Oh... I thought you said PLAY doctor...
The 60-day suspension was part of a consent agreement between Dr. Benjamin M. Brown and the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine.
Brown, 34, was most recently employed as a hospitalist with Maine General Medical Center, Thayer Campus, Waterville; and also at Maine Internal Medicine, North Vassalboro.
Susan Pierter, director of the hospital’s public relations, said Brown has been on Maine General’s active medical staff since September 2008, and is currently on a voluntary leave of absence.
Along with the suspension, which began April 15, Brown was reprimanded, fined $1,000 and his license was placed on probation for five years.
The board’s findings are listed in a consent decree that can be accessed online at http://www.docboard.org/me/discipline/dw_alphabetal.html.
The investigation began last July after a former patient of Brown’s reported to the board that Brown had been having a sexual relationship with her while he was her treating physician. She also alleged he was having a sexual relationship with a licensed physician’s assistant he was supervising, and that Brown suffered from alcoholism.
In a response to the complaint, Brown said, “he perceived (the complainant) as a co-worker not as a patient” when he began a sexual relationship with her in July 2007. The relationship ended in March 2008.
He also admitted having a personal and sexual relationship with the physician’s assistant “but denied that his use of alcohol ever had a direct effect on his practice of medicine.”
In the consent agreement, Brown admitted the board could conclude he had violated the professional conduct of the “Code of Medical Ethics” of the American Medical Association by engaging in those sexual relationships. He agreed not to engage in that conduct again.
Brown also agreed to attend a board-approved course in medical ethics and boundaries within six months and obtain a board-approved monitor to keep weekly tabs on Brown’s medical practice.
He is prohibited from using alcohol as a condition of his five-year license probation.
Brown was represented in proceedings before the board by attorney Jay S. McCloskey. McCloskey did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment. Assistant Attorney General Dennis Smith represented the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine.
Brown graduated in 2002 from Eastern Virginia Medical School and specializes in family practice. He has been licensed to practice in Maine since July 1, 2005.
Courtesy Morning Sentinel, Maine
