Psychologist Gary Stollak, Linked to Larry Nassar Scandal, Surrenders License

October 1, 2018

An MSU psychologist with ties to the Larry Nassar scandal has permanently surrendered his license to treat patients, state officials said Friday.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said it issued a consent order against Gary Stollak, who retired from MSU in 2010, in which he surrendered his psychology license.

The order was issued after the agency investigated allegations that Stollak failed to inform authorities about Nassar's abuse of a patient, a minor. The order was approved Thursday by the Disciplinary Subcommittee of the Board of Psychology, officials said.

Nassar, 55, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, was convicted last year of sexually abusing girls under the guise of medical treatment and sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

As part of the order against Stollak, his license to practice psychology cannot be reinstated, reissued or reactivated at any future date.

Stollak did not contest a finding that he violated the Public Health Code due to conduct that constituted negligence or a failure to exercise due care, the agency said.

A 1975 Michigan law requires certain professionals to report suspicions of child abuse to Children’s Protective Services including school administrators, teachers, psychologists and law enforcement officers.

Kyle Stephens, the first victim to testify against Nassar, said he began abusing her in 1998, when she was 6. After Stephens told her parents in 2004, when she was in the sixth grade, they took her to see Stollak, she told The Detroit News in an interview this year.

Stollak suggested her parents meet with him and Nassar. During the meeting, Nassar denied using her feet to stimulate himself, and her parents believed him, said Stephens, who did not attend.

Stollak has said after having a stroke in 2016, he has no memories of the meeting.

Source: "Psychologist in Nassar case surrenders license," The Detroit News, September 28, 2018, URL: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/09/28/psychologist-nassar-case-surrenders-license/1453738002/