Florida, US

A Florida woman reportedly posed as an online therapist, talking to several patients on the phone for as long as two years, as per state health department records. She was assisted in this act by her wife Peggy A. Randolph, a social worker who was licensed in Florida and Tennessee. Peggy earlier used to work with Brightside Health, a nationwide online therapy company. The entire farce was revealed only after the impostor passed away. 

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According to an investigation report from the Florida Department of Health, the couple "defrauded" patients through a "coordinated effort". Peggy conducted in-person meetings with the patients, while her wife pretended to be Peggy and held telehealth sessions. After she passed away, a patient realised that they had been talking to the wrong person, as per a Tennessee Department of Health settlement agreement.

Both state records carry the woman's name only as T.R., however, her obituary carries her full name - Tammy G. Heath-Randolph. 

"[Randolph] denies knowing that T.R. was using her Brightside Health Therapist Portal log-in credentials or treating clients under her account. However, [she] received compensation for the sessions conducted," the agreement states.

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Brightside conducted an internal investigation

Tennessee agreement states that the woman "was not licensed or trained to provide any sort of counselling services."

The matter came to light after the Tennessee settlement was released in May. It states that Randolph was to provide online therapy to "hundreds of clients" working for Brightside Health from January 2021 to February 2023. However, an investigation carried out by Brightside found that Heath-Randolph was actually the one who was "seeing all her patients and had been for a long time," according to the Florida investigation report.

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The health departments have dropped their investigations after Randolph surrendered her social worker's licenses in both states. 

(With inputs from agencies)