Psychiatrist Accused of Improper Relationship

A psychiatrist whose license was suspended in 1987 for having an affair with a patient has again been accused by state officials of gross negligence and incompetence for engaging in “a sexual and romantic relationship” with another client.

The accusation, filed by the Medical Board of California last month in Sacramento, seeks to revoke 51-year-old Dr. Jeffrey Moran’s medical license. Authorities leveled seven allegations, including having an improper sexual relationship, excessively prescribing controlled drugs, lying to investigators about his sexual relationship with the 30-year-old patient, and asking the patient to deny the affair to the medical board.

Moran, who continues to practice in Santa Ana, is accused of beginning the 16-month romantic relationship with the female patient in mid-1995. He initially treated her for stress and successfully recommended that she receive state disability.

During the liaison, Moran paid her college tuition, rented her a house, paid for her to have breast augmentation and provided excessive amounts of controlled substances--including narcotics and barbiturates--by writing prescriptions in the name of her friends or family members, according to the accusation.

The relationship turned to crisis in a stormy meeting in his office on Oct. 16, 1996, when Moran’s wife confronted him and the patient, according to the accusation. Moran’s wife already had threatened to expose his conduct to the medical board unless he ended the affair.

Neither Moran nor his lawyer returned telephone calls seeking comment Thursday.