healthcare-related assaults and sexual abuse by medical professionals

healthcare-related assaults and sexual abuse by medical professionals

Introduction

Sexual abuse and assault cause immense harm to patients; therefore, it’s imperative to discipline any physicians caught committing any sexually-related violation to their patients or clients. Every patient’s intention is to be treated with respect and care when they visit their doctors, hospitals, or even physical therapists. Sexual-related assault is a severe trust violation, violation of medical ethics, and breaking the law. Every patient should know that they have the right to order a medical professional to stop an examination right away if it makes them feel uncomfortable. If, at one given point, the patients are nervous, they can always ask for a nurse of a family member to accompany them in the treatment or the examination room. Despite sexually related offenses increasing over time and being relatively severe, fewer medical professional perpetrators are getting disciplined. The following paper will focus on healthcare-related assaults and sexual abuse by medical professionals giving a brief synopsis of these cases and their outcomes. The article will provide an analysis of the current state of protection for victims as well as penalties for perpetrators of these crimes. The paper will include the main categories of review and give some examples of the analysis. And finally, through research, the paper will discuss the ethical responsibility of the other medical professionals, who may be aware of the misconduct and their moral principles.

The case study

For the last 35 years, Stuart Copperman was running a bustling practice as a pediatrician in Merrick. Parents trusted Dr. Stuart, and when he suggested that the girls were grown and they can visit him alone, the parents accepted because he indicated that it would make the girls talk freely. After gaining the parent’s trust, Stuart would rub the girl’s genitals or insert fingers in their vaginas; this case was met with disbelief by the parents after their daughters explained how the pediatrician sexually assaulted them. According to one of the victims’ mothers, the doctor gained their trust by showing them affection and becoming involved to the extent of call home for patient follow up. The pediatrician assaulted girls of as low as eight years. Complain about the pediatrician was received by the state office of professional medical conduct, but no action was taken against him. This sexual assault continued for nearly two decades, where Stuart was still practicing until, in the year 2000, when he was retiring at the age of sixty-five years, is when he was stripped of his medical license but no criminal charges were filed.

The new law in the New York State about the Child Victims Act will allow about 50 victims of Dr. Stuart’s sexual-assault, sue him for monetary damages. The law permits the victims to file cases for abusers even if the incidents happened decades ago. The fact of Mr. Stuart highlights the dilemma and major weakness facing the state laws. Mr. Stuart Copperman’s victims see the new law as the only justice they can get despite being failed repeatedly by the facilities they thought would protect them. Jeanna Limmer, one of the victims Mr. Stuart molested, filed a complaint in 1985, which was dismissed two years later by a state panel; she feels that all this time, the pediatrician was damaging more and more girls without any action by the state. It has been horrible for most of the victims; some suffer from mental health issues and others struggling with difficulties, both sexual intimacy and emotionally.

New York has made it possible for the public to get some comprehensive information about physicians, where the details of every disciplined medical professional of ether sexual abuse or other violations are made available to the general public. In New York, complainants may be filed anonymously where, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), there is transparency in posting all orders. The report also indicates that some online rules detail allegations and that some are only vague descriptions. The public find it hard to get doctors’ information because the board issues special warnings or letters to the perpetrators. This has made it very hard for the victims of Mr. Stuart to get justice.

It is the responsibility for every head of a hospital or colleagues to report the abuse cases to the New York department of health. For the victims’ protection, the chiefs of medical staff and the heads of every department are supposed to report any sexual-abuse or misconduct to the board. For a health facility is to avoid discipline measures against the whole institution, professional misconduct should be reported to the required authorities. The office of professional medical conduct thoroughly investigates all cases, and the perpetrators charged accordingly. The main aim that affected the case of Mr. Stuart is that the physicians do not undergo the criminal background check, and the case is reported only while there is a reasonable belief that the doctor or the pediatrician committed the offense. The new law enacted in 2012 requires that an investigation be conducted in case of any allegation of a doctor’s misconduct. The office of professional medical conduct has the mandate to revoke the license permanently in case of a rape case against a doctor or an institution. When a medical professional is found guilty, a disciplinary sanction should be imposed. Many perpetrators have been charged and sentenced in New York for sexually abusing minors. These cases include Mr. Punn, a pediatrician who pleaded guilty for drugging and sexually abusing young girls in 2014. Penn was jailed for 30 years.