Denver psychiatrist Roy S. Lowenstein has been disciplined by the Colorado Medical Board for taking the intimate details of a traumatic event a patient had experienced as a child and turning it into a short story that was published without the patient’s knowledge or consent.
Lowenstein treated “patient S.P.” for approximately five years. According to the Board’s letter of admonition to Lowenstein, recently posted on the Colorado Division of Registrations website:
“Throughout the course of treatment, S.P. related to you details of a traumatic event that she experienced as a child. In 2009, you published a short story based on the traumatic event in S.P.’s life in a literary publication, without S.P.’s permission. You then told S.P. about the publication.”
The Board concluded that Lowenstein’s “exploitation of S.P.’s confidential information without her prior consent” and his “failure to deal with sensitive therapeutic issues with respect for the dignity of S.P.” constituted unprofessional conduct under the Colorado Medical Practice Act.
The Board’s letter of admonition can be read in its entirety by clicking here.
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