News / Health
'Rogue' gynaecologist films patients
25 Jul 2014 at 10:14hrs | Views
BALTIMORE - A "rogue" gynaecologist's secret use of tiny cameras to record hundreds of videos and photographs of his patients' sex organs has led to a $190-million settlement with 8 000 women and girls.
Dr Nikita Levy was fired after 25 years with the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore in February 2013 after a female co-worker alerted authorities about a pen-like camera he wore around his neck.
He committed suicide days later, as a federal investigation led to roughly 1 200 videos and 140 images stored on computers in his home.
"All of these women were brutalised by this," said their lead attorney, Jonathan Schochor. "Some of these women needed counselling, they were sleepless, they were dysfunctional in the workplace, they were dysfunctional at home, they were dysfunctional with their mates.
"This breach of trust, this betrayal - this is how they felt."
The preliminary settlement approved by a judge on Monday is one of the largest on record in the US involving sexual misconduct by a physician. It all but closes a case that never produced criminal charges but seriously threatened the reputation of one of the world's leading medical centres.
Lawyers said thousands of women were traumatised, even though their faces were not visible in the images and it could not be established with certainty which patients were recorded or how many.
Plaintiffs' attorney Howard Janet said 62 girls were among the victims, and that Levy violated hospital protocol by sending chaperones out of the exam room. Hopkins said insurance will cover the settlement, which "properly balances the concerns of thousands of plaintiffs with obligations the Health System has to provide ongoing and superior care to the community".
Dr Nikita Levy was fired after 25 years with the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore in February 2013 after a female co-worker alerted authorities about a pen-like camera he wore around his neck.
He committed suicide days later, as a federal investigation led to roughly 1 200 videos and 140 images stored on computers in his home.
"All of these women were brutalised by this," said their lead attorney, Jonathan Schochor. "Some of these women needed counselling, they were sleepless, they were dysfunctional in the workplace, they were dysfunctional at home, they were dysfunctional with their mates.
The preliminary settlement approved by a judge on Monday is one of the largest on record in the US involving sexual misconduct by a physician. It all but closes a case that never produced criminal charges but seriously threatened the reputation of one of the world's leading medical centres.
Lawyers said thousands of women were traumatised, even though their faces were not visible in the images and it could not be established with certainty which patients were recorded or how many.
Plaintiffs' attorney Howard Janet said 62 girls were among the victims, and that Levy violated hospital protocol by sending chaperones out of the exam room. Hopkins said insurance will cover the settlement, which "properly balances the concerns of thousands of plaintiffs with obligations the Health System has to provide ongoing and superior care to the community".
Source - Sapa-AP
