Psychiatrist Suspended for Starting Relationship with Patient
A Shelby, North Carolina psychiatrist, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient, signed a consent order indefinitely suspending her medical license.
Dr. Kerry L. Balentine was accused of having a romantic relationship with one of her patients after that patient’s wife died in September 2006.
Balentine began grief counseling the patient, the consent order said. She had previously treated him for about a year.
An invitation for coffee
According to documents from the North Carolina Medical Board, Balentine began the relationship after accepting an invitation for coffee. The order said Balentine stopped seeing the patient in her office in October 2006, “implying that he was discharged from her care but not clearly terminating their physician-patient relationship.” It also stated that Balentine provided prescriptions for medications, including controlled substances to the patient, after the relationship began and did not chart them.
Admit relationship
“Dr. Balentine admits that her relationship with (the patient) violated boundaries as well as the ethics of the psychiatric profession and the medical profession as a whole,” the document said.
According to the consent order, dated Dec. 14, Balentine’s license is indefinitely suspended, she agrees to obey all laws, rules and regulations involving medical practice, she is required to notify the board of any change in residence or practice and that she will meet with the board as requested.
If she fails to comply with the order, the board will have grounds to annul, suspend or revoke her medical license.
She had medical privileges at Cleveland Regional Medical Center and Kings Mountain Hospital.
Seems to me that this sort of conduct, which is criminal in some states, needs to be made a violation of law. I’ve read that about 10% of all psychiatrists have sexual relations with their patients - a pretty shocking figure. But, I suppose if you don’t know what causes these types of emotional / mental problems in the first place and the highest level of “treatment” is to drug the patient silly, then you probably wouldn’t have any qualms about starting a sexual relationship with a patient.
do you think having a relationship with a former patient, if no compensation is involved, must be a violation of the law?
if this lady actually discharged the patient from therapy and didn’t keep prescribing medications to him, would you still think her conduct was unethical? after all, it’s the patient that invited her for coffee, not the other way around - so there probably wasn’t any abuse of power…
and again, many doctors prescribe off-the-cuff medications to their friends. so even if she did prescribe him something, but he didn’t pay for it, why was it unethical in this particular case?
Anytime you start a relationship with a patient or former patient, this raises a very serious question of ethics. It is best to just not do it - otherwise known as ethical practice. Anyone who crosses this line is rightfully open to disciplinary action due to the nature of the relationship between doctor and someone who is coming to you for help with emotional / mental problems.
The scenario you raise is not what happened in this case according to the information in the news media and which was presented to the medical board.
Even if a patient or “former patient” is the one who is making the advances, the doctor should just not go there or be drawn into it. If he/she can’t control themselves and act in a profession capacity at all times, then they should find a different field to work in.
I am not sure what you mean by doctors prescribing “off-the-cuff” medications to friends or otherwise. What medications are we talking about? Are you talking about a doctor giving someone a prescription for drug with no diagnostic tests or examination?