A surgical operation is a crucial and complicated process that needs to be handled with precision and care, but this apparently is not how one doctor sees the procedure as he was allegedly sexting during surgeries.
Arthur Zilberstein, an anesthesiologist based in Seattle, was charged with sending sexually explicit text messages while supervising surgeries including cesarean deliveries, laparoscopic esophagus repair, cardiac-probe insertion procedure and laparoscopic pediatric appendectomy at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
On June 9, the Washington State Department of Health said that Zilberstein's medical license has been suspended for sexting, among other things, while on duty overseeing anesthetized patients between April 2013 and August 2013. The state Medical Quality Assurance Commission, which regulates the quality and competency of physicians, said in its statement of charges that Zilberstein compromised the safety of the patients because of his preoccupation with sexual matters.
Charges filed against Zilberstein claim that on June 17, 2013, the 47-year old anesthesiologist sent 64 text messages during seven surgeries, many of which had sexual insinuations, and also exchanged 45 sexually explicit text messages during one surgery on Aug. 6.
Zilberstein is also accused of accessing patients' medical records for sexual gratification as well as for having sexual encounters in the workplace. The doctor is alleged to have sent photos of himself in a hospital scrub exposing his genitals and to have had sex with one of his patients. Besides facing sexual charges, Zilberstein is also accused of prescribing controlled substances, the habit-forming drug Oxycodone in particular, 29 times without evaluating or diagnosing patients.
"Charges say he didn't obtain their informed consent, provide anti-drug diversion safeguards for controlled substances, or keep medical records, and had sexual relations with one patient for whom he was prescribing drugs," the Washington State Department of Health said in a statement.
The commission said that until the charges against him are resolved, Zilberstein can't practice his profession in Washington. The anesthesiologist was given 20 days to respond to charges filed against him and to file a hearing request.
In response to the accusations, the Swedish Medical Center where Zilberstein worked as anesthesiologist released a statement on Monday. "Once we learned that the state had suspended this physician's medical license, the physician's Medical Staff membership and privileges were immediately suspended," the hospital said in a statement. Zilberstein, on his part, declined to comment on the charges and the suspension of his medical license.
