The Court of Appeals recently upheld a finding of liability against a physiciana family practitionerfor medical malpractice stemming from a sexual relationship he had with a patient. The Court’s decision in Dupree v. Giugliano, N.Y.3d, 2012 WL 5948963 (2012), clarified the standard for liability in medical malpractice in such situations, which are sadly not uncommon. This column discusses that decision and the opinions of the majority and dissent from the Appellate Division in the same case, and reviews the chronology of the prior case law addressing claims of this nature.
Before turning to those cases, it is pertinent to note that at common law there was a cause of action for seduction, by which a man could be held liable for wrongfully inducing a woman to surrender herself to his sexual desires without the use of force.1 That and several similar causes of action were abolished by statute in 1962. See Civil Rights Law §80-a. As demonstrated by the following discussion, that statutory alteration has significance with respect to claims against physicians premised upon sexual relations with patients.
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