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Jul 10, 2023
A Riverside doctor was arrested a second time after additional alleged victims came forward with claims of sexual assault.
Dr. Sam Sannoufi, 52, of Newport Beach was arrested Friday. Sannoufi owns the following Riverside clinic:
Multiple patients reportedly came forward to Riverside authorities alleging that Sannoufi had sexually assaulted them during examinations, Riverside Police Officer Ryan J. Railsback confirmed. Sannoufi was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center, according to a report from ABC 7 Los Angeles.
Officer Railsback stated that Dr. Sannoufi was first arrested on June 27 following an allegation from a female “customer” who indicted she was sexually assaulted during a consultation exam. After his first arrest, Sannoufi was booked on sexual assault charges before being released on $1 million bail, KTLA reported.
Following Sannoufi’s initial arrest, additional women victims came forward with allegations of being sexually assaulted by the doctor.
Due to the second arrest for additional sexual assault crimes, KTLA reported Dr. Sannoufi is currently being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.
According to the Medical Board of California, Samer S. Sannoufi has a renewed and current license to practice as a physician and surgeon. He graduated in 1995 from the Kiev Medical Institute (also known as the Ukranian State Medical University), according to ABC 7.
Law enforcement officials have indicated that they believe there are still more sexual assault victims of Dr. Sannoufi who have not yet come forward or been identified. Accordingly, Sannoufi’s photo was released by police so potential victims could positively identify the sexual assault suspect:
Anyone with information related to a sex crime committed by Riverside Dr. Sam Sannoufi is urged to contact the investigator on the case:
If you wish to report a tip anonymously, you can send an email to RPDTips@RiversideCA.gov or use the Riverside Police Department’s “Atlas 1″ mobile app.
A 2016 investigation conducted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that more than 2,400 instances of sexual abuse by doctors have been reported across every state since 1999. Half of those doctor perpetrators had current medical licenses at the time the report was published.
This investigation is similar to a troubling Los Angeles Times article from December 2021, which revealed that 10 California doctors have successfully recovered their licenses since 2013 despite being stripped of them due to sexual misconduct.
Most people don’t realize how frequently doctor sexual abuse happens. A 2019 report published on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website noted that “the true extent of patient sexual abuse by doctors in the U.S. healthcare system is unknown.”
In 2017, an exploratory analysis of 101 instances of physician sexual abuse against patients revealed that the most common forms of misconduct were:
The 2016 analysis of the data from the U.S. National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) revealed that between January 2003 and September 2013, 862 doctors had state licensing disciplinary action because of sexual misconduct (974 actions in total).
In the United States, there were approximately 9.5 disciplinary actions per 10,000 doctors every decade.
In 2022, California passed a law ensuring that the state’s medical board would henceforth be prohibited from granting licenses back to physicians whose credentials were previously surrendered or revoked on grounds of sexual misconduct with patients.
California Assembly Bill 1636 (AB-1636) mandates that doctors who previously sexually abused patients are now unable to win back licenses through an appeals process.
California AB-1636’s text authorizes the state medical board to “deny a license based on formal discipline that occurred earlier than seven years preceding the date of application if the formal discipline was based on conduct that, if committed in this state by a licensed physician and surgeon, would have constituted an act of sexual abuse, misconduct, or relations with a patient or sexual exploitation, as specified.”
Various media reports noted that AB-1636 is the only of its kind in the nation to prevent doctors convicted of sexual misconduct from having their licenses reinstated.
For a free, confidential, and no obligation consultation with a Riverside doctor sexual abuse lawyer from Dordulian Law Group (DLG), contact us today at 866-GO-SEE-SAM. Founded by former sex crimes prosecutor Sam Dordulian, DLG offers survivors of doctor sexual assault peace of mind and confidence throughout the litigation process with our four-tiered team of sex crimes processionals.
DLG’s SAJE Team (Sexual Assault Justice Experts) offers sexual abuse survivors a unique form of legal representation that includes access to added resources:
Our Sexual Assault Justice Experts are here to help survivors secure justice. Contact our top-rated attorneys online or by phone for a free consultation today.
There is never any fee for our expert sexual assault attorney services until we recover maximum financial compensation for your doctor misconduct claim. We’re available to answer any questions you may have 24/7 by calling 866-GO-SEE-SAM.
When you’re ready to come forward and report a predator doctor for sexual misconduct, we’re here to listen, to believe you, and to fight aggressively to help you secure the justice and maximized financial compensation you deserve.
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