Chaperone proposed for Las Vegas OB-GYN awaiting misconduct hearing [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

A Las Vegas OB-GYN said on Wednesday he would agree to have a board-supervised chaperone present during patient appointments until a hearing is held on allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners had been scheduled to hear the complaint, filed by its investigative committee, on Wednesday. The hearing was delayed last week as a result of the doctor’s attorneys withdrawing from the case a month ago.

During a status conference Wednesday conducted via Zoom, Dr. George Chambers requested a delay of 60 days to allow his malpractice insurance carrier to determine if it would pay for new legal counsel.

Brandee Mooneyhan, deputy general counsel for the board’s investigative committee, said Chambers has had adequate time to find counsel and objected to the length of the proposed delay.

“It’s not a matter of playing a game,” said Chambers, who represented himself during the status conference. “It’s a matter of being able to afford the right legal counsel.”

He said the complaint against him “has decimated” his practice and finances.

In setting a hearing date, hearing officer Nancy Moss Ghusn said she would need to balance the doctor’s right to due process with the interests of public safety. She also said she would need to look at her calendar after the conference.

By Wednesday evening, a hearing date had not been scheduled, and it remained uncertain whether a board-supervised chaperone would be required.

The complaint by the board’s investigative committee states that Chambers “repeatedly exploited his relationships with patients and violated patients’ trust by engaging in sexual improprieties that constitute sexual misconduct.”

He is accused of disruptive behavior; engaging in conduct intended to deceive; failure to maintain accurate medical records; engaging in conduct that violates the trust of a patient and exploits the relationship with the patient for financial or other personal gain; continual failure to practice medicine properly; and disreputable conduct.

In a formal statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Chambers has denied allegations that he engaged in “disruptive, deceitful or self-serving behavior” with the three patients referenced in the complaint.

In an email, he said patient privacy laws prevent him from more fully responding to the allegations.

The complaint against him contains allegations of misconduct with three patients. He is accused of taking photos of a patient for non-medical purposes, and he is accused of offering two other patients $1,000 each to pose nude, ostensibly for advertising purposes.

Chambers has denied the allegations. In his response to the complaint, he said the two patients inquired about posing nude after seeing a flyer in the patient lavatory.

The Review-Journal spoke with two of the three patients, and they said they were humiliated by the doctor. Since the investigative committee filed its complaint in September, additional women have told the newspaper that they, too, have filed complaints alleging misconduct that they described as traumatizing, including one who has alleged sexual assault.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Chambers said he would agree to have a board-supervised chaperone, if necessary to extend the hearing date, but he contended that he already uses an appropriate chaperone with patients at all times.

The two women in the complaint interviewed by the Review-Journal said no chaperone was present during all or portions of their exams. Other former patients interviewed by the newspaper made the same claim.

Chambers has marketed himself as a board-certified OB-GYN who also specializes in cosmetic gynecological surgery and sexual health, touting positive online reviews and a “top doctor” award from VegasInc in 2021 and 2022. Until recently, he used the Instagram handle @vaginawhispererlasvegas to promote his practice.

In an email to the Review-Journal, he said his “constitutional rights have been violated in a well-orchestrated manner,” and that his “name and reputation have been besmirched.”

His former patients said they had come forward to protect other women and that they hoped to see his medical license revoked.

Contact Mary Hynes at [email protected] or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.

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