Fake therapist fooled hundreds online until she died, state records say

Lots of of People could have unknowingly obtained remedy from an untrained impostor who masqueraded as a web based therapist, presumably for so long as two years, and the deception crumbled solely when she died, based on state well being division information.

Peggy A. Randolph, a social employee who was licensed in Florida and Tennessee and previously labored for Brightside Well being, a nationwide on-line remedy firm, is accused of serving to her spouse impersonate her in on-line periods, based on an investigation report from the Florida Division of Well being.

The Florida report says the couple “defrauded” sufferers by way of a “coordinated effort”: As Randolph handled sufferers in individual, her spouse pretended to be her in telehealth periods with Brightside sufferers. The deceit was found after the spouse died final yr and a affected person realized they’d been speaking to the flawed individual, based on a Tennessee Division of Well being settlement settlement.

Data from each states determine Randolph’s spouse solely by her initials, T.R., however her full identify is in her obituary: Tammy G. Heath-Randolph. Therapists are usually anticipated to have at the least a grasp’s diploma, however Randolph’s spouse was “not licensed or educated to offer any form of counseling companies,” based on the Tennessee settlement.

“[Randolph] denies understanding that T.R. was utilizing her Brightside Well being Therapist Portal log-in credentials or treating purchasers beneath her account. Nevertheless, [she] obtained compensation for the periods carried out,” the settlement states.

The alleged ruse has not been beforehand reported and its particulars and scope have been solely not too long ago glimpsed in a couple of pages of public paperwork launched by the state businesses. The Tennessee settlement, launched in Might, states that Randolph was supposed to offer on-line remedy to “a whole lot of purchasers” whereas working for Brightside Well being from January 2021 to February 2023. Nevertheless, a Brightside inner investigation discovered it was really Heath-Randolph who was “seeing all her sufferers and had been for a very long time,” based on the Florida investigation report.

Randolph declined to remark.

The Florida and Tennessee information say Randolph voluntarily surrendered her social employee’s licenses in each states. This resulted within the well being departments dropping their investigations, which restricted the case particulars and paperwork out there within the public document. Brightside’s inner investigation report has not been made public.

Brightside Well being, a San Francisco firm that provides nationwide on-line psychiatry and remedy periods, declined to make an official out there for an interview.

Firm spokesperson Hannah Changi mentioned in an e-mail that as quickly as Brightside realized of the allegations, it audited its safety, fired Randolph, and reported her to state licensing authorities. Changi mentioned Brightside cannot say what number of sufferers have been seen by Randolph’s spouse “as a result of nature of the incident and ongoing authorized proceedings,” however mentioned the corporate notified and refunded all “probably impacted sufferers.”

“We take our affected person expertise critically and maintain ourselves to a excessive moral code of conduct,” Changi mentioned. “We’re extraordinarily disenchanted {that a} single supplier was keen to violate the belief that Brightside and, most significantly, her sufferers had positioned in her.”

Brightside was additionally required to alert the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, which investigates information breaches that expose non-public medical data. On this breach, an “unauthorized particular person” accessed the information of 767 folks, together with Social Safety numbers and diagnoses, based on the company’s on-line database.

Neither Florida nor Tennessee well being officers answered questions in regards to the case.

Dean Flener, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Division of Well being, mentioned particulars of Randolph’s case stay confidential beneath state regulation.

Jae Williams, a Florida Division of Well being spokesperson, mentioned a full investigation was not accomplished as a result of Randolph surrendered her license, which has the identical impact because the state revoking it however allowed her to maintain “what dignity she had left.”

2024 KFF Well being Information. Distributed by Tribune Content material Company, LLC.