Metro

Shrink used name in ads without permission: suit

A Harlem woman says she was forced to legally change her name after her shrink used her identity in his advertising without her permission, according to a lawsuit.

Psychiatrist Elvin Ruiz’s Upper West Side clinic asked the woman to write a letter about her depression treatment to encourage insurance companies to pay for the procedure, she claims.

But Ruiz’s Hope TMS Neuropsychiatric Center put the handwritten letter with the woman’s full name and e-mail address on its Web site for all to see, says the woman.

Ruiz did not respond to a message for comment.