[The following material is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 13, Issue 3, 1996. This material cannot be placed on BBS or Internet sites without express permission from the author. Any articles which are redistributed by e-mail or print must be left intact and nothing must be removed or changed, including these informational headers. Copyright 1995 by David W. Cloud. All rights are reserved by the author. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0. The Way of Life Internet web site is http://www.wayoflife.org/ .]

There have been a number of lawsuits, beginning in 1994, which have resulted in financial awards against psychiatrists involved in recovered memories. In each case, the reputations of parents were slandered after psychiatrists misused their power over distressed people in encouraging them to recall supposed memories of abuse from preadolescence. Freudian psychiatry is a blight upon mankind; it is more akin to voodooism than to true science.

In May 1994, a NAPA, CALIFORNIA, jury ordered a family counselor, a psychiatrist, and a hospital to pay $500,000 to Gary Ramona, an executive whose daughter, Holly, had accused him of sexual abuse when she was a child. He claimed they ruined his life by implanting false memories of child abuse in her mind. The patient in this case was also "treated" with sodium amytal.

Also in the first part of 1994, in DALLAS, TEXAS, Laura Pasley was awarded a significant settlement against two therapists. Pasley, 40, is a secretary in the Dallas police department's narcotics division (Jane Gross, New York Times, April 8, 1994).

On December 12, 1994, a state jury in DALLAS, TEXAS, ordered Dr. Wayne Jones, a psychiatrist, to pay $350,000 to Edward and LaVerne Khatain, parents of one of his patients. The doctor had told the woman's family that he believed her parents sexually abused her some 40 years ago. The Khatains claimed the psychiatrist had slandered them. According to an Associated Press report, the 48-year-old woman has since recanted the allegations of abuse and has ended her six-year relationship with Jones, who said he acted appropriately. The $350,000 was awarded for "tormental anguish and lost reputation." The psychiatrist had given his patient sodium amytal, sometimes called "truth serum." The Khatains' lawyer argued that the drug made it possible for Jones to implant memories in his patient's mind.

On December 16, 1994, a PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, jury awarded roughly $272,000 to 18-year-old Nicole Althaus and her parents. They sued the girl's psychiatrist, Dr. Cohen, and the University of Pittsburgh's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic for negligence for not recognizing that her recovered memory claims were incredible. Under therapy Nicole had become convinced that she had given birth to three children who were killed, and that she was raped in a crowded restaurant. The Althauses' lawyer said, "It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this kid was saying things that were impossible. She said she had a Caesarean birth, but there was no scar. Dr. Cohen was bombarded with information that was inconsistent with abuse, but she ignored it" (Thom Weidlich, "False Memory, Big Award," National Law Journal, Jan. 9, 1995).

Though not a monetary award against psychotherapists, a court decision in May 1995 had strong repercussions for Recovered Memory Therapy lawsuits. Reuters reported that in MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, Superior Court Judge William Groff set a national precedent by ruling that recovered memories of sexual assault cannot be used as evidence at a trial. One case involved accusations of rape against a 51-year-old teacher, John Monahan. The "victim" claimed she was 13 years old at the time of the rape, though she did not remember the incident until she underwent therapy. The other case involved accusations by a woman against her father, 58-year-old Joel Hungerford. She claimed he raped her on the eve of her wedding in 1991, but she did not recall it until after a year in therapy. The judge said in his opinion: "The phenomenon of memory repression and the process of therapy used in these cases to recover the memories have not gained general acceptance in the field of psychology and are not scientifically reliable."

In September 1995, in a ruling echoing the one in New Hampshire, Los Angeles, a California Superior Court judge refused to permit recovered memory testimony in a lawsuit. The suit was brought by a man claiming that he was molested by his father. Judge James Sutton "made the decision after hearing testimony from therapists on both sides of the debate, and concluded that the theory is `junk science'" ("Recovered Memory Murder Case Unravels," Home Edition, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 25, 1995).

Another lawsuit which resulted in monetary award against a psychiatrist was finalized in July of 1995, in ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. Vynnette Hamanne claimed that psychiatrist Diane Humenansky subjected her to a coercive program of mind-altering drugs, hypnosis and threats. The treatment resulted in "memories" of sexual abuse by family members. She said she was told she could not get well unless she recalled and relived incidents of childhood abuse and confronted the adults who had abused her. She was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and eventually hospitalized in psychiatric wards. "During the six-week trial, Hamanne testified that the doctor forced her to believe that, as a child, she had seen her grandmother stirring a cauldron of dead babies. The doctor allegedly told Hamanne that she had been sexually abused by family members who had been part of a satanic cult. The abuse, Humenansky told her patient, caused her to develop multiple personalities" (St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 1, 1995). A jury awarded Hamanne $2.5 million dollars for past and future loss of earnings, medical expenses and pain and suffering.. They also awarded her husband $210,000 for the loss of his wife's past and future "services and companionship." "Many cases similar to Hamanne's are being settled quietly across the country," Hamanne's attorneys say. This is thought to be the first civil trial in the country regarding the false memory issue involving a patient suing her therapist. And it has won the largest verdict in a repressed memory case, said Hamanne's attorneys. The trial was also significant because the judge ruled earlier that repressed memory is an unreliable theory that is not permissible in expert testimony. Criminal trial decisions banning repressed memory testimony had been reached earlier in New Hampshire and Maryland" (Ibid.).

In December 1995, a DENVER, COLORADO, jury awarded Jane Brennan $120,858 and found her therapist, Beverly Nussbaumer, guilty of negligence. Brennan claimed the therapist had implanted false memories of sexual abuse by Brennan's father. The Denver District Court jury ordered therapist Beverly Nussbaumer to pay Brennan $30,507 in medical expenses, $79,250 in lost wages and $11,000 for pain and suffering. Psychiatrist Henry Bible, also named in the lawsuit, was found innocent of negligence and was not ordered to pay any damages. The 36-year-old Brennan said, "I'll tell you one thing, I'll never ever go to therapy again. I know I suffer from depression, and I will try to find a way to deal with that. But I will never go to a psychiatrist or any kind of therapist again. I put (my parents) through hell. My father suffered greatly from this. His health is totally deteriorated. It pains me very greatly to see him. ... He's had strokes and he's very confused now. I feel horrible, even though he's very happy that we're back together. I feel very guilty" (Christian News, Dec. 11, 1995, p. 9).

On January 24, 1996, a jury awarded $2.5 million to Elizabeth Carlson, the second patient of ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, psychiatrist Diane Humenansky to win a malpractice suit. The trial, which lasted 13 weeks, ended after a nine-day jury deliberation. Dr. Humenansky faces at least eight more malpractice trials. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "In the current case, Carlson, 41, accused Humenansky of planting false memories during treatment. With hypnosis and mind-altering drugs, Carlson became convinced she had created multiple personalities--including animals and a nun--to deal with supposed sexual assaults by her parents, neighbors and god-mother. Carlson says now that the abuse never happened and she and her family sought $4 million in damages. The six-member jury unanimously awarded Carlson and her family $2,511,342, with the bulk of the award going to Carlson for her current and future medical expenses and current and future pain and suffering. Carlson's husband David, received $150,000 of the award for the loss of consortium with his wife while she was in treatment" (Molly Guthrey and Tracey Kaplan, "Second Patient Wins against Psychiatrist," St. Paul Pioneer Press, Jan. 25, 1996).