A Virginia doctor has been arrested for allegedly performing hysterectomies and other unnecessary medical procedures on patients without their consent.
A federal affidavit stated that Javald Perwalz, a doctor in Virginia, was being investigated since 2018 after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received a tip from a hospital employee that the doctor may be performing unnecessary surgeries on patients without their consent.
The affidavit mentioned one patient treated by Perwalz in 2012 who he told that pre-cancerous cells had been detected during an exam and that a hysterectomy would be the best course of action. Despite the patient wanting a less invasive procedure and agreeing on a laparoscopic surgery to remove her ovaries, Perwalz performed a total abdominal hysterectomy.
She only discovered what the doctor did when she woke up from surgery and after her bladder was perforated during the process, causing her to develop sepsis and be hospitalized for six days.
Another patient who was being treated by Perwaiz for endometriosis and an ectopic pregnancy from 2011 to 2014 found that her fallopian tubes had been "burnt down to nubs, making natural conception impossible," when she went to obtain fertility treatments from another doctor in 2014.
The affidavit specified that the patient was a Medicaid recipient and her insurance had been billed for unnecessary medical treatments by Perwaiz. Cases of health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters will be charged against the doctor. He is currently being held without bail until his scheduled hearing later this week.
The hospital employee who tipped off the FBI told investigators that often "the patients were not aware of the procedures they were undergoing." The affidavit also mentions that Perwaiz has faced at eight malpractice lawsuits in the past.
These lawsuits alleged the doctor to have falsified medical records to justify unnecessary procedures, performed up to 30 surgeries in one day and provided "substandard care" that caused permanent injuries in at least three patients.
