Sachin Karnik, 47, Newark, Indian American Psychotherapist with meditation center suspended after reports of fraud and sexual abuse
Sachin Karnik, Indian American, Newark psychotherapist suspended after reports of fraud, inappropriate patient relationship
Courtesy Delaware on line
A clinical social worker practicing in Newark had his licenses suspended following criminal and ethics complaints alleging fraud and inappropriate conduct with a patient.
Sachin Karnik, owner of Psychotherapeutic Meditation Center, lost his license to practice clinical social work in March, according to the state Board of Clinical Social Work Examiners.
On Tuesday, the secretary of state suspended Karnik's chemical dependency counseling license.
State investigators brought reports to Delaware medical licensing boards and regulators detailing crimes and personal and sexual relationships.
Karnick also was a psychotherapist and chemical dependency professional specializing in addiction treatment for Brandywine Counseling Community Services and the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems.
The Delaware Department of Justice charged him with health care fraud, falsifying business records, and theft by false pretenses over $1,500 for actions they say he took in 2017.
The Delaware Department of Justice claims Karnick lied about his background to obtain a license, that his Ph.D came from a diploma mill and he disregarded instructions to stop referring to himself as a Ph.D, and that he billed insurers after his license had been suspended.
He's also been accused of engaging in a relationship between July and November of 2016 with a client who has a lengthy history of mental illness and hospitalization. That relationship, the licensing boards found, went well beyond ethical boundaries.
According to a disciplinary review by the Board of Clinical Social Work Examiners, the relationship "violated appropriate boundaries to the point his professional judgment was impaired." The board suspended his license for a minimum of five years.
Though state investigators presented evidence that the relationship included sexual intercourse masquerading as therapy, the board was not convinced it happened.
The board said the patient's testimony — that Karnick espoused Indian mysticism and tantric sexual practices between them as a method of healing her illness — was in direct conflict with Karnick's testimony, and board members said they didn't have enough evidence to confirm the state's findings.
But other evidence presented to them was more convincing, the review states, such as affectionate and sexual text messages from the patient and her regular references to Karnick as her "guru." Karnick denied seeing these texts, according to the review.
"He disregarded clear signs of deep transference issues," the review states.
The board agreed in the review that Karnick socialized with his patient without reporting those interactions, such as family meals and dates, on her treatment records.
The board reviewed additional professional, personal and ethical accusations, such as safeguarding client information and telling his patient to keep secrets from her psychiatrists. The board accepted those claims, but said others lacked evidence.
"The board concludes as a matter of law that Mr. Karnick failed to safeguard the welfare of his client by virtue of his numerous boundary violations and failure to guard against transference," according to the disciplinary review.
Delaware Secretary of State Jeffery Bullock suspended Karnick's chemical dependency counseling license based on powers that allow him to do so if the licensee presents a danger to public health. Bullock's office said Karnick misrepresented his credentials as a chemical dependency counselor, according to a department of state spokesperson.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/07/02/lawsuit-claims-newark-psychotherapist-sexually-abused-patient/750328002/
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