Viewpoint: 3 ways hospitals have failed to protect patients from sexual assault

In the wake of sexual assault convictions involving physicians, medical providers can and should do more to protect patients, argues Altaf Saadi, MD, first-year fellow at UCLA's National Clinical Scholars Program in Los Angeles, in a STAT op-ed.

"We must confront the culture of medicine that dissuades physicians from reporting our colleague's 'bad behavior,' including conduct much less egregious than sexual assault," Dr. Saadi wrote. "We must also advocate for independence in systems that hold physicians accountable [and] be respectful of survivors of sexual assault by strengthening our training around caring for them."

Here are three ways physicians and hospitals have failed to protect patients from sexual assault, according to Dr. Saadi.

1. Hospitals have too frequently chosen to ignore sexual assault reports and encouraged offending physicians to resign rather than reporting them to medical boards or law enforcement. Additionally, state medical boards do not always serve as a good solution to this problem, Dr. Saadi wrote, since the boards are often led by physicians who support their peers without oversight from nonphysician members.

2. Physicians' disciplinary records are not always posted to the public. If they are available to the public, these records frequently neglect to describe the serious nature of sexual assault, using vague language such "boundary violation" or "unprofessional conduct."

3. As patients must allow physicians to invade their privacy during various physical exams, physicians too often overlook the importance of their pledge to "do no harm." Physicians have a "privileged role" and an "incredible responsibility" and must uphold this pledge, Dr. Saadi wrote.

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