Is this malpractice, rectal rape or something else?

Question

A doctor gives a person a rectal exam (like with physicals). That doctor deliberately applies pressure to the rectal artery by pushing very hard straight in on purpose. The blood is cut off and the patient passes out unconscious. At they very worst (a doctor gets his rocks off having power over his patients) what would you call this crime (if it was deliberate) is it some form of rape or something else? Is it malpractice. Also if this client was suffering from depression at the time of this molestation, does her depression (person was clinically depressed prior to the event) and shame give her the right to toll the statute of limitations in that case if she couldn't bring herself to sue for malpractice at the time and the statutes have expired by nearly a year? All answers please.

This would be a 'Intentional medical malpractice suit' if her depression was accepted as mental incompetence.

To add a detail. When the patient woke up sahe was on the floor with pants down. Head crashed into the cabinet corner bruised the face very badly and concussion. Photos were taken. We know what happened because doctors were present. The 2 nurses/assistants came in after an took blood samples and the doctor suggested the idea of pushing the artery himself when the patient asked what happened in groggery. The doctor performed in the aftermath as if it was just an accident (there is more to the story to suggest it may not have been).

Mike, take a breath. No one is accusing anyone of rape. What I asked was "at the very worst" (a doctor gets his rocks off having power over his patients) what would you call this crime. And Mike WHERE did I say I was a witness. What are you talking about? Slow down when you read, needn't be so huffy.

Mike wrote: As long as the examination was a normal medical examination and the patient consented to that, I do not see how there can be a rape.

There was consent, but the procedure clearly went all wrong. but "IF" the doctor pushed hard to deliberately victimize the patient. What legally could the patient do?

Mike: Thanks for expanding on your answer. To make a long story short, I didn't provide the additional details because I just wanted to know what deliberately pushing would be considered, and didn't see the need to get into at first. Second, as this is yahoo answers I didn't feel the need to clarify to the extent that I was filling out a police report. If I WAS a witness which I am NOT, I would take much greater care. I am just a friend of the patient.

Answer 1

Generally, malpractice is negligence, or a mistake so careless that you must pay for it. Intentional harm to a patient is not usually called malpractice, it is a crime.

If the doctor mistakenly causes the patient to pass out while performing a reasonably necessary procedure, it might--might--be malpractice.

If the doctor performs a procedure that is not reasonably necessary with the intent to derive sexual satisfaction, that might--might--be sexual assault.

If the patient thinks a sexual assault occurred, she should report it to the police and the medical board.

If the patient thinks the doctor negligently caused her to pass out while performing a reasonably necessary procedure, she may sue.

If she sues, she must prove damages. Don't know if I really see them here.

Statutes of limitation are not normally tolled due to the plaintiff/victim depression.

She should see a lawyer for a more detailed explanation of her options.

Answer 2

I think you are going to have a very hard time proving any type of case or that it was done on purpose.

If the person is a female - there is a part of the female exam where the Dr inserts a finger into the rectum. Not all Dr's do this exam. And if the dr is male - there is a female nurse in the room.

There are also folks who voluntarily put male reproductive organs (which are generally larger than a finger) into the anal cavity and I've not heard of them passing out because the blood supply was cut off. Granted, I'm naive and not a medical professional ....but I find your claim to be highly suspect.

In addition, the person making the claim has a history of mental illness.

Depression does not toll the statute of limitations. If the statute of limitations has run - it's over. You have no recourse.

Answer 3

Are you certain that you even know what you are talking about?

If the patient went to a doctor for an examination and a rectal exam was part of that examination it would appear to me that the patient consented to the examination.

As long as the examination was a normal medical examination and the patient consented to that, I do not see how there can be a rape.

You said the doctor pressed hard on a rectal artery. If that is part of the exam I do not see how that could be construed as rape or malpractice.

If it is not part of the examination to press on the rectal artery, and if the doctor really did press on the artery, then it sounds like malpractice.

You said the patient passed out. If the loss of consciousness was a result of something the doctor did, that sounds like malpractice.

The big question is whether or not the patient lost consciousness because of something the doctor did.

It is possible that the patient may have lost consciousness for another reason that had nothing to do with what the doctor did.

You said the doctor gets his rocks off having power over his patients.

What proof do you have of that?

The fact that you would make a statement like that without proof indicates to me that you are an unreliable witness and I cannot rely on you to give me truthful or accurate information.



Just based on what you have said so far, and taking into account the fact that you made a very serious accusation without proof, tells me that what you are saying is very unreliable.


I do not consider you to be a sufficiently reliable witness to base an accusation of rape against the doctor merely based on what you say.

I would need at least one more witness, and that witness would have to be much more reliable than you are before I would make an accusation of rape.

Do you remember the case of the Duke LaCrosse players who were falsely accused of rape?

It turned out that the accusation of rape was false. The District Attorney who prosecuted that case is being criminally prosecuted, is in the process of being disbarred, and will probably lose a multimillion dollar civil suit to the Duke students who were improperly prosecuted in that case.

If you were to give the same information to a District Attorney that you have posted here in your question, the first thing that District Attorney is going to think is that you are a very unreliable witness and that if the District Attorney were to prosecute the doctor only based on the information that you have given us so far, that District Attorney could be the next one being criminally prosecuted, disbarred, and sued for millions of dollars.

(edit to asker)

The additional details that you just recently added should have been in your original question. If you ran out of room in your original statement you should have said that there was more material to come.

This makes it a completely different picture than what you presented in the first place.

Yes, based on your additional details this does sound like a crime and not an accident.

I do not know why you omitted those details.

I hope that you did not omit those details when you reported this incident to the police.

Unfortunately when you omit details like this and then you add them later that still makes you an unreliable witness and it harms your credibility even when you are telling the truth, because now the police do not know what to believe.

To the police, it appears as if you changed your story.

If you change your story, that makes you a very unreliable witness and destroys a case that otherwise would have been a good prosecutable case.

The police and District Attorney do not look at it as if you merely provided additional details.

They look at it as if you changed your story.

If you change your story you destroy your case most of the time.

(edit again to asker)

You tell me not to get huffy.

Whether you realize it or not you are presenting some very serious allegations and you omitted some very important details in you first question.

You only added the extremely important information that this patient was found on the floor bruised and with a concussion over 40 minutes after you presented your question.

I have over 20 years of experience as an expert witness.

When you add information that you should have presented much earlier it raises the question why did you withhold these very important details?

In a matter as important as this when you withhold important information that makes you extremely unreliable as a witness and can destroy and otherwise good case.

You say you were not a witness yet you seem to have first hand knowledge of this incident.

If you had withheld the details from the police that you withheld from us in the first part of your question that would be an extremely serious matter.

How are you involved in this case if you are not a witness?

You may think that I am huffy, however as an expert witness I have to take something like this very seriously and so do the Police and the District Attorney.

If you had been a witness and you withheld the information that the woman was found on the floor, bruised and with a concussion, you could make yourself both criminally and civlly liable as well.

You may be able to make a casual addition of details on Yahoo Answers, however if you are involved with a matter that could have criminal and civil liability you can not only destroy the case but you can also make yourself liable as well if you withhold that information from the Police.

If you think that I sound huffy, I am nothing compared to the response that you will get from the Police and the District Attorney if you omit those details that you omitted from us and then add them later.

(edit again to asker)

Thank you for clarifying your involvement in this matter.

I can tell you from my experience as an expert witness in court, if the only information you have is that the doctor pushed on the rectal artery during a rectal exam it will be almost impossible to prove malpractice, rape or anything else.

The facts that you need to prove your case are the additional facts about the patient being found on the floor, with injuries.

Once you add those facts it sounds like you have a very strong case.

One thing to keep in mind, when presenting your case, I recommend that you present your strongest facts first. That is what gives you credibility.

If you present your weak facts first and then later when you see that you are not succeeding, you present your strong facts, it tends to make people think that you are making up the stronger facts now that you see that the facts that you have are not working. That destroys your credibility.

This is a problem that I do encounter on occasion when I am acting as an expert witness. Occasionally when a client discovers that his facts are not good enough to prevail he will present me with a new much stronger set of facts.

Occcasionally the reason that he did not give me the stronger facts is because he did not know which facts would be considered stronger by a court or by a jury.

More often the stronger set of facts is something that he made up when he discovers that the original set of facts is not enough to persuade a jury.

You have convinced me that you do have a strong case.

I hope that I have been helpful to you in identifying which facts you want to present first and why it is important that you do not withhold facts.

Based on what you have told me, it is my opinion that this doctor should not be practicing medicine. The doctor's license should be revoked and the doctor should go to prison.

I wish you great success with your case.

.

Answer 4

Statutes of limitation vary from state to state and some states (like California) require "notice of intent to sue" based on professional negligence. The situation you sescribe may qualify as a sexual battery and may carry a different statute of limitation. See a lawyer ASAP! "Mental distress" does not toll a statute of limitation.

Answer 5

First of all, there has to be proof that the doctor "got his rocks off." This is not a normal exam for a female annual exam I don't think. If she became unconscious, then how does she know what happened? Also, many people are suffering from depression including myself. The whole thing sounds ridiculous to me!

Answer 6

This ties in perfectly as an example for the person who was asking if health insurance should be regulated because it is corrupt. HERE is the corruption. This is why all of our health insurance premiums go up. People sure doctors for BS like this. Idiot jury gives money to "victim". doctors insurance goes up, doctor must charge more for his/her service since frivolous lawsuits are increasing the cost of health care.

Answer 7

geesh