Man Who Testified as Mental Health Expert Not Medical Doctor

A man--listed in records as a New Baltimore resident--who rendered his opinion on people's mental health for Macomb County Probate Court was not really a medical doctor, according to recent media reports.

Court officials told The Detroit News that Gerald Terlep, who has testified as an expert witness and ordered medical treatment in probate cases, acted as a medical doctor since at least 2003. He gave expert witness testimony and ordered medical treatment in probate cases--a violation of state law that states treatment cannot be court-ordered unless the patient's examining doctor or psychologist testifies in person or in writing, the newspaper reported.

On Friday, Chief Judge Mark Switalski told The Macomb Daily he directed Probate staff to collect formal and certified backgrounds of Terlep and up to 20 other mental health professionals who regularly testify in the court's mental division.

“I hesitate to call it an investigation,” Switalski stated in the newspaper article.

Probate Judge Kathryn George, who recommended Terlep two years ago as an "expert witness," told Switalski in a memo last week: “I was informed he (Terlep) might have misstated the status of his licensure," according to the news report.

Terlep contracts psychotherapy duties through Henry Ford Health System and also has a doctorate degree in education. He has been a licensed professional counselor since 1997 with a master's in social work and no disciplinary actions on his record, state records show.

It is unclear at this time whether he will face any charges.