Psychiatrist Valerie Augustus Spanked Patients with Whips, Riding Crops, and Called Them 'Mules,' Officials Say

Memphis psychiatrist Valerie Louise Augustus has been forced to close her office for two months and potentially lose her medical license for good after it was discovered she spanked at least 10 patients with whips and riding crops - a thin whip normally used to strike horses - and sometimes compared them to mules.

 

An investigation by state authorities also found that Augustus had “made contact with other mental health patients with a riding crop, whip or other object.” The documents also state that Augustus kept both a riding crop and a whip “displayed in her office” and “compared her patients to mules.”

 

The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners suspended Augustus license after determining there was “no evidence” in psychiatrist literature for using whips or riding crops as an effective part of treatment.  

 

To get her license back, Augustus will be required to take a two-day class on “medical ethics, boundaries and professionalism” and be cleared by the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Assessment Program, which examines professionals who are having emotional or behavioral issues in the workplace.

 

Augustus was also fined $10,000 – $1,000 for each patient she struck – according to board documents.

 

Brett Kelman,"Psychiatrist spanked patients with whips, riding crops, and called them 'mules,' officials say," Tennessean, 15 June 2018, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/06/15/memphis-psychiatrist-hit-patients-whip-riding-crop-officials-say/705322002/