There are many good doctors, but sometimes patients’ trust is abused. Two US doctors have lost their licenses to practise medicine because of allegations of sexual misconduct with at least six women patients. Dr. Raja K. Jagtiani was arrested on 25 August 2015, and had his license suspended in September 2015, pending the outcome of criminal charges alleging that, between 2011 and 2015, he had engaged in five counts of criminal sexual contact, one count of simple assault and three counts of harassment by offensive touching. Authorities say an employee of Dr. Jagtiani's medical practice accused the doctor of touching her breast and biting her facial cheek while she was working with him on 25 July. Following an investigation by the local prosecutor's office Special Victims Unit and police department, three more victims were identified, including current and former employees and a patient. Internist case involved at least five patients Just last September, Jagtiani pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual contact involving all eight victims. His license was revoked for ten years due to “repeated acts of negligence, repeated professional misconduct, sexual misconduct, and acts constituting crimes of moral turpitude and crimes which relate adversely to the practice of medicine.” After the period of revocation, he would be permitted to reapply for his license after completing “an educational course on professional boundaries and undergone competency and psychosexual evaluations.” If he is reinstated, Jagtiani would be required to pay a $20,000 civil penalty and reimburse the state $4,343 for investigation costs in addition to accepting any restrictions on practice deemed necessary. “Dr. Jagtiani regrets his conduct and is trying to do the right thing,” his attorney stated. The 54-year-old physician is married and resides in Dumont. Anaesthesiologist surrenders license because he ‘was planning to retire’ In a separate case, another New Jersey anaesthesiologist, Jadan H. Abbassi, surrendered his license for good to settle accusations claiming he had engaged in “inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature” that violated the state Board of Medical Examiners' sexual misconduct regulations last year in a complaint to the medical board. Abbassi denies the allegation, but agreed to surrender his license under a consent order filed on 7 October, in a voluntary surrender to be deemed a revocation, which came into effect on 1 November, to avoid a disciplinary hearing. According to his attorney, “it’s significant to note that in the consent order that was included, Dr. Abbassi was planning to retire and does have certain health issues which entered into his decision.” He was prohibited from accepting any new patients into his practice, and was required to treat all current female patients only in the presence of a state-approved chaperone. Moreover, Abbassi’s authority to prescribe controlled dangerous substances in New Jersey was permanently revoked. Amid reports of female medical students being sexually exploited in their course, and an instance of a fertility doctor exploiting patients’ trust by impregnating them with his sperm instead of donated sperm, sexual misconduct in the medical industry is not a new phenomenon. "Doctor-patient trust serves as the bedrock of the medical profession, and sexual exploitation of patients is the gravest imaginable violation of this trust," said Attorney General Porrino. Source
