Authorities in Florida and Tennessee accuse a social worker of helping her wife pose as her during online therapy sessions for nearly two years.
Peggy Randolph, who was licensed to provide therapy in both states through the Brightside Health platform, is alleged to have knowingly defrauded hundreds of patients.
Ms. Randolph denies the accusation, saying she was unaware that her wife, Tammy Heath-Randolph, who was not licensed or trained, was treating clients under her account.
The ruse was discovered after Ms Heath-Randolph died in February 2023.
Brightside Health received a complaint at the time from a client who discovered through social media that Ms. Randolph's wife was the one treating them, according to documents from the Tennessee Department of Health.
Although Ms. Randolph denied knowing her wife was treating patients on her behalf, authorities said the woman was paid for the sessions she conducted.
The therapist voluntarily revoked her license in August 2023 after an internal investigation by Brightside revealed that she had shared her login information with her wife.
During that investigation it became clear that Tammy Heath-Randolph was seeing all of Peggy Randolph's patients online, “and had been doing so for a long time,” according to a Florida Department of Health research report.
Ms. Randolph worked for Brightside Health from January 2021 through February 2023 and is said to have provided therapy to “hundreds of clients” during that time, Tennessee health officials said.
It is said that she carried out the ruse so that she would have time to see other patients in person.
In addition to losing her license to practice, Ms Randolph was also ordered to pay a $1,000 (£788) fine.
Because Mrs. Randolph voluntarily surrendered her driver's license, the investigation against her was dropped and authorities have not released any further information about the nature of the evidence against Mrs. Randolph or her now-deceased husband.
The case only recently became public after Florida and Tennessee released documents about Ms. Randolph's conduct in May.
It was first reported by the BBC's US news partner, CBS.
Hannah Changi, a spokesperson for Brightside, told CBS News that the company fired Randolph and reported her to state licensing authorities as soon as it became aware of the allegations.
She did not provide a specific number on how many patients were affected “due to the nature of the incident and ongoing litigation,” but said the company had reimbursed all affected patients.
“We are extremely disappointed that a single healthcare provider was willing to betray the trust that Brightside and, more importantly, its patients had placed in her,” Ms Changi said in a statement.
