The Associated Press State & Local Wire

December 23, 1999, Thursday, PM cycle

Licensure board files complaint against doctor

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 361 words

DATELINE: NORMAN, Okla.

The Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure has accused a Norman psychiatrist of unprofessional conduct for allegedly requesting nude photos of patients and employees at Norman Regional Hospital.
Stan Ward, attorney for Dr. John E. McAlister, said his client denies the charges contained in a complaint the board filed against McAlister. Ward said he was just beginning his investigation into the complaint and trying “to separate the truth from fiction.”
The citation and complaint were filed Friday against McAlister, who resigned as medical adviser of the hospital’s Behavioral Medicine Department on Dec. 3. McAlister has a private practice in Norman.
“I’ve done nothing wrong in my opinion.” McAlister said Wednesday and referred other questions to his attorney.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled during the board’s regular session Jan. 20-22.
The complaint alleges McAlister admitted that he requested nude photos from about 500 of his female patients and employees at the hospital from April through December. The complaint says McAlister received nude photos from nine of his patients. The complaint said McAlister was waiting for three more.
The complaint accuses McAlister of unprofessional conduct by engaging in dishonorable or immoral conduct; engaging in physical conduct with a patient which is sexual in nature; committing an act of sexual abuse, misconduct or exploitation; engaging in practice that demonstrates an incapacity or incompetence to practice medicine; abusing the physician’s position of trust by coercion, manipulation or fraudulent representation in the doctor-patient relationship; and engaging in predatory sexual behavior.
He is accused of violating the Oklahoma Allopathic Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act.
The source of the complaint leading to the investigation was not revealed.
Norman Regional Hospital spokesman Grant Farrimond said McAlister had served as medical adviser in the Behavioral Medicine Department since March 1, 1996. The hospital received the complaint Nov. 23 and immediately began its own investigation. McAlister offered his voluntary resignation Dec. 3.