LICENSE REVOCATION

Finucan v. Maryland Bd. of Physician Quality Assurance,
No. 71, Sept. Term, 2003 (Md. April 5, 2004)

The Maryland Board of Physician Quality Assurance revoked a physician's license for acts that constituted "immoral or unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine" after finding that he had sexual relationships with three of his female patients. The physician filed several appeals, which eventually reached the Maryland Court of Appeals, arguing that the provision against "immoral or unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine" did not explicitly prohibit a physician from having sexual relations with patients. The appeals court ruled that the provision was not unconstitutionally vague and that it was sufficient to warn the physician that having sexual relations with patients is prohibited.

The physician next argued that he was not in violation of the prohibition because the sexual relations did not occur "in the practice of medicine" presumably because the relations did not occur while he was on duty in a medical environment. The appeals court rejected this argument by stating that it did not favor that extremely technical and narrow definition of the practice of medicine.

Finally, the physician argued that the sexual activities did not occur "in the practice of medicine" because it did not reflect adversely on his technical skills as a physician. The appeals court found from its research, the argument was universally rejected by courts, and that whatever the physician's skills, unethical conduct does not need to raise doubts about technical skills.