Physician Sexual Misconduct

At long last, a book devoted exclusively to the dilemma of physician sexual misconduct. Until recently, this was a topic not openly addressed by the medical profession. In fact, patients who brought complaints were often accused of lying or of inviting the misconduct.

Physician Sexual Misconduct results from years of work with physicians guilty of sexual misconduct and the patients they mistreated. It examines all of the dimensions associated with this terrible occurrence: legal, ethical, administrative, educational, and rehabilitative. It provides thorough, candid coverage crucial for psychiatrists and other medical professionals, social workers, lawyers, medical board administrators, and residents in ethics and forensics seminars.

To give the full picture of the medical profession's dealings with sexual misconduct, the book includes the perspectives of professional organizations, medical boards, forensic experts, the insurance industry, and patients. It addresses all of the pivotal issues associated with sexual misconduct in medicine: its legal handling, why insurance companies don't want to provide coverage for it, and how this affects victims.

This book presents the American Medical Association's and American Psychiatric Association's ethical policies against sexual misconduct and discusses how medical boards regulate this problem. Stressing that education is the key to prevention, it even offers a possible course outline for teaching medical students.

With this resource available, no health professional need feel uninformed about the problem of sexually abusive practitioners.

American Psychiatric Publishing

The book contains black-and-white illustrations.

At long last, a book devoted exclusively to the dilemma of physician sexual misconduct. Physician Sexual Misconduct results from years of work with physicians guilty of sexual misconduct and the patients they mistreated.

With this comprehensive reference tool, users will come miles closer to understanding and preventing incidents of this unprofessional behavior. It provides insight into all of the dimensions associated with this terrible occurrence: legal, ethical, administrative, educational and rehabilitative, including

• Civil and criminal laws governing sexual misconduct
• Problems associated with insurance coverage of sexual misconduct
• The American Psychiatric Association's and American Medical Association's policies addressing this issue
• The Medical Boards' role in policing the problem
• Models for rehabilitation of physician-offenders
• A sample outline for teaching medical students about the ethical problem of physician sexual misconduct

With this resource available, no health professional need feel uninformed about the problem of sexually abusive practitioners.

Aimee St. Pierre

This book is an overview of forensic, ethical, educational, rehabilitative, and therapeutic issues in physician sexual misconduct. Chapters are contributed by recognized experts in the field. The purpose is to present an examination of all aspects of the issue of physician sexual misconduct, an area of growing public and professional concern. This volume succeeds in being both thorough and thought-provoking. While the primary audience is practicing physicians, this book will be very useful for physicians in training, including medical students, and medical ethicists. The legal aspects of this issue are thoroughly addressed, including interesting chapters on liability insurance for undue familiarity and the criminalization of physician sexual misconduct. Unique aspects of this book include a chapter discussion of the education of physicians as a means of prevention, and an extensive presentation of a variety of aspects of the treatments of the physician offender. This is an excellent and very readable volume that will certainly be of interest to forensic psychiatrists and ethicists as well as practicing physicians. There is no comparably comprehensive book available on this topic, to my knowledge. Its format and comprehensiveness make it an excellent choice for inclusion in a residency or medical school curriculum.

Joseph D. Bloom, M.D., is Dean of the School of Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.

Carol C. Nadelson, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Partners Office for Women's Careers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Malkah T. Notman, M.D., is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.