Zurich
Sexual abuse during treatment: doctor appeals to court
Was it sexual abuse? The Zurich Higher Regional Court has to deal with this question again (symbol picture).
© Lynne Cameron / Picture Alliance
Sexual abuse: A Swiss doctor has been convicted – he is threatened with an occupational ban. Now he has lodged an objection.
This article first appeared on RTL.de.
A family doctor in Switzerland is threatened with a lifelong professional ban, as the newspaper “Blick” reports. The 51-year-old German is accused of abusing a young woman in his practice. The 18-year-old went to the doctor because she wanted to take sick leave with a cold. Because the doctor she usually went to was not there, she was looked after by his colleagues in a medical center in Zurich.
Doctor threatens imprisonment
The incident occurred in 2019: According to media reports, the 18-year-old should lie down on the examination couch after the doctor had listened to her. Then the young woman should take off her pants so that the doctor could palpate her genital area and anal. Because these examinations should not have been medically necessary, but rather sexually motivated, a court sentenced the man in November 2020 to a prison sentence of 22 months for abuse.
On the other hand, the 51-year-old appealed and the Zurich Higher Regional Court must now decide on the doctor’s fate. He claims that he examined the 18-year-old extensively at the time because other complaints were mentioned in her patient file. In the weeks and months before the incident, she complained several times of stomach pain and blood in her stool.
Serious allegations against the doctor
The 51-year-old had previously refused to give any statement. In the appeal process, he made a statement for the first time: “With the examinations I had made, I wanted to rule out various possible causes, for example appendicitis or an ectopic pregnancy,” “Blick” quotes the doctor. It was his duty to examine the patient for possible diseases. He had discussed the examinations with her and the young woman had no objections to the vaginal and anal examinations, he said in court.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the defendant should have documented all examinations in the patient’s file in detail – but not the vaginal examination. And the patient also stated that she was completely taken by surprise when the doctor stuck several fingers into her vagina after the anal examination. According to “20min.ch”, he should not even have worn gloves.
Is the judgment final?
The medical center dismissed the 51-year-old because of the assault. The 51-year-old accepted the resignation, as reported by “Blick”. Now he is taking action against the abuse judgment because, in his opinion, the allegations are not true and he wants to work as a family doctor again. The verdict on appeal has not yet been announced. It should be sent in writing to those involved in the process in the coming week.