TV doctor and ecstasy advocate suspended for having sex with patient
A TV psychiatrist who championed ecstasy-assisted therapy has been suspended for having a sexual relationship with a former patient.
Dr Ben Sessa’s fitness to practice was found to be impaired by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which suspended him for a year.
It heard the patient – who has since died – was vulnerable due to a variety of mental health conditions he was aware of.
The doctor admitted he knew about her history of self-harm and overdoses, but said he was not aware she had tried to take her own life during the course of their six- month sexual relationship. The tribunal heard the woman, referred to as Patient A, had contacted him anonymously on Twitter in February 2021 and that, after around five weeks of messaging, he suggested that they meet.
It was then that Patient A revealed that she was, in fact, a patient of the doctor – at which point his ‘heart overtook [his] head’, he told the tribunal.
Dr Sessa, who practised in North Somerset, said he had made ‘a series of catastrophically poor judgments’.
But he said it was not a case
‘Catastrophically poor judgments’
of a doctor pursuing sexual gratification, but rather one of ‘a couple falling in love and pursuing a full relationship’.
Dr Sessa is known for being a vocal advocate of the use of ecstasy (MDMA) and psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. In 2021, he was involved in setting up the UK’s first clinic that combines psychotherapy with ketamine treatment.
He has featured in the BBC Three documentary Drugsland and Netflix’s How To Change Your Mind.