VA Doctor Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Female Veteran Patient

Atlanta, GAOn November 5, a federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia convicted Dr. Rajesh Motibhai Patel, a primary care physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, of  sexually assaulting a veteran patient. The jury found that he violated her constitutional right to bodily integrity while acting under color of law.  

The VA lawsuit charged Patel with sexually assaulting four patients during routine exams between 2019 and 2020, groping their breasts and improperly touching their vaginal areas. The jury acquitted him of charges related to three victims and found him guilty of assault with respect to the fourth. Patel is scheduled to be sentenced on February 20.

U.S. v. Patel highlights the issue of sexual assault within the military healthcare setting. The case also exposes the dark underside of sexual assault prosecutions and defense strategies which may re-traumatize victims by undermining their credibility. The details of the patients’ identities and stories have not been disclosed.

Trigger alert

This is a highly charged issue, and it is important to recognize the difficult task faced by the jury in crediting some claims and not others. Three tangled stories intersect here: 

• the first is military sexual trauma;
• the second is the medical neglect, malpractice and abuse faced by many veterans at VA facilities; and
• the third is the legitimate issue of false or influenced memories on the part of traumatized people.

Military sexual trauma

According to National Veterans Homeless Support, one in four female servicemembers and one in one hundred male servicemembers can expect to experience sexual trauma or assault at some point in their military career. In total, that comes out to an estimated 20,000 people each year. Experts warn that even that staggering number might be an underestimate, with many more cases of sexual violence in the military going unreported entirely. These assaults can have devastating physical and psychological consequences for the victims.

Veterans medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is a serious concern throughout the U.S. healthcare industry. VA hospitals and practitioners are not immune to this challenge. Among the frequently cited causes for medical negligence in VA hospitals are staffing shortages and high workloads. Patel underscores the importance of patient safety and the need for healthcare institutions to have robust policies and procedures in place to prevent and address sexual abuse. These measures may include:

• implementing mandatory reporting laws to ensure that healthcare providers are obligated to report suspected cases of sexual abuse to appropriate authorities;
• conducting thorough background checks on healthcare providers to identify any history of misconduct or abuse;
• educating patients about their rights and how to recognize and report signs of sexual abuse and encouraging them to seek legal assistance where appropriate;
• training healthcare staff to intervene if they witness or suspect sexual abuse; and
• establishing confidential reporting systems to encourage victims to come forward without fear of retaliation.

Traumatized witnesses

The six-day trial was a harrowing ordeal for the victims. In a sexual assault case like this, defense counsel must strike a delicate balance between the risk of re-traumatizing victims and the need to provide an effective defense for an accused person who is presumed to be innocent before conviction – a difficult and sometimes thankless task.

Defense counsel for Patel suggested he had been the unwitting victim of workplace retribution by a nurse with a pre-existing grudge against him. The nurse allegedly used two of the women's histories of sexual trauma and mental illness to manipulate them into believing they were assaulted during normal exams.

Of the three patients who complained of assaults for which Patel was acquitted, one only reported the incident after the nurse told her of the first complaint against Patel. The nurse put the two in touch and over the following months advised them to lawyer up and contact the media.

Two other women did not complain of issues with Patel until they were contacted by defense counsel. One testified that she had previously written a review calling Patel "always professional" and "the best." Another appeared to have lodged a complaint that referred to a different doctor.

In a jury trial, it is the jury’s job to weigh the credibility of the evidence presented. Because they have had a unique opportunity to hear and see witnesses in context, their findings are rarely questioned.

At trial, the Patel jury found that the evidence presented by three of the plaintiffs was not sufficiently credible. This was behind their decision to convict Patel of only one count of violating a patient's constitutional rights and one count of aggravated sexual abuse. His conviction nonetheless sends a strong message that sexual abuse will not be tolerated.

It remains to the VA system to address issues of understaffing, high workloads and patient support that may help to reduce incidences of medical malpractice and assault in the future.