Fears of sexual misconduct lawsuits are causing some to change their practice

A physician is charged with sexual misconduct after a vaginal speculum exam. Just get a chaperone in the room and save yourself the trouble:

After investigation and weeks of anxiety, I’ve now been exonerated of this charge. So why not forget about it? But I believe this case shows how dangerous it is to practice medicine these days. Some doctors tell me they no longer examine women’s breasts for fear of being charged with sexual misconduct. It’s a dangerous approach as malignancies will be missed. Other physicians, for the same reason, do not conduct a vaginal examination and serious problems may go undetected.

Let’s assume I had been a young doctor with a wife and young family who had just opened a medical office in a small town. You can bet your last dollar that the word would have quickly spread that Doctor X had been accused of sexual misconduct. Can you imagine the devastation that would cause?

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