FEBRUARY 9, 2015
Ohio gynecologist copped to improper sexual contact
Image from The Smoking Gun
FEBRUARY 9–A disciplinary panel has voted to strip an Ohio gynecologist of his medical license for inappropriate behavior with two patients, both of whom the physician helped find their respective “G-spots” before engaging in further sexual contact, according to state records.
The State Medical Board of Ohio last month voted to sanction Dr. Kurt Froehlich, a Cincinnati doctor who has been licensed to practice medicine since 1993. A medical board member who voted to permanently revoke Froehlich’s license called the case against the 48-year-old physician (seen at right) the “most crude” he had seen in 40 years.
In fact, medical board members were so troubled by Froehlich’s actions that they rejected a hearing examiner’s recommendation that he be suspended for at least a year (and then placed on probation upon his return to practice).
According to board records, the two patients with whom Froehlich had sexual contact were employees at Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati, where he “performed 98 percent of his deliveries.” Froehlich, a solo practitioner, told state officials that he sees 30 patients daily and delivers 24 babies a month.
In hearing testimony, Froehlich said that at the conclusion of his first appointment with “Patient 1” in 2010, she asked him “a question about arousal and the location of the ‘G-spot.’” Usually when faced with such an inquiry, Froehlich said, he would “diagram a picture of where anatomically it is and how the best way to reach it is.”
But “Patient 1,” Froehlich testified, “asked if I would show her where it is.” So “that entailed her lying back down, me putting on a glove, doing an exam again, just showing her basically where it is.” The OB/GYN added that he “did not stimulate Patient 1 to orgasm at that time.”
During a subsequent meeting at the hospital, Froehlich testified, “Patient 1” again asked him to locate her “G-spot.” “Dr. Froehlich acknowledged that he stimulated her to orgasm in a call room of the hospital on that occasion,” medical board records note. A week later, Froehlich had sex with the woman at the hospital. “The next day when I made rounds, I just said that she’s married, I’m married, we shouldn’t be doing this, this is not the person who I want to be; she agreed,” testified Froehlich, who admitted that he was aware at the time of the sexual encounters that they were inappropriate.
As for “Patient 2,” Froehlich testified, “There was also a girl who was a patient who I showed where her G-spot was, I also saw her at the hospital and stimulated her to orgasm.” He added, “We did not have sex and it was a very brief relationship.” The 2012 hospital encounter occurred one evening in an administrative room at Bethesda North.
Froehlich acknowledged that he had not recorded his unorthodox “G-spot” discussions or tutorials in the medical records of either patient. Froehlich, records show, blamed his behavior on stress caused by the death of his mother-in-law, difficulties with his medical practice, his prostate cancer diagnosis, and a diet regimen he was following.
In addition to evidence about Froehlich’s sexual contact with patients, the medical board also considered his 2013 no contest plea to assaulting a female medical assistant. The woman testified that Froehlich slipped his hand under her shirt and groped her breast one night in his office. He also allegedly sought to shove his hand down her pants.
Image from The Smoking Gun
During a discussion last month about Froehlich’s case, members of the Ohio medical board appeared appalled by the doctor’s actions. A female board member called his behavior “absolutely intolerable” and said that, “for a gynecologist to behave in this manner is base, crude, and unacceptable.” Another board member remarked that Froehlich “felt so powerful that he performed stimulation in a hospital call room.” A third board member said that Froehlich “did not take ownership for his actions,” but instead “made excuses and tried to rationalize his behavior.”
The medical board’s decision to revoke–rather than suspend–Froehlich’s license caused the doctor’s lawyer to try and interrupt a January 14 meeting at the group’s Columbus headquarters. After being told he was out of order, attorney James McGovern persisted in trying to address the panel, prompting the board’s president to have an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer escort him from the meeting room.
Froehlich is pictured above in a photo from his web site, which advises patients that, “There are no stupid questions, so if it’s on your mind ask. My office staff is available for simple questions, but if you ever want my opinion on anything you can let the office staff know.” (5 pages) VIEW SOURCE DOCUMENT