Psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Brown reprimanded by medical board after misconduct

A Melbourne psychiatrist who told a young woman suffering bulimia “when you get better in your head your breasts will get bigger” has been stripped of his right to practice.

Dr Jonathan Brown has been disqualified over his treatment of young female patients.

A Melbourne psychiatrist kissed a patient and told another “when you get better in your head your breasts will get bigger”.

Retired psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Brown has been disqualified by the Medical Board of Australia over his alarming treatment of young female patients between 2016 and 2018.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal this month found the 75-year-old behaved in a way which constituted professional misconduct.

On one occasion, Dr Brown massaged the chest of a 24-year-old patient who suffered bulimia and bipolar disorder, court records state.

He also told the woman her breasts would grow if her mental health improved and made comments about her appearance including a summer dress she wore to an appointment in February 2016.

Another patient who began seeing Dr Brown from the age of 20 was told by him “you’re very beautiful” and “why are you staying with this guy? Is it because of the sex?”

Dr Brown also told the woman of his own sex life, describing his wife as “wild” and that “sex gets better as you get older”.

The psychiatrist kissed her on the cheek at the conclusion of two sessions in late 2017.

The woman, who suffered from depression and dissociative disorder, said she felt “really violated” by the sessions but due to her poor mental health did not feel strong enough to raise concerns about the psychiatrist’s behaviour.

Dr Brown asked a third patient if she was “addicted to sex”.

The question came minutes into their first and only treatment session after which the woman, aged 21, disclosed body and self-image issues and an addiction to laxatives.

Dr Brown treated patients from his home, communicating with them via mobile as he did not have a receptionist.

He surrendered his medical registration in June 2020 after the board launched an investigation into his conduct.

The board relied on reports including by psychiatrist Dr Simon Byrne, who found Dr Brown’s behaviours constituted sexual misconduct.

“They are grave departures from expected standards of behaviour, and likely to cause distress and exacerbate anxieties in the patient, and impair her ability to form future trusting relationships with doctors,” Dr Byrne found.

“His conduct was uninvited, unwelcome and distressing.”

On September 15, VCAT ordered Dr Brown be reprimanded and disqualified from applying for registration as a medical practitioner for 18 months.

The psychiatrist does not intend to return to practice.