Bill to protect Ohio patients from abuse by medical professionals signed into law

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill that aims to protect patients from sexual misconduct at the hands of medical professionals. 

DeWine signed Senate Bill 109, sponsored by Sen. Bob Hackett (R-London), on Dec. 20. The bill passed the House and Senate unanimously, and did not receive any opponent testimony. First introduced in April 2023, the statute will require doctors to notify their patients in writing if they are put on probation by the State Medical Board for sexual misconduct.

The law will also order healthcare facilities to report the start of a sexual or criminal misconduct investigation to the State Medical Board. All reporting requirements included in the law must be completed within 30 days.

“This bill represents a major step forward in our ongoing efforts as a state to better protect Ohio patients,” DeWine said. “It increases accountability for doctors, increases transparency for patients and the public, and gives our Medical Board the ability to intervene faster when misconduct is occurring. Ultimately, this bill will empower more people to take action when something is wrong.”

The law will also: 

• Require doctors to notify the State Medical Board if they have been convicted of a sexual criminal offense.
• Authorize the State Medical Board to update victims about the status of their complaint against a medical professional.
• Allow the state to charge an individual, who knew a medical professional sexually abused a patient and did not report it to law enforcement, with failure to report a crime, which is a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
• Expand the definition of rape to include circumstances when the offender knew that the victim's judgment was impaired due to drugs for medical treatment.

The passage of the legislation came after the high-profile investigation into Dr. Richard Strauss, who served as a student health physician and varsity sports team doctor at Ohio State University from 1978 to 1998. 

During his tenure, he sexually abused at least 177 former students, most of which were men, according to an independent investigation released in 2019. The investigation also revealed that university officials had knowledge of concerns and complaints against the doctor since his second year on the job, but failed to investigate or act meaningfully. 

Strauss died by suicide in 2005, before the investigation was commissioned by Ohio State’s legal counsel following a complaint from a victim in 2018. Since then, more than 400 victims and their families have filed lawsuits against the university for failing to prevent and address the abuse. 

DeWine appointed a working group in 2019 tasked with reviewing the State Medical Board’s handling of the Strauss case. The group supported and informed previous iterations of the bill that stalled in the legislature. SB 109 includes elements originally suggested by the group. 

“The State Medical Board’s highest priority is to protect patients. Our job is not to protect doctors,” said Medical Board President Dr. Jonathan Feibel. “As a physician, I know the level of trust patients place in their doctor when they need medical attention. Medical providers who breach the trust of a patient must be held accountable. That’s exactly what this bill will do – solving shortcomings in the law that will help us bring future cases to enforcement.

The law will go into effect on March 20.