by Neil W. McCabe
A Somerville doctor who is an emergency room physician at Cambridge Hospital is the subject of a criminal review by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office and the Cambridge Police.
The doctor is being investigated, but there has been no indictment or charges filed, said Melissa T. Sherman, a spokeswoman for Martha Coakley, the district attorney.
The doctor, Christo C. Courban, is a 1996 graduate of the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center.
Courban is also affliated at other Boston hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was a resident from 1999 to 2002.
The Somerville News has learned that the doctor is the same physician accused of sexual assault by a former patient he met when she came to the Cambridge Hospital for complex partial seizures.
The woman said the doctor was inappropriately forward with her during their conversation at the emergency room, and the doctor visited her in her room after she was admitted to the hospital.
Courban told the woman that they should go out and he gave her his cell phone number, she said.
Two days after her release, the accuser said her friend found the phone number and for her own reasons, called the doctor and invited him to the accuser’s apartment.
The accuser’s friend said Courban told her that he was in his car and had to go to his apartment first.
The doctor arrived 30 minutes after the phone call. Sitting together on the floor, the doctor poured the two women shots of tequila, she said.
Both the accuser and her friend said they blacked out after drinking from the tequila.
The friend said she woke up, naked from the waist down and was on the couch.
The accuser said she was fading in and out, and remembers waking up to see the doctor undressing her friend. Then, she remembers waking up with Courban assaulting her. Her final memory was waking up to watch Courban leave.
The next day, the accuser called the doctor, and although he told her he was too drunk to remember what happened, he agreed to get her a morning after pill, she said. Later that day, she met him outside her apartment and he handed her a single pill and asked her to throw the tequila bottle away.
Answering the cell phone number provided by his accuser, Courban told The Somerville News he knew nothing about attack.
"I am sitting here and I am dumbfounded. Is this a joke? It is so bizarre and strange," he said. "Can people just do this?"
Courban confirmed that he works at Cambridge Hospital, which he said was a matter of public record, but he does not practice as a patient physician, so could not have attended to the woman when she was admitted to the hospital for treatment.
"I don't give my cell phone number to patients," he said.
Courban said he was not sure what he should and should not say, since he had just now heard about the charges.
When the woman's story was recounted to him, the doctor said he knew nothing about it and that none of the events or persons were remotely familiar to him. He then said he was confident that he would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
In addition to a bottle of tequila that was turned over to the Cambridge Police, this paper has learned the accuser Sept. 10 turned over to detectives a pillow case and sheets to be tested for residual DNA.
“Cambridge Health Alliance has not received any formal inquiry or complaint from any outside institution, or individual, around this allegation. Nevertheless, we’re taking this matter seriously and are looking into it,” said Linda Chin, a spokeswoman for the Cambridge Health Alliance, the owner of the Cambridge Hospital.
“We called the Middlesex County DA’s office who confirmed that they are in very preliminary stages of an investigation of a physician on our medical staff,” Chin said.
Chin said she had no knowledge of the subject of the investigation and was unaware of patient’s name or any circumstances beyond the statement from the district attorney.
The Somerville News did not offer the accuser’s name to the hospital.
“Physicians are bound by a Code of Ethics and are licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine,” Chin said.
“Also, ER physicians do not have admitting privileges but it is not unusual for an emergency physician to check on a patient after he/she is admitted,” she said.
this sounds like a set up.. and the sad fact is that he is being convicted in the newspaper.........he should be affored the same privacy as the women until he is proven guilty....if he is......the mere fact that he is being tired this way will leave permanent damage to his creditiblty.........not even to mention that his career has suffered severe damage.......
Posted by: l.gray | October 12, 2004 at 05:00 AM
I agree with the above poster. The fact is that while the Middlesex County District Attorney's office conceded that the doctor is under criminal investigation, they did not say it was for rape. In fact, they stated that no charges have been filed and there is no indictment. So is the doctor being investigated for rape charges? Well, the Somerville News has taken the honor of connecting the dots for us, with anonymous sources. However, this is not the job of a newspaper. And it's a pretty slippery slope. A newspaper cannot publish every rumour that slides by them--and in the process ruin the reputation of the accused who should be convicted by the law, not the media--without assuring its readers that some form of the legal system is corrobarating with this story and it's factual. Right now, a couple of anonymous sources (although, of course, these women have a right to stay anonymous) who have not filed charges is not enough for me, the reader, to trust this newspaper and its reportage. The newspaper has not assured its readers of anything, but it's implying things like crazy, and this is dangerous. The doctor is under criminal investigation--yes. Did the proper officials say it was for rape--no. Has this newspaper implied, with vivid detail, that the doctor is under investigation for rape--yes. This doctor should be found innocent or guilty in a court of law, and the newspaper can report on this after charges have been filed or the investigation for rape has been verified by the proper officials. But to imply right now that he raped these women is preposterous. And what if these women never press charges, and everything just floats away? The paper got a good, juicy story out of it, and the doctor, a private citizen, well his career and reputation are ruined. I hope The Somerville News has a good lawyer, because a lawsuit could easily be coming their way. Libel, anyone? As quoted in the article, "Physicians are bound by a code of ethics." Newspapers, as forgotten in this article, are bound by this too.
Posted by: W.G. | October 12, 2004 at 08:35 PM
I can't believe that you would publish so discriminately. When it comes to reporting, it is only fair to withold the names of the accused as well as the accuser in such an inflammatory situation. You have ruined the reputation of a health care provider with the information you have printed. Whether or not it is true is for the courts to decide, not for you. This physician has gone through years of training as well as provided care for countless numbers. The person who is accusing has simply, without hard evidence, ruined this doctor's life. With an accusation, this person has disrupted a reputation, a life and a career. We require stringent evidence from our president, how can one accept hearsay when it comes to words of mass destruction?
Posted by: ER Doctor, MD, MPH | October 25, 2004 at 09:38 PM
I have been a journalist for nearly twenty years and this article saddens me to the core. It reeks of the worst that tabliod journalism has to offer. Though I hope it is not true, I would guess that some young thrusting journo is trying to get their first front page story. If N.W. McCabe is not aware, peoples lives are being toyed with and thrown away. He may consider the consequences of his words if he had truly set about his work. The article reads as if he has received a call from the accuser, made one call to the doctor and his superior, and then rushed to meet the print deadline. If you look at the structure, Dr Courban was convicted in the first few paragraphs and then enough quivication was provided after to try and avoid being sued. If you and your editors really had an understanding of the charges being brought against him, you'd know that even if they were thown out in court, the episode his finished his career in the Boston Metro area. If he is cleared of any wrong doing, I hope you are subject to the ostracism Dr. Courban is now enduring. I hope this not just another story for you. I curtainly isn't for him.
Posted by: Ian Cartwright | October 25, 2004 at 10:12 PM
Why did you, Neil Mc Cabe stop covering the story? Isn't it "juicy" enough for the Sommerville News anymore? Or is it because you realize now that you made a fatal mistake of "judging" someone and reporting only one side of the story? Is it because the Doctor may indeed be innocent of the allegations? I believe in objective unbiased reporting that the Sommerville News and Neil Mc Cabe should think about before slandering a Medical Doctors career. This is the most biased story I have ever read in my life. You should be ashamed of your published reporting and research the story further and publish more than your speculative views.
Posted by: TK | November 12, 2004 at 11:12 AM
I hear that the national enquirer has an opening. You should apply Neil. You fit their bill to a T.
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Most Honest? Least Honest? the Envelope, Please...
Wed Dec 8, 9:19 AM ET
Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nurses get top marks when it comes to honesty and ethics, and car salesmen are the least trusted people, according to Gallup's annual U.S. survey of professions released on Tuesday.
Poll Description and Results (Gallup)
Nurses were given a "very high" or "high rating" by 79 percent of those surveyed nationwide in telephone interviews with 1,015 adults, aged 18 or older, conducted Nov. 19-21.
Grade school teachers were next highest on the chart of 21 professions at 73 percent, one point higher than pharmacists and military officers.
Car salesmen brought up the rear with only 9 percent rating their honesty and ethics as high. That was one point lower than for people in advertising.
Journalists did not fare much better in public approval. TV reporters (23 percent) and newspaper reporters (21) ranked below auto mechanics (26) and nursing home operators (24) on the list.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, Gallup said.
Posted by: Diago | December 08, 2004 at 07:54 PM