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 Maryland, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.
Key fact: The state had no system for verifying the criminal history of doctors until 2015, when the General Assembly passed a law requiring doctors to submit to criminal background checks. The action came after an eye doctor was accused of sexually assaulting a patient, and it was revealed that he had been convicted previously in Florida of raping a woman at gunpoint.
"[His] ingrained pattern of self-gratification at the expense of his patients, incompetent practice, and deceit and corruption makes it appear unlikely that he was ever fit to practice medicine.”
— An administrative law judge, commenting on the case of Dr. Ramon L. Gonzalez, who the board determined sexually abused female patients, including adolescents, since his time in medical school. His license was revoked.
Rudman managed to keep his license for years, despite a parade of patients who said they were molested, as he contested board orders. Board documents indicate he had abused patients as early as the 1970s, when he groped the breasts of a 13-year-old who went to see him for a sore throat.
Another said that when she was 17 Rudman instructed her to get undressed for an exam, leaned against the exam room door and watched her undress.
His license was suspended in 2006 because of a complaint that he had molested a patient during treatment for fibromyalgia. But he contested the suspension and the board vacated it two weeks later, allowing him to practice with a chaperone.
Following his Alford plea to second-degree assault - a plea in which he didn't admit guilt but acknowledged there was evidence to convict him - in December 2006 the board revoked his license.
Rudman then filed for judicial review of the board order, saying that by virtue of the court’s granting his request for probation before judgment in the criminal case, his guilty plea was suspended. He also argued that second-degree assault is not a crime of moral turpitude and thus not grounds for revocation.
A judge granted his first point. On the second, he wrote that “For a physician to sexually abuse his patient is so outrageous as to require no argument to find moral turpitude.” But the judge said that since the facts in the case were disputed and the specific sex crimes were dropped with acceptance of his plea, the second-degree assault charge should not be considered a crime of moral turpitude. So he vacated the board’s order.
In 2010, the board again accused Rudman of engaging in sexual misconduct under the guise of treatment during medical appointments. In 2011, seven patients testified to abuse. The board then in 2012 revoked his license.
“The deliberate sexual touching of patients’ bodies is despicable conduct that is a disgrace to the medical profession,” its order states.
Rudman has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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