Attorney
When we visit a doctor, we are usually at a weak place in our lives: dealing with an illness or an injury and looking for guidance from a trusted person. Physicians have a responsibility to their patients and to the world to be pillars of honesty and virtue. When that trust is broken, the betrayal can be devastating.
Last month, Johns Hopkins agreed to a $190 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit. Over 7,000 female patients were represented in one of the biggest medical malpractice cases of its kind.
Dr. Nikita Levy, a gynecologist for Johns Hopkins Community Medicine in Baltimore, was fired last year after a co-worker reported misgivings about the pen-like device the doctor always wore around his neck. It turned out to be a hidden camera, and for years he had been secretly recording the pelvic exams he performed.
Ten days after his transgression was revealed, the doctor committed suicide. FBI agents later found over a thousand videos and images stored on computers at his home.
His patients were, of course, devastated to learn of the crime. Many of them have since stopped visiting doctors completely, even keeping their children out of physicians’ care. Many have experienced sleeplessness, and some have even had relationships with spouses and significant others affected. After this kind of extreme breach of faith and trust, such a reaction is understandable.
Johns Hopkins contacted the Baltimore police and fired the doctor immediately after learning of his crimes. Nevertheless, the invasion of privacy and emotional distress the hospital caused its patients, as well as the facility’s utter negligence in its oversight of staff is inexcusable. We must hold our hospitals to the highest possible standards.
I Was the Victim of Medical Malpractice, and I Need a Washington, D.C. Attorney
This horrific story is an example of gross medical malpractice, and the negligent parties need to be held accountable under medical malpractice law. If you feel that you have been a victim of medical malpractice, it is important that you find an experienced attorney to assist you in pursuing your claim. Contact our firm today for a consultation regarding your potential case.
Did You Know? Human error is behind almost 80 percent of adverse events in hospitals, making it the sixth leading cause of preventable death in America.
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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/us/johns-hopkins-settlement-190-million.html?_r=0