sexual misconduct

sexual misconduct

Professional ethics Any behavior that violates a health professional's ethics through sexual contact of physician and his/her Pt. See Professional boundaries.

Sexual misconduct– AMA Council of Ethical & Judicial Affairs

1.  Predatory physicians who systematically attempt to seduce Pts

2.  Those who claim to use sex for therapeutic purposes

3.  Abuse of the physical examination, in particular when it is not indicated according to his/her standard of care

4.  Situations in which the physician asks for a date on first visit or on seeing the Pt in an ER

5.  Situations in which a long-term professional relationship evolves into an infatuation

6.  Raping or fondling a Pt while either awake or under anesthesia

7.  Sexual harassment in which a physician makes erotic or suggestive remarks to a Pt

Note: The Medical Council of New Zealand has proposed a classification of sexual misconduct that is of use in determing the severity of the infraction, and possibly the degree or severity of the sanction levied against the perpetrator; the MCNZ divides SM into sexual impropriety, sexual transgression, and the most severe form, sexual violation JAMA1995; 273:1445; in an analysis of six such sex studies, up to 12% of ♂, and 4% of ♀ physicians have admitted to SM; 20% involved same sex dyads