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 Mississippi, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.
Key fact: The only insights on doctors with sexual misconduct is a periodic report of statistics the medical board issues, with no details or breakdowns of the misconduct. Also, a doctor whose license is revoked can come back to the board in one year to request reinstatement, the board’s executive director said.
“Let me say that it takes a lot of money to educate a physician. If they can be safely monitored and rehabilitated, I don’t see why they can’t come back from drugs, alcohol or sexual misconduct.”
— Vann Craig, former executive director, Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure
It took the deaths of three people to invite the scrutiny that exposed this serial sexual offender. Emerson was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in 2010 for three deaths related to his improper prescribing of painkillers and other dangerous drugs. But that’s the just the final chapter in a career that appears to have included sexual misconduct with patients at every turn.
Federal officials unearthed how for two decades he committed multiple sexual offenses in a variety of settings. Court records show he was cited for misconduct as an intern at a Detroit hospital, where he conducted a pelvic exam of a 14-year-old girl complaining of asthma. Still, he was allowed to complete the internship while being “watched closely.”
He then served in the Air Force in Mississippi, with a similar allegation arose. He resigned in lieu of a court-martial.
After Emerson began private practice in Mississippi, a hospital terminated his privileges.
He then worked in the Mississippi prison system but was terminated in 1999 and was subject of a lawsuit that was settled.
He then moved to Michigan. The medical board in that state found that in 2000 and 2001 he had inappropriately touched four female patients. It put him on probation.
His license was suspended in 2005 after his felony conviction for carrying a concealed weapon. His 2009 plea agreement said he provided various controlled substance prescriptions in exchange for sexual favors.
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