Gynecologist Faces Misconduct Charges : Medicine: Doctor is accused of using sexually stimulating massage to treat a patient’s ovarian cysts.

A Torrance gynecologist faces a disciplinary hearing because he allegedly used a sexually stimulating massage to treat a woman’s ovarian cysts.

An accusation filed by the state attorney general’s office against Hector H. Arnazzi, 40, charges the doctor with gross negligence for using “a method which more closely resembled simulated sexual intercourse than any type of ovarian massage.”

John Rhode, an attorney for Arnazzi, said his client “flatly denies” any sexual misconduct.

“Once all the facts are known . . . Dr. Arnazzi will be exonerated of any accusation of wrongdoing.”

Arnazzi, who said he had nothing to be ashamed of, declined to comment further.

The woman complained to the Medical Board of California that Arnazzi used the treatment on her six times from April, 1987, to February, 1988, contending that the massage therapy would rupture or dissolve her ovarian cysts.

According to the formal accusation, the woman told state investigators that she became embarrassed after she experienced an orgasm during the fifth treatment. After avoiding Arnazzi for several months, the woman returned to the doctor’s office in February, 1988, to discuss the problem.

He persuaded her to let him try the treatment again. She filed her complaint after she again had an orgasm.

A hearing date has not been set for Arnazzi’s case, Deputy Atty. Gen. Mark Roohk said. The doctor’s license could be suspended or revoked if an administrative judge concludes that his actions were improper.

Arnazzi also is the subject of a Torrance Superior Court lawsuit, in which another patient, who sought artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization treatments from the doctor, charges that Arnazzi falsely told her she was pregnant without performing blood tests.