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Planned assault took place in her home on July 3
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Officials with the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners have taken emergency action to suspend the license of Dr. Sylvia S. Lee of Emerson who is accused of physically assaulting a 13-year-old child by stabbing the youngster with the flat metal end of a screwdriver at least 100 times, causing dark bruises and bleeding cuts.
Lee, an allergist, practiced at The Center for Asthma and Allergy in Old Bridge. The alleged assault took place in her home on July 3. Lee was arrested the same day. The name of the child or the relationship to Lee was not provided.
Lee admitted to the Emerson police that she planned the assault on July 2 and that she stabbed herself with the screwdriver in an attempt to determine the extent of injury it would cause.
The Board of Medical Examiners found that the evidence demonstrates “a clear and imminent danger to the public health, safety and welfare” in ordering Lee to cease medical practice and surrender her state Controlled Dangerous Substances registration and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration.
The temporary suspension of Lee’s license, was effective as of last Thursday. The full board is expected to review the Order and record of the committee proceedings to determine whether to ratify the suspension at its next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 14. After ratification, the temporary suspension would remain in effect until the full board reviews plenary hearings in the matter, after which it may decide to impose further discipline. Lee may appeal the Board’s decision to the Superior Court.The board is a licensing board within the state Division of Consumer Affairs.
“The Board of Medical Examiners takes very seriously its mandate to protect the public’s health and safety by determining the qualifications for physicians and disciplining those who do not live up to the required standards,” Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni said. “When a physician so dangerously demonstrates a lack of judgment and impulse control, it becomes necessary to prevent that person from practicing.”
The order of the board’s committee notes that, in a recorded interview at the Emerson Police Department after the arrest, Lee stated the alleged incident began after the child failed to wash “doggie clothes” and a “doggie towel” in the correct order, and that Lee “got angry.”
According to the order, Lee acknowledged stabbing the child multiple times with a flathead screwdriver and said in the police interview, “I was wrong and that’s why I stabbed her so many times.”
Lee allegedly admitted this was not the first time she had a problem with anger, recounted that she hit the child in the past, and noted that such an episode happened a few days before when she asked for Scotch tape but the child brought masking tape instead.
The order further mentions that Lee stated in the police interview that she jabbed herself with the screwdriver the day before the alleged assault, “as hard as I jabbed (the child),” but that she did not believe she injured herself. The order notes that photographs showed approximately 100 “bruises and small bleeding punctures or other wounds” on the child’s back and other parts of the child’s body.
I dreaded going to see her for treatment. Eventually, I demanded that the nurse give me my weekly injections instead. When this change occurred, things got better. I then avoided Dr. Lee.
Dr. Lee always seemed to have a kind of basic meanness about her. She was rude and arrogant to both patients and staff alike. When she finally transferred to another clinic, all of her coworkers were relieved. The nurses and secretaries then made no bones about badmouthing her. It is sad to say, but we were all happy that she was gone.
I truly feel for the horrendous ordeal that that poor defenseless little girl was forced to suffer. However, it is the fault of the entities who are supposed to carefully screen these individuals for positions as sensitive as physicians and/or adoptive parents. To put such an emotionally ill "person" in a position where other human beings are totally at their mercy is a crime in itself!
I just feel sick whenever I think of the inappropriate acts that were no doubt inflicted upon that poor innocent child by this sick "human being" over the years before this situation finally came to light. Thank god she was finally rescued! DR. LEE HAS TO BE PUNISHED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW!