--- title: Seattle Doctor Suspended for Sexting During Surgery description: Hopefully he washed his hands afterwards canonical: https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-10T16:55:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:35.803Z og:title: Doctor Suspended For Sexting During Surgery og:description: Hopefully he washed his hands afterwards og:url: https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3068b45a38587306/69868d3535ba6f7bdac01c44/smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: smartphone og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Doctor Suspended For Sexting During Surgery twitter:description: Hopefully he washed his hands afterwards twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3068b45a38587306/69868d3535ba6f7bdac01c44/smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Doctor Suspended For Sexting During Surgery > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 10, 2014 4:55 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 10, 2014 4:55 PM UTC The doctors on _Grey’s Anatomy_ have been involved in a lot of questionable behavior in their fictional hospital’s on-call room and supply closets, but even [Shonda Rimes](http://time.com/2848787/shonda-rhimes-dartmouth-graduation-speech/) could not have envisioned the accusations this Seattle doctor faces. 47-year-old Arthur K. Zilberstein, a Seattle-based anesthesiologist, had his license suspended for allegedly sending explicit selfies and swapping racy text messages _during_ surgeries. While his hands should have been monitoring patients at their most vulnerable moment, instead he was spending his time hitting send on some sexts, approximately 250 times between April and August of last year. The findings, released Monday by the Washington State Department of Health, reveal that Zilberstein was sexting during all kinds of procedures, including Cesarean deliveries, pediatric appendectomies, epidurals, tubal ligations and one notable cardiac-probe insertion, during which he allegedly exchanged 26 text messages “including explicit sexual comments,” according to the official statement of charges. During one stomach surgery, Zilberstein reportedly exchanged 45 texts “with sexual innuendo” in less than an hour and a half and another time, he interrupted his sext stream to allegedly text: “I’m hella busy with C sections.” Washington state health [authorities said](http://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/2014NewsReleases/14079ZilbersteinSuspensionRelease.aspx) that Zilberstein compromised patient safety with his “preoccupation with sexual matters,” allegedly sent risqué selfies to a patient while wearing his hospital badge and scrubs and is accused of looking at private medical records for his own sexual gratification, having sexual rendezvous at work and issuing at least 29 unauthorized prescriptions. McDreamy he is not. Zilberstein is not permitted to practice medicine in Washington until the charges are resolved. \[Via[ The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/10/this-might-be-a-first-a-seattle-doctor-is-suspended-for-texting-and-sexting-during-his-surgeries/?tid=hp%5Fmm&hpid=z4)\] **MORE**: [These People Will Act Out Your Sexts For Just $80 and a Lifetime of Shame](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/04/these-people-will-act-out-your-sexts-for-just-80-and-a-lifetime-of-shame/) **MORE**: [Ooh, La La: The French Word for Sexting Is Textopornographie](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/19/ooh-la-la-the-french-word-for-sexting-is-textopornographie/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/"},"headline":"Doctor Suspended For Sexting During Surgery","datePublished":"2014-06-10T16:55:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:35.803Z","description":"Hopefully he washed his hands afterwards","url":"https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/","keywords":["Newsfeed","medicine","Technology","doctors","sexting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3068b45a38587306/69868d3535ba6f7bdac01c44/smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3068b45a38587306/69868d3535ba6f7bdac01c44/smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"smartphone","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2852667/doctor-suspended-for-sexting-during-surgery/","name":"Doctor Suspended For Sexting During Surgery"}}]}] ```