Psychiatrist William T. Vicary, disciplined in '98 for falsifying records in Menendez murder case, charged with negligence, incompetence

September 29, 2011

On September 1, 2011, the Medical Board of California issued an Accusation against psychiatrist William Tice Vicary, alleging gross negligence, incompetence, repeated negligent acts and recordkeeping failures.

According to the document, Vicary began seeing a patient whom he knew from having worked with him at a clinical counseling center.

Some time in 2007, Vicary began serving as a supervisor for the patient, relative to the patient’s work as a psychological assistant. Among other things, Vicary failed to separate his roles as the patient’s supervisor and his doctor and failed to conduct an initial or subsequent physical examinations before repeatedly prescribing dangerous drugs to him (including the stimulants Adderall and Provigil, an erectile dysfunction medication and a testosterone replacement—without supporting lab tests or physical exams).

An April 30, 2010 inspection of his office by the Medical Board of California found that he kept numerous bottles of patient medications (including controlled substances), many of which were expired in an unsecured area of his office and that he confirmed that he sometimes gave patients medications that belonged to other patients.

In 1990, Vicary was engaged by defense counsel for Erik Menendez, who was ultimately convicted with his brother Lyle in the murder of their parents. Vicary was Erik Menendez’s forensic/treating psychiatrist. In 1998, after the conclusion of the trial, Vicary’s license was placed on probation when it was found that he had altered his treatment notes on Menendez with the purpose of concealing statements made by Menendez which Menendez’s attorney objected to. He destroyed the originals. This alteration and destruction came to light after Vicary provided a copy of the originals to the prosecution’s psychiatric expert, who compared them to what had been entered earlier into testimony).

Source: Stipulated Settlement and Disciplinary Order in the Matter of William Tice Vicary, M.D., Physician and Surgeon Certificate No. G-30953, Case 17-96-62136 and Accusation in the Matter of the Accusation Against William Tice Vicary, M.D., Case No. 02-2008-194534, Medical Board of California.