It’s hard to find the appropriate words for a situation as unsettling as this one.
In February of last year, a male gynecologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was discovered to have photographed and recorded videos of his patients in the examination room with a secret camera that he wore around his neck.
An investigation was launched that uncovered around 1,200 videos and 140 photographs of over 8,000 patients at his home. The OBGYN in question, Dr. Nikita Levy, committed suicide soon after the investigation began.
Needless to say, the patients were unspeakably shaken by this information. Many reported having been subject to inappropriate treatment by Levy in the past, including verbal abuse and in some cases, unnecessary pelvic exams. To say that these women feel betrayed and violated is a severe understatement. Some lost trust in the medical system altogether, according to CBS, and even stopped taking their children to doctors.
Though Levy can never be tried for his crimes, there is some good news. Yesterday, CBS reported that Johns Hopkins is to pay $120 million in a settlement to the thousands of victims, making it “one of the largest settlements on record in the U.S. involving sexual misconduct by a physician.” Be that as it may, the women involved in the lawsuit and countless others no longer feel safe to go to the doctor, and no amount of money can compensate for this gross violation of privacy.
