Doctor suspended for telling MS sufferer sex with him would cure her condition

A doctor who told a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) sufferer that having sex with him would improve her condition has been banned from working in medicine for 12 months.

Kwame Somuah-Boateng, a doctor at Croydon University Hospital in south London, was found to have told the woman – who cannot be named for legal reason – that having sex with him would help stimulate the muscles in her legs and help to restore feelings.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard the 43-year-old told the woman "trust me, I'm a doctor" while giving the false diagnosis.

Boateng was also found to have failed to update the woman's medical records, issue a prescription for her MS or notify her GP after telling her sexual intercourse would help cure her condition, reported the Croydon Advertiser.

Boateng, a married father of two, also visited the woman's home after getting her address from hospital records.

The woman, known only as Patient A, told the tribunal: "At the time I thought the relationship was normal. He made me feel safe and he made me think that I couldn't speak to family or friends about my condition and told me not to look thinks up on the internet.

"The first time I had sex with Kwame he said to me: 'Trust me I'm a doctor – it will help you to get your sensitivity back.' I wanted to have sex with him because I thought it helped."

The doctor was cleared by a jury of attempted rape and assault by penetration following a three-day trial in 2015.

However, the MPTS stepped in and ruled he should be suspended for a year. Dr Nigel Westwood, the MPTS tribunal chair, told Boateng: "The tribunal determined that to take no action would be wholly inconsistent with the tribunal's findings on impairment.

"It found that your insight is incomplete and that consequently there remains a risk of repetition, albeit that risk is low. A sanction is also required in order to address the public confidence and the professional standards concerns identified.

"Suspending your registration would protect patients, for the duration of the suspension, from any risk that you will repeat your misconduct; a risk that the tribunal has determined to be low."