MAHONING COUNTY Doctor arraigned on charges of rape, bribery

By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A doctor who practices in Forum Health's Austintown Medical Park is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who met with him to discuss pharmaceutical drug purchases.
Dr. Emil Dickstein, 52, of Hitchcock Road, Boardman, was arraigned Monday in county court here on charges of rape and bribery. No plea was accepted, as the charges are felonies.
Dr. Dickstein, who also is an associate professor of internal medicine at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown, pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor charge of public indecency.
Bond was set at $10,000. His next hearing is set for May 8.
Police said Dr. Dickstein met with a 25-year-old woman who worked for a pharmecutical company in February at the medical park to discuss drug sales. The woman told police that after the meeting ended, Dr. Dickstein hugged her.
He then cornered her and performed sex acts on her, the woman said.
Reports state that later, as the woman tried to leave, Dr. Dickstein said to her, "This will be between us, right?"
The woman told police that she checked her e-mail that night and found a message of a sexual nature from Dr. Dickstein that had been sent the day before.
Other details
Court records allege that Dr. Dickstein tried to influence the testimony of a female witness by offering her $5,000. The records do not identify the witness.
A Forum Health spokeswoman declined to comment until she learns more about the charges.
The state medical board's Internet site showed Monday that there is no formal action pending against Dr. Dickstein, whose license expires in April 2005.
The site shows that Dr. Dickstein, a native of Oakland, Calif., graduated from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1976 and received his medical license in Ohio in 1978. His specialty is listed as internal medicine.
Forum Health's Internet site also lists Dr. Dickstein as a specialist in geriatric medicine.
Dr. Dickstein is one of 1,700 doctors who volunteer to teach at hospitals throughout Northeast Ohio as an associate professor at NEOUCOM. The college's directory shows that Dr. Dickstein also teaches at Forum Health Northside Medical Center.
NEOUCOM spokesman Pat Crowley said the college hasn't taken action against Dickstein. He said the college policy states that it can suspend Dr. Dickstein pending further investigation.
hill@vindy.com