Livelihood Lost for Obeying Letter of the Law

James Singer sometimes imagines what life would have been like if he had turned away a teenage girl who came to him claiming her father was beating and sexually abusing her.

In the daydream, Singer still practices psychology, still owns a home, still has a life.

But Singer reported the case to police back in 1988 and is still paying the price.

The girl’s family complained. Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs charged Singer with inappropriately divulging secret information.

Fervent Hopes of Regaining License

The primary charge against him was eventually dropped. But during an investigation that his lawyer calls overzealous, the bureau charged Singer with several other infractions, some having nothing to do with the initial report.

Singer was fined $6,000. He lost his license in 1992 when he refused to pay.

Since then, his life--shattered by legal bills and unemployment-- has been defined by his fervent hope of regaining his license.

“They ruined my life,” Singer said. “And after all these years, I’m still not sure why.”

Though Singer’s legal appeal has been denied, a separate lawsuit filed recently claims the professional licensing agency prosecuted cases even when there was little or no evidence of wrongdoing, simply to keep its “numbers up.” The agency denies the allegation.

Singer’s downfall began in July 1986. At his practice in Dubois Hospital, he accepted the referral of a 25-year-old patient, whom hospital records said was emaciated, depressed and alcoholic.

After a family-therapy session, Singer was visited by the patient’s teenage sister. Within moments, Singer said, the girl was in tears.

“She told me how her father had been abusing her,” Singer said. “He pulled her hair, called her profane words and threatened to break her neck.”

Then the story took another turn.

“She said his hands went from her neck and slipped down to her breasts,” Singer said.

He believed state law required him to report the girl’s statement to police. Court decisions upholding a mandatory reporting law that includes doctors, teachers and other care providers would later prove him right.

“I could have been locked up for purposefully hiding knowledge given to me about an incident of abuse,” Singer said. “I had no choice but to report the abuse. It was not up to me to decide whether it was true or not.”

The consequences of his actions became clear over the following months.

The number of patients flowing into his office slowed to a trickle. “I had no idea what was going on,” Singer said.

He discovered the state Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs had launched an investigation based on a complaint by the family. His patients were being called and asked if they had experienced problems with Singer in the past--an investigation documented in state records obtained by the Associated Press.

Some of Singer’s patients still remember the calls they received.

“They wanted to know if we had ever had problems with Dr. Singer,” said Darlene Johnson, a woman he treated in the mid-1980s. “It was unusual, and I thought it was weird because we had never reported anything or had any problems. I felt like they were searching for something.”

The state charged Singer with almost 50 counts of inappropriate behavior with patients stemming from the child-abuse report and billing matters the agency turned up. The allegations included failing to inform clients that they could refuse his services and failing to properly explain how he billed them.

Of the 50 charges, Singer was found guilty on six counts, relating to billing practices and alleged overcharging.

Representing Singer in the case were several attorneys, including former state Auditor General Don Bailey.

“To me, the state’s case against Singer was excessive, abusive and overreaching beyond what the evidence or facts in my view supported,” Bailey said. “This was an attempt to make an example of someone because they didn’t want doctors feeling as though child-reporting laws applied to them. A lot of this is tied to money.”

In a separate lawsuit filed this year, Bailey is representing two former Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs attorneys who allege they were forced to prosecute trivial matters so the agency could justify its expanding budget.

Agency Denies It Has Prosecution Goals

Ralph Edwards, a Harrisburg psychologist who studies cases in which licenses have been revoked, says, “The agency decides you’re guilty and then determines what it is you are guilty of.”

A state hearing board convicted Singer on the billing charges, and he appealed to Commonwealth Court. With his appeal pending, the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs withdrew Singer’s license for his failure to pay a $6,000 fine. Commonwealth Court declined to hear Singer’s appeal.

Don Bunty, a spokesman for the bureau, denied the agency prosecutes cases to fulfill any quota.

“There were performance goals for various bureau employees, but there were no admonishments or punishments and no rewards for exceeding those goals,” Bunty said.

Singer’s case has received substantial review, he said, and “the rulings speak for themselves.”

Over the years, some of the state’s most prominent politicians have rallied to Singer’s defense. Gov. Thomas J. Ridge, then a congressman, sent a letter in 1994 to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno requesting her intervention in the case. The request went unanswered. As governor, Ridge has been silent on the matter.

With no legal options left, Singer still walks the halls of the state Capitol, talking with legislators, hoping to revive interest in his case, hoping to practice again.