My ds went to see a doctor yesterday & my family is saying they remember that this doctor got in trouble for molesting a 13 year old family friend. I tried searching & can't come up with anything that doesn't want me to pay for information. Is there a way I can find out? Would he even be allowed to continue to practice, especially on children? I just can't see my ds's doctor recomending this guy if this were true and my family are making me feel like a bad parnet.

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, March 29, 2008 - 11:13 am:

First, call your family doctor and tell him what your family is saying, and ask him. Second, if you are truly concerned - and I know you are - it might be wise to pay for the information. Third, ask your family to provide some sort of actual information - something more than "he said, she said, they said".
I agree, I don't believe that a doctor would be allowed to continue to practice, at least in any area of medicine where he would be treating children, if there were any reasonably verified charges of molestation, even if no criminal charges resulted. DHS would get involved, for one thing. Second, the medical world in any area is a small world. If rumors like this were circulating in the medical community in your area, your doctor would be aware of it.
Tell your family to get some more verifiable information before they start dumping on you. If they are truly concerned, one of them should volunteer to go with your son for the next appointment (if there is one) or to babysit so you can go with your son to any future appointments.

While there is more child molestation out there than we know of or even like to think of - there are also false charges of molestation and rumors that have no traceable beginning but just drift around, because someone is malicious and thinks it is a good way to "get even" with someone. I would not put a doctor's career over the well-being of any child, but I also think it is sinful to spread such rumors without some effort to find out what lies behind them. Once rumors like that start spreading, a person's life career could be permanently damaged or ended. That has happened to more than one teacher when a student was angry over discipline or a grade.