A prominent Houston surgeon accused of using his prescription pad to gain sexual favors from a couple has been temporarily suspended by the Texas Medical Board.

A graphic secretly recorded video obtained by KPRC-TV in Houston appears to show Thomas V. Taylor, MD, academic chief of surgery and program director at Houston's St. Joseph Medical Center, engaging in various sex acts with the couple in an examination room.

The couple, identified only as John and Jane Doe in court papers, are suing Dr. Taylor, 71, for more than $100,000, claiming that in 2011 he set out to hook first him, then her, on narcotics after performing surgery on the male plaintiff. Over the years, says the complaint, "on many, many occasions, Dr. Taylor continued to provide prescriptions in exchange for sexual acts, prescribing drugs such as Xanax and Norco, amounting to thousands of pills." Pharmacy records show that during one 5-week period Dr. Taylor prescribed 480 tablets of hydrocodone to one of the patients.

The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs frequently arrived at Dr. Taylor's office without an appointment, that Dr. Taylor would then usher them into his examination room, and would there "offer to write prescriptions in exchange for sexual acts." Once satisfied, says the complaint, Dr. Taylor "would hand the patients prescriptions for medically unnecessary narcotics."

Peter Schneider, the couple's lawyer, tells the Houston Chronicle that he didn't believe the allegations until the couple showed him a 9-minute secretly recorded video. The video shows Dr. Taylor ostensibly examining a rash on the female plaintiff before the 3 engage in various sexual acts. The plaintiffs say their addictions cost them their jobs and that they're now homeless.

The medical board will hold a suspension hearing after giving 10 days' notice to Dr. Taylor, unless he waives the hearing.

Dr. Taylor, who specializes in bariatric surgery, could not be reached for comment. "Dr. Thomas Taylor is an independent contractor and not an employee of St. Joseph Medical Center. Effective last night (Thursday, December 11, 2014), Dr. Taylor is not permitted to see patients at the hospital while these allegations are under investigation. Based on the account provided by the media, we find the alleged behavior reprehensible," says St. Joseph Medical Center CEO Mark Bernard in a statement.

Jim Burger