– My clients are relieved to have been believed, says Mette Yvonne Larsen. She represents three of those who have notified the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken. On a general basis, the State Administrator submits cases to the Norwegian Health Authority where they assess that there may be grounds for action under the Health Personnel Act. In one of the cases, the State Administrator has asked for the suspension of the psychiatrist. – Especially in this case, the Norwegian Health Authority must deal with this quickly, says Larsen. These are the five cases: One of the cases concerns the psychiatrist’s requisitioning practice. One of the cases concerns patient treatment and record keeping. Two of the cases concern patient treatment, role mixing and record keeping. One of these is a supervision case from 2003 which has been reopened. The fifth case concerns role mixing. – We note that the State Administrator has completed five of the eight cases, says the psychiatrist’s lawyer Halvard Helle to news. Lawyer Mette Yvonne Larsen believes that the cases taken together are so serious that they will require a reaction. – Overall, this is a breach of the propriety criterion in the Health Personnel Act, Larsen believes. Three cases are still pending. At the same time, two supervision cases have been opened against the treatment facility the psychiatrist has worked at. Lawyer Harald Helle represents the psychiatrist. He tells news that the Statsforvaltaren’s conclusions are taken into account. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Hilde Rød-Larsen was the one who announced the fire. The criticism in her supervisory case is not considered to be serious enough for administrative action, writes the State Administrator in a letter news has seen. – What emerges in this case shows a lack of understanding of a central aspect in the understanding of the role of a doctor, writes the Statsforvaltaren about Hilde Rød-Larsen’s case. Nevertheless, the case is forwarded to the Norwegian Health Authority together with the other four, because it is considered to have to be seen in connection with the other cases. – It is reassuring to know that the supervisory matters are now in the hands of the supervisory authority, so that there may be a reaction against the psychiatrist, says Hilde Rød-Larsen. If the debtors resisted, Rød-Larsen is said to have met and entered into a relationship with the psychiatrist while she herself was ill with an eating disorder. While working on a novel, Rød-Larsen realized that she was portraying her own story, she has told the Danish newspaper Information. The psychiatrist has opposed the debts, and believes no abuse was committed. This was based on the fact that he was not her therapist. – I want professionals to be more aware of what can be claimed to be a “grey zone”, said Rød-Larsen to news. Eight supervisory cases Following her notification, several current and former patients have contacted the State Administrator. In February, the State Administrator expanded the examination of the psychiatrist by looking at the prescribing of prescription drugs. Several pharmacies were asked to send an overview of prescription data. A total of eight supervision cases have been opened against the psychiatrist. Through his lawyer Halvard Helle, the psychiatrist has denied having acted in breach of the ethical rules he must abide by. – He has practiced for four decades. He is confident both professionally and personally in relation to his contact with patients, and there is nothing about this case that should shake that particular image, Helle told news in January. The police are investigating In February, Aftenposten reported that both Hilde Rød-Larsen and Victoria Nordberg the psychiatrist to the police. Among other things, he will be blamed for abuse of superior power, which carries a penalty of up to six years. The police confirm to news that the investigation is ongoing. – Out of consideration for the investigation, we currently do not wish to comment, or go out with what evidence the police have, or what investigative steps have been carried out or planned, says head of investigation Maria Eriksson at Bærum police office. The police state that the psychiatrist has not yet been questioned. Nordberg claims that she has not received good and correct treatment, and that the psychiatrist has committed a breach of the propriety requirement in the Health Personnel Act. Mette Yvonne Larsen, the lawyer assisting the whistleblowers, writes to the police that the psychiatrist has recorded consultations that Nordberg can document have not taken place. – Superficial role understanding The State Administrator asked psychiatrist Asgeir Medhus to write an expert report after both Hilde Rød-Larsen and the re-notified psychiatrist described their stories. Medhus concluded that the psychiatrist has “a limited and too superficial understanding of what role you have as a doctor in contexts other than when you are a therapist”. In Rød-Larsen’s description of the meeting with the psychiatrist, she writes that they first met at a birthday party. Nearly a year and a half later, the two are said to have had sex for the first time. It happens on the couch in the psychiatrist’s office, as Hilde Rød-Larsen describes it in the notice. She asked the supervisory authorities to investigate the allegation that the psychiatrist has abused his role as a doctor to manipulate and exploit her. The psychiatrist refutes this in a letter to the Statsforvaltaren, and base it on a conscious relationship to physical comments. – Hilde Rød-Larsen is almost completely dictating her entire account of the contact between her and me – from being a mature woman with her own choices and several initiatives for contact – to becoming a “victim”. Naturally, I feel it as a threat to my legal protection, he writes. The psychiatrist does not comment in his reply on the meeting when the two allegedly had sex. Supervision of the place of treatment The State Administrator has also received a notice directed at the psychiatrist’s place of work in Oslo. BUP Vest at the Diakonhjemmet in Oslo is one of those who have sent a notice. Head of department Trude Fixdal wrote the message to the State Administrator. There, she questions whether central parts of the treatment are taken care of. – The specialist’s opinion is that one should consider whether (they) should treat children and young people, writes Fixdal. The state administrator has not yet reached a conclusion in either of the two supervision cases against the treatment centre.
ttn-69
Psychiatrists can lose their authorization after supervisory cases – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
