psychiatrist Lexington Herald Leader Pikeville psychiatrist accused of showing patient nude pictures of men he’s had sex with By Mike Stunson August 5, 2019 --Excerpt A Pikeville psychiatrist has been accused of showing a patient nude photos of men during a session earlier this year. As a result, the medical license for Jason Stamper has been restricted by the state’s Board of Medical Licensure for an indefinite period of time. Stamper practices at the Mountain Comprehensive Care Center in Pikeville. The mother of the patient, a permanently disabled adult, filed a grievance to the board in May that Stamper [...]
James Ryan, Psychiatrist – sexual misconduct with patients
James Ryan East Valley Tribune EV psychiatrist runs afoul of 2 medical boards By Jordan Houston June 18, 2019 -- Excerpt The way the medical boards of California and Arizona saw it before suspending him this month, East Valley psychiatrist Dr. James Matthew Crowley Ryan had other things in mind when three different women came to him for psychiatric care. Investigators for the California Attorney General’s office said: When one woman told the Gilbert resident, then practicing in the San Diego area, that she had had an extramarital affair, he “told her that she should have more affairs” – then [...]
Jacob McClean, South Florida Psychiatrist Arrested
Jacob McClean local10.com South Florida doctor arrested after dispensing meth to patients, DEA says Dr. Jacob McClean faces federal drug charges By Peter Burke - Local10.com Managing Editor, Neki Mohan - Anchor/Reporter June 17, 2019 -- Excerpt MIAMI - A South Florida doctor has been arrested on federal drug charges. Dr. Jacob McClean, 36, appeared in federal court Monday in Miami. The Pembroke Pines psychiatrist was arrested Friday by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Federal authorities said McClean was illegally dispensing and using methamphetamine... Lambert said McClean was also writing prescriptions "for medications that are not medically necessary and are [...]
Robert Perez, Orange County Psychiatrist, sentenced
Robert Perez Orange County Register OC psychiatrist sentenced to prison for prescription drug sales scheme By Sean Emery June 17, 2019 -- Excerpt SANTA ANA — A Santa Ana-based psychiatrist who illegally gave out prescriptions for opioids and other drugs was sentenced Monday to 57 months in federal prison. Dr. Robert Tinoco Perez, 56, of Westminster, as part of a plea agreement admitted earlier this year to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances... Guilford noted that Perez seemed to be focusing mainly on himself, rather than the wider impact of his actions. “Turn on the news at any [...]
Paul Fox, Danbury & NZ psychiatrist, Guilty
Paul Fox nzherald.co.nz Psychiatrist Paul Fox, who treated Adam Lanza and Waikato patients guilty of sexual assault By Natalie Akoorie June 7, 2019 -- Excerpt An American psychiatrist who was employed by Waikato District Health Board after surrendering his licence in the US amid controversy over an affair with a young patient, has pleaded guilty to her sexual assault. Dr Paul Fox is facing 18 months in prison in his native country after pleading guilty in Danbury, Connecticut, to sexually assaulting the teenager in 2011. The 66-year-old is infamous for treating a teenaged Adam Lanza - who went on [...]
James Ketchum, Psychiatrist – used LSD on Soldiers
James Ketchum Washington Post James Ketchum, who conducted mind-altering experiments on soldiers, dies at 87 By Harrison Smith June 4, 2019 -- Excerpt James S. Ketchum, an Army psychiatrist who studied the effects of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs on American soldiers, overseeing classified Cold War-era experiments that spurred a debate on medical ethics, died May 27 at his home in Peoria, Ariz. He was 87... ...initiatives were halted amid media reports and withering congressional hearings, during which the Edgewood project’s founder and director, Van Murray Sim, was criticized for failing to provide follow-up medical care for the 7,000 soldiers [...]
Arthur Kranz, Hobe Sound Psychiatrist, Sentenced
Arthur Kranz Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, April 30, 2019 South Florida Doctor Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion and Disability Fraud Evaded Paying Taxes on Over $1.6 Million in Income Earned While Claiming to be Disabled A South Florida doctor residing in Hobe Sound, Florida, was sentenced to 51 months in prison yesterday for tax evasion, wire fraud, and Social Security disability fraud, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida. According to court [...]
Richard Farmer, Psychiatrist, East Memphis, wrote prescriptions “in exchange for sexual favors or companionship”
Richard Farmer Commercial Appeal Here are the Memphis medical professionals indicted in federal opioid crackdown By Micaela Watts April 18, 2019 -- Excerpt Farmer is a psychiatrist with a practice in East Memphis, and is accused of prescribing hydrocodone and aprazolam, or Xanax, to female patients in exchange for sexual favors or their companionship. He is also accused of keeping inadequate patient records, prescribing addictive substances to patients before meeting them and not requiring a drug screen for some patients before prescribing the sometimes deadly combination of hydrocodone and alprazolam... WVLT Prosecutors: West Tennessee doctor trades pills for sexual favors [...]
Charles Noplis, Louisville Psychiatrist, Punched a woman at a bar
Psychiatrist Charles Noplis Charles Noplis Courier Journal Kentucky board opens new investigation of psychiatrist with 'anger management' issues By Andrew Wolfson April 5, 2019 Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Dr. Charles Noplis II is a contract physician at Renew Recovery. Its website identified him as the medical director. A Louisville psychiatrist whose medical license was already on probation for punching a woman at a bar and punching a patient in his office has now pleaded guilty to battery of his wife. Dr. Charles Noplis II, who was featured in a Courier [...]
Psychiatrist Jane McLennan, Edinburgh, loses license
Psychiatrist Jane McLennan Edinburgh News Renowned Edinburgh psychiatrist struck off for ‘misleading and inaccurate’ patient report By The Newsroom March 21, 2019 -- Excerpt A RENOWNED psychiatrist has been struck off after a tribunal found she produced a “misleading and inaccurate” report on a patient involved in an unfair dismissal claim against the Ministry of Justice. Dr Jane McLennan, who was based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, has had her name erased from the medical register after falsely claiming the man, known as ‘Mr A’, had cursed throughout the one hour 48 minute evaluation and told her that he kept [...]
Kenneth Kramer: Public records are yours
Kenneth Kramer The Daily Telegram Public records are yours to research, discover, access information By Kenneth Kramer March 13, 2019 Public records: documents made by a government agency which are required to be kept and maintained. Reporters love them. They form the backbone of many news stories. A reporter’s pay can be based on drumming up stories so public records are of great value. Watch the newsroom waters churn when juicy public records are thrown in! Political scandal, big names, big money, controversy, sex or violence! Hold on to your boat! Those fish bite hard! Reporters can do a whole [...]
D. Eugene Redmond Jr., Connecticut Psychiatrist – banned from the Yale campus after claims of sexual misconduct
D. Eugene Redmond Jr. New Haven Register Yale hires investigator after claims of sexual misconduct against former professor By Ed Stannard January 28, 2019 -- Excerpt NEW HAVEN — Yale University President Peter Salovey has hired a former U.S. attorney to investigate sexual misconduct complaints against a former psychiatry professor at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. D. Eugene Redmond Jr. retired in July 2018 while disciplinary proceedings were being brought, based on a student intern’s complaint, according to a Yale news release. A second student filed a complaint this month. The two students were interns at the St. [...]
Leon Fajerman, California psychiatrist, gets house arrest for sexual abuse
Leon Fajerman NBC San Diego South Bay Psychiatrist Guilty of Sexual Assault Avoids Jail Time By NBC 7 Staff January 18, 2019 -- Excerpt A South Bay psychiatrist who admitted to sexually abusing six female patients avoided a jail sentence Friday, shocking and angering his victims. Leon Fajerman at first denied allegations he sexually assaulted the women during counseling sessions, but later pleaded guilty in October to felony sexual contact with a patient and misdemeanor sexual battery. There were eight victims in all involved in incidents between October 2016 and July 2017. Letters to Judge Frank Devaney written by Fajerman's [...]