The medical profession has the opportunity to prevent further harm to patients and damage to public trust
Bismark and colleagues1 report the disappointing finding that health practitioners, particularly doctors, continue to be found guilty of sexual misconduct with patients. During 2011–2016, Australian regulators received more than 100 notifications of sexual misconduct by Australian doctors each year. As with other sexual crimes, it is likely that many victims do not make formal complaints; in this study, only 34% of notifications were made by affected patients.
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- 10. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Changes to mandatory notifications requirements in effect 1 March [media release]. 2 Mar 2020. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2020-03-02-Media-release-Mandatory-notifications.aspx (viewed May 2020).
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No relevant disclosures.