Inappropriate conduct with female patients and staff cited by medical examiners

The Oregon Board of Medical Examiners has issued charges of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct and gross or repeated negligence against a Corvallis kidney specialist.

In a notice proposing disciplinary action against Dr. Mohammed S. Mohammed, the board found the doctor had "continued to engage in inappropriate conduct, to include boundary violations with a patient and unwanted sexualized conduct in regard to a female hospital staff member."

Mohammed declined to comment on the report or the investigation, but said he has scheduled a meeting with his attorney to discuss the matter. Mohammed has until Feb. 19 to request a formal hearing on these charges.

The board's investigation of Mohammed began in October. It was the third state investigation of the Corvallis physician since 2002.

Mohammed had served as medical director of Samaritan Health Services' dialysis program before surrendering his license when the latest investigation began in October. Following the license suspension, Mohammed was removed from his position at Samaritan and his admitting privileges at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center were suspended.

The most recent investigation outlined a pattern of sexual harassment by Mohammed between 1999 and 2006 with three patients and a nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center, as well as one case of altering a patient's medical records.

According to the board's findings, three patients reported that Mohammed repeatedly inquired into their sexual histories without having a medical reason to do so. Two of those patients said the doctor kissed them and one said he asked her to have an affair with him.

In the case of the Good Sam nurse, the board found that Mohammed touched her and pursued her at work despite her objections and then again at the Corvallis Goodwill store.

The nurse reported that Mohammed entered the dressing room area at Goodwill while she was trying on clothes and that she looked down to find the doctor "lying on his back on the floor, looking up at her underneath the open space below the dressing room door," according to the report. When confronted, the report said Mohammed said he didn't know anyone was in the dressing room and slid away.

The board also found that in May 2006 Mohammed altered an elderly patient's medical records and did not inform the patient of a condition that had appeared on an ultrasound report.

The state Board of Medical Examiners last took action against Mohammed in 2006 when it disciplined him for sexual harassment stemming from complaints from seven Samaritan employees. At that time, he was reprimanded, fined $5,000, required to go to professional ethics workshops and ordered to receive psychotherapy.

In 2002, Mohammed was disciplined for improperly prescribing pain medications to four patients, including three who received narcotic painkillers. In one case, the board also found that he had misplaced and then "re-created" lost records surrounding the prescriptions. Following that inquiry, Mohammed was formally reprimanded, fined and ordered to attend professional workshops.

If Mohammed asks for a hearing, the case will go before a state administrative law judge. Randy Day, a complaint resource officer for the board of examiners, said most disciplinary actions are settled before reaching a courtroom, however.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net