Surgeon accused of sexually assaulting Illinois patient now seeks Iowa license

A physician sanctioned in other states for sexual misconduct involving a patient is now seeking licensure in Iowa.

According to the Iowa Board of Medicine, Dr. Shaun A. Kink submitted an application for permanent medical licensure in Iowa in October 2025. In June 2026, the board issued a preliminary notice informing Kink that it intended to deny him licensure for reasons the board has opted not to publicly disclose.

Kink then asked for a hearing on the matter, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 12, 2026.

Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine records indicate that while working in Illinois in August 2019, Kink began treating a female patient. Later that year, Kink reportedly engaged in sexual conduct with the woman, and in January 2020, he was indicted by a grand jury and charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual abuse.

At the time, prosecutors alleged that Kink, a surgeon who specializes in foot and ankle issues, had sexually assaulted the woman in the hospital and then did so again, after her discharge, at the woman’s home.

In February 2020, Illinois’ Division of Professional Regulation temporarily suspended Kink’s license, alleging he posed an immediate danger to the public.

In 2022, the criminal charges against Kink were amended to include solicitation of a sexual act. While the case was pending, prosecutors sought to introduce evidence alleging three other female patients had also accused Kink of sexual misconduct.

On Dec. 27, 2022, Kink entered into an agreement whereby he pleaded guilty to the solicitation charge and the original four charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail and 18 months of probation.

In 2024, the Massachusetts licensing board revoked Kink’s physician license in that state, citing his Illinois criminal conviction for solicitation as well as “his admitted sexual relationship with the patient.”

More Board of Medicine actions

Other physicians facing sanctions from the Iowa Board of Medicine include:

— Dr. Brett Olson of Spirit Lake, who is charged by the board with professional incompetence. The board has disclosed no information as to the circumstances or alleged conduct that gave rise to the charge. The charge against Olson, while approved by the board in June 2026, was only recently made public by the board. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 25, 2027. According to the board, Olson is a family-practice physician in Spirit Lake.

— Dr. Mona Alqulali of Clinton, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, was charged by the board with improper management of medical records and improperly prescribing drugs for her father without an examination.

According to the board, Alqulali initially denied prescribing her father any drugs, telling the board, “I never gave my father anything outside of what his treating doctors had prescribed or agreed upon.” The board alleged those denials were false and alleged that subpoenaed records show five instances of Alqulali prescribing her father drugs in 2024.

Citing what it called “other instances of her writing prescriptions to family and her denying this until pressed by the board,” the board recently imposed a $5,000 civil penalty against Alqulali and placed her Iowa license on probation for three years while also requiring her to complete two educational courses.

Alqulali’s attorney, Mike Sellers, said he recently filed an emergency motion in Polk County District Court to stay the board’s enforcement of its order since it would temporarily restrict her ability to write prescriptions.

“The issues now are the life or death of Dr. Alqulali’s career and/or her practice,” Sellers told the court in a filing last week. “Every day that goes by, the board’s ruling imposing a restriction on prescribing controlled substances — which has always been involved in most areas of (Alqulali’s) practice — until she can finish two courses chokes more of the remaining breath out of what is left of Dr. Alqulali’s practice.”

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Kink or Olson for comment on their cases.