Betraying Patients

Two psychiatrists sexually abused scores of female patients throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Although numerous complaints were filed against William Kerr and Michael Haslam, they continued to practice until they retired in 1988. Moreover, they were permitted to “voluntarily” remove themselves from the medical register, avoiding any disciplinary action.

Finally, in 2003, Haslam was convicted and jailed. Kerr, who was suffering from a brain-wasting disease, was convicted of indecent assault but never served time.

[Data from Clare Dyer, legal correspondent, “Blind eye to complaints allowed psychiatrists to abuse patients,” July 26, 2005, bmj.com. The Kerr/Haslam Report is available at www.dh.gov.uk]

A Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, accused of seducing a patient and causing his suicide, admitted that her treatment was "somewhat unconventional."

Dr. Bean-Bayog claimed that Paul Lozano, was suicidal and a victim of child abuse. She gave him a stuffed bear and children's books and urged him to think of her as his mother. She even wrote pages of explicit sexual fantasies about him.

Friends and family said that Paul went to Dr. Bean-Bayog simply because he was lonely at school. There was never any abuse. The family physician supported their statements saying that Paul was well adjusted and never had emotional problems.

[Data taken from Fox Butterfield, “Therapy in Suicide Case Defended by Psychiatrist,” April 1, 1992, nytimes.com]

Note: In September 1992, Margaret Bean-Bayog surrendered her medical license rather than undergo a hearing by the Massachusetts Medical Board for improper treatment of former Harvard Medical School student Paul Lozano, who had committed suicide with a drug overdose.