Patients Getting Checks Soon In Gynecologist Recording Case
BALTIMORE (AP) — More than 8,000 patients of a Johns Hopkins gynecologist accused of secretly recording pelvic exams will soon receive their share of a $190 million settlement.
The Baltimore Sun reports the final allocation plan was approved Monday.
Some are saying the amounts aren't good enough.
"I was angry, angry with myself and angry with Johns Hopkins," said plaintiff Stazi Simmons-Gomez, who is one of 8,342 patients.
Investigators believe women were victimized by Dr. Nikita Levy when he secretly recorded them using cameras in pens.
After years of going through the legal process settlement checks will start going out next week.
According to court documents, the thousands of victims were placed in categories which considered
damages and emotional distress, the impact on their lives and individual vulnerability.
Some believe the money is not enough because kids were involved.
"If anything, the kids should have gotten at least a million dollars, at least a million dollars," Simmons-Gomez said.
Judge Irma Raker was part of a panel that interviewed victims. She stands by the process.
"This process was imminently fair. We took into account what each person told us and we not just considering one person, but as I said before, 8,342 people," Raker said.
For the victims who are willing to speak out, they said the process has been traumatizing.
"A lot of us feel duped again, a lot of us feel victimized again. Angry," Simmons-Gomez said.
Judge Raker said every victim had the opportunity to appeal the amount they were compensated and at this time the appellate process is over.
Hopkins said it had no say in how the funds were allocated. Of the $190 million in settlement money,
$32 million went to attorney fees.
Raker, said the checks ranging from about $1,900 to nearly $28,000 should be mailed June 2. The case has been described as the largest sexual abuse settlement stemming from a single perpetrator in U.S. history.
The Johns Hopkins Health System fired Dr. Nikita Levy in 2013 after a co-worker alerted authorities about a pen-like camera he wore. He killed himself days later, as federal investigators found about 1,200 videos and 140 images on computers in his home.
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