Each state has its own set of statutes and regulations on licensing doctors, accommodating patients who wish to file complaints, and releasing information about physicians who have been subject to discipline and legal action. On this page, we’re sharing the key findings regarding California, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.
Key fact: Under the statute of limitations the Board of Medicine must transmit an accusation of doctor sexual misconduct to the attorney general’s office within three years of discovering it, or within 10 years after the act occurs. In cases involving minors, the clock does not begin to run on the 10-year limitations period “until the minor reaches the age of majority.”
“She did not fight him off for fear of being beaten.”
—The California Board of Medicine, regarding a victim in the case in the case of Dr. Kevin Antario Brown, who molested at least 12 patients. In 2011, he was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison after being convicted on 23 counts of sexual offenses.
Abrams, a San Diego doctor at a clinic for low-income patients, admitted to eight counts of penetration of an unconscious person and taking more than 1,300 sexually explicit photos of female patients. One patient he photographed was 8 years old.
A judge in 2015 suspended a 25-year sentence for Abrams, who has cancer, and ordered him to one year of house arrest and five years' probation instead of prison. While Abrams was under investigation, in October 2014, the medical board temporarily suspended his license. In April 2016, citing his conviction, the state initiated steps to revoke the license. He surrendered it the next month.
Abrams’ attorney has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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