Celebrity doctor tells of oral sex in surgery

Celebrity doctor tells of oral sex in surgery

Harriet Alexander
August 26, 2008
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A CELEBRITY doctor who engaged in oral sex with one of his patients claims the woman pressed herself on him because she was so grateful he agreed to perform a procedure on her nose outside normal surgery hours.

Martyn Mendelsohn, who appeared in the television show RPA, is fighting not to be struck off by the NSW Medical Tribunal, which is hearing a complaint against him by the Health Care Complaints Commission.

The patient visited Dr Mendelsohn, a North Shore ear, nose and throat specialist, for a medical procedure on her nose after her boyfriend hit her, and having visited the surgeon on several previous occasions. But it was 6.30pm by the time she arrived at the surgery and all the staff had gone home.

Dr Mendelsohn originally said it was too late but relented because he felt sorry for her, he later told the commission.

"According to Dr Mendelsohn … she hugged him and said, 'I just want to thank you'," said the commission's barrister, Philip Strickland, SC. "He says she then leant down and unzipped his trousers and performed oral sex on him. He says she swallowed his semen and did not spit."

But the woman asked her boyfriend to take her straight to the police after leaving the surgery, alleging Dr Mendelsohn had sexually assaulted her - kissing her, touching her breasts and ejaculating in her mouth. She allegedly told the officers: "I can still taste it. I want to be sick."

The Director of Public Prosecutions dropped a criminal charge against Dr Mendelsohn in 2006. But the Health Care Complaints Commission says the specialist either sexually assaulted the patient, or engaged in sexual misconduct.

Dr Mendelsohn told the tribunal yesterday he was "devastated" immediately after the sex act was complete.

He administered four intravenous drugs to the woman and performed the procedure on her nose, but he told her he could no longer be her doctor after what had happened.

"She looked upset and said words to the effect: 'You promised me. You can't leave me'," Dr Mendelsohn said.

"She said I owed her to look after her."

The hearing continues.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/08/25/1219516370500.htm