Gurmeet Singh Multani, who has been a licensed doctor since 1990, turned over his license to the state medical board.
Medical board officials said Multani had sex with a patient he was treating for depression and sexual trauma. He provided counseling to the woman between July 2006 and March 2007.
The patient said Multani “paid her various amounts of money for sex, including one occasion in which he paid her $2,000 for sex,” according to an accusation by the medical board.
Multani also gave her vehicles during their relationship.
Erin Muellenberg, Multani’s attorney, said he has denied all of the allegations, but decided to turn over his license and retire to avoid a stressful, expensive legal battle.
“The decision was simply one of convenience and to avoid stress by not going through what is involved in a trial of this matter,” Muellenberg said.
“It’s clearly been a strain on him. That was part of what he looked at and part of what his family looked at in making the decision that it was not worth the fight.”
Multani is a community servant who treated the homeless mentally ill who couldn’t pay for care, Muellenberg said.
“He was very saddened by (the allegations) and is still looking forward to serving his community in other ways,” she said.
He had sex with another woman between February 2007 and February 2008 while providing her with marital counseling, the medical board report said.
Investigators said the patient and Multani “met at various places to have sexual intercourse. The places included a hotel in Ontario and a house owned by (Multani) in Redlands.”
The woman’s husband was also receiving counseling from Multani for marital difficulties, but he treated him separately.
Medical board investigators discovered Multani prescribed narcotics to a woman with a 10-year history of addiction to drugs such as Vicodin and codeine.
During an appointment, the patient told investigators Multani touched her legs and other parts of her body “for his own sexual gratification,” the report said.
Multani prescribed drugs to another patient with a history of drug addiction.
Medical board officials said that patient died in December 2009 due to liver failure from acetaminophen toxicity.
But Muellenberg said Multani had surveillance cameras installed in every room where he visited with patients and no video evidence exists proving he engaged in inappropriate activity in his office.
“There was never an issue that anything could have happened,” Muellenberg said. “It’s just unfortunate that the medical board decided to take this position and the claimants decided to go after him.”
The medical board charged Multani with numerous California Business and Professions code violations including sexual abuse, failure to maintain adequate records and gross negligence. It’s unknown if Multani will be charged criminally.
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