A Career Plundered

Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog, a Boston psychiatrist, was sued by the Lozano family after a former patient, Paul Lozano, committed suicide. The case was widely and sensationally publicized in the newspapers and other media. A combination of inaccurate reporting, inept proceedings by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, and the threat of ruinous legal fees led Dr. Bean-Bayog to surrender her license to practice medicine. Facts that were not reported in the press were described in Dr. Maltsberger's address, delivered on April 15, 1992, at the annual AAS meeting in San Francisco. The implications for therapists attempting to treat seriously suicidal patients in the current hostile forensic climate were further discussed. The text of the address is presented here.