Medical License Revocation: Ethical Considerations & Legal Implications

Question
You may or may not have heard about a San Francisco cancer doctor being busted by Dateline for meeting a 13-year old girl for sex. The 'relationship' started online when the doctor approached the girl in a chat room (the 'girl' was really a decoy). The bust was televised and he did spend time in jail, paid the bail and is awaiting a trail.

If you were in the authority board reviewing his case on whether or not he should be able to continue practicing medicine, would you allow him to do so (assuming the courts find him not guilty)?

The issue here is about letting a doctor go even though his expertise and experience would help future patients who need it.

Thanks in advance for your time. I do understand this is a challenging question but I would like your insight.


Answer
I'm a Swede,living in Sweden. I have no idea of the legal situation of a case like this in California - or elsewhere in the USA. While I find his behaviour most inappropriate I must point out that what is legal or not differs from one point of the Earth to another. Here in Sweden the age of consent for sex is 15. If I'm not mistaken it is 18 in New York but the legal age for marriage in Missisippi is 13 (sex must be part of a marriage)! I hope I have all the facts right on these points here! Anyway what is legal or not is different from one point in both space and time to another, since these age limits have also changed over time. I'm here as an expert on breast cancer (and other forms of cancer and of history & military history) so unfortunately your question is far outside my area of expertise.