A pediatrician that has been accused of fondling a female patient has reopened his urgent care center and it will remain open for business until a Medical Board hearing in August to determine whether he will be able to keep his license.
Fresno urgent care doctor, Tou Vang, reopened his practice less than one week after the Fresno police arrested him for alleged unwanted sexual contact with a female patient. The state medical board is also working to possibly revoke his medical license, but a decision will not be made for some time.
“I’d be concerned if I were a patient of this doctor,” said legal analyst Tony Capozzi.
The patient claims Dr. Vang sexually assaulted her when she went in for treatment in February 2017 and continued to do so even after she asked him repeatedly to stop. The physical exam she endured, according to the patient, was completely unnecessary and unrelated to her treatment and she left feeling violated.
With the help of the police, she contacted the doctor two days after the incident via phone and attempted to discuss what had happened. Dr. Vang was relatively vague in their conversation, according to police documents, but did not deny the allegations during the call. What’s worse, he abruptly hung up on the patient and went into the patient’s medical record, immediately making changes to his notes. This, according to Capozzi, is a good indication the doctor has something to hide.
“Hard to believe a doctor would do something like this,” Capozzi said, as he discusses Dr. Vang’s refusal to admit or deny the allegations over the phone, “That’s not the end. He enters into the computer and makes changes to that medical report of the victim. That’s strong indications that something was wrong here and he’s trying to cover something up.”
“The doctor denied it and he continues to deny it,” said Dr. Vang’s defense attorney Roger Nuttall. He said the doctor did not go nearly as far as the patient contends. Yet, Fresno County prosecutors charged Dr. Vang with five felony sex counts and the medical board’s follow up investigation accuses him of “gross negligence, dishonest or corrupt acts, and incompetence.”
The board’s report also indicates “Dr. Vang prescribed outdated treatments in addition to altering medical records and conducting an examination of genitalia without a female chaperone.”
Nuttall explained, “What we’re seeing here is an accusation of alleged touching that if it were to have been done, perhaps there should’ve been a chaperone, but we’re maintaining those things never happened.” He claims they have a video of the patient walking in and walking out without any indication of something being wrong during the visit.
Dr. Vang is currently out of jail on a $225,000 bond, and he has a Medical Board hearing in August which will ultimately determine whether he will be able to continue to practice. Until then, his urgent care office will remain open for business.
The urgent care doctor’s US News profile indicates he is a “pediatrician…and is affiliated with Community Regional Medical Center. He received his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine and has been in practice between 11-20 years.” As a pediatrician, Dr. Vang is able to “treat children, infants, and adolescents” and is “trained to meet the unique needs of children, through all of their developmental stages, as they grow and mature.”
Sources:
Fresno doctor charged with sex crimes on patient, plus cover-up
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