Only a few states have anything close to a comprehensive set of laws that put patients first in cases where they are sexually abused by doctors. New York is not one of them.
That's according to a groundbreaking national investigation into doctors and sexual abuse by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The newspaper's findings explain how it's possible for a doctor who has served time for sexually abusing patients to be able to continue seeing patients: In most states, there's no law against it.
To determine the best and the worst states for patient protection in these cases of abuse, the AJC assessed all 50 states and the District of Columbia by examining five categories of laws in every state and giving each a score up to 100 possible points. The categories were transparency, duty-to-report, board composition, criminal acts and discipline laws.
Each state was then given an overall score based on the five categories.
With an overall rating of 61, New York ranked 27th in the nation, tied with Illinois and Nebraska. New York ranked high in the duty-to-report laws category with a score of 84, but scored 52 or under in three other categories.
The lax laws can have repercussions for patients. In New York, the newspaper uncovered a case where a pediatrician who pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting one of his young female patients—and recording it all on video—was sentenced initially to 30 years in federal prison, then to 15 years on state charges.
Read more about that case here.
No state met the highest bar in every category, the AJC found. But Delaware did the best with a score of 91 points overall and also scored the best nationally in the duty-to-report category.
The worst state for patient protection against sexually abusive doctors is Mississippi, according to the AJC study with an overall score of 37 points.
Here's a breakdown of New York's scores:
Transparency: 68
Duty-to-report: 84
Board composition: 50
Criminal acts: 52
Discipline laws: 50
RELATED NEWS:
- Visit doctors.ajc.com to read the entire series, including cases from every state, tips for staying safe and more.
- 50-state review uncovers how patients are vulnerable to abusive physicians
- How to report sex abuse by your doctor and other patient resources
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