Sexual misconduct allegations are rarely reported to the medical review boards, and few allegations result in actual charges, according to a Kaiser Health News report on Medscape.
Here's what you should know:
1. KHN examined sexual misconduct reports made in California. They found review boards receive fewer than 200 reports annually, and typically, under 20 of those reports result in discipline.
2. KHN studied 135 cases of alleged sexual abuse from July 2008 to June 2018. More than one-third of the cases were for sexual misconduct that included more than one victim. Physicians had their licenses revoked in 39 cases, and they surrendered their licenses in 38 cases.
3. California's regulatory board imposed a minimum seven-year probation period for physicians who engaged in sexual misconduct. However, that period was not enforced in more than half of the cases.
4. In eight cases, a physician sanctioned for sexual misconduct had previously been sanctioned for misconduct. In several cases, California's board granted probation to a physician who was convicted of misdemeanor criminal charges related to sexual abuse.
5. More than 33 percent of physicians sanctioned by California's board received probation in the last decade, and some of those physicians received probation more than once.
6. Physicians on probation received temporary chaperones, underwent psychotherapy and took courses in "professional boundaries.".
7. California recently passed a law that will require physicians accused of sexual misconduct to disclose this to their patients. It will take effect in July.
To read the entire KHN report, click here.