New York psychiatrist Dham Gupta suspended; asked patients to help find women willing to accept money for sex

August 19, 2013

Two physicians have been suspended by state regulators following separate investigations involving negligence and failure to maintain proper records.

Dr. Dham Gupta, a psychiatrist in Hamburg, was slapped with a one-year suspension of his license, to be followed by a five-year probation.

The Office of Professional Misconduct and Physician Discipline within the state Department of Health found Gupta guilty of gross negligence, negligence on more than one occasion, conduct showing moral unfitness and failing to maintain accurate patient records.

According to the determination order published on the DOH website, the charges included asking two patients treated in 2010 to help him find women willing to accept money for sex. Both patients had long psychiatric histories, including drug dependence and suicide attempts, demonstrating Gupta’s breach of trust with his patients.

In total, Gupta was charged with 14 cases of professional misconduct related to the care of five patients at sites including the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, a Niagara County Department of Mental Health clinics and the St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Syracuse.

The hearing committee also gave serious consideration to revoking Gupta’s medical license, which would have been unanimously revoked had there been any sexual contact with this patients. The committee said he “callously manipulated” his patients while enlisting their help in obtaining sex partners, a gross deviation from the professional and ethical standards expected from a psychiatrist.

Gupta will also be required to undergo a thorough psychiatric evaluation of his own before he would be permitted to resume his medical practice.

Source: Tracey Drury, "Hamburg, N.F. doctors suspended for medical misconduct," Buffalo Business First, August 15, 2013.