Sexual Relationships Between Doctors and Patients

Notwithstanding the serious breach of medical ethics and law, nearly 1 in 10 physicians has reported sexual contact with a patient or former patient. Sexual misconduct is a recurring complaint before state medical boards, accounting for 4.4% of all disciplinary orders in 1996, with the yearly rate increasing from 42 in 1989 to 147 in 1996. The most commonly affected specialties are psychiatry, child psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, and family and general practice. Penalties tend to be more severe for sexual misconduct, compared with other forms of unethical conduct, and frequently involve revocation or suspension of the medical license, although nearly 40% subsequently retain their license to practice.

This column, “Law & Medicine,” regularly appears in Internal Medicine News, an Elsevier publication. Dr. Tan is a former professor of medicine and adjunct professor of law at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. This article is meant to be educational and does not constitute medical, ethical, or legal advice. It is adapted from the author’s book, “Medical Malpractice: Understanding the Law, Managing the Risk” (2006). For additional information, readers may contact the author at siang@hawaii.edu.