A medical institution has agreed to pay out $190 million to more than 7,000 women for gross violation of patient-doctor trust.
According to the New York Times, Dr. Nikita A. Levy, a gynaecologist for John Hopkins Community Medicine in Baltimore, was fired after a female colleague became suspicious of a pen he constantly wore around his neck.
It turned that Dr. Levy had been filming his patients from the camera pen, secretly recording them during pelvic exams.
Following his dismissal, Dr. Levy took his own life and investigations ended without criminal charges concluding that the doctor had not shared more than 1,000 images and videos which were found on his computer.
However, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the hospital, accusing Dr. Levy of "harmful and offensive sexual" contact with patients.
The suit charged the hospital with invasion of privacy, negligence in its oversight of Dr. Levy and emotional distress.
Any woman who was examined by Levy privately was allowed to enrol in the class action. Each woman will be interviewed to determine her compensation.
In a statement released by the hospital, they made an apology to the patients: “We assure you that one individual does not define Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins is defined by the tens of thousands of employees who come to work determined to provide world-class care for our patients and their families.”
