Doctors Sexually Abuse Their Patients in America, A Phenomenon?

Despite the strict ban against all forms of sexual relations between physicians and their patients, some doctors cross this line and sexually abuse their patients.

Survey finds that nearly 1 in 5 Americans have experienced sexual misconduct by their doctors and most incidents go unreported.

A few days before the sexual assault awareness month, a psychiatrist working in Santa Rosa was stripped of his medical license after allegations of drugging and sexually assaulting patients as well as employees and other violations of professional conduct came before the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, according to Fox KTVU.

Cuyler Burns Goodwin, the psychiatrist who most recently worked for Sequoia Mind Health in Santa Rosa, will be revoked from his license on April 7, 2022.

 

License Revoked

The Osteopathic Medical Board of California has withdrawn a psychiatrist's license after he sexually assaulted two patients, giving them ketamine, in addition to having an affair with the sister of another patient.

Following the decision, the board said the psychiatrist, Cuyler Burns Goodwin, committed flagrante negligence, violated ethical standards, disrespected the standard of care, and was guilty of sexual misconduct.

“Even if one were to believe respondent's denial of sexual assaults on Patient B and Patient C, his overall course of conduct in committing multiple other ethical violations and infringement of the Medical Practice Act in connection with Patient A's Sister, Patient B, and Patient C; his attitude toward and lack of insight into his offenses; and his lack of candor at hearing demonstrate that revocation of respondent's license is required for protection of the public,” the board wrote in its March 8 order.

The board is also searching for recovering almost $65,000 in costs for the investigation, including for legal fees and expert testimony.

Currently, the psychiatrist is not facing any criminal charges. In 2013, Cuyler Burns got his medical license in 2013 and opened Sequoia Mind Health, a practice in Santa Rosa, California, soon after finishing his training at the University of California San Francisco, according to the board.

 

Steps To Sexual Affairs

The sexual allegations occurred at the Sequoia Mind Health practice in which Goodwin's mother was employed as the office manager, his wife as the sole registered nurse, and his sister as a receptionist but not for long. Goodwin stopped the practice in October 2019.

In 2017, patient A came to Goodwin, a 24-year-old with schizophrenia. A, as it was named by the board, had not received any mental health treatment and was completely dependent on his family because of the severity of his symptoms.

The psychiatrist agreed to visit him at home to provide medication management and psychotherapy and he was paid by the patient's sister, who was the intermediate between the family and Goodwin. After routine visits, the sister and Goodwin became friends, and soon began a sexual relationship in 2018 after commiserating about their troubled marriages. The couple decided later they would divorce to marry each other.

However, in November 2018 the patient's became pregnant, so Goodwin prescribed misoprostol to induce an abortion. However, the sexual relationship and the abortion were later discovered but the family agreed to not file a complaint if Goodwin will no longer see her.

Nevertheless, the two continued to have sex until February 2019, when the parents filed a complaint to the medical board. The sister also sent a letter to the board calling against disciplinary action, but it was discovered later that the letter was prepared by Goodwin.

When Goodwin was interviewed in 2019 for the first time by the medical board, he refused to talk about the relationship or the misoprostol prescription saying there was nothing wrong with the relationship and did not believe it affected the care of his patient.

The expert witness of the medical board said Goodwin's behavior “showed he either had no knowledge of ethical boundaries or chose to ignore them, showing poor judgment and 'cluelessness' about the potential adverse effects of having a sexual relationship with the sister, which had the significant potential to compromise patient A's treatment.”

Patient B was the next victim; she came to Goodwin in 2017 to help lessen her anxiety and depression medications. The victim told her doctor that she had already experienced many sexual assaults, but this did not prevent the doctor to deepen her pain.

He first helped her taper off the drugs within a month and then hired her to work as a receptionist. After a traumatic event, the patient's situation worsened again so Goodwin did not miss the chance to recommend the use of ketamine, 5 treatments in a month with only Goodwin present in the room. During those treatments he asked her questions about her sex life. while having a glass of wine with him and then allegedly sexually assaulted her, so she soon quit the job.

In 2019, Pamela Albro, PhD, a psychologist who provided therapy at Sequoia Mind Health, contacted Patient B to ask her about the reason for quitting the job with Goodwin. When the patient told her what happened, the therapist proposed to share her name with another Patient C having a similar experience. She accepted and soon submitted a police report and a complaint to the medical board in March 2019. However, Goodwin denied Patient B's allegations saying it was not and a credible testimony.

 

A Phenomenon?

Being the most trusted professionals, some doctors and nurses seem to take advantageous of their patients’ trust to sexually abuse or assault them, such a gross misuse of power.

Particularly in America, studies found about 1 in 5 Americans have experienced physician misconduct, believing it was unethical, and unprofessional, with most incidents going unreported, according to Fierce Healthcare.

In fact, 18% of patients said they have experienced physician misconduct, but only one-third of them (33%) reported the behavior and filed a complaint, according to the survey results (PDF) released by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).

“Sadly, we are seeing an increase in enquiries from women, in particular, who have been sexually abused by a medical practitioner,” says Leanne McDonald, National Practice Leader – Abuse Law. “This trend is extremely concerning.”

The sexual assault is not necessarily happening in hospitals or medical centers, but in ambulances too.

According to the Newsweek report, “a 16-year-old girl was sexually assaulted while she was a patient in the back of an ambulance after falling ill at school, she and her family have alleged.”

The teenager was from California, she told NBC local reporters that she was attacked on Friday, March 25, 2022, after her school called an ambulance for her.

She said to the news channel: “He asked my name and age. He asked me if I'm sexually active and I said 'no.'”

“He told me there were other young women that he did stuff with—and that he had a new girl every week,” she added.

After a year-long investigation, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that more than 2,400 cases of doctors sexually abusing patients across all 50 states since 1999.

However, half of them still have their medical licenses until this moment.

The list of their victims included even “children, abuse survivors, and women assaulted while under anesthesia,” Esquire reported.