More Women Accuse Doctor of Misconduct

Eleven more women have come forward accusing a Scripps Memorial Hospital gastroenterologist of negligence--including sexual molestation during physical exams, according to an accusation filed Tuesday by the state attorney general’s office.

Counting these new complaints, 21 women have now accused Dr. Dominick Ricci of negligence and sexual misconduct during visits to his offices in La Jolla and Encinitas.

Among the new cases filed Tuesday, one 43-year-old woman said she visited Ricci with an infected, swollen foot and that he performed a rectal exam that lasted more than 10 minutes. In some cases, the women allege that the rectal exams were so painful that they bled. In other cases, the women accuse Ricci of massaging their genitals during rectal exams.

In another case, a 28-year-old woman said she came to Ricci’s office because of a fish bone stuck in her throat that made it difficult for her to swallow. After taking a “10-second look in her throat,” Ricci asked her to undress from the waist down and performed five rectal exams, saying he needed to run some tests but never telling her what kind. That evening the woman went to the emergency room, where a doctor removed the bone from her throat.

At the center of the case involving Ricci is the question of whether his medical exams, particularly the rectal examinations, were sexual in nature--an allegation Ricci’s lawyer denies.

“All I can say is when you do a rectal examination (in some positions), there is almost inevitably touching of other anatomy. The question is the interpretation of that touch: Was it incidental or not incidental?” said the lawyer, Paul Pfingst.

“We have claimed from the beginning that this is not a sexual case; it’s a case about medical issues, and there’s a disagreement among professionals.”

Deputy Atty. Gen. Margaret Lafko declined to comment on the case.

“From approximately December, 1988, to February, 1992, (Ricci) has committed numerous acts of unprofessional conduct,” according to the supplemental accusation filed Tuesday, which charges Ricci with gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, incompetence and sexual misconduct.

In a preliminary hearing last month, an administrative law judge upheld the temporary suspension of Ricci’s license to practice medicine on the basis of testimony from medical experts and 10 female patients.

Judge Stephen E. Hjelt said Ricci “abused his patients by a form of insensitivity that left them feeling horribly mistreated.” Hjelt also said that he was not in a position to determine whether Ricci violated the state medical profession’s regulations concerning sexual misconduct. That issue will be examined during a license revocation hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Five patients have also filed civil suits against Ricci, and another five have notified the doctor of their intent to file, Pfingst said.

Following his arrest Feb. 19 in connection with the allegations, Ricci, 44, has been suspended from the Scripps facilities. The accusations of negligence and sexual misconduct have caused Ricci “stress and strain,” Pfingst said.

The 11 additional women came forward after reading accounts of Ricci’s arrest and the allegations against him. In some of the cases, the women told the attorney general’s office that they were so traumatized by their experiences with Ricci that they will never again see a male physician.

In one of the cases filed Tuesday, a 31-year-old patient said she called a rape hot line after her office visit. The patient went to the doctor’s office Feb. 13, 1992, because Ricci called her to say her liver enzymes were elevated and that she needed a blood test. During the visit, Ricci conducted a 10-minute rectal exam in which he also massaged her genitals, the woman told investigators.

When the woman felt Ricci’s penis rubbing against her foot, she asked him to stop, according to the supplemental accusation. She left his office and called the hot line.

The patient has “had approximately 10 rectal exams previously by other physicians, and she knows that (Ricci’s) rectal exam was not like those that had been performed previously by other physicians,” according to the supplemental accusation.