Yahoo Movies Sickening snapshots: A closer look at accusations of doctors preying on patients
Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of reported sexual abuse that may be offensive to some readers or painful to survivors.
The victims were teenagers, mothers, daughters, and many other patients who never imagined they would become prey for their doctors.
Some were sexually abused or raped while they were under anesthesia. Some were prescribed drugs to make them more vulnerable. Some were lured by the doctors into empty offices after hours or tricked into meeting at other places.
Some of the allegations involved a single patient; others involved 19 or more patients.
These are snapshots of some of sexual misconduct allegations against 256 physicians from the past four decades in Ohio. In each case, the doctors had their medical licenses permanently revoked or suspended. Some were criminally charged or served time in prison.
The accusations below are taken from public records from the State Medical Board of Ohio, records from medical board investigations or other state medical boards, and, in some instances, criminal records.
In some cases, the doctors disputed the allegations made by their former patients after the complaints were filed to the medical board. The Dispatch attempted to contact each of the doctors involved in the cases below, but only two responded.
'I have to get out of here'
How much money do you owe on your Victoria Secret credit card?
The questions asked by Dr. Somnath Roy of a 19-year-old woman applying for a job as his medical assistant in March 2007 were not normal, she said.
What do you buy at Victoria's Secret?
How many boyfriends do you have?
How many people have you slept with?
Do you use protection during sex?
The young woman was scared and alone in an office with the doctor from Avon, west of Cleveland, after business hours.
The interview grew darker when she said she could feel the doctor’s erection up against her leg as he took her blood pressure.
Roy then unsnapped her bra and fondled her breasts while claiming he had to examine her heart and lungs with a stethoscope, she said.
Roy then attempted to kiss the woman’s neck in a dark hallway.
“I have to leave, I have to leave, I have to get out of here,” the woman repeatedly told the doctor before she finally got out of the locked office.
The woman called local police that evening.
In an interview with The Dispatch, Roy denied committing sexual misconduct or any of the allegations made against him. Roy had his medical license permanently revoked in 2014 and was convicted on six sex-related charges.
19 patients
The woman fell asleep on the examination table for about five minutes.
When she awoke, she said Dr. James Gideon admitted to her that he was too touchy.
The doctor based in Bluffton in northwestern Ohio told a board investigator that he touched his patient’s nipple about a dozen times and kissed her on the shoulder.
She was considered Patient 1 by the state medical board.
There would be 18 more woman with horror stories between 2013 and 2017 of being sexually abused or mistreated by Gideon, an internal medicine doctor.
Patient 7 could feel the doctor’s hands move up and down, from her back to her buttocks and toward her genitals. She spoke up and told Gideon that he was getting too personal.
Patient 13 tried to cover her breasts with a shirt, but the doctor laughed and pushed the shirt away. Gideon would call her breasts “the girls” and told her in one appointment it was time to “let the girls out.”
Patient 19 was given a box of bras and told by Gideon to try them. In another visit he unsnapped her bra and moved his hands close to her breasts before she could move her body away. In another, Gideon handed the woman a ring and said it was to celebrate their 10-year anniversary as patient and doctor.
Gideon was found guilty of three counts of misdemeanor sexual imposition in 2017. The board permanently revoked Gideon's medical license in May of 2018. He told The Dispatch he was manipulated by the medical board and its "biased" processes, and was simply trying to help his patients.
Afraid of male doctors
Dr. Larry Smith handed the woman a pack of pills. She washed several down with water and a few minutes later felt dazed lying on the examination table.
“I just remember him being on top of me,” the woman said of the incident in 2009. “I remember being and feeling real weak ...I just laid there. I couldn’t do anything.”
The recovering heroin addict didn’t tell anyone about being sexually assaulted until weeks later when she had to return to Smith to get more medication.
She took a friend and told her she was terrified to walk back into the office.
Read More:What to know about Ohio State University athletic doctor Richard Strauss’ career, abuse and death
“I said ... if you hear me scream, ... please come back and check on me,” the woman said.
The woman eventually reported the assault to police. In the summer of 2009, a detective then had the woman return to Smith’s office in Canfield, near Youngstown, with a hidden device to record their conversations.
He could be heard saying several vulgar things to the woman including one exchange about how she shouldn’t smoke because he could taste nicotine in her vagina.
The woman said she is now terrified of any male physician.
“I go to the ER for a toothache, or a broken whatever and I ask for a female,” she said. “ ... I never thought he would be like that.”
Smith’s license was permanently revoked by the board in July of 2011.
'I couldn’t believe it'
Dr. Daniel Moshos told the woman the only way she could receive her test results sooner was to meet him out of the office.
The doctor said he had to meet a real estate agent, so the woman got into his car and they drove into the countryside in September 2005.
Moshos, of Kettering, a Dayton suburb, drove to a remote area and told his patient to get out.
He then started rubbing his penis up against the woman’s clothes and ejaculated, the patient told the medical board.
He said nothing to the woman the rest of the drive and acted as though nothing had happened.
The woman was in shock and sick to her stomach, but said nothing.
Read More:Ohio medical board won't take action in most sexual misconduct complaints it reopened
The woman begged Moshos to release her as a patient and transfer her medical records, but she said he refused.
During one visit the woman warned Moshos he could get in trouble and lose his license for his behavior.
Moshos told her he liked the thrill of getting away with it.
About 17 months after that day in the countryside, the patient said Moshos again masturbated in front of the woman — this time in his office.
Months later, the woman saw a newspaper article about her former doctor being accused of sexual abuse and went to prosecutors with her story.
Moshos was convicted in 2009 on two counts of sexual imposition and one count of attempted rape. The medical board permanently revoked his license in 2010.
“Doctors aren’t supposed to do this,” the patient said. “You are supposed to trust them.”
Little understanding
Dr. Dan Ecklund had committed sexual misconduct in Alabama.
The Alabama State Medical board issued him a letter that included the following:
"You had sexual relations with a patient."
"You prescribed controlled substances to a patient with whom you were having sex."
“In the past you have had sexual experiences with young female children."
“In the past you have had sexual experiences with animals.”
“You have touched females without their consent in order to gain sexual gratification.”
He lost his license in Alabama in 2005 but Ecklund also had a medical license in Ohio. Ecklund didn't fight the board's revocation in Ohio.
A medical board official attempted to track Ecklund down in Texas through legal notices in the newspaper to inform him that complaints had been made and he had the chance to appear at a hearing.
But Ecklund never responded to the board, and his license was later permanently revoked.
The letter from the Alabama medical board stated that even after admitting to having sex with children and animals the doctor had little understanding that his conduct was wrong.
Polygraph Test
Have you engaged in any sexual conduct with patients or former patients since your most recent preceding polygraph examination?
Have you engaged with any sexual conduct with persons who you had professional relationships with since your most recent preceding polygraph examination?
Have you had any social contact with patients or former patients since your most recent preceding polygraph examination?
Have you lent money or entered into a financial agreement with patients or former patients since your most recent preceding polygraph examination?
These are the questions Dr. Peter Johnson had to answer at least once every six months for five years.
Read More:Strauss accusers call on NCAA, Big Ten to investigate Ohio State
They were a result of him admitting to having sex with three patients, a staff member and a resident he supervised.
The Northwest Ohio doctor was diagnosed with a sexual disorder and entered into a program designed to treat sexually compulsive behavior.
But instead of revoking his license the state medical board in September of 2015 suspended his license for two years, then allowed Johnson to retain his license under the following conditions:
He continue treatment and evaluation for his sexual addiction.
He appear in person before the board.
He submit any plans to practice medicine in Ohio to the board in advance.
He must be supervised by a physician approved by the board.
He maintain participation in a 12-step program for sex addicts.
And he continued taking those lie detector tests and is still licensed today.
Eight years later
The abuse started in 2003 when Dr. Shafik Ahmad rubbed his pelvic area on a patient’s leg and caressed her face, back and neck.
It would continue for the next five years with 12 more patients claiming abuse.
There would be unwanted kisses, prolonged hugs and instances when he ran his fingers through their hair.
Ahmad groped a patient's breasts under her bra even after the woman said she told him she had no moles on her breasts.
The Dayton-area doctor told one woman that he had feelings for her and tried to stick his tongue in her mouth.
He would tell another patient that he loved her after she pushed him away.
He finally received a letter from the state medical board in 2010 listing the allegations made by 13 patients.
The investigation coincided with a trial where Ahmad was accused of hiring a hit man to kill his ex-wife.
He was found guilty of the felony in 2011.
Ahmad’s medical license was permanently revoked five months later in 2011, nearly eight years after he abused Patient 1.
Emotional capacity of a 14-year-old
The single mother of two children went to the Oregon doctor because she was suffering from chronic back pain and depression.
The woman had the mental and emotional capacity of a 14-year-old.
A few appointments later in 2003 Dr. Randall Smith convinced the woman he could help her back pain by giving her vaginal massages.
After using his hands for the massages during several appointments, the doctor then convinced the woman that her treatment could be accomplished through sexual intercourse.
Smith continued to have sex with the woman during examinations for months, according to medical board records.
He would bill Medicaid for each of these appointments.
The doctor would later admit to sexual misconduct with three more patients.
Smith lost his medical license in Oregon, but three years later attempted to renew his Ohio license.
The Ohio medical board rejected his attempt.
Smith's conduct "exploited the vulnerability of a mentally and financially disadvantaged patient,” the board concluded.
Dispatch reporters Max Filby and Jennifer Smola Shaffer contributed to this story.
How to get help and report sexual abuse by a medical professional
▪ To file a report, call your local police or sheriff’s department.
▪ To file a complaint, visit the State Medical Board of Ohio online , or call the board's confidential complaint hotline at 1-833-333-7626.
▪ Call the Ohio Sexual Violence Helpline at 844-6446-4357.
▪ For a directory of rape crisis centers in each of Ohio's 88 counties, visit the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence online.
▪ To speak with someone confidentially, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat online.
▪ For more information on child sexual abuse, visit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network online.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sickening snapshots: A closer look at claims of doctor sexual abuse
