Ohioans are one step closer to protection from sexual abuse by medical professionals.
Senate Bill 109, which passed the Ohio House on Tuesday, would require communication between prosecutors, courts and the state medical board and encourage reporting of abuse.
The bill was introduced after the Columbus Dispatch’s Preying on Patients investigation in 2023, which found a broad range of sexual misconduct allegations reported to the State Medical Board of Ohio over 42 years.
More: State medical board failed to protect Ohioans from doctors’ sexual misconduct
“We have a duty to protect Ohioans,” Rep. Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, said on the House floor.
Abrams thanked the survivors who came to share their stories with lawmakers.
Among other changes, Senate Bill 109 would:
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Require prosecutors to alert the regulatory board or agency that handles medical licenses about an indictment or charge of sexual battery against a licensed medical professional.
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Require courts to alert regulatory boards or agencies to a medical professional convicted of sexual battery.
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Expands the definition of rape to include circumstances when the offender knew that the other person’s judgment was impaired because of drugs for medical treatment.
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When a person knows a licensed medical professional has sexually abused a patient and fails to report it to law enforcement within 30 days, they can be charged with failure to report a crime, a fourth degree misdemeanor.
Senate Bill 109 would require communication between prosecutors, courts and the state medical board and encourage reporting of sexual abuse by medical professionals.
The bill also includes language from a separate bill that passed the House last week prohibiting intimate examinations on unconscious patients.
Sponsored by Sen. Bob Hackett, R-London, the bill was amended in a House committee so will have to return to the Senate floor before it can go to the governor’s desk.
More: Dispatch reporters uncovered hundreds of doctors preying on patients. Here’s how they did it
Erin Glynn is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio passes bill to protect patients after Dispatch investigation