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Delaware state licensing officials have begun an investigation to determine if a local psychotherapist is practicing legally in Delaware.
After Dr. Paul Lange’s Delaware medical license was revoked March 6, he thought he had the right to practice psychotherapy under his general business license for providing counseling and therapy services. He advertised himself as a Yale psychotherapist providing evaluations and psychotherapy. Delaware state officials say Lange must have a license from the Board of Examiners of Psychologists to practice psychotherapy.
The decision of the Delaware Board of Medical Practice to revoke Lange’s license is recorded in a 24-page final decision and order issued March 6. It states Dr. David August, a local psychiatrist who formerly supervised Lange’s probationary practice in Delaware, testified against Lange before the medical board. It says August testified that Lange was unstable and deficient in his ability to take care of patients.
Lange testified that his original dispute with August arose when Lange questioned August’s mental stability, and he was unable to have any dialogue with August after September 2006. Lange described August as instable and incapable of running his own practice. The decision and order states Lange testified that everything August said was a “a distortion, a condensation of years or an outright lie.”
A former patient said during an interview with the Cape Gazette that he filed a complaint with the Delaware medical board after being informed by a licensed psychiatrist that Lange had prescribed medications that seriously endangered his health. The patient also said Lange hindered his recovery for many months.
The medical board’s decision said Lange ignored the board’s prior order when he decided to treat patients and prescribe medication while his probationary license was under review. It says Lange was never permitted to prescribe medications in Delaware without supervision.
The Delaware decision and order states Lange testified he did not demand the right to write prescriptions for patients. “He testified the prescription business is an outright lie,” the decision states. Lange testified that the matter involved a two-minute conversation, at the conclusion of which he and August decided they would prescribe medications together.
“Whether Lange advertises as a Yale psychiatrist or a Yale psychotherapist, people like me are going to go to him for help at a time when they are in great need. The issue is not just one of licensing; it is also an issue of trust,” the patient said.
Lewes patient complains
Finding himself in what he described as an unfortunate and difficult time, the patient said he was ecstatic when he first discovered Lange’s advertisement as a Yale psychiatrist, and he was able to be seen quickly. The patient said he was impressed by Lange’s reference to Yale, which the patient described as one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country. The patient thought his difficult search for qualified psychiatric help in the Cape Region was over.
“During counseling he put me on medicines and convinced me I was a raging alcoholic. The licensed psychiatrist I’m seeing now told me the medicines were very dangerous and haven’t been used since the 1970s, because they have very bad side effects,” the patient said.
The patient said he feels he was the victim of gross misrepresentations made at a time when he was most vulnerable and needed to be able to trust that his mental healthcare provider was qualified and stable. He said he is concerned about others who may turn to Lange for professional help, and he believes they may be in danger.
Danger to public health?
The Delaware medical board decision states Lange’s Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. medical licenses were previously suspended based upon a finding that his continued practice constituted a substantial danger to the public health and welfare.
“The Delaware board never said I endangered the public. My license was revoked because I broke the rules of my licensing probation,” Lange said. “I am an excellent professional, full of integrity, trying to provide a needed service in Sussex County.”
Lange said he gave up all public claims to being a psychiatrist after the Delaware medical board revoked his medical license, but he wasn’t willing to give up his career as a mental healthcare provider. He changed his newspaper advertisement by removing any reference to himself as a psychiatrist and as a medical doctor and represented himself instead as a Yale psychotherapist who provides evaluations and psychotherapy under a Delaware business license.
Division of Professional Regulation Director James Collins said a business license is not enough. The requirements of the Delaware code apply.
Title 24 of the Delaware code says at section 3502 that the practice of psychology includes psychotherapy. Section 3507 says no person may engage in the practice of psychology or represent to the public that he is qualified to practice psychology unless the Board of Examiners of Psychologists licenses him.
Lange does not claim to have a license from the Board of Examiners of Psychologists and says he does not need one. He claims the board of psychologists is one way to do it, and having a business license is another.
“I am not under professional regulation, and I don’t intend to be,” Lange said, adding he presents no pretense of practicing medicine.
“I’m qualified by virtue of having a business license in Delaware to do counseling and psychotherapy. Quoting the board of psychologists has absolutely nothing to do with me,” he said.
He said he has no training as a psychologist, and he never claimed to be a psychologist. “You cannot have a person who claims to not be a psychologist subject to the regulations for being a psychologist,” Lange said.
Licensing process
Licensing is a two-pronged process, said Director of Licensing and Registration Patrick Carter. “There are two requirements: a professional licensing requirement to protect the public and a business licensing requirement to provide proper taxation,” he said. “This applies whether one is a barber or a medical doctor. The fact that Lange has a business license does not mean he has a professional license for that particular job.”
Collins agrees. He said Delaware has 33 different licensing boards, and 14 of them regard healthcare professionals. Doctors, counselors and therapists fall under the regulations, Collins said.
The Division of Professional Regulation opened a complaint against Lange Thursday, July 12. The complaint is based upon the division’s review of Lange’s current advertisement, said investigative supervisor Sam Nickerson. The matter will be investigated, and if the division decides there is a probability of a licensing violation it will be turned over to the Attorney General’s Office, he said.
Lange said no one told him use of his general business license for therapy and counseling was restricted or required an additional license. “I have a general services business license and those services include therapy and counseling. As far as I know, that’s what I need and what I have,” Lange said.
“There’s no problem doing what I need to be legit, and I’m going to do what I need to be legit. I thought I was legit, I think I’m legit, and if necessary I’m just going to advertise myself as a business and relationship consultant so I am legit,” he said.
“I am a Yale graduate; I am brilliant and competent. All I’m trying to do is find some legal way to do my practice. All of these negative reports have hurt my financial situation, my professional pride and my reputation,” said Lange.
Pat Genero of the Yale Residency Education Office confirmed Lange completed his residency and graduated from the Yale Psychiatry Residency Program in 1971.
Contact Georgia Leonhart at g.l.leonhart@comcast.net
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