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Liane Leedom
From Enpsychopedia
Liane Leedom, M.D., (1961 - ) is Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut. She obtained her B.S. in psychobiology and her M.D. degree from the University of Southern California. She completed advanced training in psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA and Yale New Haven Hospital. According to her own claims, she spent ten years in private practice during which time she specialized in treating mood disorders in women. Contents[hide] |
Advocate of Electroconvulsive Therapy
The Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT), published an article about Leedom describing her work with highly controversial electro-shock therapy,February 18, 2002 - Local doctor reports success with shock therapy in treating depression
By Eileen Fischer
Approximately 100,000 Americans undergo electroconvulsive therapy each year. Formerly called "shock therapy," ECT was introduced in 1938 by two Italian researchers, Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Biki. In the procedure, a brief application of electric stimulus is used on the brain to produce a grand mal seizure. However, why or how it works continues to remain a mystery.
ECT has had a controversial history of overuse and abuse and fell out of favor in the 1970s. However, over the last two decades, ECT has re-emerged, receiving a stamp of approval from the American Psychiatric Association and the U.S. Surgeon General.
Dr. Liane Leedom, 40, a psychiatrist in practice in Woodbridge, specializes in ECT. She and her partner, Dr. Debra Schroter, began treating patients two years ago at ECT clinics at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport and the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven. Dr. Thomas Smith, chairman of the department of psychiatry at St. Vincent's, said the hospital developed an ECT program because "it is a treatment option that should be part of any state-of-the-art program, and which we're delighted to have at St. Vincent's. "There has always been a strong negative image associated with ECT, mainly because of the harsh nature of the early practices and distorted portrayals by the media and entertainment industries," continued Smith. "In fact, there have been significant advances in developing technological aspects of ECT, and it is now safer and more effective than many medication treatments for depression, especially in the elderly or medically ill."
In the past, ECT has been used inappropriately on a variety of mental illness, including schizophrenia, anxiety and bipolar disorders, said Leedom. Today, however, 98 percent of the time ECT is used on patients with severe depression, she said. "These are people who can't get out of bed in the morning, have constant thoughts of death, and a quality of life that is deplorable," said Leedom, who only sees patients referred to her by other doctors. "I do not treat the worried well.' "
During a patient's first visit, Leedom will go over their medical history, review their symptoms and medications, and discuss treatment options, she said. "I will almost always recommend another course of medications first," she noted. If ECT is indicated, a patient will start with an initial series of four to 12 treatments administered two to three times a week at the hospital, usually on an out-patient basis. "Most people improve in the first couple of weeks," Leedom said. "About 20 to 30 percent of cases get a series and never need it again. About 50 percent can be maintained on medication and don't need ECT, and the rest need maintenance ECT, treatments that occur once a week at a frequency determined by the individual and the doctor."
The most commonly cited side effects of ECT are headaches and short-term memory loss, which Leedom says is temporary. But for a life-threatening disorder such as depression can be, ECT can be a life-saving treatment. Even with the proliferation of anti-depressants on the market, these medications can take weeks to kick in, while ECT is immediate.[...]
"It's not that I have a disrespect for psychotherapy, [but] the people I treat cannot be cured by psychotherapy. It's like saying if you want to bad enough, you could will yourself well," said Leedom. "I wanted to be a neuroscientist [and] because of my bent as a scientist I found this treatment works.[...]
Not everyone, however, is happy with the return of ECT, nor have all patients had a good experience. One of its most outspoken critics is Dr. Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist from Bethesda, Maryland, who said in a recent documentary on ECT on the Discovery Channel that ECT always causes "brain damage and dysfunction."
In 1984 Marilyn Rice, a former ECT patient and now deceased, formed the Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, which numbers over 500 members today. She and other members of the group say they suffered permanent memory loss as a result of ECT. CTIP doesn't want to ban ECT, but advocates that all patients have "informed consent" and understand the risk of the treatments. The National Mental Health Association agrees with this position and released a statement in 2000 urging that "ECT be presented as an alternative with extreme caution, only after all other treatment approaches, such as medication and psychotherapy, have either failed or have been seriously and thoroughly evaluated and rejected."
Susan Rodgers, director of special projects of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said, "ECT does cause a temporary lifting of depression [so] if you use that period of depression when the effects wear off, you may be in a better place than where you were. "But some people have no effect from it. Dick Cavett had ECT and swears by it," she continued. "It's a crap shoot, you don't know in advance if you'll be one of the lucky ones or one of the unlucky ones." [...]
Noah's Ark Scandal
Fraudulent From the Start
In August of 2002, Dr. Leedom and her then husband, Barry Lichtenthal, (also spelled Lichenthal), whom she met through an online dating service, opened a clinic for the care and treatment of substance abuse and dependent persons called "Noah's Ark Foundation" in Bridgeport, Conn. Dr. Leedom was the medical director of the clinic. When seeking to obtain the necessary permits for the clinic, Leedom introduced her husband to licensing agents of the State of Connecticut as "Dr. Michael Taylor." She continued to maintain this fraud with staff and patients until the end.During interviews with the State licensing agents, in the presence of his wife, Liane Leedom, Barry Lichenthal AKA Dr. Michael Taylor, claimed that he was a retired gynecologist and that he had been able to retire because of investments in telecommunications in Florida.
"Dr. Taylor" was placed in charge of the clinic while Dr. Leedom only provided occasional supervision.
Complaints From Patients
In March 2003, the Connecticut Department of Public Health received a complaint about the clinic regarding the unlicensed practice of medicine on the part of Barry Lichtenhal (sic), aided and abetted by his wife, Liane Leedom. The complaints additionally alleged that "Dr. Taylor" had sexually abused patients at the clinic.The Department sent two investigators to the clinic on March 25, 2003, where "Dr. Taylor" was confronted and admitted that his real name was Barry Lichenthal. Dr. Leedom was also questioned and admitted to the investigators that the staff and patients knew her husband as "Dr. Michael Taylor" and that he wore a name tag indicating that he was a doctor and that she "saw no harm in it."
In April of 2003, the Connecticut Department of Public Health received another complaint from the father of a patient at the Noah's Ark clinic to the effect that his daughter had been sexually abused by "Dr. Taylor." This incident (or series of incidents) had led the man to investigate on his own. He had previously contacted the Bridgeport Police Department the FBI, and, apparently, a private investigator. He provided the Department with supporting documents he had obtained in preparation to file a formal complaint. These documents included a news release regarding the sentencing of a Barry Lichenthal AKA Michael Taylor for his role in defrauding investors through his Northeast Telecom, Inc.
Leedom Ignores Dangers to Patients
Statements and affidavits of many involved persons were taken by the Department of Public Health and a formal list of charges was drawn up and presented to the Medical Examiner's Board on April 11th, 2003. Based on the information obtained from licensing agents of the State of Connecticut, staff, and patients, Liane Leedom was charged with aiding and abetting her husband in the unlicensed practice of medicine. She was also charged with misleading the staff and patients of the facility by presenting her husband as "Dr. Michael Taylor." As the affidavits show, Leedom knew that her husband was routinely accessing confidential medical records, examining patients, prescribing medications and treatment plans, and, in short, fulfilling all of the functions of a doctor when he was not, in fact a physician, licensed or otherwise. Further charges, based on sworn testimony included the fact that, even after being made aware of sexual misconduct with patients on the part of her husband, Leedom continued to allow him to run the clinic, treat patients, and masquerade as a doctor, disregarding entirely the danger to the patients. The abusive situation only ended with the investigation and confrontation of Leedom and Lichtenthal, which resulted in the arrest of her husband.The Scandal Breaks
On April 12th, the story broke in the local Connecticut Post:Caution: Fake doc can cause side effects; Former patients claim gun play, experiments
By Daniel Tepfer
Former patients complained Friday that they went to Dr. Michael Taylor expecting to find an expert to treat their drug-addiction problems. Instead of a kindly Dr. Jekyll, the patients said they were confronted by a frightening Mr. Hyde.
Several people claimed he waved a gun at them and as they waited naked for treatment conducted bizarre experiments on their bodies.
Barry Lichenthal who used the name Dr. Michael Taylor was brought into Superior Court Friday, his hands chained behind his back. Lichenthal, 58, of Old Dyke Road, Trumbull, is charged with second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault and practicing medicine without a license.
The portly man with thinning gray hair and large, aviator-style glasses, shifted from one foot to another as he stood before Judge Richard Damiani. "He was preying on this community's weak and less fortunate, masquerading as a trusted member of the medical community," Assistant State's Attorney Charles Stango said. He said Lichenthal has used numerous aliases and is under a federal court order to make restitution of $600,000 for a prior mail fraud conviction.
Damiani refused to reduce the $1.75 million bond for Lichenthal, stating he had information the suspect had been planning to go to Florida. The judge sealed the warrant and continued the case to April 29. But Lichenthal's lawyer, William Dow, contended that such a large bond is usually reserved for accused multiple murderers. He said his client is the father of two children and stepfather of two others.
"Allegations don't make a case," Dow said later. "I'm anxious to learn from the state what the basis of the allegations are."
According to sources close to the investigation, Lichenthal who reportedly has no medical license and no formal medical training opened a methadone clinic last summer in the Merritt Medical Building on Main Street with his wife, Liane Leedom, a licensed psychiatrist affiliated with St. Vincent's Medical Center. They named the clinic the Noah's Ark Foundation. But soon after opening the clinic, Leedom took maternity leave, leaving her husband in charge. The sources said between 60 and 80 people a day would come to the clinic to receive methadone, a synthetic narcotic used to treat heroin addiction.
Soon, sources said, Lichenthal began to examine women who came to the clinic, performing breast and gynecological examinations on them without gloves. The sources said one woman claimed Lichenthal told her and another women to come into a room and take their clothes off. He then began attaching wires to their bodies, telling them he had to determine whether they were lesbians before he could give them methadone. After a few minutes of doing this so-called "alpha test," he proclaimed the women were "straight" and proceeded with their methadone treatment, the sources said.
Another woman said that when she questioned Lichenthal why he was massaging her breasts, he replied he was also a sex therapist and had studied at the Masters and Johnson Institute, the sources said.
Since the story of the allegations against Lichenthal appeared Friday in the Connecticut Post, several former patients have come forward to complain about his treatment of them. A 48-year-old Ansonia woman said she began going to the clinic Jan. 28 for methadone treatment. However, she said, "Dr. Taylor" told her to disrobe in an examination room and then began handling her breasts. "When I asked him why he was doing it, he said, 'Everybody who comes in gets an examination,' " she recounted. "I believed he was a doctor, so I let him do it."
Other former patients recalled that Lichenthal had waved around a handgun, telling them he was a former FBI agent who had killed people. And other patients said Lichenthal was not careful about how much methadone he dispensed, and often over-medicated them.Apparently there were more serious problems that resulted from the Leedom-Lichenthal deception. The Associated Press reported on 29 May, 2003:
Woman says phony doctor led to miscarriage
A Trumbull woman claims she lost her unborn child because of electric shock therapy and methadone treatments prescribed by a phony doctor. The 22-year-old woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Barry Lichtenthal, who is being held on criminal charges that he posed as Dr. Michael Taylor and performed gynecological exams on women in his wife's methadone clinic.
According to the court documents obtained by the Connecticut Post, the woman claims Lichtenthal told her the treatments were necessary. He allegedly told her he was a former FBI agent and would send her to jail if she didn't comply. She is suing Lichtenthal and his wife, Dr. Liane Leedom.
Lichtenthal, 58, is charged with second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault and practicing medicine without a license. He is being held in lieu of $1.75 million.
Leedom ran the Noah's Ark Foundation, a state-licensed methadone clinic that has since been shut down. Leedom's license is suspended. The woman says she met with Lichtenthal daily for five months. She said he told her the methadone would not harm the fetus.
Arrested - Charged with Larceny and Fraud
The criminal investigation, gathering of evidence and testimony, evenutally led to the arrest of Liane Leedom herself, almost a year later as reported by the Associated Press on 8 January 2004:A psychiatrist has been arrested on charges of allegedly allowing her former husband to pose as a doctor.
Dr. Liane Leedom, 42, surrendered at police headquarters Wednesday after being told there was a warrant for her arrest. "She allowed her husband to play doctor under her license and to dispense drugs under her license," Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney John DeMattia said. Leedom ran a psychiatric practice and the Noah's Ark Foundation, a former state-licensed methadone clinic in the Merritt Medical Building on Main Street.
Police said in 2002, Leedom went on maternity leave, leaving her husband, Barry Lichtenthal in charge of the office.
Lichtenthal, 58, was arrested last April after several female patients claimed he had conducted bizarre sexual experiments on them. Police said Lichtenthal presented himself to patients as Dr. Michael Taylor, and examined them and prescribed drugs.
Numerous sexual assault and fraud charges are pending against Lichtenthal at Superior Court in Bridgeport. Leedom subsequently filed for divorce from Lichtenthal and it was granted last September [2003].
Leedom was charge with larceny and several counts of fraud. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond, pending arraignment Jan. 20 at Superior Court in Hartford.A year later Lichenthal/Lichtenthal peaded guity and was sentenced as reported on News12.com:
Trumbull man convicted of impersonating a doctor to molest patients
(03/02/04) TRUMBULL - The husband of a Trumbull psychiatrist has admitted impersonating a doctor to molest his wife's patients, and now faces five years in prison. Barry Lichenthal, 59, pleaded guilty earlier this week to fourth-degree sexual assault, practicing medicine without a license, and reckless endangerment. Police say Lichenthal worked under the name of Doctor Michael Taylor at his wife's Bridgeport drug clinic, the Noah's Ark Foundation. He will be sentenced March 26.
Medical License Reprimanded and Restricted
On 4 May 2005, apparently as part of a plea bargain, Dr. Leedom's signed a Consent Order, agreeing that the allegations were true and her medical license was reprimanded and restricted. The restrictions include stipulations that Leedom:- Shall only engage in the non-clinical practice of medicine.
* Shall not provide treatment to any person.
* Shall not engage in any practice or administrative function that may direct, manage, supervise or dictate the course of any person's medical care or treatment.
* Shall obtain written approval from the Department prior to any change in professional activity that utilizes, applies, or is contingent upon respondent's status as a licensed physician/surgeon.
* Shall not hold, serve or be employed in any position as a director, supervisor or manager of any medical facility.
* Is restricted from the supervision of physician assistants and/or establishing collaborative practice with advanced practice registered nurses.
* Respondent shall satisfy and comply with any and all terms of her criminal probation relating to this matter. Any violation of her cirminal probation shall constitute a violation of this Consent Order.
* In the event that Respondent violates any terms of this Consent Order, Respondent agrees to cooperate with the Department and to submit to and complete a medical, psychiatric and/or psychological evaluation.
* Respondent agrees that this Consent Order shall be a public document.
Sociopathy Expert
Liane Leedom has parlayed this experience into a new career: online sociopathy 'expert' at LoveFraud and author claiming that her motivation is her great fear that her son, fathered by Lichenthal/Lichtenthal, may be a sociopath "Just Like His Father". Leedom's opinions and 'expertise' is often off-the mark according to accepted experts. She also offers 'advice' at Dr. Hare's support board: AFTERMATH.Books
Just Like His FatherDriven to Do Evil
Women Who Love Psychopaths (co-authored with Sandra L. Brown, M.A.) (from an Amazon.com review of WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS):
...Liane Leedom also contributed, however her view of psychopathy is something more along the lines of the DSM-IV category, which anyone who studies the subject know is grossly misleading and quite inaccurate.
My biggest complaint about the book are its contributions by Liane Leedom. For example, on page 19 we're told, "ADHD is often a precursor to psychopathy." which simply isn't true. No reference is cited nor have I seen this in the classic literature (Hare, Cleckley, etc.) There was also a tendency to quote Wikipedia as if it's a reliable source. If I've learned anything about Wikipedia is that it's good for something, mundane things, like the temperature of the sun or a superficial look at history or definitions, but when it comes to sensitive topics, like... psychopathy that the information is likely to be skewed in favor of the mainstream. If you want a good example contrast these two entries on the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy and http://enpsychopedia.org/index.php/Psychopathy.
This reviewer goes on to say the book was excellent, with the exception of Leedom's misleading information.
Website
JustLikeHisFather.comParenting The At Risk Child
Driven to Do Evil
Love Fraud - Ask Dr. Leedom
References
Postal Inspectors Shut Down $80 Million Telemarketing Scam Involving Former U.S. AttorneyEx-U.S. Attorney Admits Investor Fraud
Connecticut Post via Lexis database
Associated Press via Lexis database
News12.com
Connecticut Department of Public Health Investigator's Report and Affidavits obtained via FOIA request
Additional Documents:
Leedom Consent Order
Leedom License Order Published
Leedom Sued by former employee judgment
Enpsychopedia is in possession of additional documents relating to this case that are not yet published.
REBECCA POTTER THE OTHER LIFE STEALER!!! READ BELOW
REBECCA POTTER CASE NIMBER 2010-24142 STATE OF FLORIDA REBECCA SLEPT WITH HER CLIENT AND BORROWED 5,OOO DOLLARS SHE HAS NEVER PAID IT BACK.
LOOK IT UP YOURSELF.
THE JUDGE GAVE HER PSHYSICAL CUSTODY BECASE HER X HUSBAND WAS IN THE HOSPITOL AT THE TIME. WENDY BUFORD GOT MONEY FROM HER HUSBANDS TRUSTEES SPENT ALL THE CHILDRENS MONEY AND REFUSED TO ACCOUNT FOR HER SPENDING. SOON TO BE REVEALED/ WENDY BUFORD MONTAGU SPENT HER CHILDRENS MONEY IT IS NOW GONE NOTHING LEFT FOR THERE FUTURE.
SUPER QUACKS AND LIFE STEALERS CLUB FOR SURE!
