Breaking: Virginia suspends license of pediatrician accused of abusing patients

A Virginia pediatrician who had been accused of abusing teenage female patients and a young mom has had his medical license temporarily suspended, NBC News confirmed Friday.

Dr. Martin Seth Forman, who had until recently worked for Reston Pediatrics in Lansdowne, which is about 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., was informed of the decision in a May 7 letter from the state’s Department of Health Professions, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.

“Based on the information considered, and having determined that your practice poses a substantial danger to the public health and safety, the [Virginia Board of Medicine] voted to summarily suspend your license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Virginia pending a hearing,” the letter states. The Department of Health Professions cited in its letter four separate incidents of Forman’s alleged sexual misconduct.

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Virginia suspends license of pediatrician accused of abusing patients
The doctor was still treating patients despite being hit with a $1.3 million civil verdict for barging into a 15-year-old patient’s home in 2017 under the guise of making an unscheduled “house call” and allegedly fondling the girl’s breasts.
June 7, 2024, 11:45 PM GMT+1
By Aimee Cho, NBC Washington and Corky Siemaszko
A Virginia pediatrician who had been accused of abusing teenage female patients and a young mom has had his medical license temporarily suspended, NBC News confirmed Friday.

Dr. Martin Seth Forman, who had until recently worked for Reston Pediatrics in Lansdowne, which is about 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., was informed of the decision in a May 7 letter from the state’s Department of Health Professions, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.

Dr. Martin Seth Forman.
Dr. Martin Seth Forman.Reston Pediatrics via Facebook
“Based on the information considered, and having determined that your practice poses a substantial danger to the public health and safety, the [Virginia Board of Medicine] voted to summarily suspend your license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Virginia pending a hearing,” the letter states. The Department of Health Professions cited in its letter four separate incidents of Forman’s alleged sexual misconduct.

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“Effective immediately,” the letter goes on to state, “it shall be unlawful for you to practice medicine or hold yourself out as a licensed physician in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Forman, 71, who has never been charged with a crime, has not publicly responded to the accusations against him or returned phone calls for comment.

Forman’s lawyer, Coreen Silverman, confirmed last year that the doctor was planning to retire and not intending to return to his practice.

Silverman, who also represents Reston Pediatrics, said in a statement earlier this week that “Dr. Forman denies the allegations and will appear before the Board to present his side, and we are confident that after the Board hears his side, it will dismiss the cases.”

A formal hearing originally scheduled for June 14 before a panel of the board of medicine has been postponed. It is unclear when the hearing will take place.

Silverman has previously called the allegations against Forman a money grab and “public campaign to destroy a good man’s name.”

On Friday, NBC Washington reported that a family in Virginia filed a new complaint against Forman with the Virginia Board of Medicine. The family alleged in the complaint that the doctor said, “You can milk a baby” and pinched their newborn’s nipple during an appointment in 2022.

The newborn’s father, who spoke exclusively with NBC Washington, also alleged in the board complaint that Forman inappropriately touched the child’s mother’s knee and leg at multiple appointments.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror was the first to report earlier this week that Forman’s medical license has been temporarily suspended.

Forman’s medical license was lifted nearly a year after NBC News reported that the doctor was still treating patients despite being hit with a $1.3 million civil verdict for barging into a 15-year-old patient’s home in 2017 under the guise of making an unscheduled “house call” and allegedly fondling the girl’s breasts.

“About damn time,” the now grown-up young woman said in an email Friday that was forwarded to NBC News by her lawyer, Jim Magner.

Her mother, in the same email, said she too was relieved Forman can no longer practice medicine.

“It’s past time for the justice system to do its job,” the mom said.

At the time, Forman was also being sued for $8.7 million by the parents of another female patient for allegedly touching her breasts and rubbing himself against her earlier this year while performing a lymph node examination her parents claim was unnecessary. This case is still ongoing.

Then in August 2023, Forman was sued in Loudoun County Circuit Court by a Virginia mom who said in court documents that the doctor was “pretending” to examine her son’s ears when he began grinding against her, as NBC News reported at the time.

“I am glad that those of us who have been victimized by Dr. Forman and Reston Pediatrics are finally being heard and taken seriously,” the Virginia mom said in an email Friday that was also forwarded to NBC News by Magner.