Seattle emergency doctor Marc A. Di Julio must treat female patients in the presence of a chaperone after charges of sexual misconduct, a state commission found.
A Seattle emergency doctor’s medical license has been restricted following allegations he inappropriately touched the breast of a female patient during an exam.
Dr. Marc A. Di Julio must use a chaperone when he treats female patients until the issue is resolved, the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission said in a statement Monday.
Charges allege that Di Julio, 61, inappropriately commented on and touched the breasts of a 58-year-old woman who had come to an emergency room on Jan. 14 because of leg and back pain.
The charges state that he asked the woman if she’d had breast enlargement surgery, to which she said “No.” He also allegedly compared her with country music singer Dolly Parton. The patient told the commission she was “uncomfortable” and “humiliated” by the experience, according to the statement.
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Di Julio told the commission that he had previously considered a career in reconstructive and plastic surgery and that “at no time was anything other than professional interest involved.”
Di Julio had worked at Swedish Ballard Medical Center, though he wasn’t working there on the day of the alleged event, a hospital spokeswoman said. Di Julio, who stopped working at the hospital in March, was contracted through Ballard Emergency Physicians, the spokeswoman said.
Di Julio has 20 days to respond to the charges and request a hearing.