A Virginia OBGYN is accused of performing tubal litigations and unneeded hysterectomies on patients without their consent.
Javaid Perwaiz, 69, was arrested on Friday on charges of health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters. Perwaiz’s victims told authorities that they were unaware of the surgeries he had performed until afterward, and that he regularly evoked the word “cancer” to scare his patients, according to the Virginian Pilot.
Perwaiz, who operates two offices in Chesapeake, performed surgeries on 40 percent of his Medicaid patients—or 510 patients— from January 2014 to August 2018. Forty-two percent of them underwent two or more surgeries, according to the news outlet.
The affidavit only referenced four unnamed patients but mentioned various medical procedures, including hysterectomies, cystectomies, myomectomies, tubal ligations, and dilation and curettages.
In one instance, a patient who was self-diagnosed with endometriosis underwent dilation and curettage surgery through Perwaiz and had returned to be treated for an ectopic pregnancy. The affidavit said the woman eventually went to a fertility doctor, who informed her that her fallopian tubes were “burnt down to nubs” making natural conception impossible, according to BuzzFeed.
The document cites another incident in which Perwaiz allegedly told a patient that they were at high risk for cancer and recommended a full hysterectomy. The patient reportedly objected but agreed to an outpatient procedure in which her ovaries would be removed.
The patient reportedly awoke from surgery and discovered the OBGYN had performed a botched abdominal hysterectomy which left her with a punctured bladder and sepsis. She also learned that her medical records listed the procedure as an “elective surgery” and that there was no cancer mentioned in her files, according to BuzzFeed.
Court records stated that in 1982, Perwaiz had lost his admitting privileges at Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth “due to poor clinical judgment and for performing unnecessary surgeries.” The Virginia Board of Medicine previously investigated Perwaiz for performing surgeries “without appropriate medical indications and contrary to sound medical judgment.” However, he was only punished for improper recordkeeping.
Further, the Virginian Pilot reported that Perwaiz has faced eight malpractice lawsuits in which his patients alleged he forged records to justify medical procedures, declined to select less invasive treatments, and provided substandard care which resulted in irreversible and life-threatening injuries.
Investigators also accused Perwaiz of misusing his hysteroscope, an item that examines a patient’s uterus prior to a hysterectomy. Medicaid records stated he used a hysteroscope 86 and 87 times in 2016 and 2017, respectively. However, his patients alleged he performed the scopes in 10 seconds, not enough time to conduct a proper examination.
Two hospitals Perwaiz had been affiliated with, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, had removed his name from their website as of Sunday.
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[Featured image: Javaid Perwaiz/Western Tidewater Regional Jail]
