Boards get tougher on physician sex offenses

Washington state forbids doctors from dating patients, and the Federation of State Medical Boards is revising its policies on sexual boundaries.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Dec. 19, 2005.

In Washington, a gynecologist had his license suspended after female patients accused him of sexual assault, including a 21-year-old who said she was raped during an office exam. She claimed that the doctor threatened her if she went to police.

Texas suspended the license of a gastroenterologist who was arrested for sexual assault for groping a woman during a colonoscopy. He later surrendered his license.

A North Carolina family physician denied having sexual relations with a patient, but admitted to it when the medical board confronted him with phone records showing calls to the woman. His license was revoked.

Sexual misconduct has long been a source of complaints and discipline against physicians, state medical board leaders said. But what's new is that more medical boards are aggressively cracking down on sexual wrongdoing in efforts to stop the misbehavior. Some examples:

• In November, Washington adopted a new sexual misconduct policy that forbids allopathic physicians from dating patients and details what other sexual contact is prohibited.
• A 2003 Texas law forced the state's medical board to give priority to complaints of sexual misconduct and other serious offenses.
• In 2003, California passed a law to protect patients from sexual abuse by barring sex offenders from practicing medicine in the state.

Meanwhile, the Federation of State Medical Boards is revising its sexual boundaries policy that boards use for guidance. It plans to vote on the measure at its annual meeting in April 2006. The Texas-based organization in January 2006 will offer medical board officials an online course on sexual boundary violations.