Baltimore MD Feb 19 2013 A Johns Hopkins gynecologist who was being investigated on allegations that he secretly recorded patients was found dead this morning at his home in Baltimore County, police and hospital officials confirmed.
The doctor, identified as Nikita A. Levy, 54, was let go by Hopkins earlier this month when another employee alerted Hopkins security staff to the allegations, Hopkins officials said in a statement. They said Levy had been photographing patients with personal photo and video equipment.
Kim Hoppe, a spokeswoman for Hopkins, said a “few patients” have been notified and a police investigation is ongoing. She said a call center had been set up for his patients to offer them counseling.
“Any invasion of patient privacy is intolerable,” Hoppe said in the statement. “Words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for every patient whose privacy may have been violated.”
She said Levy’s behavior “violates Johns Hopkins code of conduct and privacy policies and is against everything for which Johns Hopkins Medicine stands.”
Baltimore County police confirmed that they were on scene for a death investigation at a home listed in property records for Levy, in the 900 block of Hampton Lane in Towson. People who answered the door declined to comment, and additional details were not immediately available.
Hoppe said Hopkins had been told Levy took his own life.
Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said search warrants were executed and investigators recovered “very extensive amounts of evidence that need to be combed through.” He said a team of sex offense detectives has been assigned the case.
Levy’s name and information has been taken down from the website of Johns Hopkins’ Community Physicians, though references were still viewable on cached versions.
According to various biographies, he graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1984 and completed a residency at Kings County Hospital Center.
SOURCE-baltsun.com