Today, two class action lawsuits were filed against DMC Sinai Grace and Henry Ford Macomb, that granted privileges to Dr. Oumair Aejaz, a Rochester Hills-based physician charged with multiple sex crimes, including filming nude pictures of women and children.
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"These multi-billion dollar medical institutions failed to place patient safety first, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands of patients being sexually abused or sexually exploited," said attorney Parker Stinar.
Steiner says that one class action has been filed in Macomb County, and the other in Wayne County. As for the complaint, both Jane Does were treated by Dr. Aejaz in 2023.
"These class action lawsuits are on behalf of all patients, whether they know yet if they were recorded or not, who were treated at either Henry Ford Macomb or DMC Sinai Grace, from 2018-2024" Steiner said.
RELATED: Physician accused of preying on women and children appears in court
Last month, the 40-year-old internal medicine doctor was arrested and charged with 10 felony counts. According to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, the victims range from children as young as two years old to adults. Investigators say the criminal activity took place over six years.
"These facilities provided these patients with a sexual predator," Stinar said. "For at least six years, Dr. Aejaz was able to take videos and photos of many patients. Probably hundreds, if not thousands, who were disrobing, naked, or using the restrooms."
Dr. Aejaz was a contract physician who went to different locations. The police also identified victims from a local swim club in Rochester Hills. Investigators so far have seized six computers, four phones and 16 external storage devices. One of those hard drives reportedly has over 1300 videos on it.
"We do not yet know yet what Dr. Aejaz did with these photographs and recordings, and we understand that individuals that are treated with anesthesia are particularly susecitble to having being treated by the doctor," said Symone Shinton, a partner with the firm working on the case.
A few dozen women so far have reached out to the law firm that may be potential victims. Shinton says victims should not delay in coming forward, as Michigan has a statue of limitations.
"These institutions that will sit patiently and wait for the criminal process to run it's course will turn right around and say that they took too long to come forward, and blame victims when they get to the civil courthouse" Shinton said. "This is the playbook for how medical institutions escape accountability."
"So far what has been the health system's response," I asked Stinar in a media scrum after today's press conference.
"That essentially, 'yes he worked here but he wasn't one of our employees,'" Stinar replied. "It's denying responsibility, it's probably trying to dodge civil lawsuits like this, denying justice for survivors."
Meanwhile Sheriff Bouchard says that since the arrest, 127 potential victims have reached out via the dedicated email set up by the Sheriff's Office.
"We believe we are on a path to have more charges added, but since he's in jail on a $2 million bond and his next court appearance has been pushed off to next month, we're taking time to make sure we put together all the information that's necessary for prosecutors to make any additional charges," said Sheriff Bouchard.
Henry Ford Health System has released the following statement in response to the suit:
We are assessing the allegations made in the complaint, which appear to largely recount the information previously released by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. We continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement, who conducted a security assessment of our building—in addition to a sweep we conducted. No unauthorized cameras or recording devices were found in those sweeps. Beyond this, we cannot comment on pending litigation.
Now I have reached out to DMC for comments so far they haven't gotten back to me. The next court hearing for Dr. Aejaz is on October 14th, and we will be bringing you all the updates as they develop.
