New York State Prohibits Psychiatrist Vadim Baram from Practicing ECT (Electroshock)

October 17, 2023

On December 23, 2022, the New York State Department of Health permanently restricted psychiatrist Vadim Baram from practicing electroconvulsive therapy in the state.

On April 28, 2022, a Hearing Committee of the New York Office of Professional Medical Conduct issued a determination and order finding that Baram committed professional misconduct by having been disciplined by the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts for failing to reduce the frequency of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); failing to perform assessments within 24 hours of performing ECT; failing to include information sufficient to justify continuing ECT treatment; failing to properly note assessments and did not adequately determine or assess if any side effects and cognitive function were present after each administration of ECT; copied and pasted repetitive phrases; failing to include relevant information in the patients records and failing to document sufficient assessments of the patients cognitive side effects and present conditions regarding three patients.

The Hearing Committee’s findings were affirmed by the Administrative Review Board.

Baram practices primarily in Missouri but is also licensed in New York, Florida, Illinois, and Connecticut.

On May 13, 2021, the Missouri State Board for Registration for the Healing Arts reprimanded Baram for misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and unethical conduct related to “willfully and continually performing inappropriate or unnecessary treatment” related to ECT treatments that he delivered to three patients.

The Missouri Board’s document stated Baram delivered the following:

• 143 shocks to Patient 1 from 2009 to 2013
• 97 shocks to Patient 2 from 2011 to 2013
• 70 shocks to Patient 3 from 2010 to 2011

The Missouri Board noted that Baram failed to attempt to reduce the frequency of shocks; did not perform assessments within 24 hours of performing ECT; and failed to enter into the patients’ records his rationale and indications to justify continued use of shock.

The Missouri Board had noted that “A physician should decrease or attempt to decrease treatment frequency of maintenance of ECT. The goal is to extend the time between treatments and eventually remove the maintenance treatment. A physician should decrease treatment frequency if cognitive side effects are present.”

The Missouri Board stated that patients should be re-evaluated regularly to determine if treatment should be continued. This must be done “each day, not just over the course of years. Determining whether ECT should continue includes assessing the patient before beginning ECT treatments and after, then again on every visit. The patient assessment should occur within 24 hours after treatment, usually within 10 minutes. The assessment is one that only the physician does and is not something that the physician can have a nurse do on his or her behalf.”

The Board noted that in the place of actual assessment data, these patients’ records contain identical, copied and pasted repetitive phrases which lacked relevant information about side effects, physical exams, and cognitive assessments:

• Baram recorded the exact same line in Patient 1 's chart 27 times, repeated another line 19 times, and repeated two subsequent lines 13 and 14 times.
• In Patient 2's chart, he repeated a single line 36 times, repeated another line 26 times, and repeated a later note 14 times, respectively.
• In Patient 3's chart, ne repeated one line 12 times and another 11 times.

In addition to being prohibited from practicing ECT in New York, the state’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct placed his license on probation for one year.

Source: Administrative Review Board Determination and Order No. 22-256 in the Matter of Vadim Baram, M.D., State of New York Department of Health, Administrative Review Board of Professional Medical Conduct, Dec. 9, 2022 and Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Disciplinary Order, Vadim Y. Baram, M.D., Case Number(s) 2013-003922 and 2014-007312 (AHC Case No. 16-3561), Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, May 13, 2021.