A GP working on the Isle of Dogs has been suspended after he rubbed a woman’s breasts with a stethoscope in a locked consultation room during a thyroid examination.
Dr Manish Tripathi cannot practice medicine for 10 months, pending a review, after an independent medical tribunal found he sexually harassed a female patient.
The woman, referred to as Patient A in tribunal documents, made a complaint to Barkantine Practice, Tower Hamlets, about her consultation with Dr Tripathi on September 7, 2023.
She claimed that Dr Tripathi displayed “aggressive” body language when she entered the consultation room that made her feel uncomfortable.
Patient A claimed the light was turned off; the door was locked, and that Dr Tripathi failed to ask for consent before the examination.
The woman claimed during a chest examination, Dr Tripathi started to lift her top and shortly after, pulled down her bra exposing her breast and nipple, without explaining why this was necessary and without asking for her consent.
When checking her stomach, Patient A claimed Dr Tripathu “almost touched” her pubic bone.
Patient A told the court: “I was wearing a V neck top so I had tried to move my top slightly so Dr Manish Tripathi could listen to my chest, as I normally had before with any other male or female doctors who wanted to listen to my chest.
“Dr Manish Tripathi did not look satisfied and wanted to lift my top from the bottom and I had to stop him as I did not like him undressing me.
“So, I lifted my top up and he started to listen my chest on my left side and then he slowly started to move down to my breast and nipples.
“And then he moved to my right side of breast and he pulled my bra and exposed my right breast and nipples.
“Even a child knows that the heart is on the left and not on the right. I felt very insecure and exposed.
“All of this was done without my consent or giving full explanation why he was touching my private areas.”
In his defence statement, Dr Trepathi wrote: “I have done chest examinations throughout my career and never had to expose the breasts or lift the top. I have regularly educated Junior doctors, ANPs - HCAs the technique and steps of chest auscultation throughout my clinical career.
“This examination was a routine chest examination that I did on the top of clothes – auscultation with a stethoscope- listening to the heart areas on the left side – left lung field and then auscultation of the right anterior lung field.
“This involved no exposure of breasts or nipples at any point, nor did it involve any percussion or palpation by hands.”
The Tribunal heard evidence from an expert witness and submissions from Renald Davidson, Dr Trepathi’s representative, who accused the woman of “various inconsistencies and implausibilities” in her account, as well as delays in producing her complaint.
The Tribunal noted that there was a period of approximately two weeks between the consultation and the formal complaint, however, the patient confirmed she was shocked by the incident and needed time to come to terms with it.
Patient A also explained that she wished to speak to another doctor about the incident and to take time to reflect before deciding how to proceed. The Tribunal therefore considered that the delay in formulating her complaint was not “unusual”.
The Tribunal concluded that the conduct was unwanted and must have been of a sexual nature.
“Dr Tripathi had subjected Patent A to unwanted behaviour that made her feel that her dignity was violated, she felt degraded, and it created an offensive and intimidating environment,” the Tribunal concluded.
Dr Tripathi was suspended for 10 months but will face a review hearing to determine whether his lack of insight is persistent. If he continues to show no insight, this could lead to erasure.
