Medical Board Revokes License of Passaic County Doctor Who Failed to Abide by Safeguards Put in Place in a Prior Board Order and Who Had Sexual Contact With a Female Patient
NEWARK – The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners on Wednesday, May 13th, revoked the license of Dr. Leonard Joachim, a physician who maintained an office in Wayne, after finding that he violated the terms of a previous Board order that required him to have a Board-approved chaperone present when treating female patients, due to previous allegations of sexual misconduct.
"This doctor's willful violation of a requirement that he never be alone when treating female patients is intolerable and rightly resulted in the revocation of his medical license," said Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.
The Board imposed the chaperone requirement in July 2003, following allegations that Joachim engaged in unwanted sexual contact with a female patient during a medical office visit, and that he subsequently drove to her home without her consent.
"No one, female or male, should risk being victimized by any type of abuse when they are in the vulnerable position of seeing a doctor about health issues," Division of Consumer Affairs Acting Director Steve Lee said. "The Board's decision is the right one for protecting the public."
The Board's revocation of Joachim's license last week results from new findings that he violated the chaperone requirement by, among other things, scheduling an appointment with a female patient after regular office hours, when neither staff members nor the Board-approved chaperone where present. Joachim had sexual contact with the patient during that un-chaperoned August 31, 2011 visit – following which he was arrested in September 2011 by the Wayne Police Department, and finally pleading guilty in June 2013 to criminal sexual contact in Superior Court in Passaic County.
The Board responded to Joachim's arrest with the immediate suspension in September 2011 of his medical license. That suspension has remained in effect, prohibiting him from practicing medicine, and will continue until the effective date of his license revocation.
The Board also found at its May 13, 2015 hearing that Joachim violated the chaperone requirement by failing to have female chaperones present during other office visits with female patients. The Board further found that he failed to maintain treatment records for a patient, including information on medicines he prescribed for her.
In addition to revoking his license, the Board assessed a $60,000 civil penalty plus reimbursements of the State's investigative and legal costs, which the Board will calculate at a future date.
The Division of Consumer Affairs' Enforcement Bureau conducted this investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Doreen A. Hafner, Chief of the Professional Boards Prosecution Section in the Division of Law, represented the State in this matter.
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