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Haley v. Medical Disciplinary Board11/7/1991
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disciplinary action may be taken against a medical or dental practitioner because of acts or offenses which are not directly connected with his technical competence to practice but which only evidence weaknesses of character which are regarded by the licensing authorities and the courts as inconsistent with the general standards of the profession[.]
Annot., Physician's or Other Healer's Conduct, or Conviction of Offense, Not Directly Related to Medical Practice, as Ground for Disciplinary Action, 34 A.L.R.4th 609, 613 (1984).
Applying the above principles to the present case, we have little difficulty in concluding that Dr. Haley's conduct constituted unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180(1). In its uncontested findings of fact, the Board found that Dr. Haley's relationship with M. "constituted the exploitation of a juvenile for sexual gratification. [Dr. Haley] exploited his position of psychological power and authority over [M.] in order to facilitate their improper sexual relationship." Dr. Haley exercised psychological power and authority over M. solely by virtue of the relationship he had established with her when he was her surgeon. The Board's uncontested finding of fact is therefore tantamount to the statement that Dr. Haley used his professional status and position to achieve the sexual exploitation of a minor.
Specific facts about the initiation of the sexual relationship independently support this view. The Board found that the first time M. stopped by Dr. Haley's office, in early March 1987, she did so "on an impulse to see the doctor that had operated on her." The second time she visited him, again at his office, Dr. Haley gave her wine and
kissed her. The third time she visited him there, they engaged in sexual foreplay in a room used to receive patients. These facts indicate that Dr. Haley's status as a physician served as the basis for the initiation of the sexual relationship; that Dr. Haley used the trust and confidence he had achieved when serving as M.'s surgeon in order to establish a relationship of sexual exploitation. Such conduct raises reasonable concerns about the need to protect the public, and therefore is a proper subject for sanction by the Board.
Dr. Haley's conduct also indicates unfitness to practice because it casts disrepute on the medical profession in the eyes of the public. The public expects a physician to decline the flirtations of a confused adolescent, not take them as an opportunity for sexual exploitation. As the Board concluded, " arents should be free to entrust their children to a surgeon's care without concern that the surgeon will enter into a sexual relationship with that child at the precise moment that it could be considered the physicianpatient relationship has terminated."
In sum, Dr. Haley's conduct indicates unfitness to practice medicine in two ways: it raises concerns about his propensity to abuse his professional position, and it tends to harm the standing of the profession in the eyes of the public, which both lead to reasonable apprehension about the public welfare. Therefore, the Board properly concluded that Dr. Haley engaged in acts of unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180(1).
The Board also ruled that Dr. Haley violated RCW 18.130.180(1)<!--/REF--> insofar as his conduct transgressed various other statutes. The Board concluded: (1) that Dr. Haley committed child abuse, as defined in RCW 26.44.020(12); (2) that he communicated with a minor for immoral purposes, in violation of RCW 9.68A.090; (3) that he furnished alcohol to
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