Woman Alleges Doctor Told Her She Was Attractive During Breast Exam

A woman alleges a doctor told her she was attractive while he examined her breasts.



Describing an appointment made because of a sore throat, the woman says she was pressured into a breast examination unlike one she had ever experienced.

She said she was not offered a chaperone and the curtain was not drawn before the doctor had her sit topless on the examination table and felt her breasts.

"He said 'you know you're very attractive don't you?'" she said.

The woman's account of a 2012 consultation with the former Kāpiti doctor accused of alleged misconduct was made before the Health Practitioners Tribunal hearing on Tuesday.

She was the first of eight complainants in a Professional Conduct Committee [PCC] case alleging the doctor performed breast examinations, spanning 2011 to 2017, that were unnecessary, unwanted, performed without a chaperone and often unrecorded.

The PCC also alleges the doctor told a 15 year old to consider masturbation after she made a consultation for a throat infection.

The doctor, who has interim name suppression, has denied all the charges. The women also have name suppression.

In her evidence, the woman said during the examination the doctor moved his hands in a motion from the base of her breasts to her nipples and did not ask her to lie down; something she had done in previous examinations by other doctors.

She had told him numerous times she did not want or need an examination, and that her mammograms were up to date and she was examined regularly.

She hadn't complained at the time - or in the years afterwards - because it was an experience that left her "gobsmacked" and upset, and she wanted to forget it.

"... because I didn't want to be sitting here with this interrogation."

The woman's recollection was questioned by defence lawyer Dr Donald Steven who said the doctor made no comments about her appearance, and the examination followed his inspection of her throat, a sore shoulder and toe.

He had referred her for an ultrasound on her throat, provided medication for her toe and was using all the time she had been allocated, he said.

Under cross examination she agreed she had previously declined chaperones when examined by other doctors.

Steven said there were inconsistencies in statements she had given about the sequence of events and suggested she had embellished the experience over the past seven years.

The woman said she was quite clear on what happened, and it was something she'd never forget. "He was in a position of power, I'm the idiot sitting on the couch topless."

Another woman, who saw the doctor in 2015 about diarrhoea and a urinary tract infection, said he was more focused on breast care than anything else.

She had found a breast lump and had it removed 18 months prior, under private care, had a family history of the breast cancer gene and was taking the oral contraceptive.

She alleged he asked her to demonstrate how she checked her breasts, which she refused.

While he did not directly offer to perform an examination, his questions and comments indicated that was what he wanted, she said.

She spoke of lying with her hands across her breasts while he palpated her stomach - "because I was worried he would touch them" and told of bursting into tears when, upon returning to the reception area, a family member asked: "Did he touch you?"

Stevens again questioned the woman's recollections.

He said notes from the appointment showed a thorough consultation on the issues she presented with, and the doctor was known to be pro-active in his approach, especially to breast health.

He had used all the time available to ensure the women's good health, he said.

The woman said the behaviour was still inappropriate.

"I was acutely unwell, not with my regular GP, and it was an unnecessary conversation to bring up with a patient who is absolutely aware of breast health."

In 2018 the Medical Council of New Zealand imposed a condition the doctor not be allowed to have consultations with females without a chaperone.

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