Illustrations by Richard Watkins / AJC

An AJC National Investigation

License to Betray

A broken system forgives sexually abusive doctors in every state, our national investigation finds.

By Carrie Teegardin, Danny Robbins, Jeff Ernsthausen and Ariel Hart

In Kentucky, Dr. Ashok Alur was examining an infection on a patient’s abdomen when he entered forbidden territory. He told the patient she had sexy underwear. Then, he rubbed her and placed his mouth on her genitals. The patient pushed him away and went to police.

“It was so beautiful,” the doctor told her later, when she confronted him. “I couldn’t resist.”

In Missouri, Dr. Milton Eichmann asked a woman badly injured in a sexual assault if she liked being tied up during sex, whether she was easily stimulated and whether she liked to be urinated on. He then told the patient, who was seeing the doctor for treatment of urinary problems, that he was being aroused. Continue reading

License To Betray: More from this investigative series | July 6

Coming next in this investigation

Illness or a crime?

When a doctor is found to have sexually violated a patient, rather than turn over the cases to police, medical boards often rely on programs designed to restore the physician to practice. That has led to a mini-industry in specialized treatment and boundary training, which may not be disclosed to the public. .