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.
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, 2016
Read the entire series
Part 1: License to betray | Part 2: Illness or crime? | Part 3: State secrets | Part 4: Failing grades |
Part 5: Hurt that doesn’t heal |
Part 6: Still forgiven
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.