On December 4, 2009, the North Carolina Psychological Board revoked the license of prison psychologist Kristel K. Rider for a violation of legal and ethical rules governing the conduct of psychologists. According to the Board’s order, Rider admitted to engaging in sex with a former patient, beginning April 3, 2008—the day he was released from Neuse Correctional Institution. Rider, who worked for the state Department of Corrections since 2004, lost her job after shooting the patient in the back on April 21, less than three weeks after his release. He survived the wound, from a .38 caliber slug, which passed through his chest inches from his heart. Rider can reapply for her license again after one year though reinstatement will be at the discretion of the Board’s panel. Rider was not charged with a crime in the shooting.
Source: Michael Biesecker, “Former prison therapist loses license after affair,” News-Observer, December 8, 2009.
On December 22, Miami psychologist Adam Feder, 42, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2006 death of his former girlfriend. Feder failed to call 911 after the 20-year-old girl—a former patient—took a lethal dose of the painkiller Oxycodone from an illegal stash inside Feder’s home. Reports following Feder’s 2008 arrest indicate that he had broken off their romance but gave the distraught girl more than 100 times the safe dosage of the drug. After ingesting the dose, the girl lay writhing on Feder’s bed for 24 hours before Feder finally called 911 for help, according to prosecutors. Authorities believe he neglected to summon help sooner because he did not want his illegal drug stash to be discovered. The death, originally ruled a suicide was later reclassified a homicide. Feder was arrested in February 2008 regarding the girl’s death and again in June 2008 on charges of drug trafficking. Police stated that Feder, who cannot write prescriptions, used doctors’ prescription pads to obtain the drugs. “He just violated every imaginable moral, ethical and administrative rule that exists,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle said. “She was 19 years old and she went to him to seek counseling. You had someone that was very vulnerable.” Feder was sentenced to six years in prison and four years probation and has forfeited his license to practice psychology. He is also being sued by the girl’s family.
Source: David Ovalle, “Psychologist pleads guilty in lover/ex-patient’s death,” Miami Herald, December 23, 2009 and David Ovalle, “Drug charges filed against psychologist,” Miami Herald, June 16, 2008.
On December 14, 2009, the Medical Board of California filed an Accusation against psychiatrist David Neal Glaser, alleging gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, prescribing without appropriate examination and medical indication; failure to maintain adequate and accurate medical records; self use of dangerous drugs and incompetence.
Glaser treated a female patient whom he met at a social gathering in December 2003 and with whom he carried on a romantic-sexual relationship from December 2003 to September 2004.
Specifically, the state’s document states that Glaser did not treat the patient/girlfriend in his office and did not keep usual and customary records on her, save for one dated July 3, 2004, which was itself not data obtained on that date but was “a compilation of information obtained over a period of ‘several months’.”
On March 27, 2004, Glaser called in a prescription for the patient for “Plan B,” a preparation used to prevent/terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Glaser did not have any records to support the use of this agent for the patient; no evidence of having performed a history or physical examination or even the use of a pregnancy test to substantiate the need for Plan B. Additionally, there was no evidence of discussion with the patient about the risk-to-benefit ratio of the drug or any discussion of follow-up care to be provided by respondent or a gynecologist.
Further, Glaser’s one note (July 3, 2004) contains diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive, major depressive disorder a “longstanding sleep disorder,” in absence of documentation, substantiation, testing, etc. The state’s document contains several other examples of Glaser’s treatment of the patient in absence of documentation, substantiation, etc.
On August 13, 2009, the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners issued a Consent Order, reprimanding psychiatrist Mary Ann Ager for conduct consisting of repeated acts of negligence, malpractice or incompetence; engaging in professional or occupational misconduct; prescribing an excessive amount of a controlled substance and for remaining insufficiently alert to a patient’s dependence on prescribed substances.
The Order states specifically that the reprimand was the results of allegations that Ager “inappropriately prescribed pain medication for one patient” and with “prescriptions allowing her to obtain pain medication in dosage amounts exceeding appropriate levels prior to the patient’s death on January 19, 2007.”
On November 14, 2009, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice reprimanded child-adolescent psychiatrist Dexter Whittemore for unprofessional and unethical conduct, improper management of
medical records and for “engaging in conduct that is sexual or may reasonably be interpreted by the patient as sexual.”
In September 2008, the Board received a complaint alleging that Whittemore failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with an adult female patient. The Board initiated an investigation by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office which revealed that Whittemore engaged in conduct with the patient that is sexual or reasonably interpreted by the patient as sexual.
During 2008, over a two-month period of time, Whittemore conducted three treatment sessions with the patient outside of a clinical setting.
Whittemore made physical advances toward the patient and engaged in verbal and electronic communications with the patient of a personal and sexual nature. When the patient did not retum to Whittemore for further treatment, he did not: (1) formally sever his professional relationship with the patient, (2) generate a discharge summary for the patient’s medical record, or (3) ensure that the patient’s care was transferred to another provider.
On July 8, 2009, Whittemore appeared before the Complaint Review
Committee and admitted that he failed to maintain professional boundaries with the patient.
The Board conditioned and restricted Whittemore’s license as follows:
1. He is reprimanded.
2. He shall not engage in conduct that is sexual or may reasonably be interpreted by the patient as sexual.
3. He shall not provide treatment for patients or meet with patients outside of a hospital or clinical setting.
4. He shall practice in a pre-approved group setting.
5. He shall obtain a pre-approved supervising physician who shall submit quarterly reports to the Board.
6. He shall meet quarterly with a designated Board member.
7. He shall pay a $682 civil penalty.
8. This Order shall remain in effect for a minimum of two years.
Whittemore is also licensed in California and lllinois.
On October 6, 2009, the Washington Department of Health (DoH) issued a Statement of Charges on mental health counselor David E. Weed, for unprofessional conduct and sexual misconduct.
According to the DoH’s document, in September 2006, Weed provided mental health therapy to Client A and Client B, a married couple, for family and marital difficulties. Soon after, each client began receiving individual counseling from Weed.
The husband remained in counseling until at least October 2008.
Weed also treated Client C, the couple’s teenage daughter, from Spring 2005 to summer 2007.
In April 2007, Client A terminated therapy with Weed by mutual consent and agreement. Client A disclosed at that time that she was attracted to him. Weed continued to provide therapy to Clients B and C.
Beginning in September 2007, Weed entered into a sexual relationship with client A and continued it for approximately a year during which time he told Client A that he had stopped providing services to Clients B and C, which was not true.
On October 8, 2009, the Washington Department of Health (DoH) suspended registered counselor Mel Gaines for unprofessional conduct.
According to the state’s document, in December 2008, Gaines provided counseling services to a client with whom he entered into a sexual relationship. The client also had treatment with other counselors at the same facility where Gaines worked. Gaines continued to have a sexual relationship with the client after she discontinued treatment with him and after she left the facility.
In March 2009, Gaines was requested by a DoH to provide a written statement on the matter but failed to do so.
In August 2009, he was served by the DoH with a statement of charges and an opportunity to answer them. He failed to respond to the DoH’s communications.
He may not seek reinstatement of his license for five years.
On September 23, 2009, the Wisconsin Marriage & Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board revoked certified social worker Peter J. Nelsen’s license.
From 1997 until April 2009, Nelsen was employed by the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW). In 2007, he was assigned to investigation a report of physical abuse of a child in the home of “Ms. A., a woman with a history of BMCW referrals who had lost parental rights to her 3-year-old son in 2006. Nelsen concluded his investigation, concluding that the abuse report was unsubstantiated.
However, during 2007, Nelsen continued to visit Ms. A. socially at her home and the two had sexual intercourse over a period of time.
Shortly after Nelsen concluded his investigation, another allegation of child abuse in Ms. A’s home was referred to BMCW, which resulted in her two children being removed from her custody and placed in protective care.
Ms. A. became pregnant and, according to the results of DNA testing, Nelsen is the father of the child who was born August 19, 2008. Ms. A. contends that she had sex with Nelsen in late 2007 because he told her he could help her keep BMCW from removing her two children from the home.
The newborn was placed with Nelsen, which was questioned by an investigator with Milwaukee County, which ultimately led to Nelsen resigning his position with the county. In addition to revocation, he is also required to pay $515 to the Department of Regulation and Licensing for the costs of the investigation and proceeding against him.
Source: Final Decision and Order LS 0909231SOC, in the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceedings Against Peter J. Nelsen, C.S.W., Division of Enforcement case #09 SOC 039, September 23, 2009.
On September 4, 2009, the Washington Department of Health (DoH) issued a Statement of Charges on mental health counselor Stephen Ruhl, for unprofessional conduct and sexual misconduct.
The DoH’s document states that Ruhl counseled a female client on and off in 2007 and the early part of 2008 at his own practice, which was located on his residential property. On or about January 14, 2008, Ruhl “invited the Client A into his private cabin and stayed there with Client A for approximately three (3) hours. At one point, Ruhl told Client A that he loved his wife but had fallen out of love with her, and that he had not touched her in years. Ruhl then told Client A that he thought she was delightful and that he’d like to be friends. When Client A told him that she had to leave, Ruhl then stated that his wife was out of town and that he’d like to take Client A to dinner. As Client A was leaving, Ruhl asked Client A if she would be home in the morning and offered to bring her some coffee on the way to work.”
It further states that Ruhl visited the client’s home approximately ten times in January and February 2008 and that the two also spoke over the phone during this period. During the calls and visits, Ruhl told the client that “he was not there for sex but for companionship and validation.”
On one occasion, Ruhl told Client A that he wanted to have “exotic, erotic sex” with her.
On two separate occasions, Ruhl told Client A that he had an erection.
Ruhl told the client that he thought she would be a great sexual partner and that he liked mature women who were comfortable with their sexuality.
During this time, the client asked Ruhl for a referral to another therapist. Ruhl told the client he could still counsel her. The client told Ruhl he could be her therapist but that the personal relationship could not continue. Ruhl replied that he would “still be trying to seduce her.”
The DoH’s document states that during the latter time, the Ruhl also engaged in physical contact with the client, including hugging, kissing and backrubs.
A Florida prison hired him for $188,000 a year knowing the state of New York revoked his license for sex with a patient.
On December 4, 2009, the Florida Board of Medicine voted unanimously to revoked psychiatrist Emanuel J. Falcone’s license to practice in the state, citing a sexual relationship with a former patient.
That relationship occurred with a female patient with multiple personalities who began treatment with Falcone’s girlfriend, a New York clinical social worker, in 2003. The patient-social worker relationship continued Falcone and his girlfriend married and moved to Florida in 2005. Falcone’s wife shared information about the patient with him and he ultimately took over the woman’s treatment.
Falcone (left, in tan suit) prepares to lose his license.
In a case summary, a panel of New York physicians wrote that Falcone was “fascinated” by her alternative identities, some of which were children.
Their sexual relationship began in 2006 when they got together in New York, the summary said. It continued with a weekend trip that year to Captiva Island, near Fort Myers, Florida.
On September 25, 2008 the State of New York Department of Health Board for Professional Medical Conduct issued a Determination and Order on Falcone, revoking his license. According to the Board’s document, Dr. Falcone treated a patient for whom he bought gifts, took on outings and engaged in sex with, among other violations. The Board charged Dr. Falcone with “committing professional misconduct…by engaging in physical contact of a sexual nature between [himself] and the patient in the practice of psychiatry.” He was additionally charged with professional misconduct evidencing moral unfitness to practice; gross negligence; gross incompetence and failing to maintain a record for for the patient which accurately reflected the care and treatment of the patient. All charges were sustained by the hearing committee.
Falcone told the New York medical board panel he never considered his interactions with the woman to be treatment or therapy.
Falcone loses license by unanimous vote
In Friday’s hearing, Falcone’s effort to get his revocation reduced to probation and a fine, among other penalties, was rebuffed by the panel. He declined to be interviewed as he left the hearing and walked away with his head down and hands in his pockets.
“If he’s not qualified to practice in New York, he’s not qualified to practice here,” said Jason Rosenberg, a Gainesville plastic surgeon who sits on the Florida board.
Earlier this month, Falcone quit his $188,000-a-year position as senior psychiatrist at Florida State Prison in Raiford, under pressure from “people pretty high up” within the state Department of Corrections after officials with the Department were questioned about his hiring, despite knowledge of the New York license revocation.
Psych Crime Reporter 