Paediatrician of 35 years' licence suspended indefinitely for messages describing patient's genitals

Another case of doctors you can't trust your kids with.

The North Dakota Board of Medicine issued an order on Friday, July 22, to "indefinitely suspend" the medical license of a pediatrician for professional misconduct that included sending a text message describing an unnamed patient's genitals.

Thomas Mausbach, who is almost 69, signed an agreement that indefinitely extends his medical license suspension that he agreed to when state medical examiners began investigating a complaint against him in April.

The state's complaint against Mausbach said that he provided investigators with "false or incomplete information" and failed to disclose that he was admitted for inpatient alcohol treatment in 1996 despite the information being asked for, in license renewal forms.

Mausbach later admitted sending the inappropriate text message and providing "false or incomplete information."

"Initially he denied that he sent that text message," said Duane Houdek, the Board of Medicine's executive secretary. "He said he didn't do it."

The text message, which did not identify the name of the patient, was sent to "an individual not involved in the care" of Mausbach's patients, according to the complaint.

The public documents in the disciplinary case did not disclose who received the message or include a copy of the inappropriate text.

In an interview with Forum News Service, Mausbach denied sending the text message and said it was motivated by bitter divorce proceedings and the impact a divorce could have on the immigration status of his spouse, who emigrated from China.

"This is all his ploy," Mausbach said of the information his husband provided the medical board. "I'm not going to comment on this garbage. They're not true."

The board also found that Mausbach violated the North Dakota Medical Practice Act by engaging in conduct that is "dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional, and that is likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public."

Mausbach had worked part-time for Sanford Health beginning in 2011, several months after he left Essentia Health, where he worked as a pediatrician for 35 years, beginning in 1976.

In 2011 and 2012, Fargo police investigated allegations that Mausbach sexually abused his son for years, although no charges were filed.

Mausbach's son, William Blake Mausbach, now 41, told police that his father fondled his genitals on many occasions for a period of years, starting when he was 15, according to police reports obtained by The Forum. He repeated those allegations in an interview with The Forum. He told police his father would sneak into his bedroom late at night, while he was sleeping, and fondle him, according to police reports.

Early in the investigation, Blake Mausbach tried to withdraw the allegations, telling police he was too early in his recovery from abusing alcohol. Police, who searched the Mausbach home, found no physical evidence and did not forward the case to prosecutors, according to police records.

Mausbach denied the allegations to police and in an interview with The Forum. He argued his son was not credible because of several drunken driving arrests and psychiatric treatments. Blake Mausbach is disabled from a traumatic brain injury he suffered from an attack in 1998, after the alleged molestation.