Registration opens for suit by Nikita Levy’s patients

Listen to this article

Former patients of gynecologist Dr. Nikita Levy can now register to join the mandatory class-action settlement against the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The registration can be done online at a new website created for the case. The registration will be promoted by ads planned for print, radio and television, as well as phone calls to former patients, according to Jonathan Schochor, chairman of the team of lawyers representing the class.

Levy was accused of secretly videotaping and taking photos of his patients. He committed suicide in March after the allegations against him surfaced.

The number of plaintiffs in the case could reach 12,600, up more than 3,000 from earlier estimates, according to Schochor. Because the suit is a mandatory class-action, prospective plaintiffs do not have the option of suing on their own. The status was designed to facilitate a final settlement with Hopkins.

Members of the class include any patient of Levy’s between April 1988 and Feb. 8, 2013, when Hopkins terminated his employment after being alerted to Levy’s possible misconduct. Police found 10 file servers’ worth of photos and videos among his possessions.

Two large groups of former patients totaling 2,500 women soon filed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuits in Baltimore City Circuit Court against the hospital. One group was represented by Schochor, of Schochor, Federico & Staton P.A. in Baltimore, the other by Howard A. Janet of Janet, Jenner & Suggs LLC in Baltimore.

But in November, lawyers for the plaintiffs and Hopkins jointly filed for the mandatory class-action. Janet became vice chairman of the legal team.

There is no deadline for registering at this point, Schochor said. Instead, the two sides will start the mediation process soon, he said; once settlement terms are reached, a second notice will go out with a deadline for plaintiffs to register.

The class-action complaint was filed against the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Inc. and Johns Hopkins Health System Corp. It alleges one count of medical negligence and negligent and grossly negligent hiring, retention, supervision, selection, qualification and credentialing, one count of invasion of privacy, one count of intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, one count of negligent entrustment and one count of lack of informed consent.

For each count, the complaint asks the judge to award each plaintiff compensatory damages of at least $75,000 plus costs.

Follow @TDRDanny