Oh, Doctor! Counsel Me Harder!

(Shelby, North Carolina) A local psychiatrist, Dr. Kerry L. Balentine, was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient after the patient's wife died. As a result, Balentine signed a consent order which indefinitely suspends her medical license.

Balentine began grief counseling the patient, the consent order said. She had previously treated him for about a year.

According to documents from the North Carolina Medical Board, Balentine began the relationship after accepting an invitation for coffee.

The order said Balentine stopped seeing the patient in her office in October 2006, "implying that he was discharged from her care but not clearly terminating their physician-patient relationship."

It also stated that Balentine provided prescriptions for medications, including controlled substances to the patient, after the relationship began and did not chart them.

Granted, I'm no medical professional but it sure seems that sex and drugs would be very successful at mitigating grief -- or pretty much whatever ails you.

It's not exactly clear what an "indefinite suspension" entails, other than a note in her record. If she stays out of trouble, her license should be reinstated.