A Duluth doctor who settled lawsuits filed on behalf of 21 women claiming he inappropriately touched them during examinations has been reprimanded by the state medical board.
Dr. Jed Downs, 51, was cited for unprofessional and unethical conduct, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice announced Tuesday.
"Respondent often conducted his physical examinations or treatment procedures in unconventional positions, including sitting directly behind the patients on the examination table, and reportedly made unusual sounds or facial expressions, perspired excessively, and closed his eyes," reads the medical board's stipulation and order dated Nov. 8.
On Sept. 23, the document continues, Downs appeared before a board committee and "admitted his failure to adequately explain his practices and procedures to his patients" and acknowledged that "his female patients may have perceived his examinations or treatments as invasive and inappropriate."
As a result of the board's action, Downs' license is conditioned and restricted for a minimum of two years.
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* He shall pay a $5,000 civil penalty.
* He shall be accompanied by a female chaperone when examining new female patients on their first visit.
* He shall meet quarterly with a designated medical board member.
* He shall successfully complete, within six months, courses on communications and professional boundaries.
The order remains in effect for a minimum of two years.
Reached at his London Road practice Tuesday afternoon, Downs said he now offers female patients a chaperone at every visit "even if they have declined one 15 times before. They get an offer every time.''
He said the type of medicine he practices uses osteopathic manual techniques that involve touching patients. He said he touched patients as much as he needed to perform the necessary assessments and to treat them. He maintains that he did nothing wrong "in terms of intent.''
"The issue that people have to understand is why I'm touching them,'' he said. "In my current practice setting, I don't have the same time pressures I had in the past and it's a lot easier to establish the appropriate or adequate communications so people understand my intentions and what I am doing. ... Obviously, the board has decided that my communications skills were not adequate from the standpoint of the number of patients who complained. In the almost three years since then, I've had no further complaints.''
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In 2005, three female former SMDC Health System employees injured on the job first brought lawsuits against Downs, who then worked in the clinic's occupational medicine department. Eighteen other women followed with similar complaints.
The lawsuits were settled out of court in June 2007. Settlement terms were confidential, according to Minneapolis attorney Robert Randall, who represented the women.
Downs left his practice at the Duluth Clinic in 2005. No criminal charges were brought against him.
