How many doctors sexually abuse patients? Even medical boards don’t know

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in an analysis of public records from every state, identified more than 3,100 doctors accused of sexual misconduct, including more than 2,400 doctors whose cases clearly involved patients.

But the AJC also found those numbers represent only a fraction of the doctors who had sexual violations since Jan. 1, 1999. Many violations never came to the attention of state regulators. In other cases, public board orders weren’t posted on violations that did result in sanctions.

So while the vast majority of the nation’s 900,000 licensed physicians don’t sexually abuse patients, no one knows the extent of the problem.