A Cambridge psychotherapist charged yesterday that Harvard Medical School faculty members attempted to cover up for a colleague accused of seducing a patient who later killed himself.
At least one member of the school's faculty tried to hide allegations that Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Margaret H. BeanBayog '65 had an affair with a patient and caused him to kill himself, according to the psychotherapist, Amy Stromsten.
Stromsten said she met several times with the patient, Paul Lozano, between 1987 and his death in 1991, and had established a good relationship with him.
In an affidavit filed Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court, Stromsten charged that Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Bernard S. Levy "was covering up Dr. Bean-Bayog's serious misconduct."
Levy, a respected Newton psychiatrist, could not be reached for comment yesterday. His answering service said he was out of town and would return tonight.
And in an interview with The Crimson yesterday, Stromsten said she suspects that several physicians, including Harvard Medical School professors, are involved in covering up Bean-Bayog's alleged sexual relationship with Lozano.
State officials are investigating charges that Bean-Bayog had sex with Lozano and drove him to suicide by making him pretend to be her three-year-old child.
Lozano killed himself with a lethal cocaine injection one year ago. The 28-year-old Harvard medical student died three months before he would have graduated.
Bean-Bayog, who treated Lozano from July 1986 to June 1990, has vehemently denied having sex with Lozano and maintains that her treatment of the patient was completely appropriate. She has also characterized Lozano's death as "accidental."
Stromsten said she contacted Levy in May 1991 with concerns about Bean-Bayog's treatment. She said she believed Levy "had a close and confidential relationship with Dr. Bean-Bayog."
Levy told her that Bean-Bayog had masturbated in front of Lozano and that they had a sexual relationship, Stromsten said.
"I was horrified that Levy knew that she masturbated in front of Lozano and dismissed it," she said in the interview.
"He said it was no big deal. He thought the kid was crazy so it didn't matter," Stromsten added.
Levy also told her that an investigation into Bean-Bayog's conduct had been closed and that she should continue referring patients to Bean-Bayog, Stromsten said.
Stromsten also said that Assistant A secretary at his office in McLean Hospitalsaid Frankenburg declined to comment. Read more in News
