BALTIMORE ― A gynecologist who secretly used a pen-like camera to record hundreds of videos and photos of his patients’ sex organs during pelvic exams will cost one of the world’s most prestigious medical centers $190 million in a settlement with more than 8,000 women.
Dr. Nikita Levy was fired in February 2013, days after a co-worker alerted authorities at Johns Hopkins Health System about her suspicions. He was forced to turn over the camera, and committed suicide days later. Investigators discovered roughly 1,200 videos and 140 images stored on a series of servers in his home.
“All of these women were brutalized by this,” said the women’s lead attorney, Jonathan Schochor. “Some of these women needed counseling, 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 Monday is one of the largest on record in the U.S. involving sexual misconduct by a physician. It all but closes a case that never produced criminal charges but seriously threatened Hopkins’ reputation.
Lawyers said thousands of women were traumatized, 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.
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.”
“It is our hope that this settlement and findings by law enforcement that images were not shared helps those affected achieve a measure of closure,” the hospital statement said, adding that “one individual does not define Johns Hopkins.”
