Psychiatrist and Clinic Facing Lawsuit from a Dozen Former Patients

Psychiatrist and Clinic Facing Lawsuit from a Dozen Former Patients

New Mexico psychiatrist Dr. Alan Emamdee, 40, and the medical center where he works are facing a civil lawsuit from a dozen women who claim the doctor forced them to discuss their private sex lives, sexual fantasies and perform sexual acts on him after indicating it was part of their treatment. Farmington police detective George Joy said, “These were all visits to his office during office hours that were part of supposed treatment.”   

The female patients also sued San Juan Regional Medical Center and San Juan Health Partners on October 4th in Santa Fe County Court.  The hospital has since released information that Emamdee is no longer employed at the hospital and has cooperated fully with the investigation.

One patient indicated that Emamdee said he would help her to regain custody of her children if she gave him oral sex, and she complied. “He told (the woman) he would withhold medications and would negatively impact her custody proceedings if she did not continue to comply with his demands,” according to the complaint.

After refusing to meet him at a hotel for intercourse while she was engaged to be married, the psychiatrist “wrote a note indicating (the patient) has ‘reverted to DID, or dissociative identity disorder, negatively impacting her custody proceedings.”  She also indicated Emamdee told her “that he thought her roommate in the (San Juan Regional Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit) was ‘hot’ and suggested that (she) perform sexual acts on her sedated roommate.”  After being released from the hospital, the woman said the physician “also had inappropriate conversations and contacts” with her daughter.

Another plaintiff who was referred to Emamdee for post-natal care said he “asked (her) if she would be willing to give others tips on how to perform oral sex.”  And, yet another woman, said that she confided in the doctor about an incident that had occurred when she was a young girl in which an older man forced her to give him oral sex.  “Emamdee expressed that this individual was a ‘lucky man,’ and that defendant Emamdee would like (her) to perform oral sex on him,” the complaint stated.

A plaintiff identified in the complaint by her initials, C.K.O., indicated Emamdee would sit “inappropriately near” her during sessions and showed her “a video about how to perform a coffee enema on herself, which he recommended to her as something he does on a daily basis and enjoys.”  The psychiatrist also “told her she was very attractive, told her she was very ‘bangable’ and then hugged her.”  Emamdee asked if yet another plaintiff “was sexually active, and when she replied she was not, said, ‘We need to take care of that.”

Many of the women stated that Emamdee adjusted their prescriptions in ways that ended up harming rather than helping them. The women are seeking compensatory, treble and punitive damages for 13 counts, including negligence, recklessness, negligent credentialing and re-credentialing, negligent hiring and retention, vicarious liability, medical malpractice, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and spoliation of evidence.  The doctor has been charged with six counts of criminal sexual penetration, five counts of criminal sexual contact, and he has been denied bond.  

Sources:

Twelve Women Accuse Doctor of Sexual Abuses

Farmington doctor arrested on accusations of sexually assaulting woman in his office