Usually I have a pretty good idea how I want to handle problems but yesterday I became stumped. Any thoughts on this non-AC issue would be appreciated. I have a 68 yo lady who switched to me from a local male doctor, she very convincingly elaborated, because "her heart had been broken" by him. Short version, after her husband died he made advances towards her (he is in his late 40s and never married). She told me how they had a "romantic" relationship, how he would come to her house and take pictures of her in her nightgown, blah, blah, blah. I really found this difficult to believe (although her telling of it was very convincing and never varied). Her son confronted him and he blatantly denied it, calling it preposterous!. He "tells the patient he can never see her again, either as a patient or a lover". So, the son and the rest of the family thought she was "crazy" and begged her to see a psychiatrist. The D-I-L brought her to my office on her first visit and pulled me aside telling me how upset they were about her mental state and could I convince her to see a psychiatrist.
I ended up diagnosing an ovarian tumor which she had removed and, after surgery,the patient reports that this doctor comes over to her house to see her, asks to see her scar and, while looking at it, places the patient's hand in his crotch to show her "what effect she has on him".
She tells her family and they finally get her to see a psychiatrist who tells them "she is not the first". This doctor apparently corralled the female psychiatrist in a closet at the hospital 15 years ago and tried to grope her. She has also had other patients report similar encounters with this doctor! So now, the family realizes that their mother is not crazy and that she was telling the truth all the time!! But neither they nor the patient have made any move to report this scumbag! The patient "doesn't want to hurt him"!!
So, I am sitting there yesterday listening to all of this and cannot believe no one has filed complaints. Here is my question...should I, as an advocate for my patient, without her consent or approval, report what I have been told to the Medical Licensing Board? Apparently, the psychiatrist told my patient her story "in confidence. Whew.
