Sexual Abuse by Doctors: Despicable Acts that Betray Patient Trust

Editorial

16:54 JST, February 16, 2026

There is no end to incidents involving indecent acts committed by doctors and nurses against patients. Some of the victims are minors.

Acts such as touching the body can be difficult to distinguish from appropriate medical examinations, making it hard for victims to realize they are being abused. Efforts must be strengthened to eliminate sexual abuse by thoroughly investigating the situation.

Many doctors and nurses who have been arrested and indicted for indecent assault and other such offenses touched patients’ bodies under the guise of medical examinations, tests or providing care, and secretly filmed patients. There was also a case in which a single person committed indecent acts against multiple patients.

A pediatrician sentenced last year to seven years and six months in prison by the Shizuoka District Court’s Hamamatsu Branch photographed 10 people, mainly girls, over a period of 5½ years and committed indecent acts against four of them.

The victims testified in court, with one saying, “I put up with it because I believed it was for treatment.” Another said, “I’m so terrified of hospitals and doctors that I can no longer trust people.” It is an unforgivable crime that exploited the patients’ trust. The perpetrator bears grave responsibility for his actions, which deeply hurt the girls.

Over the past three years, 76 doctors and dentists nationwide have had their licenses revoked or faced other disciplinary action due to incidents involving indecent acts. However, in some cases in which the victims are children, they may not be aware of the harm or able to speak up.

Moreover, victims of sexual crimes often agree to out-of-court settlements sought by the perpetrators, fearing the incident will become public. There may be many cases of abuse-related harm that have not come to light.

The Children and Families Agency has launched an investigation into medical institutions regarding the sexual abuse of children. In addition to conducting interviews with groups supporting victims of sexual abuse, the agency said it will also send questionnaires to 5,000 medical institutions to confirm whether sexual abuse has taken place.

First, the situation must be made clear, and the harm must be ended immediately. It is also necessary to look into the preventive measures in place at each medical institution and ensure that such information is shared among institutions.

For example, it could be effective to make it a strict requirement that a third party must be present during medical examinations and tests, to ensure that doctors and patients are not alone together.

A new system, dubbed the Japanese version of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), will be launched in December, allowing employers to check the sexual offense records of individuals who work in, or are applying for jobs connected to children in schools, daycare centers and similar settings. However, medical institutions are excluded from the system on the grounds that there are many doctors and nurses who do not interact with children.

A doctor’s job is to save patients. It is heinous to sexually assault someone suffering from an ailment and cause them further distress. Efforts must be made to improve the quality of doctors, such as by enhancing educational programs at university medical schools to ensure they acquire high professional ethics.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 16, 2026)