Doctor Is Unsafe to Practice, Board Charges

State medical authorities are seeking to revoke or suspend the license of a Woodland Hills doctor they charge has a mental disorder that may render him unable to safely practice medicine.

Dr. Edward V. Madey suffers from borderline personality disorder and has shown “impaired judgment . . . that may affect his ability to practice medicine in a way that would ensure safety to those to whom he administers as well as to himself,” the Medical Board of California said in a complaint made public Monday.

Madey could not be reached for comment. Deputy Atty. Gen. Nancy Ann Stoner, who prepared the complaint for the board, said Madey has filed a notice that he intends to defend himself against the charges, brought in May. No hearing date has been set.

Medical board executive director Kenneth Wagstaff said in the complaint that Madey twice tried to kill himself in 1982 and was twice hospitalized for “a major depressive syndrome.”

Wagstaff said that in a series of letters in 1985 and 1986 to his ex-wife, her family and attorney, Madey also threatened repeatedly to commit suicide “if his financial demands were not met.”

Stoner said she was not aware that any of Madey’s patients had experienced problems with him. She also said she could not elaborate on the content of his letters.

Madey voluntarily underwent a psychiatric evaluation in 1988 and was determined to be suffering from borderline personality disorder, said Stoner. She said the American Psychiatric Assn. defines the disorder as a “pervasive pattern of instability of self-image, interpersonal relationships and mood, beginning by early adulthood.”

An APA diagnostic manual said those suffering from the disorder often make repeated suicide threats and have trouble controlling their anger.

Vern Leeper, the medical board’s enforcement chief, said the board files charges against doctors with psychiatric problems about once a month.