A respected physician at Johns Hopkins University has left the world in a cloud of shame after an apparent suicide.  During their investigation, police found that the doctor had secretly recorded scores of women without their permission during physical examinations.

The case of Dr. Nikita A. Levy, a gynecologist, is being treated as a criminal investigation, and the board of trustees at Johns Hopkins is opening its own investigation.

The question at this point is who should be found liable.  Johns Hopkins University may suffer significant financial liability for the doctor’s behavior, but medical insurance companies may also be forced to pay.  Of course, there are a large number of attorneys on the scene, and legal experts are saying that many of their claims are contingent upon whether or not the women can be identified in the images.

Dr. Levy practiced for more than 20 years, and practiced gynecology and obstetrics through a network of Hopkins physicians.   He worked at the East Baltimore Medical Center, a community clinic.  He’d been with Hopkins since 1988.

Dr. Levy’s suicide may have come in response to being caught in the act by one of his colleagues.  He’d been reported on February 4 and was fired on February 8.   Police were going to meet with Levy, but he failed to show up for the meeting.  Shortly afterward, he was found dead.

In order to collect in the civil suit, the women would have to be able to prove that they were the ones in the videos.

“If someone cannot be identified, they can’t very well make the case they were embarrassed or humiliated,” said Darren McKinney, communications director for the American Tort Reform Association in Washington, D.C.

– Techyville