{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T16:46:20Z","timestamp":1787071580206,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]],"date-time":"2025-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756684800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sexual harassment allegations against physicians undermine trust in healthcare and present significant ethical and legal challenges. While such issues are widely discussed in the context of professional conduct, systematic analyses of judicial decisions\u2014particularly in non-Western settings\u2014remain limited.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aim:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to analyze Turkish Supreme Court decisions involving sexual harassment allegations by physicians toward their patients, focusing on identifying patterns, associated risk factors, and ethical implications.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 46 Supreme Court judgments (2009\u20132024) were identified using the Lexpera database, employing keywords such as \u201charassment by physician\u201d and \u201charassment during medical examination.\u201d Each case was evaluated according to physician specialty, nature of the act (penetrative vs nonpenetrative), examination context, witness presence, and judicial outcomes (conviction, acquittal, or reversal).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Most incidents occurred in public hospitals, and the majority of patients were female. Physicians most frequently accused belonged to family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and radiology specialties. Documentation of informed consent and the presence of witnesses was rare. Allegations often involved genital examinations performed without explicit consent. While 69.7% of local court decisions resulted in convictions, only 39.4% were upheld by the Supreme Court.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Clear communication, standardized informed consent procedures, and the presence of witnesses during sensitive examinations are essential in preventing both misconduct and false accusations. These findings underscore the ethical importance of transparency and institutional safeguards and highlight the need for proactive policies to protect both patients and physicians.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/njcp.njcp_356_25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,27]],"date-time":"2025-09-27T17:00:16Z","timestamp":1758992416000},"page":"1032-1038","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Judicial and Ethical Dimensions of Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Physicians: A Content Analysis of Supreme Court Decisions in Turkey"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Z","family":"Liman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, Karabuk University, Karabuk, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"U","family":"Kayhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"A","family":"\u0130zci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1936","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM199312233292607","article-title":"Sexual harassment of female doctors by patients","volume":"329","author":"Phillips","year":"1993","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"R2-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1760","DOI":"10.1111\/imj.16513","article-title":"Global meta-analysis of physicians\u2019 experiences of workplace sexual harassment by patients","volume":"54","author":"Kamau-Mitchell","year":"2024","journal-title":"Intern Med J"},{"key":"R3-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.1016\/S0277-9536(96)00384-X","article-title":"A qualitative study of sexual harassment of female doctors by patients","volume":"45","author":"Schneider","year":"1997","journal-title":"Soc Sci Med"},{"key":"R4-20260420","first-page":"D792","article-title":"[Sexual harassment toward patients by a fellow physician]","volume":"168","author":"Pronk","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd"},{"key":"R5-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1007\/s12119-018-9562-y","article-title":"Sexual harassment at work among Tunisian Women Physicians","volume":"23","author":"Halouani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sex Cult"},{"key":"R6-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"833","DOI":"10.1111\/medu.13912","article-title":"Sexual assault and harassment of doctors, by doctors: A qualitative study","volume":"53","author":"Stone","year":"2019","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"R7-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1075","DOI":"10.1590\/S1807-59322009001100007","article-title":"Sexual harassment in the physician\u2012patient interaction: Analysis of charges against doctors in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo","volume":"64","author":"Cohen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Clinics"},{"key":"R8-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e089478","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2024-089478","article-title":"Understanding and experience of the medical forensic examination after sexual assault: Protocol for a mixed methods study","volume":"15","author":"Stewart","year":"2025","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"R9-20260420","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1037\/vio0000355","article-title":"Why do sexual assault survivors seek medical forensic exams and forensic evidence collection? 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