Faced with doctors accused of sexual violence, the "inertia" of the medical council in question

"How many complaints does it take from women for a doctor over 80, already sanctioned for sexual assault, to be permanently struck off the register?" Five months after the sanction was imposed – a three-year ban from practicing, the maximum before striking off – against the radiologist who assaulted her, Nathalie (name changed at her request) is still furious. This 45-year-old Parisian began disciplinary proceedings against the doctor in June 2024, after a routine consultation for a mammogram. "He was very insistent in his touching, completely inappropriate breast caresses," says Nathalie. "At the end of the appointment, he told me that if I wanted to stay naked, he wouldn't mind."

Shocked, she immediately reported the facts to the medical secretary, who made her understand that she was not the first. She filed a complaint with the medical association of her department that same evening, before discovering, once again, that other women had come forward before her. After a "trying" process before the medical association, Nathalie still questions the slowness of this institution. Even if she finally obtained the disciplinary sanction of this practitioner for his "disrespectful attitude, of a sexual nature, prejudicial to the dignity of people, contrary to the duties of morality and probity of doctors and (...) likely to discredit the medical profession" , we can read in the judgment that Le Monde consulted.

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