2 Doctors Disciplined by State Medical Board

The Medical Board of California has severely disciplined two Orange County doctors, one for having sex with patients and the other for botching liposuction surgery and deceiving patients.

The board revoked the license of Jeffrey Moran, a Santa Ana psychiatrist, finding that he had sex with a patient in 1995 despite being disciplined for the same offense in 1987.

Gerald K. Greenberg, a Laguna Beach surgeon, had his license suspended for 135 days and was placed on probation for seven years for repeated gross negligence in the treatment of five liposuction patients who contracted a rare infection from surgery in his office in 1997. Some patients suffered disfigurement.

Moran, who is not practicing, said Monday that he is “definitely appealing the case.” He also was ordered to reimburse the state $49,055 for the costs of the investigation and prosecution.

The sanction was based on a decision in February by Administrative Law Judge Alan S. Meth, who heard testimony that Moran and a 30-year-old patient engaged in sex during therapy sessions at his office, in hotels, in her home, in his home and in her van. Moran also paid her rent, college tuition, a retainer for her divorce attorney and other expenses totaling more than $15,000.

Greenberg had been named in three dozen lawsuits by more than 30 liposuction patients who claimed they were disfigured by persistent lesions after contracting a rare infection during surgery at his office. An investigation in 1997 by the Orange County Health Care Agency to find the origin of the mysterious infection determined that the likely cause was reuse of disposable medical tubing or improper sterilization.