Dr. David Diffine, an Arkansas family physician, was also known as “Dr. Naturist.”
In January 2024, the Arkansas State Medical Board received a complaint regarding his “naturist activities”—namely, photo posts of himself nude on social media. The board took no immediate action, choosing instead to preserve the documentation on file.
- In July 2024, a whistleblower submitted surveillance videos (from 2019) showing Diffine walking around nude and performing a sexual act on a staff member in his office. The board found the content deeply troubling, framing it as a potential breach of professional boundaries.
- On October 16, 2024, the Arkansas State Medical Board issued an emergency suspension of Diffine’s medical license, citing he posed a continuing danger to the public.
- A disciplinary hearing was scheduled for December 6, 2024. The focus was on whether the behavior violated professional conduct standards.
2025 – License Revocation
- At a hearing in August 2025, the Arkansas State Medical Board revoked his license for five years, based on a “preponderance of evidence” that he violated the Medical Practices Act. Evidence included video footage and testimony indicating sexual misconduct and boundary violations.
What was alleged?
According to multiple witnesses’ testimony, security camera footage from July 17, 2019, showed Diffine — a self-described nudist — naked except for a baseball cap, walking through a hallway and clinical reception area in front of three women.
The footage, submitted to the board through an anonymous complaint, shows Diffine masturbating onto one woman, referred to in the case as “Patient No. 1,” a lab specimen collector not directly employed by Diffine but stationed at the clinic.
“There was a power dynamic on multiple levels,” Dr. Brad Thomas, the board’s treasurer, said Friday. “I don’t feel like there’s safety for potential future patients.”
After a unanimous vote concluded the violations occurred, the board voted 10-1 to revoke Diffine’s license for five years.
Diffine, who represented himself at the hearing, and Michael Lewis, senior assistant attorney general and a counsel to the Medical Board, both waived their opening statements….
During Lewis’ first line of questioning, [Dr.] Shull [investigator at State Dept Health] testified that Diffine is seen in the 2019 security footage attempting to show pictures on his phone to Employee No. 1, who had “her hands shielding her eyes.”
He said the clips, mostly about 10 seconds, also depict the doctor eating pizza and grabbing his genitals, with the penultimate video — approximately 2½ minutes long — showing Diffine masturbating over Patient No. 1’s shoulder, onto her chest, and leaving the room, laughing. Shull labeled the final clip “the aftermath.”
The investigator said, when questioned if these events had occurred multiple times, she became concerned her name would be made public, at which point he assured her anonymity.
“She did indicate, and I quote, ‘Dr. Diffine would do that from time to time. I would walk in his office, he’d be doing that,'” Shull said. “I asked her to clarify what ‘doing that’ meant, if that meant masturbating, and Employee No. 1 indicated ‘yes.'”
Per Shull’s testimony, Employee No. 1 said she had seen Diffine as a patient until she left the clinic due to “too much drama.” She said she suspected with other employees that the physician was having sexual relations with patients and “sneaking people in,” Shull testified.
Dr. Bradley Diner of the Arkansas Medical Foundation said he first interviewed Diffine due to complaints about his social media accounts’ “naturist activities” and was assured it didn’t affect interactions with patients or staff.
“Once I received the video … even though that appeared to be all consensual … it was evident that he had not been truthful to me,” Diner said, later agreeing that Diffine’s position created the potential for him to exploit employees at the clinic.
Before calling his own witnesses, Diffine gave testimony as well.
“I regret the actions that night,” he said of his behavior seen in the video, calling his actions not part of his nudistry, which was “a spiritual thing.” “Those were some poor choices. I had some poor boundaries back at that time.”
Diffine told the board Patient No. 1 was a former patient and that the two were in contact via Snapchat, as he was single at the time. He testified he had sometimes been living at the clinic away from his main residence, with Patient No. 1 staying with intent of “hanging out,” one employee working off-the-clock to finish business and another being there for Patient No. 1’s “moral support.”
The doctor also said he believed a woman, whom he had dated until 2023, was the anonymous complaint’s sender.
One of the doctor’s defenses was that the patient was not a current patient. She was a former patient who had migrated to another practice. And his actions were consensual. Those who reviewed the footage and testimony believe that the doctor suffers from a paraphilia, a disorder associated with inability to control specific sexual urges.
This paraphilia appears separate from his longstanding naturist activities.
Which leads us to the discussion of how one spends private time potentially bleeding over into one’s professional life.
In December 2023, Joe Gow was abruptly fired from his role as chancellor after the university learned he and his wife, Carmen Wilson, had produced and posted pornographic content—including videos on OnlyFans and Pornhub—under the alias “Sexy Happy Couple.”
The university cited “significant reputational harm,” while Gow claimed his First Amendment rights were being violated.
In March 2024, interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan formally filed charges against Gow alleging unethical behavior, failure to cooperate with an investigation, and using university resources to create pornographic content.
A faculty hearing was scheduled, with Gow seeking to preserve his tenured teaching position.
In July 2024, a committee of his peers recommended revoking his tenure.
Then, in September 2024, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted 17–0 to terminate Gow’s tenured status and faculty appointment.
The university maintained his actions violated ethical standards and posed reputational risks, while Gow continued to assert his conduct was constitutionally protected and performed on personal time.
In January 2025, Gow filed a federal lawsuit seeking reinstatement, lost wages, and damages. He argued that his termination violated free speech and academic freedom protections, emphasizing that he did not use university resources or staff in creating the content.
Gow underscored that his work was legal, produced privately, and that he did not promote it at the university.
A federal jury trial is scheduled for June 22, 2026, in Madison.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) stated:
Academic freedom generally protects faculty from punishment for what they do or say off the clock. The same law that shields faculty from getting fired or punished for their political opinions or associations also protects their right to create porn.
Pornography is controversial, but whether speech merits First Amendment protection is a legal, not a moral, determination — and for good reason. Bureaucrats don’t get to decide how we talk about politics, who we choose as friends, and whether or how we worship — because they can’t do it in a principled way.
Universities bound by the First Amendment must uphold the expressive rights of their faculty, especially when it is difficult or unpopular to do so. University of Wisconsin should show some backbone and uphold core free speech principles, not pander to politicians.
How high-profile leaders and physicians comport themselves off the clock can bleed into interpretations of how they’ll perform on the clock.
If you are arrested for a DUI off the clock, for example, the Board might conclude that you could have an alcohol or substance abuse problem which could cause patient safety issues.
Back to the original case. Naturist activity off the clock did not lead to any initial Board action. But when more detailed videos surfaced related to office activity and potential activity with patient(s), the Board’s investigations picked up, ultimately leading to disciplinary action.
Physician Health Programs (PHPs) often provide a “therapeutic alternative to discipline for physicians with health conditions that may adversely impact practice performance.”
However, PHPs cannot function as an alternative to discipline in these situations. The FSPHP member Physician Health Programs (PHPs) are available to assist professionals with potentially impairing conditions depending on the circumstances, but the jurisdiction, discipline, and legal consequences of professional sexual misconduct are ultimately determined by the legal system and respective state medical boards. In instances involving physician illness concurrent to the sexual misconduct, such as substance use and mental health disorders, PHPs may be asked to coordinate comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessments or forensic evaluations to identify any treatable conditions which may have contributed to poor judgment, or to assist with determination of fitness for duty with appropriate restrictions, if necessary.
PHPs that elect to assist with cases involving sexual misconduct should have the experience and expertise for this scope of activities in this area. Assisting state medical boards in the assessment and monitoring of professional sexual misconduct requires specialized experience and expertise. Specific to sexual misconduct, PHP involvement is not as an alternative to discipline but to support and assist a state medical board’s responsibility to the public.
Viewed in this context, PHPs are not necessarily a pure diversion pathway as an alternative to discipline in cases of professional boundary violations. But they may mitigate the disciplinary action.
In Dr. Diffine’s case, the Arkansas Medical Foundation (its PHP) Explicitly accepts/monitors “Sexual misconduct and/or boundary violations.” Most state PHP programs do. But not all.
Texas (TXPHP) – Statute bars acceptance of referrals for boundary violations with a patient or patient’s family (see Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 167). TXPHP’s FAQ reflects this—boundary-violation cases are handled publicly via TMB discipline.
New Hampshire (NH Professionals Health Program) – Conditional acceptance of referrals. Its PHP page says the program does not manage sexual misconduct complaints, but may assist when sexual boundary issues coexist with mental health or substance use conditions.
Five-year suspension is a long time to be out of practice.
What do you think?
