Numerous Lawsuits Expected After Hopkins Doctor Is Accused Of Secretly Taping Patients
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — New details are coming to light about the once trusted Johns Hopkins doctor who police confirm was making covert videos of his patients, including who blew the whistle.
Mike Hellgren spoke to a patient candidly about what it was like in the exam room with Dr. Nikita Levy.
A co-worker was the whistleblower. And we have new information about what was inside Levy's suicide note.
The stunning discovery about the well-respected doctor came earlier this month in a complaint to security that the gynecologist was spying—even allegedly using a camera on his pen -- as he performed exams.
"The story is that a Johns Hopkins employee noticed something unusual about Dr. Levy's examinations on Feb. 4 and alerted a supervisor," said attorney Andrew Slutkin, who represents several former patients. "No one knows at this point what it was other than Hopkins, and they're not speaking about the issue."
WJZ's news partner, the Baltimore Sun, reports Levy left a suicide note with a message for his wife saying he did not want to "see her suffer with the truth."
A patient--who asked WJZ to conceal her identity--reveals a red flag during exams.
"When I went for my appointments, there would never be another nurse in there. It would just be him," the former patient said. "He would ask the nurse to leave, or he would say that he had it."
A midwife who worked with Levy told the Washington Post "never in a thousand years would I have imagined such a thing. He had one of the biggest fan clubs in Baltimore, and he was always very, very busy. People wanted to see him. He saw some of the same patients for many, many years. They trusted him with their most intimate secrets. We were all their trusted confidants."
Lawyers are running ads.
"Call now. No matter how long ago you were a patient of Dr. Levy," one ad says.
A wave of lawsuits is expected as police sift through hundreds of computer images and videos.
"What did he do with this information? Did he sell it? Was it put on the Internet?" said Baltimore City police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Those unanswered questions now have hundreds of women scarred and scared.
Though the medical examiner's office Thursday morning says the cause of death is pending, sources tell WJZ's media partner, the Baltimore Sun, that Levy left his wife a note of apology in their car, went to his basement, put a bag over his head and filled it with helium.
Levy worked at the East Baltimore medical center since 1988.
Police have set up a hotline for patients as part of the criminal investigation. The number is 410-396-2269.
