State licensing board disciplines prominent Philadelphia doctor for having sex with a female patient. She alleges rape.

A prominent Philadelphia-area doctor is temporarily barred from practicing medicine after a female patient accused him of raping her during an office visit, according to criminal and state medical licensing records.

John Smyth Michel, medical director of Excel Medical Center and owner of 12 primary care sites in the region, told police and state licensing authorities that he had sex with the patient, characterizing it as consensual.

The case against Michel is two-pronged: The State Board of Osteopathic Medicine, which regulates and oversees licensure of osteopathic doctors like Michel, disciplined him last month for having sex with a patient — a violation of state licensure regulations.

The Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office are pursuing criminal charges, including felony rape and sexual assault, against Michel. The criminal case is pending in Common Pleas Court.

The State Board of Osteopathic Medicine will revisit the licensure case after a conclusion in the criminal proceedings. If convicted, Michel could permanently lose his medical license.

In a letter to the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine, Michel described the October 2024 incident with the female patient as a “lapse in judgment” for which he is “profoundly contrite.”

“I fully acknowledge that I crossed a professional boundary,” Michel wrote to board members this past May. “I recognize that boundaries are not only a legal and ethical obligation but a critical element of safe, respectful, and therapeutic care. I make no excuses for my actions.”

Michel, 55, of Jenkintown, did not return phone calls and an email from The Inquirer last week. His criminal defense lawyer, Andrew Gay Jr., declined to comment Friday.

Last month, Michel agreed to be disciplined by the board of osteopathic medicine for violating state regulations prohibiting sexual misconduct.

Under state law, doctors convicted of sexual offenses are prohibited from being licensed and practicing medicine.

For now, however, the discipline includes a $4,000 civil fine and suspension of his medical license for six months, followed by 18 months of probation.

During his probation, a chaperone must be present when Michel treats female patients and a separate monitor must oversee his practice. Also, Michel must complete in-person classes on physician-patient boundaries and 15 hours of continuing education on ethics, according to the June 11 disciplinary agreement.

The then-38-year-old patient, identified in police records by the initials “D.R.,” accused Michel of kissing her during a May 2024 exam at his East Mount Airy office on Stenton Avenue. The kiss was unwanted and she told him “no,” she told police.

In criminal court records, she described the following events leading to her rape accusations: She was out of work on short-term disability for a knee injury and made an appointment at his Mount Airy clinic to get clearance to return to work.

She left the Stenton Avenue office and did not report the kissing incident.

In October 2024, she went to an appointment at Michel’s North Philadelphia office on West Diamond Street. During the Oct. 14 visit, she said, Michel raped her with such force that her head hit an exam room wall. She pushed him off her and fell to the ground crying.

He told her to get dressed and go to the pharmacy next door to pick up her prescriptions. She realized he had prescribed birth control, which she did not request, according to criminal court records.

About three weeks later, she told her husband what had happened, and he encouraged her to make a police report. She did so on Nov. 4, 2024.

After taking a sworn statement from the patient, a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit contacted the Pennsylvania State Police to check if Michel had any prior criminal complaints against him. Michel had none. Prior to June, he had no disciplinary history against his medical license, state records show.

During an interview at the police Special Victims Unit on Jan. 31, 2025, Michel told police a different version of events. When a detective asked if he was sexually involved with anyone from his medical practice, he responded, “Not that I am aware of.”

After a detective brought up the female patient’s complaint, he said he had a “moment of weakness.” Michel asserted D.R. initiated the encounter when she kissed him.

He said he locked the exam room door and they had sex. Afterward, he told her their conduct was not appropriate and she needed to find a new medical provider. He said that he didn’t recall prescribing birth control and that if he did, she had requested it.

Philadelphia police arrested Michel in February after a city prosecutor charged him with three felonies — rape, sexual assault, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse — and two misdemeanors — indecent exposure and assault. He was released on bail.

The next criminal court date is scheduled for Sept. 8. He has yet to enter a plea, court records show.

Michel wrote a letter to state licensing officials explaining why he should be allowed to continue practicing medicine.

Michel detailed how he grew up in a poor area of Haiti with limited healthcare, and he wanted to become a doctor.

He immigrated to America in 1991 and earned a medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2006. While working at Roxborough Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital, both in Philadelphia, he decided to practice in North Philadelphia, which he considered “a healthcare desert,” Michel wrote.

In 2010, he opened his first primary care office in the neighborhood and dedicated his career “to providing compassionate care to this underserved community.” His practice hosts free blood pressure and diabetes screenings, mobile mammogram events, and seminars at local churches about prostate, heart, and senior care, he said in the letter.

Excel Medical Center, founded by Michel, now has 12 locations, more than 200 employees, and about 20,000 patients.

“In addition to disappointing myself, I have let down the many people who depend on me, including my patients and family,” Michel wrote. “This incident has led to significant self-reflection.”

He added, “I am committed to learning from this deeply painful experience and rebuilding the trust I have lost.”