A former president of the Australian Medical Association has told a doctor’s sex assault trial in Perth that practitioners should always wear gloves during vaginal examinations.
Ranjit Kumar Panda is on trial in the WA District Court accused of 20 counts of indecent assault and five counts of sexual penetration without consent against 10 young women in 2012.
Panda allegedly inappropriately touched women’s genitals and breasts under the guise of conducting medical examinations such as Pap smears, breast exams and mole checks.
Rosanna Capolingua – a former AMA state and federal president, and ex-boss of WA’s Healthway – testified on Thursday that during Pap smears, doctors would “definitely” wear gloves.
“That’s a very intimate examination,” she said.
Dr Capolingua said it would be a brief examination and the doctor would insert one or two fingers while covering the lower half of the patient’s body with a sheet.
If a patient was suspected of having a urinary tract infection, a urine test would be conducted, Dr Capolingua said.
She said if a physical examination was necessary, the patient would lie down and only part of her abdomen would be exposed and touched.
“The vaginal area would not need to be inspected,” she said.
Dr Capolingua said a breast exam would involve a woman stripping from the waist up, lying on her back and putting her arms above her head while the doctor felt the breast area.
She said gloves were not necessary because it was not an invasive procedure.
For patients having their breathing examined, there was no reason to remove the breasts from the bra, and if it were a minor case, they might not need to undress at all.
She said there was no reason for a stethoscope to touch a woman’s breast because it blocked hearing.
Dr Capolingua said a mole check would require a person to strip to their underwear.
The trial continues.
– AAP