Last November, the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision suspended Dr. Linden’s license for three months because he had sex with two patients and gave them genital herpes infections, according to board records. Dr. Linden, who also owns a psychiatric center in Las Vegas, did not return repeated telephone messages.WOW! He's also run into trouble from the FDA for poor conduct of trials -- giving herpes to patients was just icing on the cake. The whole story is at the New York Times. On that note, have a good weekend. In fact, I now officially proclaim the upcoming weekend as No Sex With Patients Weekend.
I hope this is not too tabloid-like for this site. I don't care about people's personal misgivings -- we all have our flaws. It's when these errors in judgment start impacting patients that they really bother me. I've not seen the records indicating that Dr. Linden engaged in such behavior, but I'm willing to trust the reporting of Gardiner Harris on this story.
6 comments:
Wow, three months suspension for abusing 2 patients. That's pathetic. I'm sure that harsh sentence will encourage other women to step forward and report sexual misconduct.
~Lisa
Beyond pathetic. 1.5 months suspension for each patient with whom he had inappropriate sexual relations and to whom transmitted herpes.
Makes you wonder what a doctor would have to do to lose a license permanently.
In Texas a doc who offered a cop $10,000 to whack a bothersome patient was able to keep his license, as there was "little risk" of recidivism.
Interesting! Do you have a link to the story?
It was in the Dallas Morning News a few years ago. Things got so bad that the Morning-News, with the blessing of the power-brokers behind it, ran a series on Texas' medical licensing, or what passed for it.
If I recall correctly, my memory is some dim, just about every doctor in hot water went to the same lawyer who represented them in front of the state board, and somehow or other had a cosy relation$hip with lawmakers, perhaps through intermediaries. There were entire years in which not a single doctor in the entire State of Texas was found unfit to practice medicine. The only real oversight of medicine as practiced in Texas were the trial lawyers.
This may also have been why TMAP was made in Texas.
2.) Leader says board getting tougher on bad doctors
Critics call testing, other plans a diversion, not steps to progress
Author: DOUG J. SWANSON Staff Writer
Publish Date: October 30, 2002
Word Count: 1428
Document ID: 0F704D7FEFA7B019
Ace Pickens was cursing, which may be the surest sign yet that the state has begun to change the way it punishes wayward doctors.
Mr. Pickens, the legendary go-to lawyer for Texas physicians in trouble, has for years kept his clients in business despite allegations of serious medical misbehavior.
Under Mr. Pickens' guidance, even a doctor who pleaded no contest to hiring a hit man to kill a patient was able to keep his medical practice open.
But this month
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Note "tougher" and not "tough."
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