As a specialist in internal medicine, Dr. Leonard E. Rosenfeld initially received the plaintiff as a referral. She later accused him of sexually assaulting her. // Photo by Joe Gratz / CC 1.0
A patient at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, which is part of the Penn Medicine system, sued the University and physician Leonard Rosenfeld last week over accusations that the doctor sexually assaulted her through the aid of hypnosis.
During an appointment in Rosenfeld’s office on the premises of Penn Presbyterian, which is located at 39th and Powelton streets, Tameka Green said he hypnotized her before sexually assaulting her. In addition to using hypnosis, Green alleged that Rosenfeld drugged her “possibly with a benzodiazepine or other short-acting medication,” according to her complaint.
Rosenfeld “is an independent, private practice physician who is not employed by Penn Presbyterian Medical Center or Penn Medicine,” said Patrick Norton, Penn Medicine’s vice president for public affairs. A University spokesperson, Stephen MacCarthy, declined to comment, citing Penn’s policy to not comment on pending litigation.
In a statement included in the complaint, another one of Rosenfeld’s patients accused the doctor of assaulting her. The details of her alleged assault mirror many aspects of Green’s story, including the use of hypnosis.
Green deferred comment to her attorney, Jared Jacobson, who said in an emailed statement, “Ms. Green feels that she has been physically and mentally violated in a way that no woman should ever have to suffer, and continues to suffer from the experience. The experience has so significantly traumatized her that she may never again be the woman she was before that fateful appointment.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian does not typically reveal the names of possible victims of sexual misconduct, but is doing so in this instance as Green’s name is included in the public complaint, a decision Jacobson said was made “consciously.”
“We believe the power imbalance between the defendants and someone like the plaintiff is part of hell a situation like this can take place and it does take place throughout our city,” he said in an email.
Rosenfeld, who was “on call,” Tuesday night, did not return a phone call to his office requesting comment.
As a specialist in internal medicine, Rosenfeld initially received Green as a referral, according to her complaint. She is a diabetic who, while seeking treatment in the Penn Presbyterian emergency room, asked a staff member there for a recommended list of primary care physicians. Rosenfeld was listed among the recommended practitioners, so Green scheduled an appointment with him, according to court filings.
That appointment is where he allegedly assaulted her, forming the crux of her complaint.
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