Tri-Cities Doctor Accused of Fondling Breasts of Unconscious Cancer Patients

Earlier this month a Benton County Superior Court judge ordered Dr. Lloyd Olson to pay his former employer's attorney fees after Olson lost a suit he filed for back wages. It appears the judge sided against Olson because a technician at a local hospital testified he touched women inappropriately while they were knocked out before surgery.

The anesthesiologist claimed he had been dismissed from his employment several years ago without cause and was owed the remainder of his contract. The employer then provided disturbing accounts from a witness at Kadlec Hospital in 2010.

A surgical technician said Olson twice on the same day expressed intense curiosity about the breasts of women under anesthesia and groped them to discover if they had implants.

The first was a 30-year-old woman with stage 4 cancer. Her hospital gown was pulled down to just above the nipple. The technician heard the anesthesiologist say, "I wonder if she has breast implants." He then used both hands to fondle both breasts for about two minutes.

Later in the day a 58-year-old woman was about to undergo a breast biopsy when the same technician heard the doctor say, "She has breast implants," and again fondled both breasts with both hands for one to two minutes.

The technician reported the doctor to Richland police. According to documents from his discipline by the Washington Medical Quality Assurance Commission, Olson told the police he was only trying to educate himself and increase his knowledge.

The weekend after the incident Olson resigned and moved out of state.

The Medical Quality Assurance Commission suspended Olson's license the following month. It was reinstated on probation in December 2011.