Nebraska

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 Nebraska, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.

Key fact: Nebraska allows some doctors to sign “assurance of compliance” documents, which are not disciplinary. These documents are for doctors accused of various misdeeds, including sexual misconduct. William Heisel, a contributing editor at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, called the use of such documents a “fig leaf.” Heisel noted the case of one Nebraska doctor who had signed such a document in 2006 for having “intimate relations” with a patient then ended up back in front of the board less than a year later for prescribing a drug he was not authorized to prescribe.

Researching a doctor

  • Accurate records of sexual abuse accusations against doctors are not always easily accessible. In Nebraska, the best chance of finding problems is to search the records offered by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Please note that license search results typically include all public disciplinary actions, not just those involving sexual misconduct, and can sometimes include vague language. Also, some states deal with some disciplinary issues privately; private board orders are not included.

Where to file a complaint

Quoted

“In lieu of suspension of the Defendant’s license, all medical care provided to patients by the Defendant or physician assistants supervised by the Defendant shall be free of charge during the initial six months of probation.”

— 2000 board order for a family practitioner who was found to have had sexual relations with two patients who he knew were having marital problems. He had diagnosed them as depressed. He was placed on probation, which was lifted in 2003.

Highlighted case

Dr. Tahir Ali Javed

The oncologist was accused of a host of violations. Among them, the board order describes a case where he manipulated a patient into continuing a sexual relationship with him. The order says he intentionally gave the patient a false diagnosis that she had a fatal disease and told her not to seek treatment with anyone else because she’d lose insurance coverage.

Javed even impersonated another doctor to cancel lab tests that might have shown his diagnosis was false. In 2003, his license was revoked. News reports indicated he left the United States for Pakistan.

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