COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State Medical Board of Ohio plans to review nearly 2,000 closed cases of alleged sexual misconduct or impropriety by doctors over the past 25 years to determine whether any involved evidence of criminal behavior that was ignored, a board spokeswoman said Tuesday.

A review of such cases that were closed without action was requested by Gov. Mike DeWine last week after he learned that credible evidence was ignored in a 1996 investigation of Richard Strauss, the now-deceased Ohio State University team doctor accused of sexually abusing athletes and other young men for nearly two decades before that probe.

DeWine asked the medical board to review about 1,500 closed cases involving sexual assault allegations, but the board is casting a slightly wider net to include allegations of “sexual boundary” violations, board spokeswoman Tessie Pollock said Tuesday. That description could include improper, non-physical interactions that aren’t necessarily a crime, such as a doctor asking a patient out for a date, Pollock said.

No timeline for the review has been set.

DeWine also asked the board to identify whether there are any licensed Ohio doctors who knew or suspected Strauss‘ misconduct and should have reported it but didn’t. Board members immediately began acting on that request but, under confidentiality requirements, can’t disclose whether any investigation or additional complaint has been opened as a result, Pollock said.

A law firm that separately investigated allegations for Ohio State concluded university officials learned of concerns about Strauss as early as 1979 but did little to stop him .

Lawyers suing Ohio State over Strauss‘ misconduct say they now represent over 300 accusers whose allegations span from 1979 to 1997 - nearly his entire career at the university.

The university has publicly apologized and acknowledged its failure to stop Strauss. Its formal responses to the lawsuits argue the men’s claims were time-barred by law and should be dismissed.

The lawsuits are now in mediation toward a potential settlement .

Amid uncertainty in that process, some of Strauss‘ accusers are urging the Ohio Legislature to pass a proposal that would specify a legal window for them to sue the university. Some of the men were scheduled to testify to a House committee considering the bill Tuesday.

Many of the accusers who have spoken publicly say they were groped during medical exams .

Strauss retired in 1998 with a laudatory personnel file and kept a medical license.

He died by suicide in 2005. No one has publicly defended him.

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Follow Franko on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kantele10 . See AP’s coverage about the allegations here: https://apnews.com/OhioStateTeamDoctor .

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