The Medical Board of California will cancel the medical license of Dr Guillermo Andres Cortes on the accusation of sexually assaulting a fellow female doctor. However, he will not be charged with the criminal case due to a lack of proof. After the license is revoked, Cortes will not be able to continue studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Cortes will lose his license for 30 days following accusations levied by Dr Meena Zareh that he forcibly kissed her and penetrated her in November 2015. Apart from Zareh, two other female doctors in the hospital also alleged that Cortes had assaulted them.
Zareh filed a case against Cortes
Zareh informed her higher-ups about the incident and filed a case against Cortes in February 2016. Cortes was accused of sexually assaulting Zareh, a third-year medical student then, inside the hospital call room.
Following the claim, Cortes was asked to go on paid leave and the hospital conducted internal investigation. Cortes was being investigated following three complaints. But the authorities did not find any proof for sexual assault in the case of two other female doctors. But the license revoking decision was taken on the case of Zareh.
Cortes started working at UCLA between 2015 and 1017
Cortes had started working in the UCLA between 2015 and 1017 when the three incidents including that of Zareh were filed. Since 2017 June, he started working at David Geffen School of Medicine as a Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellow. However, as accusations were first leveled, Cortes's medical license was temporarily suspended in May 2018.
Explaining her relationship with Cortes, during the hearing in 2019 that when they met in 2015, she found out that they had common interests including soccer and cardiology. She said that she did find him attractive but both never dated each other or had sex.
But on the fateful day of 2015 when she approached Cortes to consult with him about a patient, he stopped her from leaving after the consultation and forcibly kissed her and penetrated her. However, Cortes maintained that though Zareh came inside the call room there was no attack on her.
