Doctor Accused Of Sex With Patient

State medical watchdogs are investigating a Hailey physician who is accused of using sex and massage to treat a female patient’s back pain.

The investigation could result in action against the license of Dr. Donald Levin.

Kathy Harrah, 29, said the osteopathic physician gave her pain-killing prescription drugs and then seduced her. She plans to sue.

“I was looped,” Harrah said. “I couldn’t have said ‘No’ if I wanted to.”

Darleene Thorsted, executive director of the state Board of Medicine, declined to confirm that an investigation is under way. She did say, “You’d only have to put two and two together to know the board is looking into it, and that’s all I can say.”

Under Idaho law, patients who want to sue doctors must submit their cases to a screening panel. The three-member panel convened by the state Board of Medicine decides whether the patient’s malpractice claims are legitimate or unfounded.

Though it criticized Levin’s behavior, the panel ruled there was no malpractice.