Hundreds of Northeast Philadelphia patients assumed the psychiatrist their HMO referred them to was a real doctor, and they went to him for help. But David E. Tremoglie was a fake, and he served time in federal prison as punishment for treating people without a valid medical license. Six years ago, the court certified the class of mental health patients who sued Tremoglie, along with his insurer, the mental health services provider that hired him and the HMO that referred the patients to him. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants had misrepresented Tremoglie as a licensed practitioner and that they failed to notify Tremoglie's patients when they learned he had lied about his credentials and experiences.

Tremoglie practiced as a psychiatrist at a treatment center on Bustleton Avenue for about eight months in 1996. Patients were referred to him through Keystone Health Plan East, Inc., a health maintenance organization and subsidiary of Independence Blue Cross, which subcontracted the care and treatment of their clients needing psychiatric and substance abuse treatment to GreenSpring Health Services, Inc., a mental health care provider. Tremoglie eventually admitted that his medical license, as well as his license to write prescriptions, were fraudulent, and GreenSpring fired him in October 1996. But GreenSpring didn't notify Katlin or Tremoglie's other patients that their psychiatrist hadn't been a real psychiatrist until nine months later -- a week after Katlin filed the class action lawsuit.

Named plaintiff Harold Katlin was the only member of the class whose identity and records were made public for purposes of litigation. When the class was certified, the court ruled that it was unnecessary to require all members to expose their private mental health records because of the sensitivity of the information.

The settlement will not be effective until the court grants it final approval. The court has scheduled a hearing on the matter for April 12, 2004.