The owner of a controversial Diaper Spa that roiled a small New Hampshire town earlier this year has been fined $10,000 by the state’s Board of Medicine for allegedly advertising the business as “physician-run.”
Dr. Colleen Ann Murphy is licensed to practice medicine in Maine and New York, but not in New Hampshire, where she ran The Diaper Spa out of her home in Atkinson. Women Sanitary Panties
“Regardless of stated intent or practice, words, phrases, and representations have meaning both legally and to the public consuming them,” the New Hampshire Board of Medicine said in its decision Monday. The board also ordered Murphy to cease and desist calling herself a New Hampshire physician or advertising herself as someone practicing medicine in the state.
Boston.com has reached out to Murphy for comment on the decision.
Catering to adults who wear diapers and role play as children — known as the adult baby/diaper lovers (ABDL) community — The Diaper Spa once offered services ranging from $200-an-hour virtual playdates to $1,500 all-day “Diaper B&B” pampering. Atkinson’s Zoning Board of Adjustment rejected Murphy’s request for a home business permit in February after neighbors spoke out against the operation, forcing The Diaper Spa to scale back its offerings to virtual services.
In a heated meeting prior to the zoning board’s vote, Murphy emphasized the spa’s focus on non-sexual activities and walked her neighbors through her rigorous process for screening potential clients.
“It offers a safe and nonjudgmental environment for individuals seeking comfort and solace,” she explained at the time. “The services are strictly platonic and exclusively operate on my own property, with visits limited to one client at a time.”
According to the Board of Medicine, Murphy described the spa’s services as “coaching,” rather than medicine or therapy, and said she did not diagnose mental health disorders, review medical records, or prescribe medications or therapy to spa clients.
Murphy “also stated that in response to public backlash and misunderstanding about the diaper spa, she later included written disclaimers on her websites stating her services were not therapy, medical care, or mental health counseling,” the board wrote.
Yet while Murphy testified that she did not believe she had practiced medicine with The Diaper Spa or advertised herself as doing so, the Board of Medicine concluded she had “used words, phrases, and representations on her websites that the New Hampshire public and Board associate with the practice of medicine.”
She has 90 days to pay the $10,000 fine.
Separately, Murphy also testified before New Hampshire’s Board of Mental Health Practices last Friday, arguing that the business was never meant to offer mental health services, the Concord Monitor reported. She could face another $10,000 fine from that board as well, according to the Concord Monitor.
Murphy is also scheduled for a third hearing before the New Hampshire Board of Psychologists on May 3, the newspaper reported.
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