Physician has home state advantage

A physician barred from practice in California for sexual misconduct continues practicing in Nevada.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Patrick Coolican brought the case to light on May 20, reporting that Sean Steele was convicted of misdemeanor battery after he allegedly caused what an examining nurse called “ragged lacerations” to the victim's vaginal tissues while he was drinking. The Medical Board of California found that his conduct “demonstrates an unfitness to practice medicine” and revoked his license. A California Superior Court ruling upheld the revocation after Steele argued that his private behavior is unrelated to his performance as a doctor.

Steele, a resident of Las Vegas and a graduate of Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica and Grand Bahama, was licensed to practice in California on July 31, 2002, and the license was revoked on April 17, 2012.

Whatever action the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners took is not accessible to the public on its website. A list of doctors disciplined does not include Steele's name, and the site has no search function. Coolican wrote that the only action taken was what the board calls a “nonpublic action.”

The California Board has information on Steele posted at http://tinyurl.com/om3ny4j. California attorney Russell Lungerich, who represents Steele, did not respond to a request for comment.