Comments on: Should a doctor be banished from medicine after having sex with a patient?

By: Rogue Medic

Rogue Medic — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Don’t lawyers have a similar standard, due to the privileged nature of the work?

By: Supremacy Claus

Supremacy Claus — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:41:00 +0000

An appellate court said, no.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1088439688811

By: Mehmet

Mehmet — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:05:00 +0000

Having an affair with a patient represents a lack or work ethic and moral weakness. Therefore it can be grounds for revoking one’s license.

Having an extramarital affair with somebody who is not your patient, however, is an entirely different story and I don’t think it is grounds for dismissal from the profession in the UK or anywhere else.

By: Michael Rack, MD

Michael Rack, MD — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Looking at the linked article, it appears that the doctor had sex with his receptionist, and that the the receptionist’s husband was his patient.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Unless the doctor acted inappropriately and unconsenting, I don’t think the medical board will do anything about it.

There are plenty of doctors out there who are having affairs and think no one knows. If people around them start “spilling the beans”, they will be very uncomfortable.

By: SarahW

SarahW — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Good lord.
An "extramarital affair"? As if the concern about the physician having sexual relationship with a patient is one of mere infidelity or sexual incontinence?

How utterly dishonest.

By: Rishi

Rishi — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:58:00 +0000

I agree with both the previous commenters. The type of relationship between a doctor and his/her patient is rooted in strict professionalism. If we start letting a handful of doctors engage in the aforementioned acts without severe punishment, we’ll introduce an irreparable crack which will ultimately destroy the credibility/honor of physicians.

By: Bad Medicine, Good Solutions

Bad Medicine, Good Solutions — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Any sex with a patient is wrong. Yanking his license should be a no brainer – just do it. The issue is not about having an affair, it is about urinating on the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship which is asexual.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:30:00 +0000

There seem to be two distinct questions:

1. Should a doctor be punished for having an extra-marital affair?

2. Should a doctor be punished for having a sexual relationship with a patient?

These are two very different questions. To the first, I agree with Dr. Crippen that physicians should not be held to a higher standard of fidelity than the general public. However, the question of a sexual relationship with a patient is more complicated. While I'm not convinced that it is unequivocally inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with a patient, the nature of the doctor-patient relationship makes it considerably more questionable.