American Academy of Pediatrics Offers Recommendations on Protecting Patients From Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by a Health Care Provider

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a policy statement, “Protecting Children From Sexual Abuse by Health Care Professionals and in the Health Care Setting,” that recommends ways to prevent abusive behavior that violates the trusting relationship between doctor and patient.. The policy statement, written by the AAP Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, will be published in the September 2022 Pediatrics (published online Aug. 29). The statement describes the devastating impact of sexual abuse of a child in a health care setting, which can severely impair the child’s future physical and mental health. Child sexual abuse is a worldwide preventable problem. Literature on sexual contact within a health care setting is sparse, but the policy statement points to examples that include Michigan State University physician and former USA Gymnastics team physician Larry Nassar, a convicted serial child molester who received international attention after being accused of assaulting at least 265 girls in his care from 1992-2014. The AAP states that sexual abuse of a child is an ethical, moral and legal violation that should be strictly forbidden. The academy recommends that all candidates for employment in pediatric medical facilities be screened for previous cases of child abuse and that pediatricians be trained on techniques of genital examination and communication with patient and families. Institutions should have policies in place to conduct trainings for all employees on staff-patient boundaries, chaperone use and their personal responsibility to report concerns of patient abuse, according to AAP.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.