by Thomas P Azar

How would you react if you received an unexpected knock at your door
and a police officer handed you a subpoena, read you your legal rights,
gave you a ride in the back of a police car through downtown, took your
picture for the police files, gave your name to the local media, all
because one of your patients falsely accused you of making sexual
advances behind closed doors?

In my last assignment I was the Senior Protestant Chaplain
responsible for a congregation of over 1100 persons, and a supervisor to
over 90 lay leaders and deacons in 40 chapel organizations and programs.
I worked with lawyers, doctors, counselors and teachers who did not take
the need to set up preventive safeguards seriously, in order to deter
possible false accusations. Many did not know that according to the
latest statistics, in 1996 alone, there were over 25,200 professional
malpractice cases according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In one
such case, a doctor was accused of fondling a female patient while
conducting an exam. Police, lawyers, and other supervisors jammed his
small office. The atmosphere was debilitating. His wife, while trying
to support her husband, was nervously rocking back and forth as she
hugged their crying eighteen-month-old child. His staff of five was
petrified for him, his family and their careers. Short whispers between
investigators made big cuts into his soul. His office looked like a
crowded observation room in a state penitentiary. He moved like a dead
man walking, with his family waiting to see him receive a lethal
injection. Fortunately, after months of agonizing legal haggling, he was
exonerated, but it had cost him his professional respect, social
relationships, his patients, and he almost lost his wife. It became
necessary to move to another state and begin his practice over.

This false accusation affects more than just one doctor. It
negatively impacts other professionals and their monthly caseload of 200
to 500 persons. If one does not have their guard up, any disgruntled or
vengeful person can accuse you of something you never did.

What then can we do? Begin with the Hippocratic oath – an ethical
creed that states, "hold yourselves aloof from wrong, from
corruption, from tempting others to vice." My concern is for the
professionals who intends to follow the oath, but unintentionally fails
to go the extra mile to safeguard his vocational routine when taking
care of their patients.

The following are a few suggestions I would recommend from my 23
years in the ministry to help you protect the caretaker-patient
relationship, and prevent false accusation.

1- When examining or counseling a patient of the opposite sex,
always have an assistant present of the same gender as the patient. This
shows concern, protects all parties, and builds a climate of trust- all
of which are important ingredients in the healing process.

2- If a session is going beyond regular work hours, require a staff
member to wait till the patient has departed. Always enter and exit from
the main thoroughfare. Never use a private entrance. Let your staff
escort your client or patient in, and let them see you concluding the
session.

3- In certain circumstances where you have to work one on one, try
to keep the door and curtains open, so that the patient is in full view
from the outer hallway. When certain individuals appear questionable, or
have a history of serious problems, tape your sessions, or have an
assistant present in the adjoining room with the door open. If you can’t
be seen, then be heard.

4 – Never see a patient after hours, or in a different facility by
yourself. If you are called out, as many of us are for an emergency,
chose a recognized public location that is staffed by other helping
professionals, like the hospital ER. Call ahead and reserve a room in a
high traffic area, preferably facing the doctors or nursing station.
Report in and out to the supervisor, note the time, and do not leave
with the client.

I know many are overtaxed, but don’t let this be an excuse that
could lead to greater hardship. Some argue that we don’t need to
implement these because it would require more staffing, and slow down
the number of persons we see. Others may refuse because it cost more
money, or interferes with privacy and confidentially. However, it is
better to pay a little going in, than pay a lot going out. Finally, let
me conclude the true story of a fellow minister who failed to take
precautions. He was asked by an elderly woman in his church to visit her
every Tuesday at lunchtime. He drove alone to her home, never thinking a
neighbor would accuse him of having an affair with the woman’s daughter.
Rumors spread. The church elders called a meeting hoping to preempt
involvement by police and the media, but it was too late. The young
minister was accused without evidence. When the mother arrived she told
everyone that "I asked our pastor to come and pray with me and my
daughter who has contracted leukemia and has only four months to live. I
was always at home with them, and his sincere prayers and Bible reading
has given us strength to face the inevitable death of my only
daughter."

The deacons apologized and asked "What they could do to make it
right?" The young minister stood up, and said, "Go home and
take your favorite feathered pillow to the top of the hill behind our
church on this windy evening. Tear it open. Then go and see if you can
pick up all the feathers to fill the pillow. Now you will know how much
your false allegations have ruined our church, this family, and my
ministry." This reminds me of how hard it was to take the AIDS
epidemic seriously. At first some health professionals refused to ask
preliminary questions and start wearing latex gloves and facemasks. Some
doctors died because they failed to listen and take precautions. It’s
your choice. If you fail to take precautions, I must caution you that
you will fail.