Doctors Often In A Special, Protected Class When It Comes To Sexual Abuse
The Atlantic Journal-Constitution looks at the disparity between how doctors and others are punished following reports of sexual abuse.
Atlanta Journal Constitution:
If They Weren’t Doctors, Some Sex Abusers Might Be Facing Police
San Diego police reviewed 500 hours of security footage and charged (Luis) Ramos with touching 13 women’s breasts, genitals, groins and buttocks while they were unconscious. On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison for charges including sexual penetration and sexual battery of a medically incapacitated person. If justice was swift in the case, it had partly to do with how Ramos had access to patients. He was a technician in a dental office, not a medical doctor. Had he been a doctor who did the same thing to vulnerable patients, his consequences might have been different. His case might have been handed as a licensure matter, with state medical regulators treating him as an impaired professional in need of therapy, such as yoga, massages and horseback riding. (Edwards, 8/29)
Read the Atlantic Journal-Constitution's full series on doctors and sex abuse.