California medical board accuses high-profile doctor of sexual misconduct
Editor’s note: This story contains some graphic descriptions of alleged sexual misconduct.
The California Medical Board charges that a Modesto doctor is subject to disciplinary action for alleged sexual misconduct after complaints from two patients were investigated.
The Medical Board, which oversees licensing of physicians, said in an Aug. 27 accusation that Dr. Robert Altman’s conduct amounted to sexual exploitation and sexual misconduct.
Altman is an obstetrician-gynecologist and a high-profile physician, as president and chief executive officer of Gould Medical Group. Through a long-term agreement with Sutter Gould, the physicians group has 400 members working in 34 specialties at 22 care centers in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
Altman was given credit earlier this year for spearheading an effort to gain national accreditation for Memorial Medical Center to train internal medicine and family practice physicians in Modesto.
Sutter Health said in a statement Tuesday that Altman disputes the Medical Board allegations.
“Dr. Altman is a respected physician and long-standing member of the local community,” a Sutter spokesperson said via email Tuesday. “We take safety and quality matters seriously and have confidence in the Medical Board of California’s complaint resolution process. We expect Dr. Altman will receive fair and due process regarding these allegations, which he disputes.”
Altman did not return messages from The Modesto Bee.
Contents of the Medical Board accusation describe Altman as an emotionally supportive doctor who hugged patients, put his hand on their backs and wiped tears from their eyes. But some patients complained to Sutter Gould administrators that the tactile behavior with women and mothers was excessive and inappropriate. And there was no medical reason for it.
According to the Medical Board, some of the touching amounted to sexual misconduct.
A woman identified as “Patient 1” in the Medical Board accusation told an investigator the physician touched her clitoris in a pronounced manner during an examination in December 2020. The Modesto woman, then 54, had made an appointment for follow-up care and told Altman in the exam room she was going through a stressful divorce and her mother was dying.
According to the complaint, the doctor brushed away her tears, placed his hand over her hands and hugged her. The woman said later it made her feel uncomfortable.
During the genital examination, an assistant was in the room but stood behind Altman, several feet away, and could not see how he touched the patient, the report said. The woman said she was shocked and upset over the vaginal exam, and when she switched to a female specialist, her new gynecologist said she should report the incident.
“Patient 2” in the accusation had a long history with Altman, who delivered her first child in 2003. She continued to see the “supportive and friendly” OB-GYN for several years, the report said.
Once, while dealing with a difficult medical issue around 2011, the doctor hugged her tightly for a long time — and she felt uncomfortable, the accusation said. The patient later told an investigator the doctor’s behavior was “excessively familiar and physically intimate” during numerous checkups for her second pregnancy, including frequent hugging and touching for nonmedical purposes.
“In addition to hugging, Patient 2 recalled occasions when (Altman) rubbed her back while she was wearing only a gown,” the accusation said, adding that a chaperone wasn’t there for her appointments with the male physician.
According to the accusation, a Doctors Medical Center nurse and family friends of Patient 2 observed the doctor hugging and touching her often when she was admitted for surgical delivery of her second child.
At a follow-up appointment after the birth, the doctor completed a vaginal examination of Patient 2. Standing between the patient’s open legs, the doctor leaned forward and hugged the patient from that position, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable, the accusation said.
Charlene Curry, a former Ceres resident and another former patient of Altman’s, told The Modesto Bee on Monday that Altman gave her the same kind of hug after an exam. She said she is not one of the two patients in the Medical Board accusation.
Curry said she was lying on the table and wearing a gown. “He wrapped his arms around me and pushed himself toward me,” Curry said. “It was like a husband would hug you.”
Curry said she sent a 2018 email to Sutter Gould administrators about the doctor’s conduct. She said she didn’t get a response from Sutter Gould but the Medical Board contacted her and arrangements were made for her to speak with a state investigator in a Ceres Police Department office.
Curry said from seven months to a year after the interview, the licensing agency informed her it wouldn’t take action.
Investigation found fault with 2017 exam
The more recent Medical Board investigation found fault with Altman’s conduct with Patient 2 during a January 2017 exam concerning a painful lump in the patient’s genital region. The doctor, without an assistant in the room, inserted his fingers in orifices for what the patient thought was an excessive amount of time and continued after the patient said “okay” and “enough” several times.
She finally shifted into a sitting position and pulled herself away.
The patient later noticed on her medical record that Altman had described finding a small mass on the vaginal wall and discussed an option for treatment with the patient. But the woman told an investigator the doctor did not relay that information to her.
The Medical Board’s director concluded that Altman is subject to disciplinary action for sexual misconduct against both patients and gross negligence in not offering a chaperone for the January 2017 examination of Patient 2, not stopping the exam when asked multiple times and violating the physician-patient relationship.
Altman has a right to contest the allegations at a hearing. Licensed physicians who concede to Medical Board accusations often have their license placed on probationary status and are required to comply with probation terms designed to safeguard patients.
The Medical Board was asked if complaints from two patients were enough to justify disciplinary action. Agency staff said there is no minimum number of patients required to justify action against a physician.
“Once a complaint is received, the matter is thoroughly investigated,” the agency said. “The Board may impose discipline on a medical license if it is determined through clear and convincing evidence that the physician violated the Medical Practice Act.”
What are the professional standards?
Because of the intense emotions and vulnerability of patients in OB-GYN practice, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist maintains practice standards for those physicians. An updated ethics committee opinion in early 2020 said the patient-physician relationship is damaged when there’s confusion about professional roles and behavior.
The ACOG committee concluded that physical exams should be “explained appropriately and undertaken only with the patient’s consent and performed with the minimum amount of physical contact required to obtain data for diagnosis and treatment.” The update said limited physical contact with patients, such as hugging or holding a patient’s hand, may be beneficial in expressing support, but OB-GYNs should be careful to ensure patients are open to it and “its duration is appropriately limited.”
The Modesto woman, who is Patient 1 in the report, said she first reported what happened to her to a Sutter Gould office manager. The manager said it would be passed on to risk management.
The woman said she filed a complaint with the Medical Board in November 2021. A board letter in February 2023 said the investigation was concluded and the matter was referred to the Attorney General for possible administrative action against the physician.
One of Altman’s accusers said he should be forced to stop practicing as an OB-GYN.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 4:05 PM with the headline "California medical board accuses high-profile doctor of sexual misconduct."
