State Permits Harvard Psychiatrist to Practice

A state medical board decided early this morning not to suspend a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist accused of having an affair with a patient who later committed suicide.

The state Board of Registration in Medicine concluded after a five-hour emergency meeting that Dr. Margaret H. Bean-Bayog '65 engaged in "substandard care," but it did not suspend her from practicing.

After hearing testimony from Bean-Bayog, the board issued a statement early this morning saying that Bean-Bayog's "continued practice does not constitute an immediate or serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare."

Bean-Bayog, who is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, is charged in a malpractice and wrongful death suit with manipulating a patient, Paul Loosen, into dependence on her and then abandoning therapy, causing him to become suicidal.

Loosen, who was 28 and three months short of graduating from Harvard Medical School, killed himself with a lethal cocaine injection in Texas last April.

Luzon's family filed suit in November charging that Bean-Bayou had sex with Lozano and used unethical medical practices to regress him to the psychological level of an infant.

Bean-Bayog, 48, of Lexington, issued a statement last week denying the charges and specifying that she did not have sex with Lozano. She left the board meeting yesterday without comment.

"I categorically deny that I ever had any sexual relations with this patient or that I otherwise exceeded the proper bounds of psychotherapy," Bean-Bayog said in the statement.

Before the board meeting, she refused to comment on the allegations and directed reporters to her attorneys. Her lawyers did not return repeated telephone calls.

Bean-Bayog was placed on a leave of absence and taken off all referral list at the Medical School last May when the school's administrators were notified that a complaint had been filed.

"Dr. Bean-Bayog will remain on leave pending the outcome of any proceedings," said Sylvia C. Memolo, a Medical School spokesperson.

In addition to the legal proceedings, the school will conduct its own investigation of the case, Memolo said.

The state board referred Bean-Bayog's case to the Division of Law Appeals for a formal hearing. Until then, she will be supervised by another psychiatrist, the board ruled.

State Consumer Affairs Secretary Gloria Larson, whose office oversees the medical board, ordered the starling information that has come to light."

If the allegations are true, we are talking about serious malpractice her," Larson said in an interview during a visit to Radcliffe last night.

Larson said she wanted to express her concern about the allegations and to correct the perception that the board was not doing anything about board was not doing anything about the problem.

Lozano's family claims that Bean-Bayog'stermination of a sexual relationship, coupled withher "regression therapy" that had Lozanopretending to be her infant son, eventually drovehim to suicide.

According to the suit, the relationship betweenLozano and Bean-Bayog began in 1986 and lastedabout four years.

During this time, the patient and doctor met ortalked on the phone almost every day, the familyclaimed.

But in June 1990, Bean-Bayog adopted a childand told Lozano "she didn't have time for himanymore, that she had a family to take care ofnow," said Lozano's sister, Pilar Williams.

"She took his mind and completely destroyedhim," Williams said. "This is not about sex. Thisis about his mind and soul. She took a brilliantman and turned him into a 3-year-old, avegetable."

Among the records that have been brought tocourt as evidence are documents that suggest thatBean-Bayog used unorthodox practices because shebelieved that Lozano had been abused as a child.

Dr. Thomas W. Watkin, the Lozano family'spediatrician between 1970 and 1979, said he saw noevidence of physical, mental or other abuse inPaul Lozano or his siblings.

Watkin pointed out that the Lozano family tookthe trouble to bring their children from a smalltown 25 miles away to see him.

"If there was anything going on, they wouldn'thave made the effort to bring their children tothe most likely person to detect it," said Watkin.

At the time, the Lozano family lived in Tiffin,Ohio.

Reports from psychiatrists who have examinedLozano at other institutions are contradictory asto whether Lozano was abused.

This report incorporates information takenfrom wire dispatches.

Lozano's family claims that Bean-Bayog'stermination of a sexual relationship, coupled withher "regression therapy" that had Lozanopretending to be her infant son, eventually drovehim to suicide.

According to the suit, the relationship betweenLozano and Bean-Bayog began in 1986 and lastedabout four years.

During this time, the patient and doctor met ortalked on the phone almost every day, the familyclaimed.

But in June 1990, Bean-Bayog adopted a childand told Lozano "she didn't have time for himanymore, that she had a family to take care ofnow," said Lozano's sister, Pilar Williams.

"She took his mind and completely destroyedhim," Williams said. "This is not about sex. Thisis about his mind and soul. She took a brilliantman and turned him into a 3-year-old, avegetable."

Among the records that have been brought tocourt as evidence are documents that suggest thatBean-Bayog used unorthodox practices because shebelieved that Lozano had been abused as a child.

Dr. Thomas W. Watkin, the Lozano family'spediatrician between 1970 and 1979, said he saw noevidence of physical, mental or other abuse inPaul Lozano or his siblings.

Watkin pointed out that the Lozano family tookthe trouble to bring their children from a smalltown 25 miles away to see him.

"If there was anything going on, they wouldn'thave made the effort to bring their children tothe most likely person to detect it," said Watkin.

At the time, the Lozano family lived in Tiffin,Ohio.

Reports from psychiatrists who have examinedLozano at other institutions are contradictory asto whether Lozano was abused.

This report incorporates information takenfrom wire dispatches.