Dear Readers: The subject of today’s column is a book that will send shivers down the spine of the psychiatric profession. Barbara Noel enlisted the help of writer Kathryn Watterson to tell the world her story about a Chicago psychiatrist who injected her with Amytal, a barbiturate, and had sex with her while she was knocked out.
This was not just any psychiatrist. It was Jules H. Masserman, who incidentally denies the charges. He was past president of both the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and The American Psychiatric Association, and honorary life president of the World Association for Social Psychiatry. He was also co-chairman of psychiatry and neurology at Northwestern University Medical School.
This column is not meant to suggest that all psychiatrists are exploitative and unethical. I know many competent, caring psychiatrists who have helped their patients enormously.
In her book, Barbara Noel gives real names and addresses. She is painfully frank about her anger, telling how she paid more than $100,000 to this doctor who she says used her unconscious body for his own sexual gratification.
When Noel decided to take Masserman to court, two other women who had been Masserman’s patients and also stated they had been sexually molested by him asked to join in her suit. One woman was an attorney, the other a businesswoman. The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. Noel settled out of court for $200,000 and the other two women settled for $25,000 each.
Later, Dr. Masserman agreed to sign a consent order surrendering his license to practice.
I recently asked Chicago attorney Paul Episcope to check on Masserman’s status. The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation said that Dr. Masserman’s license had been “relinquished.” The American Psychiatric Association simply said, “Dr. Masserman has retired.” We have learned, however, that the APA Board of Trustees still invites him to its annual meetings.
The book is You Must Be Dreaming by Barbara Noel. The publisher, Poseidon Press. The price, $21. You will not be able to put it down.
—- Write to Ann Landers, P.O. Box 11562, Chicago, Ill. 60611-0562.
