An OB-GYN Allegedly Gave Women Unnecessary Hysterectomies And Tied Their Tubes Without Their Consent

After going to a fertility specialist, one of the women discovered "both fallopian tubes were burnt down to nubs, making natural conception impossible."

A Virginia OB-GYN allegedly tied patients' fallopian tubes and performed unneeded hysterectomies without their knowledge or consent, according to federal court documents.

Javaid Perwaiz, 69, was arrested and charged Friday with health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters.

Between January 2014 and August 2018, the Chesapeake doctor allegedly performed surgeries on 510 patients, or 40% of his patients who were on Medicaid. Of those 510 patients, about 42% of them received two or more surgeries, authorities said.

Perwaiz allegedly scared many patients into having surgery by claiming that "onset of cancer was imminent" for them.

Many of the patients were unaware the surgeries had been performed on them until well after the fact, according to the court documents.

In one case, a woman went to the doctor for dilation and curettage surgery due to self-diagnosed endometriosis and later returned to treat an ectopic pregnancy.

That woman later saw a fertility specialist "who advised her both fallopian tubes were burnt down to nubs, making natural conception impossible." Perwaiz had allegedly removed the woman's fallopian tubes without her ever knowing or consenting.

In another case, Perwaiz allegedly warned a patient she was at serious risk for cancer and said she should undergo a full hysterectomy. The patient "objected to invasive surgery," but agreed to an outpatient procedure in which her ovaries would be removed.

When the patient awoke from surgery, she was "shocked to discover Perwaiz performed a total abdominal hysterectomy." The doctor allegedly punctured her bladder during the procedure, and she contracted sepsis and was hospitalized for six days.

Later, she obtained her medical records and saw the unwanted hysterectomy was listed as an "elective surgery" — and there was no mention of cancer risk in the file.

A lawyer for Perwaiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

These charges are not Perwaiz's first brush with the law over his medical record.

In 1982, he lost admitting privileges at Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, "due to poor clinical judgment and for performing unnecessary surgeries," according to court records.

He was also previously investigated by the Virginia Board of Medicine "for performing surgeries, predominantly hysterectomies, without appropriate medical indications and contrary to sound medical judgment" — but was "ultimately censured for poor record keeping."

His medical license was temporarily revoked in 1996 after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, but he earned it back two years later.

Perwaiz has been sued for malpractice eight times, according to the court records.

As of his arrest on Friday, Perwaiz had been affiliated with Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

The Bon Secours website previously described the doctor as "dedicated to the promotion of healthcare to women from adolescence to menopause and beyond," with “surgical skills [that] are unparalleled.”

As of Monday, both hospitals' websites have wiped all mentions of Perwaiz. A spokesperson for Bon Secours Maryview told BuzzFeed News, "Dr. Perwaiz is not employed by Bon Secours or Bon Secours Medical Group. Like many independent physicians, he has held privileges at different hospitals/health systems."

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