4% of Dutch doctors providing more than just medical advice

Apr 17 2004

A recent survey amongst Dutch male doctors found 4 percent have had sexual contact with one or more patients.

The survey conducted by sexologist Peter Leusink in 2002, of about a thousand family doctors was published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine on Saturday and covered prominently in the dutch national media.

Citing Leusink's results, the Algemeen Dagblad daily said 4.3 percent of male doctors surveyed and 0.8 percent of female doctors had admitted sexual contact with patients, in most cases with one patient, but in a third of cases with two or three.

" We are not just talking about one-off incidents but a structural problem which must be directly addressed. The consequences for the patient are very damaging," Leusink, himself a family doctor, told the newspaper.

He said the real incidence could even be higher than shown by the survey.

The KNMG doctors' association expressed concern at the survey's findings: "Four percent is a lot, a serious matter. This undermines professionalism."