Suspension Ends for Sex Compulsion Doc

Doctor John Raymond Wickman's 6 month suspension from practicing medicine has ended. You may recognize his name from an October raid of his clinic by federal agents who suspected another doctor of dealing prescription drugs while Wickman was away. The 56 year old family care physician was banned from his clinic on Highway 64 in Bartlett last May after complaints filed by two female patients accusing him of making unwanted sexual contact with them.

Wickman didn't want to talk to us. But while he wouldn't comment on specific allegations, his attorney says Wickman's just completed another week's worth of rehab at an out of state center that treats sexual addiction and he's ready to go back to work.

"I think he needs to make the decision whether or not it's appropriate to continue practicing and whether or not it's in the best interest of the patient," said a woman who asked to remain nameless.

Her sympathy for patients and their right to know everything they can about the people who treat them prompted the practitioner to talk to us even if in secret. She's a former employee of Wickman Family Medical Care and treated some of Wickman's patients.

"I'm really sorry for the patients. A lot of them are family friends and really trusted the family practice," the practitioner said.

Wickman she says hired her to come in and take his place for a period of several weeks. She says he told her she'd be doing him a favor while he took of a leave of absence for family matters.

"I was told that I would be helping while the doctor was out taking care of his elderly mom after his dad had passed away."

Another woman, whose identity we are also concealing, is a former patient of Wickman's. She says Wickman gave her the same story during her last appointment with him.

"Told me that his mother had Alzheimer's and that he was going to have to take about a 6 week leave of absence to take care of her and get her settled into a nursing home," said the former patient.

But she says weeks turned into months, and yet another doctor was brought in to assume Wickman's duties.

"Everybody was acting like everything was normal. But yet he wasn't there. He never showed back up. That was what was really strange," she recalled.

Wickman's disciplinary report with the State of Tennessee shows he was gone for 6 weeks between mid February and the end of March 2009. Only it says he was seeking intense treatment at "Keystone Center Extended Care Unit" in Chester, Pennsylvania for sex compulsion and trauma because of his problem keeping professional boundaries with female patients.

According to the consent order before the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, one patient claims Wickman crossed the line with her in October 2007. The other claims his inappropriate behavior was more frequent and finally stopped in April 2008. That's what resulted in Wickman's suspension. In mid May 2009, the state stripped him of his medical license for a period of 180 days for behavior it called "unprofessional, dishonorable and unethical."

"I was shocked and really quite honestly I was appalled because not only was I lied to, I thought I was telling patients correct information and I wasn't. It really was devastating for me," said the practitioner who temporarily filled in for Wickman.

"When I heard what happened, what he was gone for, the license suspension, it just makes you think," said the former patient.

Wickman's alleged behavior isn't new or new to the state board. In January 1995, he admitted to a health related boards investigator that he suffered from "obsessive compulsive behavior concerning sex and women."
The combination of lying about his qualifications on his state medical application and his past history of inappropriate behavior got him a 6 month suspension.

"When an individual comes before the board for a disciplinary matter, the board cannot consider that to determine guilt or innocence. But they can use a previous history to determine the type of disciplinary action that medical professional will face," Andrea Turner, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Department of Health said.

It's clear Wickman's alleged sexual compulsion presented itself early on in his career. In the late 1980's he resigned from a medical internship in Washington State in lieu of termination for "inappropriately staring, touching and draping a female patient and nurse." And in a report, Wickman disclosed there may have been complaints against him from two other nurses in the same program. Then after moving to Tennessee the report goes on to say Wickman admitted to having two "affairs" with female staff members while a resident assigned to a medical facility in Tipton County. Now that his current suspension has expired, Wickman is eligible for reinstatement pending state board approval.

"There are people out there, physicians who are addicted to medication, who have other addictive behaviors and some of them stop practicing for the best interest of the patient. So, they