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Whether it’s a basic consultation with a GP or an intensive surgical procedure, every one of us should feel both safe and comfortable with medical professionals. Despite there being clear professional guidelines to ensure this is the case, some doctors will unfortunately cross the line — as evidenced by a horrifying report out of the US this week.
The New York Daily News reports a prominent doctor is under criminal investigation amid allegations he sedated a patient before ejaculating on her face and bare chest.
The 22-year-old woman had arrived at the Mount Sinai hospital late on January 11 complaining of severe shoulder pain. She was administered pain pills and an anti-inflammation shot by nurses, but when her discomfort persisted she was given morphine.
In preparation for an x-ray, the woman had then removed her shirt and bra and changed into a hospital gown. She was still wearing it when emergency physician Dr David Newman — an Iraq war veteran who also teaches at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Columbia University — is alleged to have entered the room.
According to sources who are familiar with the woman’s allegations, the 45-year-old told her, “I’m going to give you a shot of morphine.” Though she told Newman she’d already been given the drug, a burning sensation in her arm suggested he had proceeded to administer another shot.
It’s claimed Newman began fondling her breasts and then moved her bed away from the wall and turned away from her. The woman, who told investigators she was unable to move at this point due to the heavy medication, says she then heard sounds of someone masturbating and felt a liquid substance on her face which was wiped off with a blanket.
After the incident, the patient claims she heard a nurse enter the room and ask a fellow staff member, “What is wrong with her? Why is she like this?” When she eventually returned to consciousness, the woman looked at herself in a mirror and saw what appeared to be semen on her face and bare chest.
Watch: Mamamia staff on why sexual violence is an issue men and women should be talking about. (Post continues after video.)
In a statement provided to the New York Daily News the hospital says they are aware of the allegation against Dr Newman, who has been barred from seeing other patients while investigations are underway.
“This is a matter under investigation and we are fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities. We take this matter very seriously and are conducting our own internal investigation,” the statement reads.
Disturbingly, this isn’t the first case of patient sexual abuse to make headlines in recent months. Last year, an essay published in The Annals of Internal Medicine detailed similar incidents witnessed by student doctors during their placements.
One student recalled observing a vaginal hysterectomy where the patient was under general anesthesia. The attending [supervisor] was “cleansing and scrubbing her labia and inner thighs, looked at me and said ‘I bet she’s enjoying this’,” before winking and laughing.
The report's anonymous author, also a doctor, shared an incident he witnessed during his own years as a student doctor.
When a pregnant Hispanic patient started to bleed profusely during a baby delivery, he recalled the surgeon in charge performing an internal bimanual uterine massage. This required the insertion of his entire hand into her vagina to stop the bleeding.
“Dr Canby raises his right hand into the air and starts to sing ‘La Cucaracha’ ... It looks like he is dancing with her. He stomps his feet, twists his body, and waves his right arm above his head. All the while, he holds her, his whole hand still inside her vagina,” the author wrote. “He starts laughing. He keeps dancing.”
Have you heard any first-hand stories of this nature?