In 2017, the State Medical Board of Ohio declined to discipline an Ohio doctor for sexual misconduct.
In 2017, the State Medical Board of Ohio declined to discipline an Ohio doctor for sexual misconduct. Throughout the years following, he has been repeatedly accused of sexually assaulting his patients.
Dr. David J. Wenzke was first reported to the medical board in June 2017 by Ohio Gastroenterology Group in Columbus. Wenzke allegedly performed a gown exchange “alone with a sedated teenage female patient,” devoted more time to “applying and cleaning lubricant from female patients than male patients,” and looked inappropriately at the breasts of sedated female patients.
Four months later, the medical board decided against disciplining the doctor. A November 2017 letter from the board cited “insufficient evidence” despite the multiple reported incidents.
Under Ohio law, the medical board could have voted to cite Wenzke and bring forth the accusations to the public. Instead, seven years passed before the board eventually cited the Ohio Gastroenterology Group doctor in October 2024. Multiple complaints were filed during this period.
Secrecy and confidentiality surrounding medical board complaints have been a topic of debate for years. Patients may be unaware of potentially dangerous providers, says Lisa McGiffert, an advocate and board member with the Patient Safety Action Network. “If you can't look at the complaints that consumers are making, then you can't know what the problems are," McGiffert said. "That applies to doctors, electricians, plumbers and whoever."
David J. Wenzke left Ohio Gastroenterology Group in 2019 and entered a position at Cincinnati's Gastro Health. He was accused again of having a "sexual interaction" with a patient in 2023. Gastro Health’s investigation of the incident required Wenzke to undergo training for the health care provider's harassment policy, code of conduct, and ethics. In March of the same year, the doctor also allegedly kissed an intoxicated coworker.
Wenzke had numerous allegations before his employment in Cincinnati. In 2011, he was accused of touching a female patient's genitals with ungloved hands. Another complainant stated that in September 2014, the doctor “lifted a sedated patient's gown to see her breasts after a colonoscopy.”
An additional complaint filed in 2022 stated that in 2012 the doctor “squeezed the breasts of a female patient” as she was being sedated for a colonoscopy and “inserted his fingers into her vagina as he pressed down on her stomach.”
Most recently, Wenzke was cited by the medical board on October 9, 2024 — about seven years after the first complaint against him was filed.
Wenzke’s attorney, Jason Gerken, maintains his client’s innocence. "He vigorously denies the allegations, and he looks forward to presenting his case to the board," Gerken said.
A medical board hearing for the accusations against Wenzke has been set for June 23, 2024.
Authors: Andy Goldwasser and Alexis Kabat
