Kick ’em when he’s down? Heck yeah! Former patient sues psychologist recently convicted of sexually exploiting her

An Oak Creek psychologist convicted earlier this month of sexually exploiting a patient, has now been named in a negligence action by the same woman.

A jury found Jeffrey Adamczak guilty Sept. 2 of beginning a nearly year long affair with Sabrina Eder in Feburary 2005, when she had been seeing him for psychotherapy about three years and was still his patient.

Adamczak claimed the sexual relationship didn’t start until a month later, after he had closed Eder’s file and ended the therapist-patient relationship.

His attorney, Gerald Boyle, used the fact Eder,40, had retained noted personal injury firm Murphy & Prochthauser last year to suggest she was out to destroy Adamczak , 48, and collect money. She said she only turned him in last year to professional regulators and then police after she suspected he was again having sexual contact with patients.

Normally, a plaintiff would have to file a negligence action within three years. Eder’s suit says her time frame is extended because throughout their sexual relationship, Adamczak instructed Eder not to reveal it to anyone.

The civil claim, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages. It names Adamczak and his insurance carrier as defendants.

Adamczak testified at trial that he is in the process of becoming licensed to practice psychology in Nevada. His Wisconsin license remains current. He faces possible prison time at when he is sentenced Oct. 13.

Source: Bruce Vielmetti, “Convicted therapist now faces negligence suit from patient/lover,” Journal Sentinel, September 13, 2011.

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Wisconsin psychologist Jeffrey Adamczak convicted of sexual exploitation of patient

On September 2, 2011, Wisconsin psychologist Jeffrey Adamczak was found guilty of sexual exploitation by a therapist for engaging in a sexual relationship with a longtime patient in 2005. He faces up to 7 ½ years in prison when he is sentenced October 13.

Adamczak was charged in 2010 for an affair with a female patient which she broke off in 2006. She contacted police in 2010 when she became convinced he was engaging in sex with patients again.

Other former patients testified of sexual contact with Adamczak or inappropriate sexual comments from him during therapy sessions.

Source: Bruce Vielmetti, “Psychologist guilty in sexual exploitation case,” Journal Sentinel, September 2, 2011.

Psychiatrist Catherine Munson loses licenses in New York and South Carolina for sex with patient

On August 1, 2011, psychiatrist Catherine L. Munson surrendered her license to the New York Department of Health State Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

This action was based on disciplinary action taken against her in the state of South Carolina for actions which, if they had occurred in the state of New York would constituted misconduct and grounds for disciplinary action.  Specifically, on August 6, 2010, the South Carolina State Board of Medical Examiners reprimanded and suspended Munson, based on findings that she began a sexual relationship with a female patient (“R.W.”).

The Order states that Munson “engaged in sexual relations with R.W. in various venues, wherein she became the subject of written, audio, and video recordings, with dissemination of the same by R.W.’s domestic partner.”

Further, the document states that Munson became the subject of a purported blackmail scheme by R.W. and her domestic partner (a person Munson was familiar with, who was herself one of R.W.’s former therapists).

Munson did not seek police assistance with regard to the blackmail but instead attempted to cease communication with the patient and her partner, resulting in an escalation of circumstances in which the partner appeared at Munson’s residence and assaulted her.

Source: Final Order in the Matter of Catherine L. Munson, M.D., License No. MMD 16094, Case 2009-218, South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Before the South Carolina State Board of Medical Examiners and Surrender Order in the Matter of Catherine Laura Munson, M.D., CO-10-10-6350-A, BPMC No. 11-189, New York Department of Health State Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

Florida medical board suspends psychiatrist Evan Zimmer for substance abuse issues

On our about August 19, 2011, the Florida Department of Health (DoH) suspended the license of psychiatrist Evan Zimmer on an emergency basis, citing Zimmer’s “significant history of substance abuse” and “inability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety,” rendering him “an immediate and serious danger to the citizens of the State of Florida.”

Zimmer is board certified in psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. The Department’s document states that from January through April, the DoH received several anonymous complaints that Zimmer was “possibly under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and may be practicing as an impair physician.” Additionally, on May 27, Zimmer told the DoH that he had entered a plea of no contest this past November to one count of “committing or attempting to engage in prostitution” (soliciting a prostitute).

At a court hearing, the judge thought that Zimmer was severely impaired and ordered a drug test, which revealed that Zimmer was on several prescription drugs, including a benzodiazepine (a tranquilizer such as Ambien or Xanax) and ordered him jailed for contempt of court. He was jailed for about a month.

The state Board of Medicine revoked Zimmer’s license in 1986, after he was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs. Investigators found he’d prescribed controlled substances to patients in absence of documentation of a medical necessity for such drugs.

Source: John Dorschner, “Miami psychiatrist’s license suspended for drug use, prostitution charge,” Miami Herald, August 19, 2011.

Mental health couselor Lorraine Kusior sentenced for Medicaid fraud

On or about August 8, 2011, the office of the Missouri Attorney General reported that professional counselor Lorraine R. Kusior was sentenced in Pulaski County Circuit Court to five years of supervised probation and ordered to pay restitution an investigative costs totaling $29,036, based on her June 8^th conviction of two felony counts of Medicaid Fraud.

Source: “Sentencing in Medicaid fraud case,” Waynesville Daily Guide, August 8, 2011.

Florida medical board issues emergency suspension of psychologist John W. Hutcheson, Jr. for sexual exploitation of patient

On August 3, 2011, the Florida Department of Health issued an Order of Emergency Suspension of License on psychologist John Williams Hutcheson, Jr.

The Department’s Order states that Hutcheson provided psychology services at the Anchor Clinic in Destin, Florida and that from September 15, 2009 to about October 25, 2010, he provided such services to patient “J.B.,” a then-53-year-old married female who relayed to Hutcheson a history of severe depression which commenced following the death of her child in 1980 and for which she had received treatment with psychotherapy, psychiatric drugs and electroconvulsive therapy.

The Order states that in or about April 2010, during a weekly therapy session, Hutcheson stood up from his chair and sat down next to J.B. and began kissing her then proceeded to fondle her under her clothing and to digitally penetrate her. Later that evening, when J.B. called him on his personal cell phone to discuss the incident, he diminished it and reassured J.B. that that it was normal behavior between healthy adults.

At the time of this encounter, J.B. felt isolated and dependent on Hutcheson and did not feel she could leave the relationship and so continued to see him. She attended approximately 20 more weekly sessions during which he would engage in the same sexual activity.  “Then,” the Order states, “he would unbuckle his belt, pull down his undergarment and put his hands on J.B.’s head, guiding it toward his exposed penis. Each time J.B. acquiesced and performed oral sex on Hutcheson…during approximately 20 therapy sessions….”

After Hutcheson began engaging in sex with J.B., he ceased providing any therapeutic services but continued to charge J.B. her co-payment and submitted claims to the Tricare program (federally funded health program for armed forces and their families) for the 20 sessions, for which he was paid $2,000.

The Board acknowledges the “unequal distribution of power inherent in the psychologist-patient relationship” which made J.B. “vulnerable to sexual contact as a result of (Hutcheson’s) exploitation of trust, knowledge, influence or emotions derived from the professional relationship.

The Board cites Hutcheson’s conduct as “particularly egregious because of the period of time over which the conduct occurred, the number of occasions…and the fact that Hutcheson profited monetarily” from it.

A proceeding seeking formal suspension or other discipline is forthcoming.

Source: Order of Emergency Suspension of License, in re: Emergency Suspension of the License of John Williams Hutcheson, Jr., Psy.D., License No. PY 3551, Case No. 2010-22442, State of Florida Department of Health.

Maine medical board permanently revokes psychiatrist John Dorn’s license for sexual violations with patients

On May 10, 2011, the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine reprimanded psychiatrist John M. Dorn and permanently revoked his license based on several sexual incidents and boundary violations with patients.

According to the Board’s Consent Order, on Dorn’s 2007 application for licensure in Maine, he indicated that in 1990, while practicing in South Carolina, the estranged husband of a former patient claimed that Dorn accepted an invitation from his wife to have drinks, followed by sexual intercourse.

The Maine Board found that despite this admission, Dorn failed to disclose the finding by the Board of Medical Examiners of South Carolina that he had engaged in sexual misconduct with a then-current patient which whom the physician-patient relationship had not been terminated until after the sexual misconduct came to light, as evidenced by records which show that he had written two prescriptions for the patient on the same date as the sexual misconduct. The South Carolina Board suspended his license for six months.

In August 1991, the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine accepted the surrender of his license based on the same misconduct. The Maine Board received complaints in September 2009 and February 2010 from two other patients or their family member, alleging improprieties and boundary violations with two female patients. In one instance, he sent e-mails to a married patient expressing romantic and sexual feelings towards her.

Source: Consent Agreement in re: John M. Dorn, M.D., Complaint Nos. CR09-439/CR10-099/CR11-163, State of Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine.

Psychiatrist Joseph A. Jackson loses licenses in New York and Massachusetts for patient sex

On July 23, 2011, the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Professional Medical Conduct (“Bureau”) revoked the license of psychiatrist Joseph Alexander Jackson, D.O. for professional misconduct. According to the Bureau’s Determination and Order, its action was based on discipline taken on Jackson in another state for conduct which, if it had occurred in the state of New York, would have amounted to professional misconduct. Specifically, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine revoked Jackson’s license on October 6, 2010 after concluding that “engaged in boundary violations that resulted in a sexual encounter with a patient.”

Source: Determination and Order in the Matter of Joseph Alexander Jackson IV, D.O., Co-10-10-6537-A, BPMC #11-185, State of New York Department of Health Board for Professional Medical Conduct.

Washington medical board revokes psychiatrist Richard Adamson’s license for sex with patients

On July 27, 2011, the Washington State Department of Health (DoH) permanently revoked psychiatrist Richard T. Adamson’s license to practice medicine, with no right to reapply for reasons of unprofessional conduct and failure to reply to the DoH’s statement of charges and subsequent communications.

The DoH summarily suspended Adamson’s license on March 31, 2011 for engaging in sex with two patients and for violating physician-patient confidentiality.

Following the suspension, the DoH received two more complaints, describing a similar pattern of conduct as that found in the complaints regarding the two aforementioned patients.

Source: Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Order of Default and Statement of Charges in the Matter of the License to Practice as a Physician and Surgeon of Richard T. Adamson, M.D., License No. MD00019594, Case No. M2010-287, State of Washington Department of Health and “Seattle psychiatrist’s license immediately suspended,” News Release of the Washington State Department of Health, March 30, 2011.

Maryland clinical social worker Charles J. Cravath surrenders license following conviction of sex crime involving a minor

On November 12, 2010, licensed clinical social worker Charles J. Cravath surrendered his license to the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners, “prompted by an investigation of my licensure by the Board and the office of the Attorney General,” according to Cravath’s letter of surrender.

This action was the result of two complaints received by the Board alleging that Cravath was indicted on June 15, 2009 on a charge of Attempted Indecent Liberties, a felony. On August 12, 2009, he pleaded guilty to the charge and on December 15, 2009 pleaded guilty to Internet Solicitation of a Minor.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended less time served of 272 days.

Conditions of his probation include registering as a sex offender and no use of computers or other technology that allowed internet access without the permission his probation officer.

Source: Charles J. Cravath, Re: Surrender of LIcense to Practice Social Work, License No. 14616, Case No. 09-1452, Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners.