Medical boards often shield doctors guilty of sexual misconduct, investigation finds

Sexual misconduct by doctors is common in the United States, but its extent is hard to determine because of a lack of transparency among state medical boards, a national investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found.1 The newspaper launched the investigation after finding that in the state of Georgia two thirds of doctors disciplined for sexual misconduct were permitted to practice again.

The investigation found that US state medical boards often kept penalties secret, used vague language in public …