Psychiatrist's license suspended

Kim Barker/The Spokesman-Review

The state has suspended the license of a 53-year-old Spokane Valley psychiatrist who had sex with two women he was treating.

The Medical Quality Assurance Commission ordered the severe sanction against Dr. Arthur Leritz even before holding a hearing, scheduled for Tuesday. The commission felt Leritz posed a danger to the public.

Leritz moved in with one patient in September 1990, three months after his second wife asked for a divorce. The couple is now engaged, Leritz said in a written response to the medical panel.

He treated the second patient for 13 years before starting a sexual relationship with her last summer. She was in therapy for depression, stemming in part from incest, the woman said.

Leritz, who has been licensed in Washington since 1977, admitted to having sex with the women but says he didn't deserve to have his license suspended Dec. 3.

``Any concept of `rehabilitation' of my crimes, which basically amount to the fact I am a kind, caring, competent psychiatrist who fell in Love with two women, and they with me, has been sabotaged by your investigation,'' Leritz wrote to the commission.

``I am not a bad doctor. I am an Officer and a Gentleman. I am also a Man of Honor ...

``I have to respond in My way, for Myself, for my Fiancee and for my Patients. You have attacked all of us, and I have the right to defend myself and my loved ones.''

Leritz, whose office is at 12012 E. Mission, graduated in 1970 from Creighton University School of Medicine. He could not be reached for comment.

But in his response to the commission, Leritz said he was ``aghast,'' ``acutely nauseous,'' ``doubly nauseous'' and ``damn mad'' at the charges. He said he deserves an apology.

No other complaints have been filed against Leritz.

The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Olympia. The panel could do anything from reinstating Leritz's license to revoking it, although a decision most likely won't be announced for weeks.

Leritz, who is representing himself, is accused of five counts of unprofessional conduct. That includes moral turpitude, incompetence, distributing legend drugs for illegitimate purposes, and interfering with an investigation.

Leritz, who is also being sued for malpractice by a Lincoln County couple, started treating the woman who became his fiancee in 1976. Medical records show Leritz continued treating her until at least January 1994, according to the state.

Leritz admits moving in with the woman. But he said he stopped treating her in June 1990.

During the investigation, Leritz wrote a letter to the Department of Health investigator stating, ``I never had an intimate/sexual relationship with (the woman) while she was a patient of mine.''

After the panel charged him with interfering with an investigation, Leritz elaborated.

``I certainly have not `willfully misrepresented any fact,''' he wrote. ``I now agree I was prescribing medications for (the woman) after June 1990.''

The second woman first came to Leritz for help in 1984. In an interview, she said he helped her work through issues stemming from her divorce, and sexual abuse by her father and a high school teacher.

After she got a new computer in January, Leritz began sending her e-mail that became increasingly sexually suggestive, the commission said.

From June to August, Leritz had sex with the woman 12 times, either at the woman's home or Leritz's North Idaho cabin, according to the state.

The charges say Leritz had sex with the woman four times just hours after therapy sessions and twice after injecting the woman with a drug to relax her.

Leritz said he had sex with the woman only eight times. He denied having sex with the woman on the same day as therapy. He said he injected the woman with procaine hydrochloride only once -- to help her neck pain. Leritz denied drugging the woman in order to have sex.

``It is patently FALSE and I am indignant my reputation, integrity, honesty, and worth as a human being has to be subjected to such a sick concept,'' Leritz wrote the panel.

He said the two were in love, and hoped the woman would experience their relationship as a ``corrective emotional experience.''

But the woman, who didn't want her name used, said the relationship has caused her to have even more problems with men.

After years of therapy, Leritz was the one man she trusted. She said he ended their relationship in late August.

``He was really my lifeline,'' the woman said. ``He knew that, and he encouraged that. I don't know what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. My creativity is just at a standstill. I'm just in trauma.''

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