“A U.S. doctor has sued a Seattle-area newspaper for defamation after it reported he posed as his twin, a gynecologist, to have sex with his brother’s patients. Dennis Momah said the King County Journal defamed him in 2003 when it published an article that said: ‘Two twin brothers were taking turns having sex with patients on a regular basis without the patients’ knowledge that they were two different people.’ Momah, who filed the lawsuit in King County Superior Court this week, also sued Harish Bharti, an attorney quoted in the paper who represents six female patients of Charles Momah, Dennis Momah’s twin and a gynecologist. Charles Momah is being sued by some of his former patients, who say that he switched places with Dennis, giving him access to his gynecological patients. In February, six patients said in a lawsuit that they were sometimes deceived into being seen, examined, operated on and sexually fondled by Dennis Momah, a general practitioner who is not certified in obstetrics and gynecology. Charles Momah, who had medical practices in two suburbs south of Seattle, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of rape, indecent liberties and insurance fraud. That trial is scheduled for October 4. Dennis Momah, who has not been charged with any crime, said in his lawsuit that the article was ‘published negligently and with reckless disregard for the truth.’” —Reuters (US)

Unfortunately, while most doctors are busy trying to help people eke a few more years out of their diseased, damaged bodies, a depraved few go around exploiting their patients. And if there is any truth to the principle that “where there is smoke there is fire,” then it would appear that gynecologist Charles Momah is one of those depraved few. A big hulk of a man, he’s been accused of all sorts of conduct unbecoming — everything ranging from sexual abuse to botched circumsions. One patient described how he addicted her to painkillers in order to grope and abuse her during the weekly — weekly! — pelvic and breast exams that he had mandated: “In time, she noticed her doctor’s weekly pelvic and breast exams had grown unnecessarily long in duration. And he always would remove his gloves, she said, because he couldn’t feel anything.”

This sort of behavior, sadly enough, is not entirely unique, as any Google search will readily turn up numerous examples of decadent doctors. What pushes this story into weirder territory is the allegation that Dr. Momah not only abused his patients, but that he let his twin brother abuse them too. The brother, Dennis Momah, is suing anyone and everyone who made this allegation, and to be clear this man has not been charged with any crime. However, it’s hard not to smell smoke and wonder if there’s fire when you read patients giving testimony like this:

“Like many of Charles Momah’s former patients and employees, Beltran said she could never account for oddities she noticed when visiting her gynecologist. On some occasions the doctor was jovial and talkative, but on her next visit he seemed confused and hardly spoke. Sometimes he spoke English clearly; sometimes his English was broken, other former patients and employees said. Sometimes he walked with a limp. Sometimes he seemed up to 70 pounds heavier than the week before. Sometimes he had scars on his face; sometimes he didn’t.”

What’s that sound like to you? Two men playing one role? It certainly suggests a real-world version of the excellent David Cronenberg film Dead Ringers, in which twin brothers — both gynecologists — act out various unprofessional impulses that include sharing women and engaging in abusive behavior with patients. Weirdly, though, the film was based on a book that was itself based on a true story that happened here in New York. In other words, it’s life imitating art imitating life — which leaves you with the sordid conclusion that this scenario has less to do with Cronenberg’s peculiar imagination than with the deviant impulses of supposedly “regular” people.

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